Francis Ford Coppola's masterpiece The Godfather is based on Mario Puzo's 1969 bestseller entitled The Godfather. It was a movie done by Coppola strictly for the money. He was convinced by his friend George Lucas that he needed to do this film and that he couldn't afford not to. It was a damn good thing that Coppola was as broke as he was in 1969 because if he wasn't, a great film and a great trilogy may never have been born. Most don't know that Coppola, Pacino, Brando and almost all of the actors were constantly living in fear of being fired. Yet Coppola and the rest of the actors and staff could make the film so excellent and still have the threat of termination hanging over them.
This excellent film is about a Mafia chieftain named Vito Corleone (played by Marlon Brando). Corleone is an intelligent man who does favors for his friends. He is definitely a man of his word. He is a family man--first and foremost. He has four children: the hot-headed Santino "Sonny" Corleone (played by James Caan); the dimwitted Frederico "Fredo" Corleone (played by John Cazale); the man who will succeed his father as boss Michael Corleone (played by Al Pacino); and Constanzia "Connie" Corleone (played by Talia Shire). Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall) was adopted by Vito when Sonny found Tom wandering the streets without a home as a young boy.
Although his youngest son, Michael, hates the business, he is drawn in by the love of his father because when Vito is wounded in an attempted mob hit, Michael's destiny is inevitible. Michael kills the men responsible for the hit and when Vito gets too sick to do business, he transfers power to Michael. When the Godfather dies some years later, Michael has now changed into a more terrible and cold-hearted man than his wife Kay or his family could have imagined.
The Godfather (1972) Awards and Nominations received at the 1973 Academy Awards
AWARDS: Won three Oscars. BEST ACTOR (Marlon Brando); BEST PICTURE; and BEST WRITING, SCREENPLAY BASED ON MATERIAL FROM ANOTHER MEDIUM.
NOMINATIONS: BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE: (James Caan, Robert DuVall, and Al Pacino); BEST COSTUME DESIGN; BEST DIRECTOR; BEST FILM EDITING; BEST MUSIC; ORIGINAL DRAMATIC SCORE; and BEST SOUND.
- Cast and Crew for The Godfather (1972)
- Directed by:Francis Ford Coppola
- Writing credits Francis Ford Coppola & Mario Puzo (also novel)
- Cast (in credits order)
- Marlon Brando .... Don Vito Corleone
- Al Pacino .... Michael Corleone
- Diane Keaton .... Kay Adams Corleone
- Robert Duvall .... Tom Hagen
- Richard S. Castellano .... Peter Clemenza
- James Caan .... Santino "Sonny" Corleone
- Sterling Hayden .... Police Captain McCluskey
- Talia Shire .... Constanzia "Connie" Corleone Rizzi
- John Marley .... Jack Woltz
- Richard Conte .... Don Emilio Barzini
- Al Lettieri .... Virgil Sollozzo "The Turk"
- Abe Vigoda .... Sal Tessio
- Gianni Russo .... Carlo Rizzi
- John Cazale .... Frederico "Fredo" Corleone
- Rudy Bond .... Ottilio Cuneo
- Al Martino .... Johnny Fontane
- Morgana King .... Mama Corleone
- Lenny Montana .... Luca Brasi
- John Martino .... Paulie Gatto
- Salvatore Corsitto .... Bonasera the Undertaker
- Richard Bright .... Al Neri
- Alex Rocco .... Moe Greene
- Tony Giorgio .... Bruno Tattaglia
- Vito Scotti .... Nazorine the Baker
- Tere Livrano .... Theresa Hagen
- Victor Rendina .... Phillip Tattaglia
- Jeannie Linero .... Lucy Mancini
- Julie Gregg .... Sandra Corleone
- Ardell Sheridan .... Mrs. Clemenza
- Simonetta Stefanelli .... Apollonia
- Angelo Infanti .... Fabrizio
- Corrado Gaipa .... Don Tommasino
- Franco Citti .... Calo
- Saro Urzì .... Vitelli, Apollonia's Father
- rest of cast listed alphabetically
- Sofia Coppola .... Baptism Infant (uncredited)
- Anthony Gounaris .... Anthony Corleone (uncredited)
- Burt Richards .... Florial Designer (uncredited)
- Tom Rosqui .... Henchman
- Ed Sicoli .... Wedding Guest (uncredited)
- Frank Sivero .... Extra (uncredited)
- Filomena Spagnuolo .... Extra at wedding scene (uncredited)
- Joe Spinell .... Willi Cicci (uncredited)
- Gabriele Torrei .... Enzo the Baker (uncredited)
