Post something that you may know about that took place behind the scenes of any of The Godfather movies.


James Caan was paid the same amount of money for appearing in ONE scene in Godfather II as he was for co-starring in all of the first Godfather.


Don Cardi

The Actor who played carlo arranged for filming at the Corleone Mall. Actually he got that role because of this.

Winona Ryder was the original choice to play Mary in GFIII.

James Caan could have been Michael Corleone instead of Al Pacino...

De Niro screen tested for - "Sonny"

The only one that liked Al Pacino for "Michael" was Coppola.

Robert Redford was another option for Michael Corleone.

The scenes which are purported to be of Corleone, Sicily were shot elsewhere as they thought that Corleone looked too modern.

I wonder if how much the Corleonesi cosa nostra would have taxed them to film there.

Tony Lip (Carmine Lupertazzi of the Sopranos) appears in the wedding scene in GFI as an extra.

The tollbooth used in the scene of Sonny's murder was going to be demolished and rebuilt. So the studio was given the ok to trash the tollbooth for that scene.


Don Cardi

Lee Strasberg was originally offered only $10,000 to portray Hyman Roth in GF II.

Danny Thomas considered buying Paramount so he could play Vito Corleone.

Marlon Brando and James Caan (and perhaps Robert Duvall, but I'm not sure) were very fond of mooning one another on the set of The Godfather. Pacino's refusal to participate in such antics only served to alienate him from the rest of the cast, which actually made him happy, as he felt that it enabled him to better understand Michael's alienation from his family.

Teresa Hagen is one of the only actors to appear in all 3 movies.

During the scene where the paramedics are carrying Vito up the stairs on the gurney, Brando secretly put 400 lbs worth of weights in the gurney as a practical joke. If you look closely, you can see the actors carrying him struggling a little more than necessary for a 170+ lb man.

Don Tommassino is played by 3 different actors

I think Don Tommasino in GF1 and 3 is the same actor.

I thought so at first, too, but it's a different person. In The Godfather, Tommasino is played by Corrado Gaipa; in GFIII, he's played by Vittorio Duse.

Back to the game...

Clemenza was supposed to be in The Godfather: Part II, in place of Frank Pentangeli, but requested far too much money for the part, and wanted a colleague of his to write his own script. In result, Clemenza was killed off (That wasn't no heart attack!), and Pentangeli was born.

Other actors who appear in all three films:
Al Pacino, Talia Shire, Diane Keaton, Sofia Coppola, Richard Bright (Neri), and the kid who played Anthony.

Are you sure about that? The chracter of Anthony appears in all three films, but the actors themselves, well it can't be. Anthony is a different age in all three movies.

Anthony Gounaris in GF
James Gounaris in GFII
Franc D'Ambrosio in GFIII

Now the Anthony's in GFI and GFII may be brothers in real life.



Don Cardi

Yes, DC, they are brothers.

Lenny Montana who played Luca Brasi was a professional wrestler. He wrestled under the names of: The Zebra Kid, Lenny 'Bull' Montana, Chief Chickawicki.

The scene of Kay and Michael at Connie's wedding, where Mike is telling the Luca Brasi story, was shot at night. Gordon Willis did an incredible job with the lighting.

I am loving all this information keep the posting going Clapping

Ahuh. You learn alot from this.

Both Marlon Brando and Al Pacino got special dental appliances from their dentists for this movie: Brando to give Vito his signiture "bulldog" look, and Pacino to make his jaw look broken.


Don Cardi

Yes Clapping Yes Cheering

The format of the Baptism sequence was not Coppola's idea, despite his directing genius.

Lenny Montana (Luca Brasi) was a criminal in real life. He has shot people, and worked together with some guys of average position in the maffia, but I don't think he was ever 'made'.

Where did you read this Enzo?


Don Cardi

"De Amerikaanse maffia - Een geschiedenis"

Translated:
"The American maffia - A history"

Written by Thomas Reppetto