“The Godfather” brought a lot of panache to the world of organized crime. The movie turned crime families on their heads.
Thankfully for everybody involved with the film, real mobsters were flattered by the portrayals and ended up adopting lots of the practices shown in the movie, mostly thanks to Don Corleone, with the addition of old-fashioned mannerisms and foreign words. One real-life boss was even apprehended by investigators while playing the video game adaptation.
Frank and Johnny
It's often thought that Johnny Fontane, the singer who shows off at Connie's wedding, was based on Frank Sinatra. It had long been rumored that Sinatra had used his mob ties to go from music to movies.
Sinatra wasn't a fan of Johnny Fontane, and it led to a public confrontation with Mario Puzo, calling him names and threatening to beat him up. It's thought that Fontane's role in the film version of "The Godfather" was much smaller than the book because of this.
The Bulldog's Resurgence
The movie led to a huge comeback for Marlon Brando, as during the sixties most of his movies had failed in big ways. In fact, by the time of "The Godfather", his flops outweighed his successes, and most movie studios considered him a risk. Still, he became the patriarch of the Corleones, and his star rose again, leading to roles in movies such as "Last Tango in Paris", "Apocalypse Now," and "Superman".
The role also landed him an Oscar, and though he would still end up being hard to work with, most famously for "Apocalypse Now", he brought immediate star power.
The Priciest Shot in the Movie
One of the most famous scenes from the first movie is Sonny's death, which takes place at a toll booth. It is one of the bloodiest, most violent scenes in the movie and was the most expensive one to shoot, but not for the reason you might think. The effects used in the movie were little more than blood squibs that popped thanks to an electronic cue, hidden under James Caan's clothing.
However, the toll booth that was destroyed was real, and the big expense for the shot was the production paying to rebuild the entire toll booth.
Not Their First Choice
Francis Ford Coppola made his name with "The Godfather" franchise, but he was far from the first choice of director for the project. Paramount Picture's first choice of director was Sergio Leone, famous for his spaghetti Westerns starring Clint Eastwood. But Leone didn't enjoy the novel and turned the project down.
Arthur Penn declined because he didn't want to do a gangster film so soon after "Bonnie and Clyde". Costa-Gavras liked the novel but thought he didn't know enough about American culture. Elia Kaza, Peter Bogdanovich, Fred Zinnemann, Peter Yates, and even Richard Lester were considered, and then Coppola signed on.