There is one masterpiece that continues to cast a long, illustrious shadow over the film industry: Francis Ford Coppola’s adaptation of Mario Puzo’s novel The Godfather.
Isn’t it remarkable how a film can so thoroughly capture the collective imagination, resonating with audiences decade after decade? Steeped in authenticity, the 1972 gangster masterpiece is heralded as one of the most acclaimed films of all time, etching its lines, scenes, and characters into the very fabric of cinematic history.
Al Pacino in The Godfather II | Credit: Paramount Pictures
Take Coppola’s ensemble cast, which starred Diane Keaton, Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, and Robert Duvall. The latter played Tom Hagen, the unofficially adopted son of Vito Corleone, played by Brando. Well, his portrayal of Tom in Paramount Pictures’ series is iconic, and it’s no surprise that his favorite scene from the film revolves around the revelation that he is the adopted son.
Isn’t it remarkable how a film can so thoroughly capture the collective imagination, resonating with audiences decade after decade? Steeped in authenticity, the 1972 gangster masterpiece is heralded as one of the most acclaimed films of all time, etching its lines, scenes, and characters into the very fabric of cinematic history.
Al Pacino in The Godfather II | Credit: Paramount Pictures
Take Coppola’s ensemble cast, which starred Diane Keaton, Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, and Robert Duvall. The latter played Tom Hagen, the unofficially adopted son of Vito Corleone, played by Brando. Well, his portrayal of Tom in Paramount Pictures’ series is iconic, and it’s no surprise that his favorite scene from the film revolves around the revelation that he is the adopted son.
- 5/18/2024
- by Siddhika Prajapati
- FandomWire
Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather earned its place as one of the most critically acclaimed films of all time. Starring Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, and many more, the movie turned into a cinematic masterpiece, garnering 11 nominations and 3 Academy Awards.
Robert Duvall in The Godfather (1972)
Considering that Robert Duvall played a significant role in The Godfather’s success providing his exceptional performance, the actor was asked about his sense of how special the film might have been, during the 50th anniversary of the movie. Shockingly, Duvall claimed to have a remarkable intuition about the film’s success even before its completion.
Robert Duvall’s Eerily Accurate Prediction About The Godfather
Sharing the screen with the likes of Al Pacino, the acclaimed actor Robert Duvall appeared in Francis Ford Coppola‘s The Godfather as Tom Hagen, the informally adopted son of Marlon Brando’s Vito Corleone and...
Robert Duvall in The Godfather (1972)
Considering that Robert Duvall played a significant role in The Godfather’s success providing his exceptional performance, the actor was asked about his sense of how special the film might have been, during the 50th anniversary of the movie. Shockingly, Duvall claimed to have a remarkable intuition about the film’s success even before its completion.
Robert Duvall’s Eerily Accurate Prediction About The Godfather
Sharing the screen with the likes of Al Pacino, the acclaimed actor Robert Duvall appeared in Francis Ford Coppola‘s The Godfather as Tom Hagen, the informally adopted son of Marlon Brando’s Vito Corleone and...
- 5/16/2024
- by Krittika Mukherjee
- FandomWire
Playing the role of Corleone family consigliere Tom Hagen, Robert Duvall shared many scenes with the late legend Marlon Brando, during their collaboration on The Godfather. During their on-set experience, Duvall got to witness one of Brando’s acting quirks – using cue cards to remember his lines.
Robert Duvall in The Godfather
Reports of Marlon Brando using cue cards have made rounds on the internet, for many years, since the actor’s demise. But finally, Robert Duvall addressed the very practice and broke his silence on Brando’s acting quirks. Since many had pointed to Brando’s use of cue cards as a symptom of laziness, without holding back, Duvall claimed the same and called out the legend for his practice.
Robert Duvall Called Out Marlon Brando’s Acting Quirks
Celebrating the 50th anniversary of Francis Ford Coppola‘s The Godfather in 2022, Robert Duvall sat for an interview with The A.V. Club,...
Robert Duvall in The Godfather
Reports of Marlon Brando using cue cards have made rounds on the internet, for many years, since the actor’s demise. But finally, Robert Duvall addressed the very practice and broke his silence on Brando’s acting quirks. Since many had pointed to Brando’s use of cue cards as a symptom of laziness, without holding back, Duvall claimed the same and called out the legend for his practice.
Robert Duvall Called Out Marlon Brando’s Acting Quirks
Celebrating the 50th anniversary of Francis Ford Coppola‘s The Godfather in 2022, Robert Duvall sat for an interview with The A.V. Club,...
- 5/16/2024
- by Krittika Mukherjee
- FandomWire
When it comes to trilogies, the third one often ends up being the weakest of them all, and unfortunately, Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather 3 wasn’t immune to it. Released in 1990, 16 years after the sequel, the film failed to live up to the bar set by its predecessors, which are often regarded as some of the best the medium of cinema has to offer.
Moreover, due to salary disputes, the threequel didn’t see Robert Duvall’s Tom Hagen return, a character that was pivotal to Michael Corleone’s story in the first two entries. Later, when asked about his decision to stay out of the third one, Duvall had a pretty candid response.
Robert Duvall’s Absence From The Godfather III Boiled Down to Economics
A still from The Godfather | Paramount Pictures
It’s no secret that the main motivation behind reviving the franchise after over a decade was money.
Moreover, due to salary disputes, the threequel didn’t see Robert Duvall’s Tom Hagen return, a character that was pivotal to Michael Corleone’s story in the first two entries. Later, when asked about his decision to stay out of the third one, Duvall had a pretty candid response.
Robert Duvall’s Absence From The Godfather III Boiled Down to Economics
A still from The Godfather | Paramount Pictures
It’s no secret that the main motivation behind reviving the franchise after over a decade was money.
- 5/11/2024
- by Santanu Roy
- FandomWire
Francis Ford Coppola is one of the most revered directors in Hollywood. He enjoyed tremendous success with the Godfather franchise, even if the third and final installment polarized the fans. Regardless, the filmmaker won critical acclaim, and it engraved his name in the annals of cinema history.
Coppola can be credited for adapting the book for the big screen so flawlessly, with each role carefully chosen. However, the production for the third film was mired in problems, accentuated by the fact that Robert Duvall refused to return to complete the trilogy.
Duvall refused to return for the final film (Source: The Godfather)
Why did Robert Duvall turn down Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather 3?
Francis Ford Coppola established himself as an esteemed director quite early on in his career. He put together an incredible lineup that brought Mario Puzo’s novel to life, with Al Pacino and Marlon Brando leading the cast.
Coppola can be credited for adapting the book for the big screen so flawlessly, with each role carefully chosen. However, the production for the third film was mired in problems, accentuated by the fact that Robert Duvall refused to return to complete the trilogy.
Duvall refused to return for the final film (Source: The Godfather)
Why did Robert Duvall turn down Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather 3?
Francis Ford Coppola established himself as an esteemed director quite early on in his career. He put together an incredible lineup that brought Mario Puzo’s novel to life, with Al Pacino and Marlon Brando leading the cast.
- 4/20/2024
- by Sreshtha Roychowdhury
- FandomWire
Francis Ford Coppola's "The Conversation" is his masterpiece in between masterpieces. The legendary filmmaker wrapped principal photography in late February 1973, just one month before he would win the Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay Oscars for "The Godfather" (Albert Ruddy took home the Best Picture Oscar as the mafia classic's producer). Had Paramount released the film that year, it almost certainly would've received nominations for Best Picture and Director (over the wholly forgotten "A Touch of Class"), giving Coppola three consecutive nods in the latter category, a feat only accomplished once in Academy Awards history (by William Wyler). Instead, he wound up competing against himself a year later, when he added three more Oscars to his trophy case with "The Godfather Part II."
While "The Godfather" movies placed him atop Hollywood's director A-list for the rest of the decade, some cinephiles believe "The Conversation" is the superior film. The...
While "The Godfather" movies placed him atop Hollywood's director A-list for the rest of the decade, some cinephiles believe "The Conversation" is the superior film. The...
- 3/24/2024
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
The films of Francis Ford Coppola, at their core, are all about family. That theme goes for behind the camera as well as in front of it; according to interviews with Coppola on the Blu-Ray and 4K Ultra HD special features of the "Godfather" films, the director wished for the actors portraying the Corleone crime family to feel as much like a real family as possible before cameras began rolling. So, prior to making "The Godfather," Coppola arranged for the primary family members — Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, John Cazale and Talia Shire — to meet at an Italian restaurant in New York City, have dinner together and improvise as their characters the entire time.
With all that preparation, and the fact that the filmmakers were adapting Mario Puzo's 400-page novel into what became a three-hour movie whose narrative spans the length of a decade on screen,...
With all that preparation, and the fact that the filmmakers were adapting Mario Puzo's 400-page novel into what became a three-hour movie whose narrative spans the length of a decade on screen,...
- 3/17/2024
- by Bill Bria
- Slash Film
There was a time when a great many people would proclaim Francis Ford Coppola's mob masterpiece "The Godfather" as the greatest American film of the last 50 years. Those people can't do that anymore. It isn't because the movie has lost any of its artistic power or breathtaking cinematic invention. It's simply because "The Godfather" is now 51 years old, having been released back in 1972. The film is now closer to 1922, five years prior to the popularization of synchronized sound in film, than it is to today, and that gap will only continue to grow thanks to the inevitable march of time.
Because of that time, we have lost so many people involved in the making of the picture, including Mario Puzo, the film's co-writer and author of the original novel, and Gordon Willis, the cinematographer who crafted the signature dark look of the picture. Also gone are many of the film's cast members,...
Because of that time, we have lost so many people involved in the making of the picture, including Mario Puzo, the film's co-writer and author of the original novel, and Gordon Willis, the cinematographer who crafted the signature dark look of the picture. Also gone are many of the film's cast members,...
- 10/31/2023
- by Mike Shutt
- Slash Film
It's hard to believe it's been 70 years since Fred Zinneman's "From Here to Eternity" came out. Not that we were all there of course, but time has been really kind to the all-star, Best Picture-winning drama. Unlike many of the rah-rah war films emerging from America during and post-World War II, "From Here to Eternity" argues not that war is hell — since most of the movie takes place during peace time — but that men, even in the army, are subconsciously determined to make life hell whether there's a war on or not.
Montgomery Clift, Burt Lancaster, and Frank Sinatra star as soldiers stationed in Hawaii immediately prior to World War II, whose stubborn pride and barely contained insecurities lead directly to many avoidable tragedies. Clift plays Private Prewitt, a formerly promising boxer who refuses to box again after accidentally blinding a fellow soldier, and endures criminal abuse just because...
Montgomery Clift, Burt Lancaster, and Frank Sinatra star as soldiers stationed in Hawaii immediately prior to World War II, whose stubborn pride and barely contained insecurities lead directly to many avoidable tragedies. Clift plays Private Prewitt, a formerly promising boxer who refuses to box again after accidentally blinding a fellow soldier, and endures criminal abuse just because...
- 8/6/2023
- by William Bibbiani
- Slash Film
When closely examined, Hollywood history is a remarkably fickle thing. Not only have some major casting decisions almost been thwarted by circumstance but entire movies have been made (or not made) thanks to one key event.
One such movie is "Bram Stoker's Dracula," made by Francis Ford Coppola in 1992. The film became a landmark adaptation of the perennial horror novel (and character), ending up as one of the 10 highest-grossing films of '92 and influencing further versions of the Count and other vampire films that followed.
Yet it almost didn't happen — not with Coppola at the helm, anyway. The director was not on board from the beginning of the film's development, with screenwriter James V. Hart the one who was attempting to shepherd it to the screen for over a decade before star Winona Ryder attached herself to the film, saving it from being relegated to a cable TV movie.
Even with Ryder on board,...
One such movie is "Bram Stoker's Dracula," made by Francis Ford Coppola in 1992. The film became a landmark adaptation of the perennial horror novel (and character), ending up as one of the 10 highest-grossing films of '92 and influencing further versions of the Count and other vampire films that followed.
Yet it almost didn't happen — not with Coppola at the helm, anyway. The director was not on board from the beginning of the film's development, with screenwriter James V. Hart the one who was attempting to shepherd it to the screen for over a decade before star Winona Ryder attached herself to the film, saving it from being relegated to a cable TV movie.
Even with Ryder on board,...
- 4/12/2023
- by Bill Bria
- Slash Film
Francis Ford Coppola's adaptation of Mario Puzo's novel, "The Godfather," is one of the most acclaimed films of all time. Whether or not you've seen the film, you'll likely recognize some of the iconic lines such as, "I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse," or "Leave the gun. Take the cannoli," or the all-star ensemble cast that Coppola assembled which included the likes of Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, and many more.
Robert Duvall, who had previously worked with Coppola on "The Rain People" before "The Godfather," played Tom Hagen, the informally adopted son of Brando's Vito Corleone and consigliere and lawyer for the Corleone family. This wouldn't be the final collaboration between the two, as Duvall would go on to appear in a number of Coppola's future films including "Apocalypse Now"; "The Conversation"; and, of course, "The Godfather Part II."
Despite a number of collaborations,...
Robert Duvall, who had previously worked with Coppola on "The Rain People" before "The Godfather," played Tom Hagen, the informally adopted son of Brando's Vito Corleone and consigliere and lawyer for the Corleone family. This wouldn't be the final collaboration between the two, as Duvall would go on to appear in a number of Coppola's future films including "Apocalypse Now"; "The Conversation"; and, of course, "The Godfather Part II."
Despite a number of collaborations,...
- 9/12/2022
- by Andrew Korpan
- Slash Film
It in no way shortchanges the brilliance of James Caan, who died Wednesday at 82, to point out that he had a special gift for playing insensitive men. He was a gruff, tough, raging, muscular actor, with a ramrod physicality and an imposing look: the wiry curls of brownish-blond hair, the handsome planed face that seemed carved out of granite, the mouth set in a scowl that was a challenge and often a threat. (You got the feeling that even his brain knew how to bench-press.) In “The Godfather,” the movie that not only established him as a great actor but marked him as a mythological presence, Caan played Santino “Sonny” Corleone, the lone hothead in a family of very cool criminals. Don Vito was a courtly, soft-spoken manipulator, Michael a moody intellectual, Fredo a black-sheep nebbish, and Tom Hagen the adoptive sibling as passive bureaucrat.
But Sonny? He glared and shouted and busted balls.
But Sonny? He glared and shouted and busted balls.
- 7/7/2022
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
The Godfather, directed by Francis Ford Coppola from the bestselling novel by Mario Puzo, has just hit another historic milestone: its 50th anniversary. Released on March 24, 1972, it is a landmark film that made and remade history. The ultimate saga, which can be seen in the recently-released The Godfather Trilogy 4K Ultra HD edition, follows an immigrant family as they rise in American society. The Corleones reflect the vantage point of one of the Five Families of New York’s organized crime ruling commission.
While the words “mafia” and “cosa nostra” are never used in the film, many of the scenarios reflect specific points in the mob’s story. Some of these are strictly from Puzo’s imagination for the novel, like the horse’s head in a Hollywood producer’s bed scene. There is no evidence in gangland history to a corresponding incident like that. However, one of the most...
While the words “mafia” and “cosa nostra” are never used in the film, many of the scenarios reflect specific points in the mob’s story. Some of these are strictly from Puzo’s imagination for the novel, like the horse’s head in a Hollywood producer’s bed scene. There is no evidence in gangland history to a corresponding incident like that. However, one of the most...
- 3/28/2022
- by David Crow
- Den of Geek
The Godfather trilogy featured a murderer’s row of incredible, even iconic actors, but it’s Robert Duvall who buried all of the bodies in the first two films. Playing Tom Hagen, Duvall was the outsider as insider, wrestling with loyalty to the family that took him in as a teenager as well as the arm’s length distance…...
- 3/25/2022
- by Todd Gilchrist
- avclub.com
Leave the screening, take the cannoli.
James Caan says that he walked out of an initial “The Godfather” screening after realizing director Francis Ford Coppola cut a key scene involving Robert Duvall as Tom Hagen. Caan played Sonny Corleone, the eldest son of mafia don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando).
“When Michael [Al Pacino] tells me he is going to take care of the cop and Sollozzo [Al Lettieri], I say, ‘You’ll get brains all over your nice Ivy League suit.’ There was a scene before in the same room that I had with Bobby [Duvall] that was like 10 pages long — and Francis cut all of it out!” Caan told The Hollywood Reporter in honor of “The Godfather”‘s 50th anniversary. “I was so pissed off, I couldn’t watch the rest of the film.”
Caan added, “But otherwise, [Coppola] gave me a great honor.”
Caan also dismissed the rumor that he...
James Caan says that he walked out of an initial “The Godfather” screening after realizing director Francis Ford Coppola cut a key scene involving Robert Duvall as Tom Hagen. Caan played Sonny Corleone, the eldest son of mafia don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando).
“When Michael [Al Pacino] tells me he is going to take care of the cop and Sollozzo [Al Lettieri], I say, ‘You’ll get brains all over your nice Ivy League suit.’ There was a scene before in the same room that I had with Bobby [Duvall] that was like 10 pages long — and Francis cut all of it out!” Caan told The Hollywood Reporter in honor of “The Godfather”‘s 50th anniversary. “I was so pissed off, I couldn’t watch the rest of the film.”
Caan added, “But otherwise, [Coppola] gave me a great honor.”
Caan also dismissed the rumor that he...
- 3/21/2022
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
At any given moment the most titillating movie intrigues are not about star salaries or director firings, but rather about those grisly details that are well below the radar.
“The blood doesn’t look right to me. We need believable blood. Blood that coagulates. Get me better blood.”
Those were the demands of one filmmaker who was prepping an especially violent scene on an important movie. Though he abhorred violence, he was determined to deliver memorable murders.
Production strategizing usually remains secretive, with the exception of Alec Baldwin’s Rust, which seems grist for endless litigation. On most studio films, however, the cone of silence remains intact.
The vintage example is The Godfather: Though much has been written about that movie, some pre-production conflicts have lately been revisited in Mark Seal’s new book Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli, which relies in part on two previously unknown documents.
“The blood doesn’t look right to me. We need believable blood. Blood that coagulates. Get me better blood.”
Those were the demands of one filmmaker who was prepping an especially violent scene on an important movie. Though he abhorred violence, he was determined to deliver memorable murders.
Production strategizing usually remains secretive, with the exception of Alec Baldwin’s Rust, which seems grist for endless litigation. On most studio films, however, the cone of silence remains intact.
The vintage example is The Godfather: Though much has been written about that movie, some pre-production conflicts have lately been revisited in Mark Seal’s new book Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli, which relies in part on two previously unknown documents.
- 12/30/2021
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
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