15 Facts About The Godfather Franchise You Need To Know

47 years have passed since the release of the first film in the saga. The Godfather, in 1972. Since then, the trilogy has established itself as one of the best cinematographic works of all time. So much so that, even over the years, different generations keep repeating some of the characters’ most emblematic lines. In addition, the films served to boost the fame of actors of Italian-American origin, such as Robert De Niro and Al Pacino.

In this post, the awesome.club wants to share with you a list of facts and curiosities about the production of this trilogy. Check out!

Despite winning an Oscar for his screenplay for Patton — Rebel or Hero?, Francis Ford Coppola was not the first director that the production company Paramount Pictures thought of to helm the feature. Before Coppola accepted the proposal, several renowned directors had already rejected the project. Also, when production began, there were several disagreements between the director and the studio, mainly because the executives wanted a more violent gangster movie. For this reason, Coppola was always threatened with dismissal. Things got so tense that alternate directors were hired: they were waiting on set in case Coppola actually got fired.

Initially, Robert De Niro auditioned for the role of Sonny in the first part, but Coppola felt that the actor was too violent a personality to play the character. However, later De Niro was chosen to play the young Vito Corleone in The Godfather — Part IIa role that won him the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

During his daily walks around the set, Coppola always saw a stray cat, and on the day set for the recording of the studio scenes with Vito Corleone, Coppola took the cat and handed it to Marlon Brando, asking the actor to improvise something. with the animal. The cat liked Brando so much that he sat quietly between the actor’s legs during filming. However, when the sound design team heard Brando’s speech, they could not understand what the actor was saying because of the cat’s purring.

The friendship between directors Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas began decades ago, when both were relatively unknown filmmakers in Northern California. In fact, Lucas was one of the people who convinced Coppola to accept the proposal to direct The Godfather🇧🇷 Lucas worked as an assistant during the filming of the first feature in the saga, and shot the images used as teasers newspapers, showing the main events of the plot.

Originally, Paramount wanted to change the iconic string puppet-inspired logo created by graphic designer S. Neil Fujita for the debut. But Coppola insisted on keeping the art.

After having a meeting with the Italian-American League for Civil Rights, an organization formed to combat stereotypes regarding that segment of the population, director Francis Ford Coppola agreed to remove the expressions “mafia” and “cosa nostra”, despite both appearing in the novel published in 1969. The film mentions the crime syndicate as “the 5 lies of the family”, and other non-Italian phrases.

The phrase “Leave the gun, get the cannoli,” uttered by Peter Clemenza after murdering Paulie, entered the film at the last minute. Actor Richard Castellano improvised the line after director Francis Ford Coppola added a similar line in another scene, in which Clemenza’s wife says, “Don’t forget the cannoli!”

The horse’s head placed on the movie producer’s bed was not a fake. Although a fake head was used during rehearsals, when the cameras were turned on Coppola replaced it with a real one, surprising actor John Marley. The production got the horse’s head from a dog food company.

Former professional wrestler Lenny Montana, who played Luca Brasi, was so nervous playing alongside Marlon Brando that he could barely repeat his own lines clearly. When Luca’s character is introduced, he is waiting to see Don Corleone on his wedding day, and nervously practices a greeting. But when Montana found himself facing Brando, he froze and confused his lines. That’s when Coppola opted for the scene in the garden, in which Luca appears anxious, repeating his line. So it was understood that Luca was afraid of Don Corleone.

Sofia, daughter of director Francis Ford Coppola, is the only member of the cast (both male and female) to appear in the three films in the saga. She first participated when she was still a baby, in the scene of the baptism of Connie Corleone’s son in The Godfather🇧🇷 In the second part, she briefly appears in the skin of an immigrant who is on the boat that takes Vito Corleone to Ellis Island. In The Godfather — Part III, Sofia played the daughter of Michael Corleone. The young woman got the role after Winona Ryder asked to leave the cast.

Marlon Brando wanted Don Corleone to look “a bulldog,” so he put cotton wool on his cheeks when he auditioned for the role. As for the actual recordings, he used an accessory made by a dentist, with drops of resin, to modify the cheeks.

From the beginning of his career, Marlon Brando used posters with inscribed phrases, the so-called “dahlias”. He thought the artifice allowed for more spontaneous acting. During filming, the posters were placed within the character’s field of vision. Behind-the-scenes images show the creativity required when positioning the “dahlias” in strategic locations. For example, in the photo above, actor Robert Duvall appears with a poster attached to his body.

In 1975, The Godfather — Part II it became the first sequel in Oscar history to receive the Best Picture award. The production came out victorious 2 years after the original feature achieved the same feat. The second part of the trilogy was nominated for no less than 11 Oscars.

Also during the 1975 Academy Awards, Robert De Niro was named best actor for his performance in The Godfather — Part II. This made him and Marlon Brando the first and only actors to win an Academy Award for playing the same character in 2 different films.

In 1973, Marlon Brando won the Oscar for Best Actor for his work in The Godfather🇧🇷 But the actor not only did not attend the ceremony but also gave up the award. In his place, indigenous actress Sacheen Littlefeather received the statuette. In his speech, Littlefeather read a letter from Brando, which read: “I am representing Marlon Brando tonight, and he asked me to say that he cannot accept this very generous award due to the treatment given to Native Americans today by the food industry. movie theater”.

Do you know any other curiosity about this trilogy? What information is the most intriguing, in your opinion? Saw the whole saga The Godfather? Comment!