The Grand Finale

The cast of characters behind “The Godfather”’s success was nothing if not eclectic, from down-and-out Hollywood legends to ascendant show business superstars. Yet somehow, fifty years after its release—against all odds—the film remains in a league of its own for its evocation of the American dream…

The Mother of all Publicity Campaigns

By 1972, “The Godfather” had become the movie of the moment—and that’s before it even hit theaters. Leading up to the film’s nationwide release that March, critics and made men alike clamored to get an early look, motivated in part by the tactful publicity strategy devised by Paramount’s Marilyn St…

Death by a Thousand Cuts

It’s difficult to imagine “The Godfather’s” torrid Sicily scenes being filmed anywhere but Italy. Yet, if Paramount executives had gotten their way, Michael Corleone’s love affair with Apollonia—played by Simonetta Stefanelli, an unknown actress who spoke no English—would’ve transpired on a Los Ang…

Italians, Stallions, and Corporate Lackeys

From a strict budget and a tight timetable to the interference of the Mafia, Francis Ford Coppola had more than enough on his plate directing “The Godfather”—and that was before his own studio turned against him. During the early days of filming, in 1971, Paramount disparaged Coppola’s decision mak…

Married to the Mob

Most big films confront roadblocks during production—financial, logistical, or otherwise. But how many Hollywood movies brush up against the Mafia, too? In 1970, the notorious crime boss Joseph Colombo founded the Italian-American Civil Rights League with the mission of dispelling stereotypes about…

The Cast that Dreams Are Made Of

In retrospect, it’s almost unfathomable that a cast as strong as “The Godfather’s” could have been assembled. Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, James Caan, and Robert Duvall are all considered legends of the screen today, but back in the early 1970s, most of these actors were unknown and star…

The Visionary And the Frog Prince

By 1969, Paramount's efforts to turn "The Godfather" into a feature film were in full swing. But there was one problem: the movie needed a director. Robert Evans and Al Ruddy tried to wrangle Hollywood heavyweights such as Richard Brooks and Otto Preminger, but nobody wanted the job. So, Paramount …

Hollywood Swinging

By the spring of 1969, The Godfather had turned its author, Mario Puzo, into an overnight celebrity. Tasked with adapting his best-selling book for the screen, Puzo’s life soon became that of a Hollywood big-shot. He took up residence at the Beverly Hills Hotel, had an office on the Paramount lot, …

Stranger Than Pulp Fiction

It was the fall of 1963, and Mario Puzo—a gambler, overeater, and dead-broke pulp fiction writer with outsize artistic ambitions—was glued to his television. Like the rest of America, he was captivated by the widely broadcasted Valachi hearings, in which a Mafia foot soldier publicly revealed the i…

Saving the Studio

The genesis of "The Godfather" dates back to 1966, when Paramount Pictures was Hollywood's last-place studio, financially flailing and desperate for a hit movie. Enter Charles Bluhdorn, an Austrian-born industrialist captivated by the romance of Hollywood and in the market for a studio with which h…