Pacino, Caan, Keaton, Shire, Robert Duvall and John Cazale dominated the screen for the rest of that decade, and the years ahead. As Don Vito Corleone, Marlon Brando won the Best Actor Oscar (which he refused), and was returned to leading man status. The Godfather also changed the star system of the 1970s.
#AL PACINO THE GODFATHER 1 SERIES#
It made Italians seem like more fully realised people and not stereotypes… it helped Italianise American culture.” This The Godfather 1:18 Scale Die-Cast 1955 Cadillac Fleetwood Series 60 has been personally hand-signed by Al Pacino during his signing with Celebrity. In his 2012 analysis The Godfather Effect, writer Tom Santopietro claimed, “The film changed Hollywood because it finally changed the way Italians were depicted on film. Severed horse heads in beds, pregnant newlywed wives blown up in cars, backseat strangulation and an endless spray of bullets, brutal violence was throughout, yet proved a vital and valid part of the storytelling. The way The Godfather portrayed violence was also a game changer. (Photo Courtesy: Twitter) Al Pacino’s work in The Godfather is said to be one of the best performances of his career. It helped open the door for tougher, more critical tales in what became known as the ‘New Hollywood of the ’70s’. Pacino got his first Oscar nomination for the film. The Godfather took a cynical look at that dream, at a time when the US was embroiled in both Vietnam and Watergate. The first words uttered in the movie, “I believe in America” set up the tale that reflected the madness, glory and failure of the American dream, along with the moral decay of optimistic youth. It was also one of Al Pacino’s most memorable roles. It created an iconic figure in Vito Corleone the mafia godfather played by Marlon Brando. It was one of Francis Ford Coppola’s greatest works. Source: SBS The collapse of the American Dream The Godfather is the epitome of American mafia movies. Behind the scenes of the 1972 crime classic, which still stands as one of the greatest. The son also rises: favourite son Michael (Al Pacino) and his father, Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) in 'The Godfather'. Al Pacino reportedly had his jaw wired shut for the scene in the. Far more than that, it also changed cinema.
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The director even cast his sister Talia Shire in a central role.ĭespite all this, The Godfather created screen magic and was hailed as an instant classic from the moment it premiered on 24 March 1972, winning three Oscars including Best Picture.
#AL PACINO THE GODFATHER 1 MOVIE#
Not adding any puff to the soufflé was the movie cast made up of relative unknowns and B-grade players like Al Pacino, James Caan and Diane Keaton. Even though the novel on which the film is based by Mario Puzo had been a best-seller, it’d been dismissed as pulp fiction, with The New York Times citing its ‘overdramatisation’. But creating an epic was not anticipated.ĭirector Francis Ford Coppola was something of a Hollywood joke, having just made a string of box office duds, while Marlon Brando was deemed a ‘has been’. The cast features Marlon Brando, James Caan, and Al Pacino. Lauded today as one of cinema’s masterpieces, and launching a trilogy that earned nine Oscars, no one knew quite what to expect when the cameras began rolling on the movie in 1971. The Godfather is the 1972 feature film adaptation of the crime novel of the same name by. Marlon Brando, Al Pacino and Francis Ford Coppola during makeup session.Ĭoppola and Brando work on the choreography of the scene in which Don Corleone gets shot.For all its Oscars, acclaim and legacy, the fact is The Godfather really should have been a bomb.
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Marlon Brando clowning during makeup session. Makeup artist Dick Smith turns Brando into Don Corleone. As he worked on the script, though, he remembered Robert De Niro’s exceptional audition for the movie and so proceeded to cast him without offering the part to Brando.Ĭoppola directs Brando and the cast in the wedding scene at the start of The Godfather.Ĭoppola (center) with cast members James Caan, Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, and John Cazale.f I've seen the trilogy a few times and I would definitely love to watch it again.įor now, I'll content myself by looking at some behind-the-scenes snapshots captured by photographer Steve Schapiro who was present at the creation of Coppola's masterpiece in 1972.įrancis Ford Coppola considered bringing Marlon Brando back to play Vito Corleone as a young man, convinced that he could play the role at any age. The Godfather is the product of Francis Ford Coppola's directorial genius, and the genius of everyone involved - actors, screenwriters, props people, etc.