109 Fun Facts About The Godfather

Which actress plays Kay Adams, Michael Corleone's girlfriend and later wife, in The Godfather?

Diane Keaton gets the film's last shot: Kay watches the study door close on her as Michael's men kiss his hand and call him Don Corleone.

Who wrote The Godfather, the 1969 novel on which the film is based?

Mario Puzo was desperate for money, to clear gambling debts by production chief Robert Evans's telling, so Paramount got the film rights before the novel was even published; it then sold over nine million copies in two years.

What is Vito Corleone buying from a street stall when gunmen open fire on him in The Godfather?

Oranges roll across the street as five bullets hit the Don, who survives; the hospital vigil that follows is what first pulls Michael into the family's war.

Which actor did Paramount want for Michael Corleone before settling on Al Pacino?

Robert Redford and Warren Beatty were the bankable names the studio wanted, and production chief Robert Evans dismissed the little-known Pacino as a runt.

Which 1971 film gave Al Pacino his first leading role, shortly before he played Michael Corleone?

The Panic in Needle Park cast him as a New York heroin addict, and he had only just shot it, which is why Paramount saw an unknown where Coppola saw Michael.

Which actor gave up a small part in The Godfather and later won an Oscar as young Vito in Part II?

Robert De Niro was released from the first film to make The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight, then came back two years later as the young Vito and won Best Supporting Actor.

Which singer won back the role of crooner Johnny Fontane after it had been handed to Vic Damone?

Al Martino, dropped in favour of Damone, appealed to his own godfather, the crime boss Russell Bufalino; Damone soon withdrew and the part came back to him.

In The Godfather, what is the name of the racehorse whose severed head ends up in Jack Woltz's bed?

Khartoum is the $600,000 stallion the studio boss shows off to Tom Hagen; the morning he wakes beside its head, he gives the Don's godson the film part he had refused.

Vito Corleone is gunned down after refusing to protect which drug baron's narcotics business?

Sollozzo has the Tattaglias behind him; Michael later kills him and the corrupt Captain McCluskey in a restaurant.

Which real-life mobster is Las Vegas casino boss Moe Greene based on?

Bugsy Siegel, the flamboyant mobster who helped develop Las Vegas, is the model; Moe Greene refuses to sell his casino and is shot through the eye when Michael settles the family's scores.

Sonny Corleone is ambushed and machine-gunned where?

At a highway toll booth: Sonny storms out alone after hearing his sister has been beaten again, and carloads of gunmen are waiting for him at the causeway barrier.

Who sets Sonny up for his fatal ambush by beating Connie, and is later strangled on Michael's orders?

Carlo Rizzi, Connie's husband, was paid by Barzini to stage the beating that lured Sonny out; once he admits it, Clemenza strangles him in a car.

Who does Michael marry while hiding in Sicily?

Apollonia Vitelli dies in his place: a bomb planted in Michael's car goes off when she takes the wheel to surprise him with her driving.

In the climactic montage, Michael is godfather at whose baptism while his enemies are murdered?

Connie's newborn son is the child, played by the director's baby daughter Sofia Coppola; as Michael renounces Satan at the font, his gunmen kill the rival bosses.

Which caporegime betrays Michael by arranging a meeting with Barzini, and is led away to be killed?

Salvatore Tessio proposes the meeting at the Don's funeral, exactly the move Vito had warned would mark the traitor; caught, he asks Tom Hagen to tell Mike it was only business.

Which actress, Francis Ford Coppola's sister, plays Connie Corleone in The Godfather?

Talia Shire won the part over her brother's objections: Coppola at first thought her too pretty to play Connie, yet he went on to fill the film with family, his parents included.

Which mob-linked group pressured The Godfather's producers to drop the words 'Mafia' and 'Cosa Nostra'?

The Italian-American Civil Rights League, led by mob boss Joseph Colombo, dropped its campaign against the film once producer Al Ruddy promised to strike both words from the script.

How does Vito Corleone die in The Godfather?

A heart attack in his garden fells the Don as he plays with his grandson Anthony, and at the funeral the traitor he had warned Michael about steps forward.

Which cinematographer, nicknamed the 'Prince of Darkness', shot The Godfather in deep shadow and amber light?

Gordon Willis got the nickname from fellow cameraman Conrad Hall for lighting so sparingly that Brando's eyes stay hooded in shadow.

Which composer wrote the score for The Godfather, including its famous Love Theme?

Nino Rota's score lost its Oscar nomination once the Academy learned he had reused music from the 1958 Italian comedy Fortunella; the music branch voted again and John Addison's Sleuth score took its place.

Where is a gun hidden for Michael before he shoots his two dinner companions in a Bronx restaurant?

Behind the toilet: Clemenza has the gun planted in the men's room, and Michael walks back to the table, shoots both men in the head and has to flee to Sicily.

Which musical won eight Oscars at the 1973 ceremony yet lost Best Picture to The Godfather?

Cabaret took eight awards, among them Best Director for Bob Fosse, who beat Coppola, yet The Godfather's three wins included the top prize.

Who did Brando send to the Oscars to decline his Best Actor award?

Sacheen Littlefeather declined it on stage to boos and applause, protesting Hollywood's treatment of Native Americans; the Academy apologised to her in 2022, nearly 50 years later.

Which actor had refused his Best Actor Oscar two years before Brando turned his down for The Godfather?

George C. Scott refused his Oscar for Patton, telling the Academy he was not in competition with other actors and dismissing the ceremony as a 'meat parade'.

In which city does Michael give Fredo the kiss of death at a New Year's Eve party in Part II?

Havana: at midnight Michael grips his brother's face and says 'I know it was you, Fredo', moments before Batista resigns and the guests flee the revolution.

What legitimate business serves as the Corleone family's front in The Godfather?

An olive oil importer: the Genco company gives the rackets a lawful face, until Michael plans to sell it and move the family into Las Vegas casinos.

In which New York City borough was the Corleone compound filmed?

Staten Island: a quiet residential side street there became the Corleones' compound, the 'Mall', which the story places in Long Beach on Long Island.

What arrives wrapped in Luca Brasi's bulletproof vest as a Sicilian message that he has been killed?

A dead fish: Clemenza explains the old Sicilian message, that Luca Brasi 'sleeps with the fishes', and Sonny answers by taking the family to war.

Which film did the American Film Institute rank first in 2007, one place above The Godfather, among the greatest American movies?

Citizen Kane topped both AFI lists, while The Godfather climbed from third place in 1998 to runner-up in 2007, trading places with Casablanca.

Which Godfather line is AFI's second-greatest movie quote?

'I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse' belongs to Vito, but Michael says a version of it first, telling Kay how his father freed Johnny Fontane from a bandleader's contract.

Which other Francis Ford Coppola film competed against The Godfather Part II for Best Picture at the 1975 Oscars?

The Conversation, his small thriller starring Gene Hackman as a surveillance expert, was also nominated, so on the night Part II won, Coppola beat himself.

In The Godfather, Clemenza says 'Leave the gun, take the' what after a traitor is shot in a parked car?

The cannoli: Clemenza gives the order moments after Paulie Gatto, who sold out the Don, is shot in the car, putting dessert ahead of the murder weapon.

Which branch of the military does Michael Corleone join in World War II, refusing the deferment his father arranged?

The Marines: Michael breaks the news at his father's birthday party in 1941, enraging Sonny, and comes home from the war a decorated captain.

What was Vito Corleone's surname at birth, before an Ellis Island official renamed him in Part II?

Andolini: fleeing the Sicilian don who murdered his family, nine-year-old Vito is registered at Ellis Island under the name of his home town instead.

Which Black Hand extortionist does young Vito kill in Part II, launching his rise?

Don Fanucci settles for less than he demanded, and Vito then trails him across the rooftops above a street festival and shoots him inside his own building.

Where is Michael's compound in Part II, the setting for Anthony's First Communion party?

Lake Tahoe: the Nevada lakeside estate hosts the Communion party in 1958, and that same night gunmen open fire on Michael's bedroom, setting off his hunt for a traitor.

Which real gangster is Hyman Roth based on?

Meyer Lansky, the mob's gambling kingpin, is the model: he too sought refuge in Israel, the haven Roth is refused before he flies back to Miami.

Which enforcer takes Fredo fishing on the lake and shoots him while Michael watches from the house?

Al Neri had been told nothing was to happen to Fredo while their mother lived; at her funeral Michael embraces his brother, then gives Neri a silent look.

Part II shares with which other film the distinction of being a sequel that won Best Picture?

The Return of the King, the third Lord of the Rings film, succeeded where The Godfather Part III had failed: the third Godfather was also nominated for Best Picture and lost.

Which acting teacher played Hyman Roth?

Lee Strasberg, America's leading teacher of Method acting, earned a supporting-actor Oscar nomination as Roth, only to lose the award to one of his own Part II castmates.

Which actress dropped out of Part III, handing the role of Mary Corleone to Sofia Coppola?

Winona Ryder reached Rome suffering from nervous exhaustion and withdrew on medical advice as filming began, so a hurried Coppola gave the part to his own daughter.

Why is Robert Duvall's Tom Hagen absent from Part III?

He wanted pay comparable to Pacino's: Duvall said double his own fee would have been fine, 'but not three or four times'. Coppola rewrote the script so that Tom Hagen has died before the story begins.

Who plays Sonny's illegitimate son Vincent Mancini in Part III?

Andy García earned a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination as Vincent, who inherits Sonny's temper and ends the film as the family's new don.

Part III's finale unfolds at Anthony's operatic debut in which Palermo opera house?

The Teatro Massimo hosts Anthony's debut in Cavalleria Rusticana, and on its front steps afterwards Mary is killed by an assassin's bullet meant for Michael.

Michael's bid to go legitimate in Part III involves buying control of what?

A Vatican-linked real estate company, Immobiliare, is the prize: Michael puts up $600 million for a controlling interest, then learns the deal is a swindle arranged by the archbishop who brokered it.

What was the title of Coppola's 2020 recut of Part III?

The Godfather Coda carries the subtitle The Death of Michael Corleone, the title Paramount refused when the film was first made. Coppola's recut also gave it a new beginning and ending.

The Godfather Saga, aired on NBC in November 1977, did what to the first two films?

The Saga recut them in chronological order across four nights and restored scenes that had been cut from both theatrical releases.

Which actor played Fredo, made only five films, and died of cancer in 1978 after finishing The Deer Hunter?

John Cazale was already terminally ill when The Deer Hunter began: its backers wanted him fired over the insurance risk, but director Michael Cimino fought to keep him.

What is the trade of Bonasera, who opens The Godfather by begging Don Corleone to avenge his daughter?

Undertaker Bonasera gets his justice on Connie's wedding day, and Vito later calls in the favor at the funeral parlor: make Sonny's bullet-torn body fit for his mother to see.

In The Godfather, what phrase do the Corleones use for waging all-out war on the rival families?

Going to the mattresses means holing up in hideouts with bedding for the gunmen, and the mobster playing piano through the gang-war montage is the director's own father, Carmine Coppola.

Which Italian director turned down the chance to direct The Godfather before Coppola was hired?

Sergio Leone turned the job down, as did several other veteran directors; he went on to make a gangster epic of his own, Once Upon a Time in America.

What title does lawyer Tom Hagen, raised by the Corleones as one of their own, hold within the crime family?

Consigliere, the don's counselor, is Tom Hagen's post until Michael sidelines him as the family's lawyer in Las Vegas, telling him he is not a 'wartime consigliere'.

Which veteran director did Paramount consider bringing in to replace Coppola during The Godfather's troubled shoot?

Elia Kazan, who had directed Brando in On the Waterfront, never took over: Brando vowed to walk off if Coppola was fired, and Coppola sacked the staffers angling against him first.

Which British stage legend was Coppola's other top choice to play Vito Corleone, alongside Marlon Brando?

Laurence Olivier made Sleuth that year instead, earned a Best Actor nomination for it, and lost the Oscar to Brando's Don Corleone.

What did Marlon Brando use to blacken his hair for his improvised screen test as Don Corleone?

Shoe polish. Filmed at home by Coppola, Brando darkened his blond ponytail and padded his cheeks, saying the Don should have the face of a bulldog: mean-looking but warm underneath.

Which singer, widely believed to be the model for Johnny Fontane, raged at The Godfather's author in a Hollywood restaurant?

Frank Sinatra. The author had grown up with Sinatra's picture on the family wall, yet when a diner steered him to the singer's table at Chasen's, Sinatra shouted abuse and threatened to beat him.

Which phrase does James Caan's Sonny use while mocking Michael's plan to shoot a police captain at close range?

Bada-bing. Caan said the words just came out of his mouth, and they travelled: The Sopranos later named its strip club the Bada Bing.

Which film did The Godfather displace in 1972 as the biggest box-office earner of all time?

Gone with the Wind. It had lost the record to The Sound of Music in 1966 and won it back with a 1971 reissue, only for The Godfather to take it within a year.

Which film ended The Godfather's reign as the top rentals earner of all time?

Jaws. It opened in hundreds of theaters at once and needed only 78 days to dethrone The Godfather, which had debuted in just five.

The severed horse's head in The Godfather's bedroom scene was real; where did the production get it?

A dog-food company supplied the head, taken from a horse that was already due to be slaughtered. Coppola was still criticised for using the real thing.

Late in The Godfather Part II, a flashback shows Vito's birthday party on the very day of which world event?

Pearl Harbor has just been bombed, and Michael stuns his brothers with news of his own. Brando was due to appear but never turned up, so Vito stays off screen.

In The Godfather Part III, how does Michael Corleone finish the line 'Just when I thought I was out'?

"They pull me back in" is Michael's cry that he can never leave crime behind. The line was nominated for AFI's list of the 100 greatest movie quotes.

The Godfather opens during which Corleone celebration, as Vito hears requests in his darkened study?

A wedding reception fills the lawn while Vito works indoors: by Sicilian tradition, a father grants favours on his daughter's big day. Almost 750 locals played the guests.

Which four-word line, spoken by a father asking Vito Corleone for a favour, opens The Godfather?

"I believe in America" comes from Bonasera, who has lost faith in its courts. He wants the Don to deliver the justice that a judge denied his daughter.

How is Michael Corleone's young Sicilian bride killed in The Godfather, in an attack meant for him?

A car bomb set up by Fabrizio, Michael's own bodyguard, kills her instead. Her death proves that the rival families have found his Sicilian hideout.

Which Disney film features Mr. Big, a tiny arctic shrew crime boss modelled on Vito Corleone?

Zootopia gives Mr. Big the voice and manner of Marlon Brando's Don, and surrounds the tiny shrew with polar bears as his hired muscle.

Vito Corleone is gunned down in the street in The Godfather while New York shops for which holiday?

Christmas shopping on Fifth Avenue was the first scene Coppola shot, filmed several days ahead of schedule because snow flurries were forecast.

Marlon Brando did not memorise his lines as Vito Corleone; how did he deliver them on set?

Reading hidden cue cards was Brando's habit from early in his career. He argued that glancing at them made a character look as if he were searching for the words.

The Godfather's logo, first drawn for the novel's cover, shows a hand holding what?

Puppet strings dangling from a marionette handler's grip make up the design by S. Neil Fujita, who also created the jacket for Truman Capote's In Cold Blood.

Which HBO mob drama cast Dominic Chianese, Johnny Ola in The Godfather Part II, as Uncle Junior?

The Sopranos gave Chianese his best-known part 25 years after Coppola launched his film career with the role of Hyman Roth's go-between.

Al Pacino shares no scenes with The Godfather Part II's young Vito; which 1995 thriller first united the two actors?

Heat was promoted heavily on the pairing, 21 years after the sequel's split timelines had kept its two biggest names from ever meeting on screen.

Which actor, the voice of Fat Tony on The Simpsons, plays rival mobster Joey Zasa in The Godfather Part III?

Joe Mantegna's Zasa orchestrates a helicopter attack on a roomful of dons, then is shot dead by Vincent in the middle of a street festival.

Which body investigates the Corleone family in The Godfather Part II, calling Michael to testify under oath?

A Senate committee, arranged through Hyman Roth's connections, questions Michael in scenes that Coppola modelled on the real Valachi hearings.

On Family Guy, Peter Griffin shocks his relatives by dismissing The Godfather with which complaint?

"It insists upon itself" is his verdict, delivered while the Griffins are trapped in a flooding panic room. He then declares his love for The Money Pit.

The Godfather Part III lost the 1991 Best Picture Oscar to which Kevin Costner film?

Dances with Wolves won seven Oscars that night, including Best Picture. Coppola's sequel had seven nominations and converted none of them.

According to Vito Corleone, a man who doesn't spend time with his family can never be what?

A real man: the novel's author admitted that this and the Don's other famous maxims were sayings he first heard from his own mother.

The sudden death of which real pope, weeks after his election, is woven into The Godfather Part III's plot?

John Paul I died just 33 days after his election in 1978. The film recasts him as Cardinal Lamberto, who is poisoned by a corrupt archbishop's tea.

Which chronic illness causes Michael Corleone to collapse with a stroke in The Godfather Part III?

Diabetes fells Michael just as he works out who betrayed him, which leaves his hot-tempered nephew Vincent free to take revenge without his blessing.

Which star of 1930s gangster films was offered Hyman Roth in The Godfather Part II but stayed retired?

James Cagney, the snarling lead of The Public Enemy, turned Coppola down because he had given up acting and would not be coaxed back.

Which capo, created when Clemenza's actor quit, agrees to testify against Michael in The Godfather Part II?

Frank Pentangeli exists only because Richard Castellano would not return as Clemenza. The replacement part earned Michael V. Gazzo an Oscar nomination.

Which state does Pat Geary, the politician blackmailed by the Corleones in The Godfather Part II, represent?

Nevada's man in Washington demands a bribe for a casino licence and sneers at Michael's Italian heritage. He falls into line once he is framed for a prostitute's murder.

Which Sicilian Mafia chieftain, who killed Vito's family, does Vito return to stab in The Godfather Part II?

Don Ciccio is an old man by the time Vito comes back. Vito wins his blessing for a new business, says whose son he is, and slices him open.

In which city's airport is Hyman Roth shot dead by a Corleone gunman posing as a reporter?

Miami is where Roth lands after Israel refuses him entry. Rocco Lampone shoots him in front of the federal agents waiting to arrest him, and dies trying to flee.

In The Godfather Part II, Hyman Roth boasts to Michael that the mob is 'bigger than' which corporate giant?

U.S. Steel was the yardstick Roth chose, and the boast was not invented for the film: it echoes a remark attributed to the real gangster who inspired him.

Kay tells Michael that the miscarriage he mourned in The Godfather Part II was really what?

An abortion, Kay says, chosen so that she would not bring another of Michael's sons into the world. He strikes her and banishes her from the family.

Sonny Corleone, Vito's hot-headed eldest son in The Godfather, was christened with which first name?

Santino is the name John Belushi's Vito used on Saturday Night Live, grumbling in group therapy that a rival family "shot my son Santino 56 times".

What is the first name of Mama Corleone, Vito's wife, played in The Godfather by jazz singer Morgana King?

Carmela shields one of her sons without knowing it: Michael orders that Fredo must not be harmed for as long as their mother is alive.

Which Ivy League college does Michael Corleone attend, hoping to stay clear of his family's criminal business?

Dartmouth suited Vito's plans as well: he never wanted Michael in the rackets and hoped his youngest son would go into politics.

Tom Hagen is the one Corleone insider without Italian blood in The Godfather; what is his ancestry?

German-Irish roots made Hagen an outsider: once he became Vito's chief adviser, rival clans sneered at the Corleones as "The Irish Gang".

The Godfather Part II, over its own studio's objections, began which lasting Hollywood practice?

Numbering sequels was new for a major American film: executives feared nobody would pay for more of a story they had already seen. Coppola insisted, and the hit set the pattern.

How is casino boss Moe Greene killed during the baptism montage that ends The Godfather?

Shot through the eye while he is having a massage: the image stuck so firmly that later mob dramas call such a killing a "Moe Greene special".

Marlon Brando wanted Vito Corleone's jowly face to resemble which animal, 'mean-looking but warm underneath'?

A bulldog, he said. Brando also decided that the Don had once been shot in the throat, which is why he gave the character such a strained way of speaking.

Which rival family backs the drug deal Vito Corleone refuses, though Barzini proves the true mastermind?

Tattaglia men also kill Luca Brasi when he poses as a defector. Only after the peace summit does Vito grasp that Barzini had been directing them all along.

Which actor, later a regular on Barney Miller, plays the veteran capo who sells Michael out in The Godfather?

Abe Vigoda landed the part at an open call for actors who had no agent. He was already 50 when the film was shot, and the role made his name.

In which gambling resort are the assembled dons machine-gunned from a helicopter in The Godfather Part III?

Atlantic City is where Michael cashes out his old partners moments before the ambush. The production filmed on location there, including at the Trump Castle casino.

After young Vito hides a bundle of guns for Clemenza in The Godfather Part II, what stolen gift does Clemenza bring?

An expensive rug is Clemenza's thank-you. He steals it with a startled Vito lending a hand, then lays it in the Corleones' apartment.

Which famously suntanned actor plays B.J. Harrison, the lawyer who replaces Tom Hagen in The Godfather Part III?

George Hamilton's lawyer was written in after Tom Hagen was killed off between films. Coppola later said the movie felt incomplete without Robert Duvall.

Which crooner had the biggest hit with 'Speak Softly Love', the vocal version of The Godfather's love theme?

Andy Williams took the song to number 34 on the Billboard Hot 100. That beat the orchestral recording from the film's own soundtrack, which stalled at number 66.

Which real mob boss, the raspy-voiced star of the televised Kefauver hearings, helped inspire Vito Corleone?

Frank Costello shared more than a voice with the Don: he too kept politicians in his pocket and looked down on drug dealing.

Why was The Godfather's score struck from the 1973 Oscar nominations after they had been announced?

It reused older film music: the love theme had first been heard in the 1958 Italian film Fortunella. The Oscar went instead to Charlie Chaplin for the 20-year-old Limelight.

Which Sicilian hill village, with Forza d'Agrò, stood in for the town of Corleone in The Godfather?

Savoca supplied the bar where Michael asks a father's permission to meet his daughter. It is a real, working bar, and the village is listed among the most beautiful in Italy.

Which Dr. Strangelove star plays the corrupt police captain who breaks Michael's jaw in The Godfather?

Sterling Hayden's Captain McCluskey looks untouchable, because the Mafia forbids killing policemen. Michael argues that a corrupt officer mixed up in drugs is fair game.

Which French novelist is credited with The Godfather novel's epigraph, 'Behind every great fortune there is a crime'?

Honoré de Balzac never wrote those exact words. The line is a tightened version of a passage in his novel Le Père Goriot about crimes that are never found out.

Which Paramount production chief wanted The Godfather so authentic that audiences would 'smell the spaghetti'?

Robert Evans blamed the failure of an earlier mob film on its lack of Italian-American talent, so he set out to hire an Italian-American director.

Which Chinatown screenwriter did uncredited work on the final scene between Vito and Michael in The Godfather?

Robert Towne was brought in as a script doctor for that father-and-son talk. Coppola thanked him from the Oscar stage for the "very beautiful" scene.

Which makeup artist, later famed for The Exorcist, turned Marlon Brando into the elderly Vito Corleone?

Dick Smith, nicknamed "The Godfather of Make-Up", had to work without prosthetics because Brando would not sit for them. A dental "plumper" made the jowls droop.

Which B-movie producer, Coppola's first boss in film, cameos among Michael's interrogators in The Godfather Part II?

Roger Corman gave Coppola his start a decade earlier, hiring him as an assistant and then helping to fund his early horror quickie Dementia 13.

The failure of which 1982 Coppola musical left the debts that pushed him to make The Godfather Part III?

One from the Heart rebuilt the Las Vegas Strip on soundstages and left his Zoetrope studio in financial trouble. Coppola said only dire money problems made him accept a third film.

Which Mascagni opera of Sicilian village revenge does Anthony Corleone sing at the climax of The Godfather Part III?

Cavalleria rusticana supplies more than the setting. Its Intermezzo plays over the film's closing scenes, just as it does over the credits of Raging Bull.