The Godfather 7 Interesting Facts

The Godfather 7  Interesting Facts

1. The  classic gangster novel by Mario Puzo  was  bought by  Paramount Pictures  for a mere 80,000 US dollars  in 1967. Apparently  Puzo was discouraged by  his agent  from selling the  movie rights  at such a  piddly price. The agent, a wise man indeed,  advised Puzo  to wait  until  the novel was  completed. Puzo didn’t listen. That sound which came from his  bathroom every morning was Puzo beating his head against the  mirror for having shortchanged himself.
2. Sergio Leone, and not  Francis Ford Coppola   was  the  original  choice to direct The Godfather. Being  an Italian-American the production heads thought Leone  was  the  best person  to direct  the epic saga  of an Italian immigrant’s   rise to godfatherhood in America. But   Leone got  busy with his own gangster epic Once Upon A  Time In America. Coppola apparently said no, then  said yes.
3. Marlon Brando’s  performance  in the title  role is considered  among the 5 most accomplished screen performances  from anywhere  in the world. Hard as it may be to believe, Brando was  not the  first choice to play Don Vito Corleone.  The British  legend Sir Laurence Olivier was  the  first  actor  to  be offered  the role. Sir Laurence   pleaded date issues. Unconfirmed sources  claim friends never stopped  ragging him about his poor judgement .The producers then apparently went to   Ernest Borgnine(best remembered  for his Oscar winning  performance in 1955’s Marty) before opting for Brando.
4. The  hardest  to cast was  Michael Corleone. The role was  offered  to  nearly every  major  20-something actor  of the  1970s:  Jack Nicholson,Robert de Niro, Dustin Hoffman, Martin Sheen, Ryan  O-Neal, Warren Beatty,  Robert Redford . Even  James Caan who  eventually played the  hotheaded Sunny Corleone was  auditioned  for Michael’s role. Finally  Al Pacino got the role on  Coppola’s insistence.No one at Paramount  wanted  Pacino except Coppola.
5. Coppola cast  many of his relatives in bit parts. His  sister Talia Shire played  Marlon Brando’s daughter. Coppola’s  daughter  Sofia  appeared in all three parts  of The  Godfather.Apparently Coppola’s father , wife and  son  also  appeared as  junior artistes  in The Godfather, though this imputed act of nepotism could  just be mythology.
6. John Cazale who played  Don Corleone’s  middle son Fedo  was  the love of Meryl Streep’s life. He  died  of cancer soon after  doing The Godfather.
7. When  at  the Oscars Roger Moore announced  Marlon Brando’s name  for best actor, Brando didn’t walk up to the stage. He  did not even attend  the  Oscars ceremony.  Instead  he  sent  an Apache  woman named  Sacheen Littlefeather to read  out a protest letter  about the  rights  of American Indians on stage.