The Godfather (1972) Item 4 Mario Puzo's 1969 novel is a perfectly serviceable gangster potboiler that provides enough soapy intrigue and wanton violence to distract readers from its pedestrian writing and overlong tangents
Francis Ford Coppola's epic film adaptation pulls off the tricky task of streamlining the story while simultaneously expanding its themes. Where Puzo's book is an enjoyably ham-fisted melodrama, the Oscar-winning The Godfather remains one of American cinema's crowning achievements
