The Godfather (film series)

The Godfather
Directed by	Francis Ford Coppola
Produced by	Francis Ford Coppola (2–3) Albert S. Ruddy (1)
Written by	Mario Puzo Francis Ford Coppola
Based on	The Godfather by Mario Puzo
Music by	Nino Rota Carmine Coppola
Cinematography	Gordon Willis
Edited by	Peter Zinner (1–2) Barry Malkin (2–3) William H. Reynolds (1) Richard Marks (2) Lisa Fruchtman (3) Walter Murch (3)
Production company	Alfran Productions (1) American Zoetrope (3)
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release dates	15 March 1972 (1972-03-15) (The Godfather) 20 December 1974 (1974-12-20) (The Godfather Part II) 25 December 1990 (1990-12-25) (The Godfather Part III)
Running time	549 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English Italian Spanish
Budget	$73.5 million
Box office	$574.8 million

The Godfather film series consists of three crime films directed by Francis Ford Coppola inspired by the novel of the same name by Italian American author Mario Puzo. The series follows the trials of the Corleone family, Italian Americans whose patriarch, Vito Corleone, rises to be a major figure in American organized crime. His youngest son, Michael Corleone, becomes his successor. All three films were distributed by Paramount Pictures and released in 1972, 1974 and 1990. The series achieved success at the box office, with the films earning over $550 million worldwide. The first two films have received wide acclaim since release; the former, The Godfather, is seen by many as one of the greatest films of all time. Its sequel, The Godfather Part II, is viewed by many as the best sequel in cinematic history. The series is heavily awarded, winning 9 out of 29 total Academy Award nominations.

Film series

The Godfather

The Godfather, the first film in the franchise, was released on March 15, 1972. The feature-length film was directed by Francis Ford Coppola and based upon Mario Puzo's novel of the same name. The plot begins with Don Vito Corleone declining an offer to join in the narcotics business with notorious drug lord Virgil Sollozzo, which leads to an assassination attempt. Meanwhile, Vito's oldest son Sonny takes over the family and Michael strikes back for the assassination attempt by killing Sollozzo and a corrupted police captain, forcing Michael to go to Sicily in hiding. While in Sicily, Michael travels around the country and meets a young woman whom he marries, but who is eventually killed in a car bombing. Michael returns to America after the news of his brother Sonny's murder. After returning, Vito turns over the reins of the family to Michael. Michael plans to move the family business to Las Vegas; but before the move, he plots the killing of the heads of the five families on the day of his nephew's baptism. Other subplots include Vito's daughter's abusive marriage, Johnny Fontaine's success in Hollywood, and Vito's second oldest son Fredo's role in the family business in Las Vegas.

The Godfather Part II

The Godfather Part II, the second film in the franchise, was released on December 20, 1974. The feature-length film was again directed by Francis Ford Coppola and based upon Mario Puzo's novel of the same name. The film is in part both a sequel and a prequel to The Godfather, presenting two parallel dramas. The main storyline, following the first film's events, centers on Michael Corleone, the new Don of the Corleone crime family, trying to hold his business ventures together from 1958 to 1959; the other is a series of flashbacks following his father, Vito Corleone, from his childhood in Sicily in 1901 to his founding of the Corleone family in New York City.

The Godfather Part III

The Godfather Part III, the third film in the franchise, was released on December 25, 1990. Francis Ford Coppola returned as director for the feature-length film, while also writing the screenplay with the help of the author Mario Puzo. It completes the story of Michael Corleone, a Mafia kingpin who tries to legitimize his criminal empire. The film also weaves into its plot a fictionalized account of real-life events, which include the 1978 death of Pope John Paul I and the Papal banking scandal of 1981 and 1982, and links them with each other and with the affairs of Michael Corleone.

Compilations for video and television

In addition to the three films that were released to theaters, three compilations were created by Coppola and editors Barry Malkin and Walter Murch:

• The Godfather Saga (1977) – a 7-hour television miniseries based on the first two films, and incorporating additional footage that was not included in the theatrical releases.
• The Godfather 1902–1959: The Complete Epic (1981) – a version of The Godfather Saga that was released to video (VHS format).^[1]
• The Godfather Trilogy: 1901–1980 (1992) – a 10-hour compilation released directly to video (VHS and LaserDisc formats) in 1992 and 1997. It encompasses all three films, and again incorporates footage that was not included in the theatrical releases, more additional footage than either the Saga or Epic had previously included.

Cast

Reception

Box office performance

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the films received 99%, 97%, and 67% scores respectively. Metacritic, based on its ratings for each film (100%, 80%, 60%), lists the series as receiving "Generally Favorable Reviews" with its 80% average.

The series appears in many "Top 10" film lists, such as the Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association's Top 10 Films, IMDb top 250, Time magazine's All-Time 100 Movies, and James Berardinelli's Top 100.^[9]

Accolades

The three films together were nominated for a total of 29 Academy Awards, of which they won 9. For the Best Supporting Actor award, both The Godfather and The Godfather Part II had three actors nominated for the award, which is a rare feat. Both The Godfather and The Godfather Part II won the award for Best Picture in their respective years. The Godfather Part II won the most Academy Awards with six to its credit. The Godfather Part III was nominated for seven Oscars, but failed to win any.

• The Godfather — Nominations: 10, Wins: 3
• The Godfather Part II — Nominations: 11, Wins: 6
• The Godfather Part III — Nominations: 7, Wins: 0

Fourth installment

Following the reaction from the third installment, Coppola stated that the idea of a fourth picture was discussed, but eventually never went into production as Puzo died before they had a chance to write the film, stating he and Puzo discussed a potential script told in a similar narrative to Part II, seeing De Niro reprise his role as a younger Vito Corleone in the 1930s with a young Sonny Corleone gaining the families' political power, and a latter story featured during the 1980s seeing Andy García reprise his role as Vincent Corleone haunted by the death of his cousin Mary, running the family business through a ten-year destructive war and eventually losing the families' respect and power, seeing one final scene with Michael Corleone before his death.^[19] García has since claimed the film's script was nearly produced.^[19] Puzo's portion of the potential sequel, dealing with the Corleone family in the early 1930s, was eventually expanded into a novel by Ed Falco and released in 2012 as The Family Corleone.^[20] The estate of Puzo had sought to keep Paramount Pictures from producing a feature film based on the novel.^[21] This has been resolved, with Paramount gaining the rights to make more Godfather films.^[22]

Video games

Three video games have been released to supplement the film series. The releases include: The Godfather, The Godfather: The Game and The Godfather II.

Notes

References

Further reading

• AMC TV (2010-11-25). "Ten Things You Didn't Know About the Godfather Trilogy". Free Republic. 
• Browne, Nick (2000). Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather Trilogy. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-55950-8. 
• Messenger, Chris (2012). The Godfather and American Culture: How the Corleones Became "Our Gang". SUNY Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-8870-6. 
• Santopietro, Tom (2012). The Godfather Effect: Changing Hollywood, America, and Me. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-1-4299-5262-0. 
• Sciannameo, Franco (2010). Nino Rota's The Godfather Trilogy: A Film Score Guide. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-7711-5. 

The Godfather
Novels	The Godfather The Sicilian The Godfather Returns The Godfather's Revenge The Family Corleone
Films	The Godfather The Godfather Part II The Godfather Part III
Video games	The Godfather (1991) The Godfather (2006) The Godfather II (2009)
Corleone family	Vito Corleone Michael Corleone Tom Hagen Sonny Corleone Fredo Corleone Carmela Corleone Kay Adams-Corleone Connie Corleone Anthony Corleone Mary Corleone Vincent Corleone Sandra Corleone
Family allies	Genco Abbandando Luca Brasi Willi Cicci Peter Clemenza Johnny Fontane Paulie Gatto Carmine Marino Rocco Lampone Tony Molinari Sal Narducci Al Neri Tommy Neri Ritchie Nobilio Frank Pentangeli Salvatore Tessio Don Tommasino Carlo Tramonti
Family enemies	Don Altobello Momo Barone Emilio Barzini Don Fanucci Vincent Forlenza Nick Geraci Archbishop Gilday Moe Greene Johnny Ola Carlo Rizzi Carmine Rosato Hyman Roth Louie Russo Virgil Sollozzo Anthony Stracci Bruno Tattaglia Philip Tattaglia Jack Woltz Joey Zasa
Others	Amerigo Bonasera Pat Geary Cardinal Lamberto Lucy Mancini Danny Shea Mickey Shea Billy Van Arsdale Aldo Trapani Albert Volpe
Rival families	Barzini family Carmine Rosato family Cuneo family Tattaglia family
Music	The Godfather (soundtrack) The Godfather Part II (soundtrack) The Godfather Part III (soundtrack) "Speak Softly, Love" "Promise Me You'll Remember"
Miscellaneous	List of minor characters in The Godfather series Mario Puzo Mark Winegardner Ed Falco American Mafia Sicilian Mafia Five Families Corleone The Godfather Effect The Godfather Papers and Other Confessions The Sicilian The Freshman The Godfather Saga The Last Don Omertà
Book Category