The Godfather Introduction Introduction


Release Year: 1972

Genre: Crime, Drama

Director: Francis Ford Coppola

Writer: Francis Ford Coppola, Mario Puzo (novel)

Stars: Al Pacino, Marlon Brando, James Caan


It's insane to think that one of the most influential movies ever—The Godfather—almost got whacked before it was released. Yep, someone nearly gave it the Sonny Corleone treatment, ambushed at the tollbooth and left riddled with bullets. 

But against all odds, the movie managed to come into existence.

The Godfather was adapted from Mario Puzo's smash hit novel of the same title. The producers pegged a young and relatively unknown director, Francis Ford Coppola, to direct the movie—and put him under the constant threat of being fired the entire time. Which almost happened, and if it had, The Godfather wouldn't be the classic we know today. In fact, without Coppola it might not have even been shot in New York and Sicily, where the book was set: the production company actually wanted to set it in Kansas City (source).

We love you, KC, but no. Just no.

Fortunately, everything worked out even better than they could have imagined. One of the greatest actors of all time, Marlon Brando, played the role of Vito Corleone (the Godfather of the title), and one of the unknown actors Coppola cast in the movie morphed into a Hollywood mega-star: Al Pacino. Puzo and Coppola also collaborated together to author the movie's script.

The Godfather was released in 1972 and took the Oscars for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay. (Brando also won for Best Actor, but didn't accept the award. It was claimed by Sacheen Littlefeather to protest the treatment of American Indians.)

It was an instant classic. 

The '70s is actually now considered a great decade for directors: Coppola, along with filmmakers like Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg, were busy creating some of the greatest movies of all time: Apocalypse Now, Taxi Driver, Jaws...the list goes on. But arguably, none had a bigger impact than The Godfather.

Its legacy? Well, the vogue for all things Mafia-related stems largely from this one movie (ironically, the word "mafia" is used in The Godfather precisely zero times). Sure, gangster movies had been popular for decades before, but The Godfather changed the nature of the genre. Instead of being a simple tale of tough 'hoods containing a pointed moral, The Godfather created...a mythology.

Read on...or we'll make you an offer you can't refuse.

 

Why Should I Care?

Watch The Godfather.

If you don't, well, we're not saying you'll wake up with your entire beanie baby collection decapitated. But we're not saying you won't, either.

Listen: The Godfather was ranked the second greatest film of all time (after Citizen Kane) by the American Film Institute. Why?

Check it out:

  • It's an exciting exploration of the American Dream, power, greed, violence, the immigrant experience, Italian-American identity (particularly its negative stereotypes)...should we go on?
  • It's so influential that actual mafia members started to imitate the movie.
  • We wouldn't have most of the mafia movies and TV we have today if it weren't for this sucker (sorry, Sopranos fans).
  • It won a zillion awards and film buffs look to it for its technique.

But beyond all the fancy cinematography and influential characterization, at its core, this movie just asks us what we're willing to do to get by—and how family and society dictate our understanding of what "getting by" even means. What lengths would you go to to protect your family?

The answers lie within you…and how much you value your most prized beanie babies.