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The Godfather is a 1972 crime film based on the novel of the same name by Mario Puzo and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, with screenplay by Puzo and Coppola. The film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton and James Caan. The story spans ten years from late 1945 to 1955 and chronicles the life of the Corleone crime family.
The Godfather was initially ranked as the third greatest film in American cinematic
history (behind Citizen Kane and Casablanca) on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies list
by the American Film Institute. It has now been re-
Two sequels followed, The Godfather Part II in 1974 and The Godfather Part III in 1990.
Plot
The film begins at the wedding of Don Vito Corleone's daughter Connie to Carlo Rizzi in New York City in late summer of 1945. Because "no Sicilian can refuse a request on his daughter's wedding day", Corleone, known to his friends and associates as "Godfather", and Tom Hagen (the Corleone family consigliere, or counselor) are preoccupied with hearing requests from friends and associates. Meanwhile, the Don's youngest son Michael, who has returned from World War II service as a highly decorated war hero, tells his girlfriend Kay Adams anecdotes about his father's criminal life, reassuring her that he is not like his family.
Among the guests at the celebration is the famous singer Johnny Fontane, Corleone's godson, who has come from Hollywood to petition the Godfather's help in landing a movie role that will revitalize his flagging career. Jack Woltz, the head of the studio, will not give Fontane the part, but Don Corleone explains to Johnny: "I'll make him an offer he can't refuse." Hagen is dispatched to California to fix the problem, but Woltz angrily tells him that he will never cast Fontane in the role, for which he is perfect, because Fontane seduced and "ruined" a starlet that Woltz favored. The next morning, Woltz wakes up to find the bloody severed head of his prize stud horse in the bed with him. Woltz gives in.
Upon Hagen's return, the family meets with heroin dealer Virgil "The Turk" Sollozzo,
who is being backed by the rival Tattaglia family. He asks Don Corleone for political
and legal protection, as well as financing to start the mass importation and distribution
of heroin, but despite the huge amount of money to be made, Corleone refuses, explaining
that his political influence would be jeopardized by a move into the narcotics trade.
The Don's oldest son, hotheaded Sonny, who had earlier expressed to the Don his support
of the family entering into the narcotics trade, breaks rank during the meeting and
questions Sollozzo's assurances as to the Corleone Family's investment being guaranteed
by the Tattaglia Family. His father, angry at Sonny's dissention in front of a non-
Soon after Don Corleone's refusal, he is shot several times in an assassination attempt at a local market. It is not publicly known whether he survived. Meanwhile, Sollozzo and the Tattaglias kill Luca Brasi. Sollozzo then abducts and persuades Tom Hagen to offer Sonny the deal previously offered to his father. Sollozzo reasons that Sonny is more amenable to the deal than was his father, and that with Don Corleone out of the way, Sonny will accept the deal. Enraged, Sonny refuses to consider the deal, promising a war with the Tattaglias and Sollozzo.
Michael, who is considered a "civilian" (not involved in the mob business) by the other mafia families and therefore able to live a more normal life, visits his father in the hospital. He is immediately shocked to find that there is no one guarding him. Realizing that his father is again being set up to be killed, he calls Sonny with a report, then moves his father to another room. He then goes outside to watch the door. With the help of an overwhelmed Enzo (the baker), who feels indebted to the Don, he bluffs away Sollozzo's men. Police cars soon arrive with the corrupt Captain McCluskey, who breaks Michael's jaw after he insinuates that McCluskey is being paid by Sollozzo to set up his father. Just then, Hagen shows up with "private detectives" licensed to carry guns to protect Don Corleone, and takes Michael home.
Following the attempt on the Don's life at the hospital, Sollozzo and Captain McCluskey,
who is acting as Sollozzo's bodyguard, request a meeting with Michael under the auspices
of ameliorating their differences. Michael volunteers to kill both men during the
meeting, which initially amuses Sonny and the other senior members of the Corleone
family, with Sonny admonishing him for reacting too personally and emotionally. However,
Michael convinces them that killing Sollozo and McCluskey is in the family's interest
("It's not personal. It's strictly business."). The meeting between Michael and Sollozzo,
with McCluskey attending, is arranged at a quiet, local restaurant, as requested
by Michael so he will "feel safe". Michael excuses himself to go to the restroom,
retrieves a planted revolver, and assassinates Sollozzo and McCluskey with near-
While in Sicily, Michael lives under the protection of Don Tommasino, an old friend of the family. While there, he falls in love with and marries a local girl, Apollonia, who is subsequently killed in a failed attempt on Michael's life.
Meanwhile, back in New York, Don Corleone returns home from the hospital and is distraught
to learn that Michael was the one who killed Sollozzo and McCluskey. Some months
later, in 1948, Sonny severely beats Rizzi for brutalizing the pregnant Connie, and
threatens to kill him the next time he abuses her. On the order of Tattaglia, Carlo
beats Connie severely in an attempt to lure Sonny out. Furious at the treatment of
his sister, Sonny drives off alone to fulfill his threat. On the way, he is ambushed
and Tommy-
Instead of seeking revenge for Sonny's killing, Don Corleone meets with the heads of the Five Families to arrange an end to the war. Not only is it draining all of their assets and threatening their survival, but ending the conflict is the only way that Michael can return home safely. Reversing his previous decision, Vito agrees that the Corleone family will provide political protection for Philip Tattaglia's traffic in heroin. At the meeting, Don Corleone intuits that Don Barzini, not Tattaglia, was responsible for the mob war and Sonny's death.
With his safety guaranteed, Michael returns from Sicily. More than a year later,
he reunites with his former girlfriend, Kay, telling her that he wants to marry her.
With the Don semi-
Clemenza and Tessio, two Corleone Family caporegimes (captains) complain that they are being pushed around by the Barzini Family and ask permission to strike back, but Michael refuses. With his father as consigliere, he plans to move the family operations to Nevada and after that, Clemenza and Tessio may break away to go on their own. Michael further promises that Connie's husband, Carlo, is going to be his right hand in Nevada, while Hagen will be the Family's Las Vegas lawyer.
In Las Vegas Michael is greeted by Fredo and Johnny Fontane in the hotel-
Michael returns home. In a private meeting, Vito explains his expectation that the Family's enemies will attempt to kill Michael by using a trusted associate to arrange a meeting as a pretext for assassination. Shortly afterwards, Don Vito dies of a heart attack while playing with his young grandson Anthony in his tomato garden.
During the funeral, Tessio conveys a proposal for a meeting with Barzini, which identifies him as the traitor that Vito was expecting.
Murder and Finale
Michael arranges for a series of murders to occur while he is standing as godfather for Connie and Carlo's son.
Pete Clemenza shoots Don Stracci and his bodyguards with a shotgun as they exit an elevator.
Moe Greene, while having a massage in one of his hotels, is shot in the eye by an unknown assassin (this form of execution was later known as the "Moe Greene Special").
Don Cuneo, while leaving a hotel, is trapped in a revolving door by Willi Cicci and shot three times.
Don Tattaglia and a prostitute he is with are gunned down while in bed by Rocco Lampone and another unknown assassin.
Finally, Don Barzini is shot on the steps of a courthouse by Al Neri, who is disguised by wearing his old policeman's uniform.
Michael's presence at the baptism gives him a perfect alibi for the murders. After the baptism, Tessio believes he and Michael are on their way to meet with Barzini. Instead, he is taken away by Willi Cicci and other buttonmen to be killed. Before he is carried away, Tessio tells Tom Hagen that he always liked Michael and his betrayal was simply just business. Michael confronts Carlo about Sonny's murder and tricks him into admitting his role in setting up the ambush. Michael informs Carlo that his punishment is to be excluded from the family business and hands him a plane ticket to exile in Nevada. Carlo gets into a car to go to the airport and is garroted by Clemenza.
Later, Connie confronts Michael, accusing him of Carlo's murder. Kay questions Michael about Connie's accusation, but he refuses to answer. She insists, and Michael lies, assuring his wife that he had no role in Carlo's death. Kay is relieved by his denial, believing it to be true. As the film ends, she watches Clemenza and new caporegime Rocco Lampone pay their respects to Michael, kissing his hand and addressing him as "Don Corleone." The door is closed by new capo Al Neri, as she realizes that Michael has become the new Godfather.
Differences from the novel
One of the primary parts of Puzo's novel which was not used for the movie was the flashback story of Don Corleone's earlier life, including his arrival in America, marriage and fatherhood, Don Fanucci's murder, and his rise in importance in the mafia, all of which were later used in The Godfather Part II.
Many subplots were trimmed in the transition from the printed page to the screen,
including: singer Johnny Fontane's misfortunes with women and his problems with his
voice; Sonny's impulsive dabbling in street crime as a teenager and his utter lack
of the tact and coolheadedness possessed in such abundance by his father; Sonny's
paramour Lucy Mancini's new-
Additionally, the novel makes it clear that Lucy was not pregnant by Sonny when she moved to Las Vegas, thus leaving no room for Vincent Mancini of The Godfather, Part III. Curiously, Puzo wrote the screenplays of all three movies, so the contradiction was well known to him.
Characters with smaller roles in the film than in the novel include Johnny Fontane,
Lucy Mancini, Rocco Lampone, and Al Neri (the latter two are reduced to non-
The novel and film also differ on the fates of Michael's bodyguards in Sicily, Fabrizzio and Calo. The film has them both surviving (Calo, in fact, appears in the third installment). In the book, however, Calo dies along with Apollonia in the car explosion, and Fabrizzio is shot and killed as one more victim in the famous "baptism scene" after he is tracked down running a pizza parlor in America. Fabrizzio's murder was deleted from the film but publicity photos of the scene exist. (He is later killed in a completely different scene in The Godfather Saga which was deleted from The Godfather: Part II).
The ending of the book differs from the end of the movie: whereas in the film Kay suddenly realizes that Michael has become "like his family", the drama is toned down in the book, where Tom Hagen lets her in on secrets for which, according to him, he would be killed should Michael find out. During the film's baptism scene, all the heads of the Five Families were killed. In the novel, only Barzini and Tattaglia, previously at war with the Corleones, are killed.
Coppola and Paramount
Francis Ford Coppola was not the first choice to direct, as at least two other directors
were approached first. Italian director Sergio Leone was offered the job, but he
declined on the basis that he did not find the story interesting. (He went on to
direct his own gangster opus, Once Upon a Time in America, which focused on Jewish-
There was intense friction between Coppola and the studio, Paramount Pictures, and several times Coppola was almost replaced. Paramount maintains that its skepticism was due to a rocky start to production, though Coppola believes that the first week went extremely well. Paramount thought that Coppola failed to stay on schedule, frequently made production and casting errors, and insisted on unnecessary expenses. Coppola says, in the DVD commentary, that he was shadowed by a replacement director, who was ready to take over if Coppola was fired, but despite such intense pressure, Coppola managed to defend his decisions and avoid being replaced.
Paramount was in financial troubles at the time of production and so was desperate for a "Big Hit" to boost business, hence the pressure Coppola faced during filming. They wanted The Godfather to appeal to a wide audience and threatened Coppola with a "Violence coach" to make the film more exciting. Coppola added a few more Violent scenes to keep the studio happy.
Casting
Coppola's casting choices were not popular with the studio executives at Paramount
Pictures, particularly Marlon Brando as Don Vito Corleone. Paramount, which wanted
Laurence Olivier (who was unable to take the part due to health problems), originally
refused to allow Coppola to cast Brando in the role, citing the difficulties Brando
had had on recent film sets. One studio suit proposed Danny Thomas for the role instead
of Brando citing the fact that Don Corleone was a strong "family man". At one point,
Coppola was told by the then president of Paramount that "Marlon Brando will never
appear in this motion picture." After pleading with the executives, Coppola was allowed
to cast Brando on the condition that he appear in the film for much less salary than
his previous films, that he perform a screen-
The studio originally wanted Robert Redford or Ryan O'Neal to play Michael Corleone,
but Coppola wanted an unknown who looked like an Italian-
Before Robert Duvall was cast, Bruce Dern, Paul Newman and Steve McQueen were considered for the role of Tom Hagen.
A then unknown Robert De Niro auditioned for the roles of Michael, Sonny, Carlo and Paulie Gatto. He was cast as Paulie, but Coppola arranged a "trade" with The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight to get Al Pacino from that film.
Sylvester Stallone auditioned for Carlo Rizzi and Paulie Gatto, Anthony Perkins for Sonny, and Mia Farrow auditioned for Kay. William Devane was seen for the role of Moe Greene. Mario Adorf was approached for a role as well.
Coppola cast his infant daughter, Sofia, as Connie and Carlo's newborn son, Michael
Francis Rizzi, in the climactic baptism scene near the movie's end. Sofia Coppola
played roles in the later Godfather movies. In Part II, she plays a nameless immigrant
girl on the ship that brings Vito Corleone to New York. In Part III, she plays a
major speaking role: that of Michael Corleone's daughter Mary. Coppola also cast
his sons as Frank and Andrew Hagen, the two sons of Tom Hagen. They can be seen in
the Sonny-
Star salaries
Al Pacino, James Caan and Diane Keaton each received $35,000 for their work on The Godfather, and Robert Duvall got $36,000 for eight weeks of work. Marlon Brando, on the other hand, was paid $50,000 for six weeks and weekly expenses of $1,000, plus 5% of the film, capped at $1.5 million. Brando later sold his points back to Paramount for $300,000.
Influence on popular culture
The Godfather along with the other films in the trilogy, had a strong impact on the public at large. Don Vito's line, "I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse" was voted as the second most memorable line in cinema history in a 2005 poll, called AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes by the American Film Institute.
Reports from Mafia trials and confessions suggest that Mafia families began a "real life" tradition of paying respect to the family don by kissing his ring, in imitation of the ending scene of the movie. There is no evidence of this custom being mentioned prior to the movie.
The scene where a delivery is made of a pair of pants and bullet proof vest wrapped around a fish is explained to be an old Sicilian message, "Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes!" This expression has made it into widespread American parlence.
An indication of the continuing influence of The Godfather and its sequels can be
gleaned from the many references to it which have appeared in every medium of popular
culture in the decades since the film's initial release. That these homages, quotations,
visual references, satires and parodies continue to pop up even now shows clearly
the film's enduring impact. In the television show The Sopranos, Tony Soprano's topless
bar is named Bada Bing after the line in The Godfather when Sonny says "You've gotta
get up close like this and bada-
The Godfather
The Godfather Al Pacino Sister Movie Art Proposal
The Godfather Marlon Brando Movie Art
The Godfather Al Pacino After Lunch Movie Art Divorce
The Godfather with cat Movie Art Flirting
The Godfather Al Pacino Alone Movie Art Love Letters
The Godfather Respect Movie Art
The Godfather Marlon Brando profile Movie Art self defence
The Godfather Al Pacino Confession Movie Art Dating.
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Top 10 questions to ask your prospective employer in an interview
Use these top 10 questions to learn what you need to know about the job you're interviewing for, and impress the interviewer.
You've landed the job interview, and it's going well. There's that awkward pause as the interviewer runs out of steam. The guy who could be your future boss asks, "Do you have any questions?" This is your chance to find out what you need to know about the job and the company and impress the interviewer with your interesting and thoughtful questions. Here are ten questions to help you find out what you need to know.
So, what should you ask? Here are ten great questions for you to use.
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Let's look at what you can learn from these questions. In most cases, there's no
right or wrong answer -
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If the interviewer says he values attention to detail, good writing skills, and the ability to juggle several tasks at once, you've learned a lot about his expectations. You'll also be able to assess if the job is a decent match with your skills.
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Ok, it's obvious why you would want to ask this. But watch out for a possible problem
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Understand if you're on your own on day one or if there's a plan for getting you up and running successfully.
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This may not apply to some types of jobs.
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You're looking for two things here -
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There should be a clear answer to this. If there isn't, you may be at the whim of an arbitrary boss. Most companies have a process for performance evaluations.
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If the interviewer can't come up with a couple of things he likes about the company, you may want to learn more before accepting a job offer.
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Find out about the people you might work with -
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If most people work 7 AM to 3 PM, and you like to roll in at 10 AM, you may have
a mismatch. You may also want to explore how much people work -
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You want to find out if there will be another round of interviews, if you'll hear back by a certain date, and what the hiring process will be.
Doing a job interview is a two-
10 ideas for home-
Looking for unique home business ideas? Read this article for ideas for businesses you can start immediately.
When you think of a home based business, you probably think of providing daycare for children and babies, house cleaning and window washing, bookkeeping and tax preparation, and lawn care. Many people have typical businesses such as these, and they earn a decent living by doing them too.
But if you're considering staring your own business, there are other ideas you can use to earn a decent living too. These are not your typical home business, so you'll have the advantage of being a "one of a kind" business that has little or no competition.
A good place to start is to check around your city and determine what types of products
or services are not provided, but are needed. Here are ten home-
1. Construct Crossword Puzzles-
2. Collect and Sell Nuts-
Then, find a market for them by checking your local yellow pages or the Internet.
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5 ways to identify stress
Some people show their anxiety outwardly, while others are able to repress it from the outside world.
Stress affects everyone in different ways. Some people show their anxiety outwardly, while others are able to repress it from the outside world—for a while at least. While it is true that people have varying thresholds for stress and that it manifests itself differently for each person, there are certain telltale signs of anxiety. Some of these signs are behavioural and some are physical. Here are five of the ways stress typical manifests itself on the human body and soul.
One of the chief indicators of a stressed out person is the inability to make decisions—particularly
trivial ones that normally would not be met with hesitation. Stress attacks a person’s
confidence and assertiveness, and as a result, a normally decisive person may waiver
on choices, insignificant and significant alike. If you find yourself in a store
having a mini-
Another prime indicator of high anxiety is a change in appetite. Usually a stressful situation will result in a loss of appetite; however, some people will seek solace and refuge in food.
Fatigue is another physical symptom of stress. Fatigue can be the result of being spread too thin at work or with personal problems. Insomnia, which can also be the byproduct of stress, will lead to fatigue during the day. The fatigue can be so pervasive that it affects the person both physically and mentally. Mental fatigue is tied in with the inability to make decisions and a person’s vulnerability to talking trivial matters way too seriously.
Changes in your body’s normal functions or appearance are signs of over-
Under great stress a loss of appetite may be accompanied by a loss of humour When
a person is stressed out it can sometimes be difficult for him or her to see the
lightness of an event or appreciate the humour in someone. Anxiety can stymie a person’s
ability to see things in perspective and to distinguish between the serious and non-
How can you combat these stressed-
Keeping a journal of your feelings can be helpful in identifying the stress-
Unless you have decided to take a vacation on a Caribbean island for a week,(which you should do if you can) it is a good idea to stay away from depressants like alcohol when you are stressed. Cracking open a beer after work may seem like a good idea when you are under great pressure but it can have a snowball effect that may send you deeper into your frenzied or depressed mood.
The last, and perhaps most important piece of advice is to get some sleep. Studies
show that stress levels are typically higher people who do not get enough sleep.
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