15 Little-Known Facts About the Epic Crime Drama The Godfather

On March 24, 1972, world cinema was enriched with one of its cult masterpieces - the film “The Godfather”. This epic crime drama about the Sicilian mafia not only won the hearts of millions of viewers, but also set new standards in cinema. Our article reveals 15 little-known facts about the making of this film, from casting details to behind-the-scenes stories that make The Godfather even more unique and interesting.

The epic gangster saga "The Godfather" is considered one of the best films of all time. The film has been quoted, imitated and admired. An excellent, vivid plot, brilliant direction by Coppola, amazing acting by Al Pacino and Marlon Brando, great music - all this made the film “The Godfather” unforgettable.

Francis Ford Coppola (who was entrusted with the filming because of his previous film “Rain People”) was far from the first candidate for the role of director. Before this, Elia Kazan, Arthur Penn, Richard Brooks and Costa-Gavras refused the offer to film The Godfather. And after filming began, the producers were unhappy that the film was turning into a dialogue-heavy drama. They wanted a gangster film with lots of shooting, so they constantly threatened to fire Coppola.

The studio initially wanted to change the now famous and iconic "puppet string" logo (which was first created by graphic designer S. Neil Fujita for the novel). Coppola insisted on keeping the logo because he co-wrote the script with the novel's author, Mario Puzo.

The director also insisted on maintaining the time frame and location of the plot. To reduce prop costs, Paramount asked Coppola to modernize the script to set the story in 1972, and to film the film in Kansas City rather than the more expensive New York City. Coppola convinced the producers that the film should be shot in New York, based on events taking place after World War II.

Coppola conducted improvisational rehearsals, during which he invited the actors to a family dinner. At the same time, they had to be in the image of their character.

When Coppola initially mentioned that Brando might star in the role of Vito Corleone, Paramount head Charles Blachdorn told Coppola that the actor would never appear in any Paramount films. The studio wanted to invite Laurence Olivier to play the role, but Coppola secretly invited Brando to test shoot. When Coppola showed the studio the footage, Brando was allowed to continue filming.

The studio would have preferred to see Robert Redford or Ryan O'Neal in this role, but Coppola always wanted Al Pacino to play Michael.

Robert De Niro auditioned for the role of Sonny, but Coppola felt his personality was too violent for the role. De Niro later appeared as a young Vito Corleone in The Godfather Part II and won Best Supporting Actor.

To add a sense of reality to the wedding scenes (and also because he only had two days to shoot), Coppola completely improvised during these scenes.

Lenny Montana, who played Luca Brasi, was a professional wrestler before becoming an actor. He was so nervous that he kept flustering his dialogue with Brando during the scene in the godfather's office. Because Coppola didn't have time to reshoot this scene, he added a new one where Luca Brasi rehearses his conversation with Vito Corleone and explains his stuttering as anxiety.

The residence was put up for sale in 2014 for just under $3 million.

During his daily walks around the set, Coppola often saw a stray cat. On the day of filming the scene in Vito's office, the director asked Brando to take the animal in his arms. The cat liked Brando so much that she sat on the actor’s lap all day.

He actually punched himself in order to look natural for later filming (his character had previously been punched in the face in the story).

It was not a dummy - the severed head was brought from a local slaughterhouse.

“Don’t forget the cannoli,” his wife reminds Clemenza as he leaves the house. This was not in the script, but the director was inspired to insert into the dialogue a scene where the character’s wife asks him to buy a popular Italian delicacy for dessert.

The 175-minute film is too long by Hollywood standards. There was originally supposed to be an "intermission", but then the filmmakers felt that it would ruin the atmosphere.