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Speaker 1: It's March of nineteen seventy two. Ivor Davis is an

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Speaker 1: LA based reporter for the London Daily Express.

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Speaker 2: I was the one man Los Angeles bureau working out

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Speaker 2: of southern California.

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Speaker 1: He's a British bloodhound who's heard the talk and read

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Speaker 1: the headlines of the most anticipated movie of the year,

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Speaker 1: The Godfather.

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Speaker 2: And there was all sorts of chicanery going on in

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Speaker 2: New York. We heard the mob didn't like the way

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Speaker 2: they were being depicted in the film, and so there

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Speaker 2: was a lot of talk buzzing around The Godfather.

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Speaker 1: He calls Paramount and they tell him press screenings are

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Speaker 1: coming not good enough. He wants a scoop, So.

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Speaker 2: My London office kept nagging me, when's the film coming out?

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Speaker 2: When are you gonna see it? Can you see it quickly?

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Speaker 1: One night, Ivor is hanging out at Chasin's, Yes, the

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Speaker 1: Chasins where Mario Puzzo had his altercation with Frank Sinott.

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Speaker 1: He's talking to the mad Or d a friend of

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Speaker 1: his name Phil Scully. He tells him about his quest

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Speaker 1: to see the movie everyone's talking about but nobody's seen.

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Speaker 2: And I said to Phil, have you heard about The Godfather?

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Speaker 2: He said, no, I know it's coming out, so I

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Speaker 2: said I'd love to see it, and I left it

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Speaker 2: at that.

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Speaker 1: A few days later, the reporter's phone rings. It's Phil.

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Speaker 2: He said, Iva, they're showing the movie tomorrow night and

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Speaker 2: it's at a Litton Savings alone cinema on Sunset Boulevard,

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Speaker 2: and if you want to see it, come along and

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Speaker 2: I'll get you in.

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Speaker 1: It turns out Jason's is catering a first look screening

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Speaker 1: for distributors.

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Speaker 2: He said, the only problem is I can't bring you

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Speaker 2: in as a journalist, so you have to pretend to

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Speaker 2: be a waiter.

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Speaker 1: So Ivor shows up to the theater the next day

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Speaker 1: and meets Phil around back to get a waiter's uniform.

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Speaker 2: He said, get in there. Make it simple, just take

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Speaker 2: drink orders. So I took drink orders and he said

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Speaker 2: keep your mouth shut, and I did that for about

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Speaker 2: forty five minutes to try to overhear what people were saying.

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Speaker 1: Just before the screening begins, Ibor takes off his uniform

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Speaker 1: and blends into the crowd of distributors and off.

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Speaker 2: I went into the screening room and got a backseat,

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Speaker 2: took my notebook, and there before my very eyes. The

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Speaker 2: movie unfolded.

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Speaker 3: I Believe in America.

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Speaker 4: I'm Mark Seal and I'm Nathan King.

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Speaker 1: And this is Leave the gun, Take the Canoli.

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Speaker 4: In today's episode, we're moving on from the tumult of shooting,

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Speaker 4: post production and endless fights and onto the glitz and

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Speaker 4: glam of The Guy Father's New York City premiere and

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Speaker 4: subsequent rise as one of the greatest films of all time.

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Speaker 1: We'll hear from the mastermind behind The Godfather's press strategy

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Speaker 1: and tie up the loose ends between Coppola and Evans.

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Speaker 4: So we left off last episode with Francis Ford Coppola

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Speaker 4: winning every single fight with Evans in the studio. He

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Speaker 4: gets the cast he wants, the locations he wants, He

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Speaker 4: painstakingly gets scenes back into the movie that were once

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Speaker 4: cut out of it. And he's made a masterpiece.

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Speaker 1: Well we know he made a masterpiece, but he's somehow

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Speaker 1: sure that he's made a boring movie. He's consumed by

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Speaker 1: the idea that it's going to be a flop.

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Speaker 4: But even without Copola believing in the movie, there's one

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Speaker 4: person who believed in it enough for everyone.

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Speaker 1: Yes, there was the great Marilynd Stewart paramounts worldwide head

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Speaker 1: of publicity and promotion, who got the town buzzing about

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Speaker 1: the film before a single frame had been shot.

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Speaker 5: No other publishers, maybe in the country, could do what

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Speaker 5: I could have done.

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Speaker 4: You talked to her for the book, right, Yeah.

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Speaker 1: I talked to her, and I talked to her, and

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Speaker 1: I talked to her for hours at a time, and

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Speaker 1: she told me her strategy in minute detail. The key

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Speaker 1: to it all in her mind was Marlon Brando's transformation.

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Speaker 1: She had seen that revolutionary transformation in the home video

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Speaker 1: I believe that Francis had done on Mulholland Drive and

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Speaker 1: was astounded, like everyone else at this incredible transformation of

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Speaker 1: Marlon Brando into Vito Corleone. And so she thought, that's

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Speaker 1: the key.

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Speaker 5: I'm going to walk up the shed. Nobody's going to

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Speaker 5: get a picture of Rolon Brando as the Godfather time

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Speaker 5: or usually on the cover with a big story.

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Speaker 1: I got so excited that you can hear me ferociously

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Speaker 1: typing in the background as she tells me the story

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Speaker 1: of how she made The Godfather an international sensation.

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Speaker 5: So the big thing was Marylyn's picture that Steve Shapiro

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Speaker 5: shot on her Godfather set said, show raw in in

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Speaker 5: clear detailing my personal Fafty deposit box.

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Speaker 1: And so she thought, then we can stun the world

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Speaker 1: when the movie comes out with the pictures of Marlon

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Speaker 1: Brando as the Godfather, because everybody will want to see

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Speaker 1: the movie because they want to see Marlon Brando as

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Speaker 1: the Dawn.

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Speaker 4: How did you track her down?

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Speaker 1: Well, you know, I was talking to Nicholas Pelegi for

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Speaker 1: the book, and he told me he was the only

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Speaker 1: reporter loud on The Godfather said in little Italy. I said, well,

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Speaker 1: how did that all happen? He said, well, Marilyn Stewart

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Speaker 1: handled everything. She was the paramount head of publicity and promotion.

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Speaker 1: And so I said, Marilyn Stewart. I really hadn't heard

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Speaker 1: about Marilyn Stewart before, and so I frantically google her

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Speaker 1: name and I was able to find a phone number

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Speaker 1: for her and give her a call. And she was

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Speaker 1: just this amazing woman who had unveiled this then revolutionary

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Speaker 1: press strategy of promoting a movie not upon its release

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Speaker 1: or a few weeks or months before its release, but

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Speaker 1: before it would have even been shot at all, making

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Speaker 1: deals with magazines and newspapers and planning a press strategy

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Speaker 1: a year or two in advance.

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Speaker 4: So when I'm for Davis says, it's the movie everyone's

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Speaker 4: talking about, and he has to sneak into his screening.

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Speaker 4: Marilyn's the reason everyone's talking about it.

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Speaker 1: Yes, indeed, and she wasn't even working for Paramount by

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Speaker 1: the time the movie came out, but she set up

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Speaker 1: a publicity time bomb for the day of the release,

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Speaker 1: and boy did it work.

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Speaker 5: And I called Rob and I, you know, should have

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Speaker 5: you ever heard of knowing that you're going to be

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Speaker 5: on the newsweek code one train of film?

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Speaker 6: What are you talking about it?

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Speaker 4: So Marilyn Stewart got the press and the public buzzing

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Speaker 4: about the premiere of The Godfather. Mark, you saw the

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Speaker 4: movie in theaters when it first came out, But I'm

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Speaker 4: guessing it was a whorled away from the glamour of

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Speaker 4: the New York City premiere.

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Speaker 1: It was several worlds away. I mean, I'm watching the

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Speaker 1: movie in Memphis, Tennessee. I can only imagine what it

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Speaker 1: was like to be at that premiere. You can see

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Speaker 1: the pictures, you know, and you can see the excitement

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Speaker 1: and feel the energy and the enthusiasm of all that

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Speaker 1: the film premiere on March fourteenth, nineteen seventy two, at

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Speaker 1: the low State Theater on forty fifth and Broadway. The

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Speaker 1: streets were clogged with heavy traffic, police, mobs of fans

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Speaker 1: and press. Marilyn Stewart had done her job. It was

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Speaker 1: an absolute frenzy.

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Speaker 4: Okay, everyone was there, Kennedy's, Ford's Raquel welch al Pacino,

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Speaker 4: of course, Charlie Bludorn, Mario Puzzo and his whole family,

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Speaker 4: Francis Ford, Coppola and his wife. Even Robert Evans, suddenly

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Speaker 4: cured of his ailments, arrived with Ali McGraw on one

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Speaker 4: arm and a surprising guest on his other.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, Robert Evans brought none other than Secretary of State

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Speaker 1: Henry Kissinger to the premiere, much to the delight of

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Speaker 1: Charlie Bludorn, who tells Evans in his book Evans Evans,

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Speaker 1: I love you, I love you Kissinger. He was so excited.

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Speaker 4: It was like having the co sign of the US

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Speaker 4: government on the film exactly.

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Speaker 1: You know, Charlie Bludorn was in heaven this night.

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Speaker 4: And when the limo suspected to be carrying Marlon Brando

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Speaker 4: pulled up, the crowds were poised to pounce on the superstar,

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Speaker 4: but he didn't show up. In his place, he sent

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Speaker 4: a friend of his, Jim Thomas, a Native American man

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Speaker 4: from Alaska, in full regalia.

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Speaker 1: Yes he did, and I was so excited to speak

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Speaker 1: to Jim Thomas because he gave me a lens into

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Speaker 1: the premiere.

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Speaker 4: What did he say about it from his personerspective?

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Speaker 1: You know, he came with a small group of friends

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Speaker 1: and family, and he was sitting in a prime seat

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Speaker 1: in one of the front rows, and he just had

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Speaker 1: a great story to tell about talking with Al Pacino,

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Speaker 1: who said, how do you like the movie? You know

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Speaker 1: he didn't recognize Pacino at first. He goes, I thought

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Speaker 1: it was pretty good.

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Speaker 4: Now, before we get off the red carpet and into

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Speaker 4: the theater for the premiere, I want you to tell

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Speaker 4: me the story of something that didn't happen. It's a

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Speaker 4: great story, and it doesn't appear in your book.

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Speaker 1: No, it's not in the book. But when I was

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Speaker 1: interviewing Gianni Russo, who played Carlo Rizzy, he told me

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Speaker 1: about his experience at the premiere.

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Speaker 6: I'll tell you what I was going to do, and

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Speaker 6: I should have did it.

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Speaker 1: Actually they took me out of it. In fact, you

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Speaker 1: know I took him my premier food.

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Speaker 6: You will not believe this, doctor Theodore Jacobs.

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Speaker 1: Apparently, four days prior to the premiere, Gianni gets a

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Speaker 1: call from the FBI informing him of a call the

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Speaker 1: interceptor who had plans to kill Gianni at the premiere.

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Speaker 1: They tell him they can't offer any protection, but it's

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Speaker 1: their obligation to tell him of the threat.

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Speaker 6: So, like everything else in life, I said, I'm going

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Speaker 6: to use this then, So I hired a mocksman and

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Speaker 6: I was going to put him on the roof and

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Speaker 6: let him shoot me and live television. The FBI revertified

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Speaker 6: that I had to hit on me.

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Speaker 1: How did you fucking headlines the next day be dead?

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Speaker 7: Though?

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Speaker 1: No, I had mosmen to shoot me here, Oh not

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Speaker 1: kill me.

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Speaker 6: I would have been the biggest star in the world.

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Speaker 6: So I got my doctor. He's just crazy. Can I

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Speaker 6: took you at this? I said, no, it's a stunt.

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Speaker 1: It's a stunt. Doctor about it? So then what did

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Speaker 1: you do it?

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Speaker 7: What happened?

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Speaker 1: They took me out of it? Who in the eleventh hour?

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Speaker 6: Who my doctor Brancooper and my very close one Tommy Blotti.

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Speaker 1: Can you imagine the headlines the next day? Carlo Rizzy,

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Speaker 1: the godfathers errant son in law shot at the premiere

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Speaker 1: of The Godfather? Could you imagine better headlines? And that

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Speaker 1: it would make him a worldwide star.

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Speaker 4: It would be the biggest publicity stunt of all time.

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Speaker 1: Probably. Wow.

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Speaker 4: Well, I was pretty shocked when I heard that tape. Mark. Okay,

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Speaker 4: so we get into the theater. Thankfully, no one's been shot.

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Speaker 4: What's the reaction when the credits roll and the lights

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Speaker 4: turn back on.

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Speaker 1: Absolute silence.

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Speaker 4: Not the standing ovation you would expect from a masterpiece.

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Speaker 1: No, it's not at all. Here's how Robert Evans later

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Speaker 1: described it in his memoir No applause, not a sound,

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Speaker 1: silence scary here.

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Speaker 4: Well, despite the silence, the star studded audience heads to

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Speaker 4: the top floor of the Saint Regis Hotel for an

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Speaker 4: over the top galla, complete with authentic Sicilian food, waiters

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Speaker 4: dressed as Corleone bagman, a giant ice sculpture in the

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Speaker 4: shape of a submachine gun, and an orchestra playing the

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Speaker 4: Godfather theme over and over again.

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Speaker 1: It was a night to remember, and in fact, one

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Speaker 1: that Robert Evans remembered for years to come. When we

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Speaker 1: spoke in two thousand and seven, he got quite emotional

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Speaker 1: talking about it.

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Speaker 8: This is the highest nide of my life. It's such

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Speaker 8: a euphoria. Everyone who realized has just seen something.

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Speaker 7: MS Bryce five people there.

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Speaker 1: I was in heaven.

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Speaker 4: What about for Coppola? He must have been relieved that

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Speaker 4: the ordeal was finally over.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm sure he was in a sense, But he

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Speaker 1: later said that he had been so conditioned to think

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Speaker 1: that the film was too dark, too long, too boring,

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Speaker 1: that he wasn't sure it would have any success. But

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Speaker 1: you can see him in the photographs from the party.

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Speaker 1: He looks like he's having a pretty good time.

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Speaker 4: He's hiding his despairwell. A week later, the Hollywood premiere

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Speaker 4: saw a similar audience response that Eerie Silence, and.

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Speaker 1: Al Ruddy wanted to get to the bottom of it.

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Speaker 1: He and al Pacino decided to sneak into the last

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Speaker 1: ten minutes of a showing at a theater in New

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Speaker 1: York to gauge the reaction. Here's how he described it

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Speaker 1: in an interview with All Things Considered.

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Speaker 3: I was with al Pacino in the back of the

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Speaker 3: theater and it was an amazing thing that occurred.

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Speaker 1: When the lights came on, everyone got up and walked out.

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Speaker 1: Nobody clapped.

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Speaker 7: It was quiet. I took that alley, I said, Oh

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Speaker 7: Jesus Christ, this Maybe they think it's a disaster.

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Speaker 1: But Ruddy's fears were soon relieved. On the day of

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Speaker 1: the nationwide premiere March twenty fourth, nineteen seventy two, Al

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Speaker 1: Ruddy drove past the Paramount Theater on Broadway in the

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Speaker 1: middle of a driving rainstorm. There was a line stretching

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Speaker 1: around the block to see The Godfather.

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Speaker 4: And meanwhile, Coppola has no idea that his film's ahead.

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Speaker 4: Immediately after the New York premiere, he heads to Paris

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Speaker 4: for some peace and quiet to focus on his next

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Speaker 4: screenplay and adaptation of The Great Gatsby.

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Speaker 1: Yet another pair out project that he took on for

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Speaker 1: Robert Evans.

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Speaker 4: Why do you think he decided to take on this job,

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Speaker 4: especially if he had such a bad experience working with

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Speaker 4: Evans the first time around.

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Speaker 1: Well, he needed the money, don't forget the money he's

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Speaker 1: received so far from The Godfather. Went to cover his

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Speaker 1: debts for American zoa trope and the huge house he

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Speaker 1: had just bought for his family and other expenses.

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Speaker 4: Well, he'll soon find out that he definitely doesn't need

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Speaker 4: the money. When does Copla finally realize that The Godfather

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Speaker 4: isn't the massive failure he fears.

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Speaker 1: Well, he's in Paris and his phone rings. It's his wife, Eleanor,

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Speaker 1: who's still in New York. After the premiere. She tells

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Speaker 1: him that just outside her hotel room, she could see

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Speaker 1: a movie theater with the marquee reading The Godfather, and

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Speaker 1: on the street, day in and day out, there's a

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Speaker 1: line snaking around the block. She said, Oh, my god, Francis,

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Speaker 1: you won't believe it. It's a phenomenon.

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Speaker 4: So the Godfather mania is in full swing, a spurred

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Speaker 4: on by Marilyn Stuart's genius press strategy, and theaters can

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Speaker 4: add enough showings to keep up with the ravenous crowds.

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Speaker 1: The La Times even runs the story headline Lifestyles for

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Speaker 1: waiting in line to see The Godfather, which was an

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Speaker 1: instructional guid for how to make the long wait more tolerable.

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Speaker 4: Mark, Is it true that Al Ruddy set up a

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Speaker 4: separate screening for the boys, as he called them?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, even the men who inspired the movie had trouble

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Speaker 1: getting tickets. So Ruddy sets up a screening in New York.

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Speaker 3: So I stuck a print out which parent I never

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Speaker 3: knew about, and I gave them a screening.

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Speaker 2: It must been one hundred lib sees in front.

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Speaker 6: I swear to guy, and the projection has called me

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Speaker 6: the guy's mister. Ready. I've been a projected is.

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Speaker 3: My whole life.

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Speaker 2: No one never gave me a thousand dollar tip.

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Speaker 1: That's how much the guys.

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Speaker 7: Lived the movie.

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Speaker 1: And there's a great cartoon that's featured in my book,

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Speaker 1: and it shows the Godfather Marquis and a line of

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Speaker 1: these big men and overcoats with violin cases under their arms,

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Speaker 1: snaking down the street waiting to see the movie. And

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Speaker 1: what about the reviews, Well, the reviews were pretty much sensational.

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Speaker 3: Robo Brando's Godfather hailed the New York Times the year's

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Speaker 3: first really satisfying, big commercial American film, four stars, highest

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Speaker 3: rating from The Daily News. An Italian American gone with

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Speaker 3: a wind, claims Time magazine.

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Speaker 1: Gene Shallittt NBCTV.

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Speaker 3: Calls The Godfather a spectacular movie, one of the finest

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Speaker 3: gangster movies ever made. The Godfather is now a movie

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Speaker 3: from Paramount rated R now at low State one to

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Speaker 3: sinne Orphium and Tower East.

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Speaker 4: But it's more than bluster. There's real money to back

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Speaker 4: up The Godfather's success.

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Speaker 1: Yes, and by the end of nineteen seventy two, at

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Speaker 1: Gulf and Western's annual meeting, Charlie Bludorn announced that The

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Speaker 1: Godfather had made over one hundred and fifty million dollars.

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Speaker 4: And what's that number today?

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Speaker 1: Two hundred and fifty million and still going strong.

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Speaker 4: So what did that do for Paramount the last Place studio?

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Speaker 1: Well, it saved the studio. Bludorn had a short memory,

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Speaker 1: but at that press conference he said, we've got the

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Speaker 1: best ratio of hits against flops in the industry.

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Speaker 4: This film has changed so many lives, but maybe known

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Speaker 4: so much as Evans and Copola. They both regarded the

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Speaker 4: film as something that both made and destroyed their lives.

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Speaker 1: And for all of their differences, they really share that

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Speaker 1: they were both so passionate about the movie, but the

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Speaker 1: legacy really haunted both of them. Coppola couldn't go anywhere

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Speaker 1: without people playing the Godfather theme and being reminded of

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Speaker 1: the traumatic experience of making the film, and Evans lost

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Speaker 1: so much over his absolute obsession with the movie. When

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Speaker 1: I interviewed him for the book, I was struck by

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Speaker 1: how much he opened up to me about the emotional toll.

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Speaker 8: Now as the party leader Oh Shop.

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Speaker 1: He showed me a photo of himself and his wife

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Speaker 1: Ali McGraw on the night of the premiere. They're dancing

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Speaker 1: and they looked completely in love.

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Speaker 8: Would you believe at this very moment, this is madly

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Speaker 8: in love with another man. And I had no idea

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Speaker 8: any man the things he can need, the mind of woman.

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Speaker 8: It's a man who's nothing.

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Speaker 4: It seems like Coppola and Evans could have bonded over

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Speaker 4: how much they gave to the movie.

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Speaker 1: They probably could have, but in reality the two never

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Speaker 1: really became best friends. Their riff continued after the film's

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Speaker 1: release in something of a pr war. Each blamed the

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Speaker 1: other for threatening to derail the film at various points

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Speaker 1: of the production. Coppola revealed Evans's initial opposition to his

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Speaker 1: perfect cast, and Evans struck back, saying he saved the

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Speaker 1: movie by re editing the final cut. Coppola said in

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Speaker 1: an interview claimed he had saved the picture because he

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Speaker 1: asked me to put back at the half hour that

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Speaker 1: he had told me to take out.

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Speaker 4: And this feud is probably best exemplified by two telegrams

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Speaker 4: from nineteen eighty three that were printed in full and

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Speaker 4: sold at auction as part of Evans's estate. December thirteenth,

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Speaker 4: nineteen eighty three. Dear Bob Evans, I've been a real

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Speaker 4: gentleman regarding your claims of involvement on The Godfather. I've

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Speaker 4: never talked about your throwing out the Nino Rota music,

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Speaker 4: you're barring the casting of Paccino and Brando, et cetera.

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Speaker 4: But continually your stupid blabbing about cutting The Godfather comes

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Speaker 4: back to me and angers me for its ridiculous pomposity.

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Speaker 4: You did nothing on The Godfather other than annoy me

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Speaker 4: and slow it down. That is why Charlie put in

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Speaker 4: The Godfather to contract that you could have nothing to.

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Speaker 1: Do with the movie.

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Speaker 4: You will never see The Cotton Club until it's an

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Speaker 4: answer print. You have double crossed me for the last time.

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Speaker 4: If you want to pr war or any kind of war,

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Speaker 4: no one is better at it than me. Francis Coppola, Wow,

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Speaker 4: actually put my back into that one.

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Speaker 1: Mark Evans responded with his own dramatic retort December fourteenth,

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Speaker 1: nineteen eighty three. Dear Francis, thank you for your charming cable.

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Speaker 1: I cannot imagine what prompted this venomous diatribe. I am

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Speaker 1: both annoyed and exasperated by your fallacious accusations when all

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Speaker 1: I do is praise your extraordinary talents as a filmmaker. Conversely,

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Speaker 1: your behavior toward me glaringly lacks any iota of concern, honesty,

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Speaker 1: or integrity. I am affronted by your gall and daring

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Speaker 1: to send this Macavelian epistle, the content of which is

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Speaker 1: not only ludicrous but totally misrepresents the truth. I cannot

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Speaker 1: conceive what motivated your malicious thoughts, but if they they

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Speaker 1: are a reflection of your hostility. I bear a great

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Speaker 1: sympathy and concern for your paranoid, schizophrenic behavior. However, Dear Francis,

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Speaker 1: do not mistake my kindness for weakness. Robert Evans, Wow,

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Speaker 1: that's Shakespeare. In to this day, wherever couple of goes,

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Speaker 1: people seem to have impressions about the film. He tells

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Speaker 1: a story about walking by a group of suspiciously tough

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Speaker 1: Italian men. They were stealing glances at him, and he

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Speaker 1: heard one of them whisper the name Mario Puzo. One

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Speaker 1: of the men yelled, you didn't make him, he made you.

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Speaker 1: He could not disagree, later writing, It's absolutely true that

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Speaker 1: Mario made me and that Godfather changed my life.

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Speaker 4: Coppola's relationship with Puzzo really made up for his feud

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Speaker 4: with Evans.

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Speaker 1: It sure did, and I think we can sign off

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Speaker 1: with an excerpt of the audio that Coppola shared with

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Speaker 1: us for the podcast.

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Speaker 7: I immediately like Mario Puzzo. I found him funny, wise

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Speaker 7: and lovable, like an uncle. He spoke in clear, short,

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Speaker 7: wise statements. I was very fond of him and enjoyed

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Speaker 7: working with him very much. I miss him now that

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Speaker 7: he's gone, and I wish he was still around so

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Speaker 7: I could talk to him.

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Speaker 1: Leave the Gun, Take the Canoli. As a production of

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Speaker 1: Airmail and iHeartMedia.

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Speaker 4: The podcast is based on the book of the same name,

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Speaker 4: written by our very own Mark Seal.

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Speaker 1: Our producer is Tina Mullin.

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Speaker 4: Research assistance by Jack Sullivan.

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Speaker 1: Jonathan Dressler was our development producer.

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Speaker 4: Our music supervisor is Randall Poster. Our executive producers are

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Speaker 4: Me Nathan King, Mark Seal, Doan Fagan, and Graydon Carter.

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Speaker 1: Special thanks to Bridget Arsenal and everyone at CDM Studios.

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Speaker 4: A comprehensive list of sources and acknowledgments can be found

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Speaker 4: in Mark Sieal's book Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli,

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Speaker 4: published by Gallery Books. An imprint of Simon and Schuster