1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:06,240 Speaker 1: It's March seventeenth, nineteen seventy one, Saint Patrick's day. The 2 00:00:06,240 --> 00:00:09,040 Speaker 1: Corleone family is sitting down to dinner with the man 3 00:00:09,039 --> 00:00:14,200 Speaker 1: who brought them all together, Francis Ford Coppola. Earlier that day, 4 00:00:14,240 --> 00:00:17,759 Speaker 1: every member of the newly minted cast received their first 5 00:00:17,760 --> 00:00:22,919 Speaker 1: call sheet three thirty pm Patsy's Restaurant, one hundred and 6 00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:27,600 Speaker 1: seventeenth Street and First Avenue. Coppola's idea was to have 7 00:00:27,680 --> 00:00:32,320 Speaker 1: everyone sit down to dinner Italian family style, and Patsy's 8 00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:36,000 Speaker 1: was perfect. It was a known hangout for gangsters and 9 00:00:36,040 --> 00:00:39,880 Speaker 1: made men. When Gianny Russo, who'd landed the role of Carlo, 10 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:42,839 Speaker 1: reports for us first down the set, he feels right 11 00:00:42,880 --> 00:00:43,240 Speaker 1: at home. 12 00:00:43,560 --> 00:00:46,320 Speaker 2: So I go up a little early, Casillo Guyson, I 13 00:00:46,400 --> 00:00:50,600 Speaker 2: know everybody can do a hug kissing. I go around 14 00:00:50,600 --> 00:00:53,599 Speaker 2: the corner. See you had people I had to pay 15 00:00:53,640 --> 00:00:56,040 Speaker 2: my respects to, and so I was so happy for you. 16 00:00:57,920 --> 00:00:58,920 Speaker 3: It's so crazy. 17 00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:02,639 Speaker 1: Walks into the back room where the cast is gathering. 18 00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:06,720 Speaker 2: What's the first time everybody met everybody? And I'm watching 19 00:01:06,800 --> 00:01:12,000 Speaker 2: next Terling Hayden, Richie County, John Mooley, He's the great actist. 20 00:01:12,520 --> 00:01:14,440 Speaker 4: These they were the legends to me. 21 00:01:15,120 --> 00:01:19,280 Speaker 1: Marlon Brando arrives wearing an orange cashmere turtle neckt sweater. 22 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:24,000 Speaker 1: Producer Al Ruddy described it as Christ coming down from 23 00:01:24,040 --> 00:01:28,680 Speaker 1: the cross. The room falls silent. Then the world's greatest 24 00:01:28,720 --> 00:01:33,039 Speaker 1: living actor cracks a joke. From that moment forward, the 25 00:01:33,120 --> 00:01:36,559 Speaker 1: cast doesn't just respect Marlon Brando, they love him. 26 00:01:37,240 --> 00:01:40,520 Speaker 5: The nickers Brando was like God, and I watched every 27 00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:41,360 Speaker 5: Brando movie. 28 00:01:41,440 --> 00:01:41,600 Speaker 3: Man. 29 00:01:42,600 --> 00:01:46,400 Speaker 1: As everyone stands around, not sure what to do with themselves, 30 00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:50,880 Speaker 1: Marlon opens a bottle of wine. He takes his seat, 31 00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:54,400 Speaker 1: and the rest of the cast follows suit. Robert Duval 32 00:01:54,520 --> 00:01:57,200 Speaker 1: remembers how easy it was to look to Brando as 33 00:01:57,240 --> 00:01:58,120 Speaker 1: a father figure. 34 00:01:58,760 --> 00:02:00,840 Speaker 2: And we all sat around as if we were kind 35 00:02:00,840 --> 00:02:04,200 Speaker 2: of approximating the family situation around Brando's and he was, 36 00:02:04,560 --> 00:02:04,840 Speaker 2: you know. 37 00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:07,480 Speaker 6: When we were young, Branda was like a godfather of actors. 38 00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:09,359 Speaker 3: To this feeling, we all respect him. 39 00:02:10,480 --> 00:02:14,000 Speaker 1: Coppola looks at his newly minted cast, the family he 40 00:02:14,040 --> 00:02:17,120 Speaker 1: had fought so hard for, Brando at the head of 41 00:02:17,160 --> 00:02:21,320 Speaker 1: the table, James Kahn on his left, Al Pacino on 42 00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:24,640 Speaker 1: his right. For the first time, Coppola can feel the 43 00:02:24,680 --> 00:02:39,640 Speaker 1: production coming together, just as he had envisioned it. I'm 44 00:02:39,639 --> 00:02:43,079 Speaker 1: Mark Seal and I'm Nathan King, and this is leave 45 00:02:43,120 --> 00:02:44,480 Speaker 1: the Gun, Take the Canoli. 46 00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:47,480 Speaker 7: In today's episode, we shoot our first frame of what 47 00:02:47,600 --> 00:02:49,960 Speaker 7: turns into ninety hours of film. 48 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:53,120 Speaker 1: We'll detail the day to day life on the set, 49 00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:56,720 Speaker 1: including cass pranks and crew turmoil. 50 00:03:01,680 --> 00:03:04,560 Speaker 7: Mark, I'm always amazed at a mid Copola's constant power 51 00:03:04,600 --> 00:03:07,519 Speaker 7: struggle with executives. He was able to play the part 52 00:03:07,520 --> 00:03:09,160 Speaker 7: of a strong leader with his cast. 53 00:03:09,880 --> 00:03:13,480 Speaker 1: Yes, that's right. He was a great compartmentalizer. The sky 54 00:03:13,639 --> 00:03:16,520 Speaker 1: is falling, people are threatening to fire him, but he 55 00:03:16,560 --> 00:03:18,440 Speaker 1: has a job to do and he gets it done. 56 00:03:19,280 --> 00:03:21,960 Speaker 7: So let's back up. The cast meeting wasn't really the 57 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:24,400 Speaker 7: first step in filming, which is what we're getting into 58 00:03:24,440 --> 00:03:25,720 Speaker 7: in today's episode. 59 00:03:26,200 --> 00:03:29,320 Speaker 1: No, I'd say it was the creative production meeting that 60 00:03:29,520 --> 00:03:33,160 Speaker 1: started it all, which Coppola had called for a few months. 61 00:03:32,840 --> 00:03:36,280 Speaker 7: Earlier January twenty fifth, nineteen seventy one. 62 00:03:36,760 --> 00:03:40,680 Speaker 1: That's right. He invited the production team together to establish 63 00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:44,040 Speaker 1: the visual style of the film. I first heard about 64 00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:47,800 Speaker 1: this meeting from Dean Tabalis, the film's production designer. 65 00:03:48,480 --> 00:03:54,280 Speaker 3: That two three hour meeting cemented the colicto of film. 66 00:03:54,840 --> 00:03:58,160 Speaker 1: And I emailed Francis Coppola about the meeting, just asking 67 00:03:58,440 --> 00:04:00,880 Speaker 1: if he could tell me more about it, and he said, 68 00:04:00,880 --> 00:04:03,920 Speaker 1: I'll do one better. I'll send you the transcript from 69 00:04:03,960 --> 00:04:07,480 Speaker 1: the meeting, which was incredible because you can really see 70 00:04:07,480 --> 00:04:10,840 Speaker 1: the workings of a film and progress and a vision 71 00:04:10,960 --> 00:04:13,760 Speaker 1: he had for so many things in the movie that 72 00:04:13,920 --> 00:04:15,440 Speaker 1: actually came to pass. 73 00:04:15,920 --> 00:04:20,960 Speaker 3: And he had a recorded He had a stenographer, a 74 00:04:21,000 --> 00:04:29,400 Speaker 3: court stenographer with a little type machine that a courttenographer has. 75 00:04:30,200 --> 00:04:32,920 Speaker 7: And this is the transcript right here. This is massive, 76 00:04:33,520 --> 00:04:34,000 Speaker 7: that's right. 77 00:04:34,040 --> 00:04:37,560 Speaker 1: It's eighty four single space pages written on what seems 78 00:04:37,600 --> 00:04:39,039 Speaker 1: to be a manual typewriter. 79 00:04:39,720 --> 00:04:43,520 Speaker 7: So tell me about this meeting. Mark, We've got Coppola, Tavalaris, 80 00:04:44,040 --> 00:04:45,200 Speaker 7: a court stenographer. 81 00:04:45,240 --> 00:04:49,480 Speaker 1: Who else is there, Well, it's Gordon Willis, cinematographer and 82 00:04:49,520 --> 00:04:51,599 Speaker 1: the great Anahill Johnstone. 83 00:04:52,080 --> 00:04:54,159 Speaker 7: Tell me about Gordon Willis. He was a bit of 84 00:04:54,160 --> 00:04:55,159 Speaker 7: a legend, right. 85 00:04:55,279 --> 00:05:00,440 Speaker 1: He sure was. Gordon Willis was an esteemed cinematographer, called 86 00:05:00,520 --> 00:05:04,200 Speaker 1: him the Prince of darkness. He liked shooting his shadows. 87 00:05:04,760 --> 00:05:07,600 Speaker 7: Gordon and Francis had a bit of animosity between them, 88 00:05:07,640 --> 00:05:08,120 Speaker 7: didn't they. 89 00:05:08,440 --> 00:05:10,800 Speaker 1: Well they would later, But at this meeting they were 90 00:05:10,920 --> 00:05:12,360 Speaker 1: very much on the same page. 91 00:05:12,760 --> 00:05:14,640 Speaker 7: Okay, what about Dean Tavalius. 92 00:05:15,400 --> 00:05:20,080 Speaker 1: Tavalius is great, He's a longtime production designer, artistic designer, 93 00:05:20,160 --> 00:05:23,640 Speaker 1: and artist himself. I got to know Dean quite a bit, 94 00:05:23,920 --> 00:05:26,200 Speaker 1: and I was able to even visit him in Paris 95 00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:29,320 Speaker 1: not too long ago. And he found so many of 96 00:05:29,360 --> 00:05:32,880 Speaker 1: the classic locations and the Godfather, as he told me 97 00:05:32,920 --> 00:05:35,960 Speaker 1: for the book, he spent a lot of time looking 98 00:05:35,960 --> 00:05:39,160 Speaker 1: for places to kill people. And then we have costume 99 00:05:39,240 --> 00:05:43,160 Speaker 1: designer Anahill Johnstone, who got her start on Broadway and 100 00:05:43,200 --> 00:05:45,640 Speaker 1: made a name for herself on movies like On the 101 00:05:45,680 --> 00:05:47,720 Speaker 1: Waterfront and East of Eden. 102 00:05:48,160 --> 00:05:50,440 Speaker 7: Coppola is the youngest in the group right. 103 00:05:50,600 --> 00:05:54,320 Speaker 1: And at least for now, he's the group's undisputed leader. 104 00:05:55,200 --> 00:05:58,719 Speaker 7: Okay, let's crack this transcript open. How does the meeting start? 105 00:05:59,200 --> 00:06:02,479 Speaker 1: Well? At first, Coppola sets his intentions. He wants to 106 00:06:02,520 --> 00:06:06,880 Speaker 1: have a freewheeling discussion and take the script seen by scene. 107 00:06:07,400 --> 00:06:10,200 Speaker 1: He had his vision for the film. He did not 108 00:06:10,360 --> 00:06:14,679 Speaker 1: want to make a traditional gangster movie. Here's Dean Tabalius again. 109 00:06:15,400 --> 00:06:19,679 Speaker 3: He wanted to show them as human, see the human side, 110 00:06:20,360 --> 00:06:25,000 Speaker 3: the family side of their lives. The ironic thing of 111 00:06:25,080 --> 00:06:32,640 Speaker 3: them loving their children and then turning around and committing 112 00:06:32,720 --> 00:06:37,000 Speaker 3: terrible crimes and brutal mergers. 113 00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:39,040 Speaker 7: And what about the look of the film. 114 00:06:39,880 --> 00:06:42,960 Speaker 1: Well, in the production meeting transcript, you know, they go 115 00:06:43,080 --> 00:06:46,440 Speaker 1: back and forth and one word kept jumping out, and 116 00:06:46,480 --> 00:06:50,200 Speaker 1: that was operatic. Both Tabalairas and Kappola seemed to use 117 00:06:50,240 --> 00:06:51,839 Speaker 1: that word a lot, this. 118 00:06:52,040 --> 00:06:58,280 Speaker 3: Dark operatic image where the camera is fixed and things 119 00:06:58,360 --> 00:07:02,240 Speaker 3: come into the frame and things sleep the frame, but 120 00:07:02,320 --> 00:07:06,160 Speaker 3: the camera doesn't cut that much, it doesn't pan that much. 121 00:07:06,960 --> 00:07:09,680 Speaker 7: You can really see that fixed camera technique in the film. 122 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:13,240 Speaker 7: So tell us a little bit more about the production meeting, 123 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:15,920 Speaker 7: because they go over a lot. They talk about every 124 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:19,320 Speaker 7: detail of the wedding, from the wine that's going to 125 00:07:19,360 --> 00:07:23,600 Speaker 7: be served to the wait staff. They talk about costumes 126 00:07:23,640 --> 00:07:26,280 Speaker 7: at length. Take us through some of what they go over. 127 00:07:26,760 --> 00:07:29,760 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's pretty amazing because so many things, so many 128 00:07:29,800 --> 00:07:32,160 Speaker 1: of the classic scenes that you remember from the movie 129 00:07:32,600 --> 00:07:36,280 Speaker 1: were first outlined in this production meeting. They talk about 130 00:07:36,320 --> 00:07:39,200 Speaker 1: the bridge, which bridge should we use, Where Michael's going 131 00:07:39,240 --> 00:07:42,320 Speaker 1: to meet Salazzo in the Corrupt Police Captain, you know, 132 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:46,240 Speaker 1: where the Dawn is hospitalized after getting shot, which hospital 133 00:07:46,320 --> 00:07:50,360 Speaker 1: should we use even the wedding, of course, was a 134 00:07:50,400 --> 00:07:53,760 Speaker 1: major thing that Coppola talked about quite a bit. He 135 00:07:53,840 --> 00:07:56,640 Speaker 1: wanted the wedding to be like the weddings that he 136 00:07:56,680 --> 00:07:59,240 Speaker 1: had gone to in his youth, or you know that 137 00:07:59,280 --> 00:08:01,240 Speaker 1: he was going to even now at the time when 138 00:08:01,280 --> 00:08:03,760 Speaker 1: he was still a young man, of course, where everybody's 139 00:08:03,800 --> 00:08:06,760 Speaker 1: talking all at once. Johnstone would say, do you think 140 00:08:06,880 --> 00:08:10,120 Speaker 1: ten waiters would be enough for the wedding, and Kapala said, no, 141 00:08:10,160 --> 00:08:13,480 Speaker 1: we're not gonna There's no waiters at an Italian American wedding. 142 00:08:13,800 --> 00:08:16,360 Speaker 1: They didn't have that. The women would do it. The 143 00:08:16,440 --> 00:08:19,440 Speaker 1: sandwiches would be ordered from a place on Ninth Avenue, 144 00:08:19,560 --> 00:08:22,200 Speaker 1: and people would bring in their own food. Everything was 145 00:08:22,280 --> 00:08:26,240 Speaker 1: done homemade and natural, and so that was the key 146 00:08:26,280 --> 00:08:27,600 Speaker 1: to this incredible scene. 147 00:08:28,160 --> 00:08:31,520 Speaker 7: He was adamant in the meeting that they not overformalize it. 148 00:08:31,680 --> 00:08:34,600 Speaker 7: He said the only people in formal attire would be 149 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:38,360 Speaker 7: the wedding party, and that kids would wear their confirmation 150 00:08:38,600 --> 00:08:44,280 Speaker 7: clothes and everyone else would wear their Sunday dresses and outfits. 151 00:08:44,320 --> 00:08:46,760 Speaker 7: But it wouldn't be too buttoned up. 152 00:08:47,080 --> 00:08:48,680 Speaker 1: Yeah, he said, he's going to try to make the 153 00:08:48,720 --> 00:08:52,480 Speaker 1: wedding an experience instead of a scene, take the dialogue 154 00:08:52,480 --> 00:08:55,120 Speaker 1: out of it and immerse the audience with hundreds and 155 00:08:55,200 --> 00:08:56,360 Speaker 1: hundreds of details. 156 00:08:56,600 --> 00:08:59,160 Speaker 7: They also talk a lot about how the wedding will 157 00:08:59,200 --> 00:09:03,160 Speaker 7: be juxtaposed with the setting inside the house in the 158 00:09:03,240 --> 00:09:04,239 Speaker 7: Don's office. 159 00:09:04,440 --> 00:09:07,040 Speaker 1: So here's where the prince of darkness comes in. The 160 00:09:07,120 --> 00:09:11,280 Speaker 1: cinematographer Gordon Willis. He uses the shadows to show the 161 00:09:11,360 --> 00:09:16,960 Speaker 1: darkness of the Don's office as juxtaposed against the bright 162 00:09:17,120 --> 00:09:21,400 Speaker 1: lights in the sunny scene of the wedding where Johnny 163 00:09:21,400 --> 00:09:26,360 Speaker 1: Fonteyne comes in and sings a song and everybody's happy 164 00:09:26,400 --> 00:09:27,000 Speaker 1: in dancing. 165 00:09:27,520 --> 00:09:30,520 Speaker 7: It's amazing how granular they get. At one point in 166 00:09:30,559 --> 00:09:33,680 Speaker 7: the meeting, they're talking about Tom Hagen's flight to Los 167 00:09:33,720 --> 00:09:36,679 Speaker 7: Angeles and the type of airplane he would fly on, 168 00:09:37,320 --> 00:09:39,960 Speaker 7: and they decide it's going to be a nineteen forty 169 00:09:40,040 --> 00:09:44,440 Speaker 7: six Lockheed Constellation because that's the type of airplane that 170 00:09:44,480 --> 00:09:48,520 Speaker 7: would make that Transamerican flight in those days in the 171 00:09:48,600 --> 00:09:49,360 Speaker 7: late forties. 172 00:09:49,800 --> 00:09:53,080 Speaker 1: They debate the pros and cons of that plane, you know, 173 00:09:53,200 --> 00:09:56,360 Speaker 1: and that plane is only on the screen for a second. 174 00:09:56,600 --> 00:09:59,640 Speaker 1: You know, it lands, and then you see Tom walking 175 00:09:59,679 --> 00:10:03,280 Speaker 1: into the Walt studios. So there's a million little details 176 00:10:03,320 --> 00:10:05,880 Speaker 1: in this film that they discussed in this production meeting, 177 00:10:06,600 --> 00:10:08,800 Speaker 1: and I think that's where the magic of this film 178 00:10:08,880 --> 00:10:12,440 Speaker 1: was born. Obviously in the script as well, but once 179 00:10:12,480 --> 00:10:14,360 Speaker 1: this script was done, then they had to hammer out 180 00:10:14,400 --> 00:10:16,920 Speaker 1: all these other details that were in this meeting. 181 00:10:17,280 --> 00:10:20,280 Speaker 7: One of the most visually lush parts of the film 182 00:10:20,559 --> 00:10:25,880 Speaker 7: is Jack Waltz's house in Beverly Hills. What did they 183 00:10:25,920 --> 00:10:27,360 Speaker 7: say about that in the meeting? 184 00:10:27,760 --> 00:10:29,960 Speaker 1: Copla says this in the meeting, you know, I like 185 00:10:30,040 --> 00:10:32,520 Speaker 1: the idea of Tom with a big shot where you 186 00:10:32,559 --> 00:10:34,560 Speaker 1: can't even sit down with him. You have to catch 187 00:10:34,640 --> 00:10:37,199 Speaker 1: in between other things. Talk to me while I'm walking 188 00:10:37,240 --> 00:10:39,960 Speaker 1: and talking kind of thing that really puts Tom in 189 00:10:40,120 --> 00:10:41,000 Speaker 1: second place. 190 00:10:41,559 --> 00:10:44,200 Speaker 7: They go into great detail about the fake blood with 191 00:10:44,280 --> 00:10:46,839 Speaker 7: corn syrup to give it the right viscosity. 192 00:10:47,400 --> 00:10:49,920 Speaker 1: Coppola said, blood never looks right to me in a movie, 193 00:10:50,800 --> 00:10:53,760 Speaker 1: you know, and he wanted this blood to look real. 194 00:10:54,400 --> 00:10:57,439 Speaker 1: And Coppola said in the meeting, why don't we use 195 00:10:57,480 --> 00:11:01,040 Speaker 1: real blood? Twenty gallons of animal blood. Any butcher can 196 00:11:01,080 --> 00:11:05,479 Speaker 1: give you some blood, and Taboalius points out real blood coagulates, 197 00:11:05,559 --> 00:11:07,680 Speaker 1: so you can't use real blood. They had to mix 198 00:11:07,760 --> 00:11:08,559 Speaker 1: their own blood. 199 00:11:09,120 --> 00:11:12,079 Speaker 7: It's funny because reading the transcript you get a sense 200 00:11:12,080 --> 00:11:16,120 Speaker 7: of harmony and that they're all excited about working together 201 00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:19,920 Speaker 7: and they share a lot of the same ideas or 202 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:23,040 Speaker 7: could come to agree on a lot of these things. 203 00:11:23,200 --> 00:11:26,319 Speaker 7: But it doesn't betray what's going to come. 204 00:11:26,760 --> 00:11:29,439 Speaker 1: Yeah, they're all on the same page and you can 205 00:11:29,600 --> 00:11:32,240 Speaker 1: see the back and forth. It goes on for some time. 206 00:11:32,480 --> 00:11:34,440 Speaker 1: I mean they only get halfway through the script and 207 00:11:34,440 --> 00:11:37,319 Speaker 1: then Copple of calls it a night, says we'll get 208 00:11:37,360 --> 00:11:40,640 Speaker 1: together again, and then there's no more transcript. This is 209 00:11:40,679 --> 00:11:41,960 Speaker 1: the only one that exists. 210 00:11:42,240 --> 00:11:44,160 Speaker 7: Do you think they ever gotten together again? 211 00:11:44,440 --> 00:11:47,080 Speaker 1: I don't think so, or they would have a transcript 212 00:11:47,080 --> 00:11:49,920 Speaker 1: of it. So this is the only kind of window 213 00:11:49,960 --> 00:11:52,360 Speaker 1: you have as far as some of these artistic and 214 00:11:52,720 --> 00:11:54,400 Speaker 1: creative decisions were made. 215 00:11:55,200 --> 00:11:58,000 Speaker 7: Mark, You're right about the filming process with such detail 216 00:11:58,000 --> 00:12:00,360 Speaker 7: in your book. You have scenes pinned down the day 217 00:12:00,400 --> 00:12:02,760 Speaker 7: of shooting. What was your research process like? 218 00:12:03,440 --> 00:12:06,600 Speaker 1: Well, luck counts for a lot of it, and I 219 00:12:06,760 --> 00:12:09,440 Speaker 1: was very lucky that we have a day to day 220 00:12:09,480 --> 00:12:12,920 Speaker 1: accounting of filming from none other than Coppola's than assistant 221 00:12:13,440 --> 00:12:17,200 Speaker 1: Ara Zuckerman. He wrote The Godfather Journal, which is a 222 00:12:17,360 --> 00:12:21,199 Speaker 1: short but very detailed accounting of the shooting of the film. 223 00:12:21,640 --> 00:12:24,400 Speaker 7: Well, let's get into it. For starters, we know that 224 00:12:24,440 --> 00:12:26,520 Speaker 7: the cast of the Godfather had a lot of fun 225 00:12:26,559 --> 00:12:27,000 Speaker 7: on set. 226 00:12:27,440 --> 00:12:30,720 Speaker 1: Yeah, they sure did, and it started right away. James 227 00:12:30,760 --> 00:12:33,680 Speaker 1: con told me a great story about riding home from 228 00:12:33,679 --> 00:12:37,640 Speaker 1: that first cast dinner at Patsy's with Robert Duball when 229 00:12:37,760 --> 00:12:40,640 Speaker 1: suddenly Brando's car pulls up to them. 230 00:12:41,080 --> 00:12:45,080 Speaker 2: So we're coming back down Second Avenue and Brando was 231 00:12:45,120 --> 00:12:48,080 Speaker 2: in the in the backseat of a station wagon. He goes, 232 00:12:48,120 --> 00:12:50,280 Speaker 2: come on, moon them, we're going that second Avenue. I 233 00:12:50,280 --> 00:12:51,240 Speaker 2: go crazy. 234 00:12:51,280 --> 00:12:51,760 Speaker 8: I don't do that. 235 00:12:51,800 --> 00:12:52,439 Speaker 3: You're the king of that. 236 00:12:53,080 --> 00:12:53,680 Speaker 9: He's I can't. 237 00:12:53,720 --> 00:12:56,560 Speaker 5: I'm in a bad spot, you know, He's come on, 238 00:12:56,679 --> 00:13:03,640 Speaker 5: now he's starting. You go to do this, it'd be funny. 239 00:13:02,559 --> 00:13:08,199 Speaker 5: So I'd pull up next to the red of well 240 00:13:08,200 --> 00:13:09,880 Speaker 5: By wind and down. I just sticked my ass up 241 00:13:09,960 --> 00:13:12,400 Speaker 5: and think, this is the first day he's met us. 242 00:13:13,400 --> 00:13:16,160 Speaker 2: Just started falling down and we ran away, you know, cry, laughing, 243 00:13:16,280 --> 00:13:16,480 Speaker 2: you know. 244 00:13:16,960 --> 00:13:20,160 Speaker 1: So that was the first boon of my life. Yeah, 245 00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:23,120 Speaker 1: and that first moon really set the tone for the shooting. 246 00:13:23,320 --> 00:13:26,440 Speaker 1: The cast was constantly pulling pranks on each other, and 247 00:13:26,480 --> 00:13:29,720 Speaker 1: this really made everyone feel comfortable from the start. Have 248 00:13:29,800 --> 00:13:31,040 Speaker 1: you ever mooned anybody? 249 00:13:31,679 --> 00:13:36,839 Speaker 7: Probably when I was a kid. Yeah, time, and did 250 00:13:36,880 --> 00:13:41,120 Speaker 7: that culture of camaraderie last It seems like it did. 251 00:13:41,240 --> 00:13:44,160 Speaker 1: With the cast for sure. With the crew, well, not 252 00:13:44,280 --> 00:13:48,040 Speaker 1: so much. There was a lot of turmoil behind the scenes. 253 00:13:48,760 --> 00:13:52,120 Speaker 7: Coppola has repeatedly called the godfather of the most miserable 254 00:13:52,200 --> 00:13:55,120 Speaker 7: time in his life. Was it just the micromanaging? 255 00:13:55,520 --> 00:13:59,880 Speaker 1: It was micromanaging to an extreme degree. Robert Evans was 256 00:14:00,160 --> 00:14:04,160 Speaker 1: under control Coppola's moves from across the country. Just weeks 257 00:14:04,160 --> 00:14:08,200 Speaker 1: before filming starts, Coppola is finalizing locations, meeting with his 258 00:14:08,320 --> 00:14:12,960 Speaker 1: creative team, making last minute script revisions, coordinating lighting and 259 00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:16,479 Speaker 1: makeup tests, and Robert Evans is sending him these memos, 260 00:14:17,040 --> 00:14:20,560 Speaker 1: just picking apart every decision he makes. Nathan, maybe you 261 00:14:20,560 --> 00:14:25,400 Speaker 1: can read this particularly scathing memo sent on March fifth, 262 00:14:25,560 --> 00:14:28,400 Speaker 1: just eighteen days before filming is set to begin. 263 00:14:28,800 --> 00:14:32,360 Speaker 7: Sure I can do that, Evan said, quote. Feel that 264 00:14:32,400 --> 00:14:35,360 Speaker 7: the character of Sonny is not nearly as flamboyant and 265 00:14:35,480 --> 00:14:39,520 Speaker 7: exciting as in the book. The sexuality that everyone remembers 266 00:14:39,600 --> 00:14:42,480 Speaker 7: is totally missing in the script. I think that the 267 00:14:42,520 --> 00:14:44,920 Speaker 7: size of his cock and the horses head are the 268 00:14:44,960 --> 00:14:48,000 Speaker 7: two most remembered scenes from the book, and the former 269 00:14:48,080 --> 00:14:50,800 Speaker 7: is so lacking that I think we would be criticized 270 00:14:50,840 --> 00:14:52,360 Speaker 7: for not doing more with Sonny. 271 00:14:53,240 --> 00:14:56,359 Speaker 1: Yes, and this goes on and on a few more excerpts. 272 00:14:56,520 --> 00:15:00,240 Speaker 1: Who's going to play Mamma Corleone? Fredo's casting? I'm not 273 00:15:00,280 --> 00:15:03,160 Speaker 1: sure I'm satisfied. Are you sure the picture can be 274 00:15:03,240 --> 00:15:06,040 Speaker 1: cut with a straightforward story if you decide not to 275 00:15:06,080 --> 00:15:07,440 Speaker 1: go with flash forwards? 276 00:15:07,680 --> 00:15:09,720 Speaker 7: And Copla is still living in an apartment with his 277 00:15:09,960 --> 00:15:11,920 Speaker 7: entire family at this point, right. 278 00:15:12,040 --> 00:15:15,040 Speaker 1: Yes, And apparently it's being painted, so are rigs of 279 00:15:15,160 --> 00:15:18,440 Speaker 1: paint fumes. He described that time as going to war 280 00:15:18,680 --> 00:15:21,920 Speaker 1: every morning. And once again, it's a miracle that this 281 00:15:22,040 --> 00:15:23,080 Speaker 1: movie got made. 282 00:15:23,440 --> 00:15:27,720 Speaker 7: But somehow filming begins on March twenty third, nineteen seventy one. 283 00:15:28,240 --> 00:15:31,680 Speaker 1: What was the first scene? Mark the first scene? Christmas 284 00:15:31,680 --> 00:15:35,600 Speaker 1: in springtime at Best in Company, the department store on 285 00:15:35,680 --> 00:15:39,480 Speaker 1: Fifth Avenue. The story had conveniently shuttered the year before, 286 00:15:40,040 --> 00:15:43,000 Speaker 1: and so it had been restored to its nineteen forties 287 00:15:43,080 --> 00:15:46,000 Speaker 1: glory for filming and in keeping with his ability to 288 00:15:46,040 --> 00:15:50,200 Speaker 1: make miracles, happen. The amazing already makes it snow. 289 00:15:51,040 --> 00:15:54,440 Speaker 7: He's fresh off of being fired and rehired by Charlie Bludorn. 290 00:15:54,560 --> 00:15:57,560 Speaker 1: Right, yes, but that doesn't stop Ourready he brings in 291 00:15:57,680 --> 00:16:00,760 Speaker 1: snow machines, and when the temperatures r is too high 292 00:16:00,760 --> 00:16:04,720 Speaker 1: for them to work, he turns to Plan B synthetic 293 00:16:04,800 --> 00:16:07,680 Speaker 1: snow and wind machines to create the magical scene of 294 00:16:07,800 --> 00:16:10,640 Speaker 1: Kay and Michael walking out of the store amid a 295 00:16:10,760 --> 00:16:14,440 Speaker 1: swirl of fake snow, and then the crew moves through 296 00:16:14,480 --> 00:16:18,480 Speaker 1: the city, landing at Radio City Music Hall, where Michael 297 00:16:18,720 --> 00:16:21,320 Speaker 1: and Kay are leaving a movie and about to find 298 00:16:21,360 --> 00:16:23,520 Speaker 1: out the terrible news. 299 00:16:24,240 --> 00:16:26,040 Speaker 7: Would you like me better for were Ingrid Bergmann? 300 00:16:27,120 --> 00:16:33,600 Speaker 1: Now that's a thought, thank him, No, I would not 301 00:16:33,760 --> 00:16:37,200 Speaker 1: like your better. F Equid Burbons and these scenes are 302 00:16:37,240 --> 00:16:40,760 Speaker 1: all coming together to create the iconic montage that ends 303 00:16:40,800 --> 00:16:42,800 Speaker 1: with the attempt on the Don's life. 304 00:16:43,480 --> 00:16:45,640 Speaker 7: It seems like this first day should be a triumph, 305 00:16:45,760 --> 00:16:47,760 Speaker 7: but Copola doesn't feel that way, does he. 306 00:16:48,280 --> 00:16:48,360 Speaker 3: No. 307 00:16:48,640 --> 00:16:53,080 Speaker 1: Unfortunately, all anyone can seem to see is Coppola's shortcomings, 308 00:16:53,560 --> 00:16:57,080 Speaker 1: and it really is getting to him. He's having nightmares 309 00:16:57,120 --> 00:17:00,840 Speaker 1: about being fired and he's getting more and more paranoid. 310 00:17:01,640 --> 00:17:03,760 Speaker 7: Do you think that paranoia is justified? 311 00:17:04,160 --> 00:17:07,000 Speaker 1: I really do. The studio essentially sent a spy to 312 00:17:07,080 --> 00:17:11,200 Speaker 1: keep watch over him, a Paramount finance guy named Jack Ballard. 313 00:17:11,720 --> 00:17:14,520 Speaker 1: Here's how great Frederickson remembers Jack. 314 00:17:15,160 --> 00:17:15,760 Speaker 3: He was like a. 315 00:17:18,520 --> 00:17:24,159 Speaker 10: Tough rough speaking kind of a fast, scared everybody. 316 00:17:24,960 --> 00:17:26,600 Speaker 7: He sounds like a cartoon villain. 317 00:17:27,200 --> 00:17:30,360 Speaker 1: Well, you know, I wasn't able to talk to Jack Ballard, 318 00:17:30,359 --> 00:17:33,119 Speaker 1: he had passed away years before. But Tacappola he was. 319 00:17:33,240 --> 00:17:35,600 Speaker 1: And here's what he had to say about Jack Ballard. 320 00:17:36,119 --> 00:17:41,000 Speaker 11: Jack Ballard was hired basically by Robert Evans to be 321 00:17:41,160 --> 00:17:45,159 Speaker 11: there on the set and to haunt me and to 322 00:17:45,200 --> 00:17:48,719 Speaker 11: constantly be challenging my decisions and telling me what I 323 00:17:48,760 --> 00:17:52,359 Speaker 11: could do or not do. And and he was the enforcer, 324 00:17:52,440 --> 00:17:57,120 Speaker 11: as it were, for Paramount, and he was it was 325 00:17:56,920 --> 00:18:01,199 Speaker 11: it was. He knew about classical film production, but he 326 00:18:01,240 --> 00:18:04,240 Speaker 11: had no idea of what I was trying to do. 327 00:18:06,280 --> 00:18:09,479 Speaker 1: So, as Ira Zuckerman wrote in his book, Ballard's task 328 00:18:09,720 --> 00:18:11,840 Speaker 1: was to keep an eye on the day to day 329 00:18:11,920 --> 00:18:17,359 Speaker 1: production planning, scheduling, and shooting, and to immediately advise Paramount 330 00:18:17,359 --> 00:18:18,880 Speaker 1: on any budget overruns. 331 00:18:19,680 --> 00:18:22,600 Speaker 7: Even with Jack Bauard reporting back to Evans. Every day, 332 00:18:22,960 --> 00:18:26,520 Speaker 7: shooting must go on. Let's transition to the restaurant shooting 333 00:18:26,520 --> 00:18:28,920 Speaker 7: scene if we can. This is really a turning point 334 00:18:28,920 --> 00:18:31,040 Speaker 7: for Michael as he goes from college boy to his 335 00:18:31,080 --> 00:18:34,520 Speaker 7: father's successor. And it's also a turning point for al Pacino, 336 00:18:34,640 --> 00:18:35,000 Speaker 7: isn't it. 337 00:18:35,480 --> 00:18:38,280 Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, that's right. I mean the restaurant's scene. 338 00:18:38,400 --> 00:18:41,320 Speaker 1: It's so much going on. It's a turning point both 339 00:18:41,320 --> 00:18:43,919 Speaker 1: in the movie and it's a turning point for al 340 00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:46,960 Speaker 1: Pacino in real life on the set, because he's really 341 00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:50,199 Speaker 1: struggling with his confidence. Like Coppole, he thinks he's on 342 00:18:50,240 --> 00:18:52,680 Speaker 1: the verge of being fired. He later said they only 343 00:18:52,760 --> 00:18:55,320 Speaker 1: hired him because they liked his performance in the Panic 344 00:18:55,320 --> 00:18:58,280 Speaker 1: of Needle Park, which hadn't yet been released. But so 345 00:18:58,440 --> 00:19:01,359 Speaker 1: far the Paramount execs don't like what they're seeing. 346 00:19:02,080 --> 00:19:03,000 Speaker 7: So what changed. 347 00:19:03,480 --> 00:19:06,600 Speaker 1: Well, Coppler really encouraged him, and when the time came, 348 00:19:06,840 --> 00:19:10,600 Speaker 1: Paccino steps up to the plate and hits a home run. 349 00:19:12,119 --> 00:19:12,960 Speaker 9: What I want. 350 00:19:14,680 --> 00:19:15,879 Speaker 1: What's most important to me? 351 00:19:17,720 --> 00:19:20,960 Speaker 10: Said, I have a guarantee no more attempts on my 352 00:19:21,040 --> 00:19:21,720 Speaker 10: father's life. 353 00:19:24,560 --> 00:19:26,159 Speaker 7: It really is a magical scene. 354 00:19:27,359 --> 00:19:30,200 Speaker 1: I have to go to the bathroom. 355 00:19:30,320 --> 00:19:30,800 Speaker 9: Is that all right? 356 00:19:32,480 --> 00:19:36,160 Speaker 1: Not only is al Pacino's performance incredible, but the visual 357 00:19:36,280 --> 00:20:01,439 Speaker 1: and the sonic elements all come together so perfectly. You know, 358 00:20:01,480 --> 00:20:04,840 Speaker 1: a huge amount of preparation went into the scene. Here's 359 00:20:04,920 --> 00:20:07,920 Speaker 1: koppland that interview about his prompt book. 360 00:20:08,160 --> 00:20:10,960 Speaker 9: Scene twenty six, Michael picked up by Salazzo in the 361 00:20:11,080 --> 00:20:15,199 Speaker 9: killing parenthesis key scene the core to show the killing 362 00:20:15,280 --> 00:20:19,159 Speaker 9: as terrifying and explicitly as possible, having taken attention to 363 00:20:19,240 --> 00:20:23,360 Speaker 9: an unbearable degree to further define Michael's character in regards 364 00:20:23,359 --> 00:20:26,960 Speaker 9: to his cool, totally calm execution of these men. 365 00:20:27,880 --> 00:20:30,560 Speaker 7: But even that scene was an immune to the disasters 366 00:20:30,560 --> 00:20:34,199 Speaker 7: that seemed to follow filming. Ira Zuckerman writes that just 367 00:20:34,240 --> 00:20:37,240 Speaker 7: as al Pacino is leaving the restaurant to jump onto 368 00:20:37,280 --> 00:20:40,040 Speaker 7: the getaway car, he leaps onto the side of the 369 00:20:40,080 --> 00:20:41,520 Speaker 7: car and injures his ankle. 370 00:20:41,800 --> 00:20:44,880 Speaker 1: He's rushed to the emergency room, and he'd later say 371 00:20:44,880 --> 00:20:46,840 Speaker 1: I thought it was a sign from God that now 372 00:20:46,960 --> 00:20:48,760 Speaker 1: was injured and they would have to release me. 373 00:20:50,440 --> 00:20:53,119 Speaker 7: It feels symbolic that right when things start going well, 374 00:20:53,320 --> 00:20:56,440 Speaker 7: they shoot this iconic scene and disaster strikes again. 375 00:20:57,080 --> 00:20:59,800 Speaker 1: Absolutely like in the movies. As they say, it's got 376 00:20:59,840 --> 00:21:03,760 Speaker 1: to be one thing after another. Pacino has a sprain ligament, 377 00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:07,040 Speaker 1: but the show's got to go on. Brando is due 378 00:21:07,080 --> 00:21:09,359 Speaker 1: on the set the next morning for his first scene 379 00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:12,960 Speaker 1: as the Don, and the execs a paramount are anxious 380 00:21:12,960 --> 00:21:15,600 Speaker 1: to see if the fading star can deliver. 381 00:21:16,280 --> 00:21:19,439 Speaker 7: Does Copla feel responsible for him because he pushed so 382 00:21:19,600 --> 00:21:22,320 Speaker 7: hard to have him as Don Corleone? 383 00:21:22,680 --> 00:21:25,280 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I'm sure he did. He's truly under a 384 00:21:25,320 --> 00:21:28,399 Speaker 1: microscope and he really needs Brando to come through and 385 00:21:28,480 --> 00:21:30,360 Speaker 1: deliver an amazing performance. 386 00:21:30,760 --> 00:21:31,640 Speaker 7: So what happens? 387 00:21:31,960 --> 00:21:35,119 Speaker 1: Well, Brando's flight from La lands in New York City 388 00:21:35,160 --> 00:21:38,239 Speaker 1: at six am, and Brando's not on it. 389 00:21:38,720 --> 00:21:42,520 Speaker 7: He missed his flight and Coppola is fuming. But Brando 390 00:21:42,560 --> 00:21:45,120 Speaker 7: eventually makes it to set. And when he does, how 391 00:21:45,119 --> 00:21:46,280 Speaker 7: does his first scene go? 392 00:21:46,760 --> 00:21:48,720 Speaker 1: Well, it went pretty well because all he has to 393 00:21:48,760 --> 00:21:51,239 Speaker 1: do is lay in a hospital bed. But apparently it 394 00:21:51,320 --> 00:21:54,359 Speaker 1: was a great for morale. The cast crew and even 395 00:21:54,400 --> 00:21:57,000 Speaker 1: the staff at the hospital were so excited to have 396 00:21:57,119 --> 00:21:59,840 Speaker 1: the greatest living actor among them. 397 00:22:00,320 --> 00:22:02,560 Speaker 7: Well, that excitement follows the film all the way to 398 00:22:02,560 --> 00:22:03,800 Speaker 7: Little Italy, right. 399 00:22:03,840 --> 00:22:06,520 Speaker 1: It sure does. Pretty Soon the crew descends into the 400 00:22:06,520 --> 00:22:09,639 Speaker 1: center of Italian American culture in New York City, and 401 00:22:09,680 --> 00:22:13,720 Speaker 1: the word is out the Godfathers in the neighborhood. Nicholas 402 00:22:13,720 --> 00:22:16,680 Speaker 1: Peleggi was a reporter back then and he was working 403 00:22:16,720 --> 00:22:18,880 Speaker 1: on a story about the movie for the New York 404 00:22:18,960 --> 00:22:22,440 Speaker 1: Times magazine. He was the only reporter allowed on the set. 405 00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:25,320 Speaker 1: And here's how he described the scene. 406 00:22:26,000 --> 00:22:28,720 Speaker 6: It was security at both ends of the block, the 407 00:22:28,880 --> 00:22:32,800 Speaker 6: stuff traffic. I you know, it's a very close neighborhood. 408 00:22:32,840 --> 00:22:37,760 Speaker 6: These are five six story tediments. Everybody has been living 409 00:22:37,760 --> 00:22:40,280 Speaker 6: in those tediments the last thirty years, and most of 410 00:22:40,320 --> 00:22:43,200 Speaker 6: their parents looked at those tediments buck in nineteen King 411 00:22:43,640 --> 00:22:46,320 Speaker 6: they know the world and they know it. The white 412 00:22:46,400 --> 00:22:49,040 Speaker 6: guys and the lobsters, and I mean they were all 413 00:22:49,240 --> 00:22:53,320 Speaker 6: they were all still there at the depleted Carlo Gamvidio. 414 00:22:54,080 --> 00:22:57,439 Speaker 7: So we mentioned Carlo Gambino. Were mobsters on set? 415 00:22:58,040 --> 00:23:01,320 Speaker 1: Apparently? Yes, they were shooting scene where the Don is 416 00:23:01,320 --> 00:23:04,720 Speaker 1: shot by the fruit stand and Fredo's fumbling with the 417 00:23:04,800 --> 00:23:08,480 Speaker 1: gun and a crowd of locals form with so called 418 00:23:08,520 --> 00:23:11,160 Speaker 1: wise guys Pepper through the crowd. 419 00:23:11,080 --> 00:23:13,600 Speaker 7: And Marlon Brando knows he's playing to an audience. He 420 00:23:13,720 --> 00:23:14,840 Speaker 7: sort of hams it up. 421 00:23:15,359 --> 00:23:19,199 Speaker 6: The oneness shot is going to cut. How he starts 422 00:23:19,240 --> 00:23:22,600 Speaker 6: to get up, he hears this roar of applause. It 423 00:23:22,720 --> 00:23:25,240 Speaker 6: must have reminded him of when he was in the theater. 424 00:23:25,640 --> 00:23:27,640 Speaker 6: It was such a moving thing to be and when 425 00:23:27,640 --> 00:23:30,480 Speaker 6: he sits up, files just like a theater out of 426 00:23:30,520 --> 00:23:30,840 Speaker 6: the wood. 427 00:23:31,440 --> 00:23:35,080 Speaker 1: Every time Cofflo would yell cut, Brando would harken back 428 00:23:35,119 --> 00:23:38,240 Speaker 1: to his theater days, take off his hat and take 429 00:23:38,280 --> 00:23:41,880 Speaker 1: a deep bow before the crowd, which would obviously roar 430 00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:46,560 Speaker 1: with applause. What about Gambino, Well, according to Nicholas Pelegi, 431 00:23:46,800 --> 00:23:49,280 Speaker 1: Gambino came to the neighborhood on the day of shooting 432 00:23:49,760 --> 00:23:52,320 Speaker 1: and held a court at a coffee shop nearby. Can 433 00:23:52,359 --> 00:23:55,280 Speaker 1: you believe it? I mean, Gambino, this is really fact 434 00:23:55,440 --> 00:23:56,159 Speaker 1: meeting fiction. 435 00:23:57,160 --> 00:24:00,880 Speaker 7: Don Corleone is at least partially based on Carlo Gambino. Right, 436 00:24:01,160 --> 00:24:03,000 Speaker 7: so it's sort of amazing that he found his way 437 00:24:03,040 --> 00:24:04,640 Speaker 7: to the neighborhood on the day of shooting. 438 00:24:04,880 --> 00:24:07,760 Speaker 1: Well, I don't think it's a coincidence. Nick said that 439 00:24:07,840 --> 00:24:11,080 Speaker 1: after conducting his business, he popped around the corner and 440 00:24:11,200 --> 00:24:12,480 Speaker 1: watched a bit of the shooting. 441 00:24:12,720 --> 00:24:15,320 Speaker 6: But a real gun bathera why's the gun Baba? 442 00:24:15,600 --> 00:24:18,240 Speaker 7: So do things ever turned around for Coppola? At some 443 00:24:18,400 --> 00:24:20,919 Speaker 7: point even Jack Ballard has to admit they're seeing a 444 00:24:20,920 --> 00:24:22,400 Speaker 7: real masterpiece unfold. 445 00:24:22,880 --> 00:24:26,439 Speaker 1: Well, I'm not sure Jack Ballard ever comes around. In fact, 446 00:24:26,440 --> 00:24:29,560 Speaker 1: a month into shooting, things are more tense than ever. 447 00:24:29,800 --> 00:24:30,560 Speaker 7: What's going on? 448 00:24:30,920 --> 00:24:34,359 Speaker 1: Well, Coppola is running further and further behind schedule, and 449 00:24:34,440 --> 00:24:37,639 Speaker 1: according to Greg Frederickson, he's under siege. 450 00:24:38,080 --> 00:24:42,119 Speaker 10: He was consumed was taking us down press out of 451 00:24:42,160 --> 00:24:44,920 Speaker 10: the Gray. 452 00:24:44,960 --> 00:24:48,200 Speaker 1: Apparently would hear Jack on the phone with Evans reporting 453 00:24:48,240 --> 00:24:51,639 Speaker 1: every time shooting went long or went over budget, and 454 00:24:51,760 --> 00:24:54,160 Speaker 1: it always is in Hollywood. 455 00:24:53,760 --> 00:24:56,240 Speaker 7: And there was particular contention with the scene of the 456 00:24:56,320 --> 00:24:57,520 Speaker 7: Don in his office. 457 00:24:58,080 --> 00:25:00,760 Speaker 1: Yes, apparently there was a hunt. You're a one thousand 458 00:25:00,840 --> 00:25:04,240 Speaker 1: dollars spent on that office set in the Don's office, 459 00:25:04,359 --> 00:25:07,199 Speaker 1: And when the execs saw the dailies, they did not 460 00:25:07,480 --> 00:25:08,320 Speaker 1: like what they saw. 461 00:25:08,840 --> 00:25:12,840 Speaker 10: Gordon Loose shot everything's so dark. They were used to 462 00:25:13,600 --> 00:25:16,639 Speaker 10: rock huts. The doors day they right take the colored 463 00:25:16,640 --> 00:25:18,720 Speaker 10: goovie and all of a sudden they had this sort 464 00:25:18,720 --> 00:25:23,159 Speaker 10: of CPI of gold looked dark goovie and they couldn't 465 00:25:23,160 --> 00:25:26,119 Speaker 10: even see the set that they spent so much money 466 00:25:26,119 --> 00:25:30,320 Speaker 10: on for the ten thousand dollars disk plus Brando it 467 00:25:30,440 --> 00:25:31,840 Speaker 10: picked up a cat. 468 00:25:32,320 --> 00:25:35,280 Speaker 7: The cat, of course, is iconic now Don cor Leone 469 00:25:35,320 --> 00:25:38,119 Speaker 7: pets him throughout the opening scene, but that was a 470 00:25:38,119 --> 00:25:40,960 Speaker 7: total accident. It was a stray cat that wandered onto 471 00:25:41,040 --> 00:25:44,879 Speaker 7: the soundstage, and apparently when Marlon Brando picked up the cat, 472 00:25:45,040 --> 00:25:47,880 Speaker 7: it was purring right into his microphone, which only made 473 00:25:47,880 --> 00:25:48,520 Speaker 7: things worse. 474 00:25:49,119 --> 00:25:51,040 Speaker 10: So the cat was purring into the night. 475 00:25:51,600 --> 00:25:52,360 Speaker 11: He was speaking. 476 00:25:52,560 --> 00:25:55,440 Speaker 10: It was his first day and he had that impred 477 00:25:55,480 --> 00:25:58,479 Speaker 10: in his mouth, so he couldn't speak very good. So 478 00:25:58,640 --> 00:26:02,320 Speaker 10: it was bumbling with a cat purring kind of scenes. 479 00:26:02,400 --> 00:26:04,840 Speaker 10: It was so dark that no one could see and 480 00:26:04,880 --> 00:26:05,840 Speaker 10: they said, we'll finished. 481 00:26:05,840 --> 00:26:06,400 Speaker 4: This is over. 482 00:26:08,920 --> 00:26:10,119 Speaker 10: Jarget ris. 483 00:26:12,240 --> 00:26:15,240 Speaker 7: The most memorable things about that scene are the darkness, 484 00:26:15,440 --> 00:26:18,359 Speaker 7: Brando's voice, and the cat. But it seems like those 485 00:26:18,400 --> 00:26:21,480 Speaker 7: were the things the executive thought would be the movie's downfall. 486 00:26:22,040 --> 00:26:25,800 Speaker 1: Yeah, the studio just didn't see Coppola's vision. In fact, 487 00:26:25,880 --> 00:26:28,720 Speaker 1: there was believed to be an effort between Jack Ballard 488 00:26:28,840 --> 00:26:33,480 Speaker 1: and Coppola's assistant director Steve Kesten to have Coppola fired 489 00:26:33,560 --> 00:26:37,200 Speaker 1: and replaced with the editor Aaron Obakian, who by the way, 490 00:26:37,320 --> 00:26:39,359 Speaker 1: Coppola had actually hired for the movie. 491 00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:41,800 Speaker 7: Do you think any of this was justified? 492 00:26:42,600 --> 00:26:46,480 Speaker 1: Well, you know, Coppola was having arguments with this cinematographer, 493 00:26:46,520 --> 00:26:49,879 Speaker 1: Gordon Willis, and apparently in the beginning it was really 494 00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:54,560 Speaker 1: very tough to understand Brando's mumbling, But of course Francis 495 00:26:54,560 --> 00:26:56,680 Speaker 1: insisted he needed more time. 496 00:26:57,320 --> 00:26:59,080 Speaker 7: Does he know about the plot against him? 497 00:27:00,320 --> 00:27:03,840 Speaker 1: Is really fast on a movie set, right, especially bad news? 498 00:27:03,960 --> 00:27:07,080 Speaker 1: Kafla decided to strike first and fire six of the 499 00:27:07,119 --> 00:27:09,280 Speaker 1: conspirators at once, the. 500 00:27:09,280 --> 00:27:16,399 Speaker 10: Assessor, director, catch structure provisor Arab and his crew Franks 501 00:27:16,440 --> 00:27:17,119 Speaker 10: as fireable. 502 00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:19,960 Speaker 7: And how does Robert Evans respond to all of this? 503 00:27:20,640 --> 00:27:23,280 Speaker 1: Robert Evans claimed that he had no idea about the 504 00:27:23,359 --> 00:27:26,400 Speaker 1: mutiny on the set. He claimed instead that he spent 505 00:27:26,480 --> 00:27:30,360 Speaker 1: an entire weekend editing together the scene of Michael shooting 506 00:27:30,440 --> 00:27:33,479 Speaker 1: Salazzo and McCluskey in the restaurant. 507 00:27:33,240 --> 00:27:38,080 Speaker 3: And if I'm seeing edited together, I realized that I'm 508 00:27:38,160 --> 00:27:39,200 Speaker 3: doing with a brief guy. 509 00:27:40,080 --> 00:27:43,720 Speaker 7: So conveniently, once Evans is behind the editing, it's coming 510 00:27:43,760 --> 00:27:48,400 Speaker 7: together brilliantly. Well, of course, so with Evans suddenly behind him, 511 00:27:48,400 --> 00:27:49,960 Speaker 7: do things turn around for Coppola? 512 00:27:50,680 --> 00:27:54,240 Speaker 1: Well, he does have a brief moment of glory. Charlie 513 00:27:54,240 --> 00:27:56,800 Speaker 1: Bludorn takes him and his father to the Palm, his 514 00:27:56,960 --> 00:28:00,399 Speaker 1: favorite restaurant in New York. They order stay and they 515 00:28:00,480 --> 00:28:03,840 Speaker 1: order lobster, and according to Koppla, at least they're best 516 00:28:03,880 --> 00:28:05,400 Speaker 1: friends from this point forward. 517 00:28:06,840 --> 00:28:10,639 Speaker 7: So Copla is riding high. What's next on the shooting schedule? 518 00:28:11,040 --> 00:28:13,639 Speaker 1: Another killing, of course, this time the victim is that 519 00:28:13,800 --> 00:28:20,880 Speaker 1: cutthroat Polygtto. Polygtto picks up Clemenza at his home and 520 00:28:21,080 --> 00:28:24,960 Speaker 1: they're supposedly going shopping for mattresses for the war that's 521 00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:29,280 Speaker 1: about to begin, and Clemenza's wife yells from the stoop, 522 00:28:29,400 --> 00:28:33,199 Speaker 1: don't forget the canoli, and they drive out to what 523 00:28:33,320 --> 00:28:36,160 Speaker 1: turns out to be a desolate road in the middle 524 00:28:36,200 --> 00:28:39,440 Speaker 1: of nowhere, with the Statue of Liberty looming in the background. 525 00:28:40,160 --> 00:28:42,960 Speaker 1: The Statue of Liberties. Back to the scene that's about 526 00:28:43,040 --> 00:28:46,360 Speaker 1: to unfold. Clemenza gets out of the car to take 527 00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:50,480 Speaker 1: a leak. Pol Gotto is shot from behind, slumped over 528 00:28:50,520 --> 00:28:54,680 Speaker 1: the steering wheel. Clemenza zips up his pants, comes over 529 00:28:54,720 --> 00:28:58,120 Speaker 1: to the car and tells the driver leave the gun, 530 00:28:58,400 --> 00:28:59,280 Speaker 1: take the canoli. 531 00:29:00,040 --> 00:29:01,720 Speaker 7: Do you think they knew that the scene was going 532 00:29:01,800 --> 00:29:03,400 Speaker 7: to play so well when they filmed it. 533 00:29:04,040 --> 00:29:05,600 Speaker 1: Well, I think they knew it was going to turn 534 00:29:05,640 --> 00:29:07,840 Speaker 1: out to be a great scene, but they didn't know 535 00:29:07,880 --> 00:29:10,560 Speaker 1: about that line, leave the gun, take the Canoli, which 536 00:29:10,600 --> 00:29:12,320 Speaker 1: turned out to be one of the great lines in 537 00:29:12,360 --> 00:29:16,960 Speaker 1: the film, totally a lived by Richard Castellano as Clemenza. 538 00:29:17,040 --> 00:29:18,760 Speaker 1: So it turned out to be a lot more than 539 00:29:18,760 --> 00:29:20,080 Speaker 1: they expected, I'm sure. 540 00:29:20,560 --> 00:29:23,280 Speaker 7: And then we move on to the wedding mark. The 541 00:29:23,320 --> 00:29:25,920 Speaker 7: wedding scene was always more than a wedding, right. 542 00:29:26,200 --> 00:29:30,360 Speaker 1: Well, the wedding scene that opened the movie would show 543 00:29:30,440 --> 00:29:34,440 Speaker 1: all the themes that Coppola wanted to explore in the movie. 544 00:29:34,760 --> 00:29:37,160 Speaker 1: It would set the stage for all the things that 545 00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:40,200 Speaker 1: were coming. It would show that the Mob was more 546 00:29:40,240 --> 00:29:43,720 Speaker 1: than brute forests and bloody fights. It would show that 547 00:29:43,800 --> 00:29:47,200 Speaker 1: its fathers and sons and aunts and uncles and cousins. 548 00:29:47,720 --> 00:29:50,560 Speaker 1: It would show that the Mob is made up of families. 549 00:29:51,320 --> 00:29:54,880 Speaker 1: And what could be more family than an Italian American wedding. 550 00:29:55,280 --> 00:29:57,400 Speaker 7: And let's talk about the location, because there was some 551 00:29:57,440 --> 00:29:59,920 Speaker 7: trouble locking down the Staten Island compound. 552 00:30:00,920 --> 00:30:05,600 Speaker 1: Yes, there was, as always trouble. It was actually a 553 00:30:05,600 --> 00:30:08,480 Speaker 1: few houses adjacent to each other to give the look 554 00:30:08,480 --> 00:30:12,040 Speaker 1: of a compound, and one of the homeowners was holding out. 555 00:30:12,440 --> 00:30:15,520 Speaker 1: According to al Ruddy, they had to call in a 556 00:30:15,560 --> 00:30:19,600 Speaker 1: favor from the production's new guardian, angel Joe Colombo. 557 00:30:20,480 --> 00:30:23,560 Speaker 12: And then I said, look, miss already, you don't understand. 558 00:30:23,760 --> 00:30:26,000 Speaker 12: I worked my whole life and I've saved my whole 559 00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:28,280 Speaker 12: life out to buying this house. And I don't like 560 00:30:28,480 --> 00:30:31,160 Speaker 12: what you want to do with my home because I've 561 00:30:31,440 --> 00:30:34,560 Speaker 12: want the home of a gangster. So I looked at Jones, 562 00:30:35,360 --> 00:30:37,800 Speaker 12: Jose it's going to be the fun sign a fucking 563 00:30:38,960 --> 00:30:42,240 Speaker 12: Jose's it's good for our people. He said, it's good 564 00:30:42,280 --> 00:30:47,080 Speaker 12: for our people, and he did, are you kidding? The 565 00:30:47,120 --> 00:30:48,240 Speaker 12: pennelmus went through the. 566 00:30:48,200 --> 00:30:51,360 Speaker 7: Paper, and of course the wedding scene gives us Johnny 567 00:30:51,360 --> 00:30:55,240 Speaker 7: Fontaine crying to the Godfather and the iconic slap. 568 00:30:55,400 --> 00:30:58,520 Speaker 1: Which takes us to the classic scene of the producer 569 00:30:59,240 --> 00:31:03,320 Speaker 1: Jack Woltz waking up to buyd a horse's head and 570 00:31:03,440 --> 00:31:04,200 Speaker 1: his bad. 571 00:31:04,520 --> 00:31:07,080 Speaker 7: And Copola gave us some insight into his thinking on 572 00:31:07,120 --> 00:31:08,480 Speaker 7: acquiring the horse's head. 573 00:31:09,120 --> 00:31:14,800 Speaker 11: Personally, I would not kill any living creature for a movie. 574 00:31:15,160 --> 00:31:19,560 Speaker 11: It's not in my philosophy. And my personal conviction, I 575 00:31:19,560 --> 00:31:25,880 Speaker 11: don't believe movies are something that any creature, even a fly, 576 00:31:26,120 --> 00:31:29,760 Speaker 11: should be hurt. In order to do it. 577 00:31:29,760 --> 00:31:32,200 Speaker 1: It was very controversial, but they came up with a 578 00:31:32,280 --> 00:31:35,960 Speaker 1: really creative plan to acquire this horse's head, which had 579 00:31:36,000 --> 00:31:37,480 Speaker 1: to be fresh. 580 00:31:37,560 --> 00:31:40,800 Speaker 11: Yes, that was a real horse's head. But the way 581 00:31:40,840 --> 00:31:43,600 Speaker 11: we did it is we went to a dog food company. 582 00:31:43,640 --> 00:31:47,600 Speaker 11: With all the animal lovers who feed their little dogs 583 00:31:47,600 --> 00:31:53,720 Speaker 11: and cats pet food have to Maybe they don't realize it, 584 00:31:53,760 --> 00:31:56,960 Speaker 11: but the pet food is very often made from horse 585 00:31:57,040 --> 00:32:01,480 Speaker 11: meat because when the horses are so they go as 586 00:32:01,560 --> 00:32:04,600 Speaker 11: a main ingredient in pet food. So we went to 587 00:32:04,640 --> 00:32:07,160 Speaker 11: one of those companies and they of course had a 588 00:32:07,200 --> 00:32:12,959 Speaker 11: whole bunch of horses, and we chose a horse that 589 00:32:13,120 --> 00:32:15,400 Speaker 11: looked like the real horse in the movie, was the 590 00:32:15,480 --> 00:32:19,760 Speaker 11: same coloring and had a unique marking. So we chose 591 00:32:19,800 --> 00:32:24,160 Speaker 11: the horse to be like the horse that was in 592 00:32:24,160 --> 00:32:26,440 Speaker 11: the pet food coming. We asked the pet food company 593 00:32:27,000 --> 00:32:32,320 Speaker 11: to not kill that horse until we said, okay, it's 594 00:32:32,360 --> 00:32:34,400 Speaker 11: time to do that, and then we wanted the head. 595 00:32:35,120 --> 00:32:37,160 Speaker 7: I don't even know what to say about this. It's 596 00:32:37,160 --> 00:32:38,400 Speaker 7: such an outrageous thing. 597 00:32:38,880 --> 00:32:39,120 Speaker 1: Mark. 598 00:32:39,160 --> 00:32:41,239 Speaker 7: Do you think that they would have done something like 599 00:32:41,280 --> 00:32:41,880 Speaker 7: this today. 600 00:32:42,840 --> 00:32:45,040 Speaker 1: Well, I don't know if people today would be that 601 00:32:45,120 --> 00:32:48,080 Speaker 1: adamant to find a real horse's head. Maybe they would 602 00:32:48,120 --> 00:32:50,880 Speaker 1: be able to do it with animatronics or something like that. 603 00:32:51,080 --> 00:32:53,040 Speaker 1: I mean, would you really have to go and find 604 00:32:53,040 --> 00:32:54,960 Speaker 1: a real horse's head to put in the bed? I 605 00:32:54,960 --> 00:32:56,680 Speaker 1: think you could find a lot of ways to do 606 00:32:56,720 --> 00:32:59,760 Speaker 1: it today. But you can't deny that it was one 607 00:32:59,760 --> 00:33:04,320 Speaker 1: of them most effective and bloody scenes in the movie, truly. 608 00:33:05,720 --> 00:33:09,200 Speaker 7: So Copla finally quells the mutiny, but things aren't going 609 00:33:09,280 --> 00:33:10,600 Speaker 7: much better for him, right. 610 00:33:11,080 --> 00:33:11,640 Speaker 11: Not at all. 611 00:33:11,800 --> 00:33:15,480 Speaker 1: Jack Ballard still breathing down his neck, And now Coppola 612 00:33:15,520 --> 00:33:18,600 Speaker 1: and his cinematographer Gordon Willis are going at it. 613 00:33:18,840 --> 00:33:21,120 Speaker 7: And the root of their disagreements comes from the fact 614 00:33:21,160 --> 00:33:23,760 Speaker 7: that Copola wanted to work too quickly for Willis. 615 00:33:24,000 --> 00:33:27,280 Speaker 1: Well, Coppola and Willis drove each other crazy. One day 616 00:33:27,280 --> 00:33:30,000 Speaker 1: Coppola wants to go handheld, the next he wants a 617 00:33:30,080 --> 00:33:33,360 Speaker 1: thousand millimeter Lyns. So they went back and forth on 618 00:33:33,440 --> 00:33:34,480 Speaker 1: a lot of things. 619 00:33:35,000 --> 00:33:38,160 Speaker 7: And amid the turmoil, Copola's wife Eleanor has a baby 620 00:33:38,640 --> 00:33:39,320 Speaker 7: right right. 621 00:33:39,160 --> 00:33:42,560 Speaker 1: In the middle of filming. Sophia Coppola is born. She 622 00:33:42,640 --> 00:33:45,720 Speaker 1: would of course later become a director, but first she 623 00:33:45,760 --> 00:33:48,560 Speaker 1: would become an actress, and her first role as an 624 00:33:48,640 --> 00:33:50,720 Speaker 1: infant is in The Godfather. 625 00:33:51,480 --> 00:33:54,560 Speaker 7: At just three weeks old, Sophia Copla appears in the 626 00:33:54,560 --> 00:33:58,400 Speaker 7: baptism scene in Saint Patrick's Old Cathedral, playing the son 627 00:33:58,440 --> 00:34:00,240 Speaker 7: of Connie and Carlo Rizzy. 628 00:34:00,560 --> 00:34:02,720 Speaker 1: A huge talent from day one. 629 00:34:03,360 --> 00:34:06,040 Speaker 7: Let's move on to the succession scene, because there's quite 630 00:34:06,080 --> 00:34:08,239 Speaker 7: a story here, yes. 631 00:34:08,120 --> 00:34:11,359 Speaker 1: And the succession scene wasn't even written yet. There's no 632 00:34:11,480 --> 00:34:14,840 Speaker 1: succession scene in Mario Puzo's book, but Coppola thought it 633 00:34:14,840 --> 00:34:17,880 Speaker 1: would be a really important thing to show the transfer 634 00:34:17,960 --> 00:34:18,480 Speaker 1: of power. 635 00:34:19,400 --> 00:34:21,760 Speaker 7: Why did they have such difficulty with this scene? 636 00:34:22,719 --> 00:34:25,200 Speaker 1: Coppola felt he needed some help. I mean, he's directing 637 00:34:25,239 --> 00:34:27,480 Speaker 1: this movie. There are a thousand things happening, and he 638 00:34:27,600 --> 00:34:31,600 Speaker 1: wisely tapped Robert Town, who was one of the great 639 00:34:31,719 --> 00:34:35,239 Speaker 1: legendary screenwriters of Hollywood. He was still a young man 640 00:34:35,280 --> 00:34:38,279 Speaker 1: at that point and still early in his career. And 641 00:34:38,360 --> 00:34:41,360 Speaker 1: so Robert Town told me for the book that he 642 00:34:41,400 --> 00:34:43,359 Speaker 1: gets a call in his house one day in la 643 00:34:43,560 --> 00:34:45,520 Speaker 1: and Coppola is on the phone asking him to come 644 00:34:45,560 --> 00:34:49,080 Speaker 1: to New York to write this scene. Takes his typewriter, 645 00:34:49,560 --> 00:34:53,840 Speaker 1: flies to New York, stays in Buck Henry's apartment, and 646 00:34:53,920 --> 00:34:57,640 Speaker 1: here's how Robert Town remembers it as it happened. 647 00:34:57,640 --> 00:35:00,600 Speaker 4: I had one night to write the scene. I had 648 00:35:00,640 --> 00:35:03,719 Speaker 4: no idea what to do, but I remember looking, do 649 00:35:03,719 --> 00:35:04,600 Speaker 4: you remember. 650 00:35:04,239 --> 00:35:07,120 Speaker 3: The book The Godfather? The cover of it. 651 00:35:07,400 --> 00:35:08,200 Speaker 12: Yeah, of course. 652 00:35:08,880 --> 00:35:12,000 Speaker 1: And he stays up all night and he's looking at 653 00:35:12,040 --> 00:35:16,200 Speaker 1: the cover of the novel and he sees those puppet strings, 654 00:35:16,239 --> 00:35:19,120 Speaker 1: you know, dangling down on the novel's cover. 655 00:35:19,800 --> 00:35:22,719 Speaker 4: I remember looking at it, at the book cover and 656 00:35:22,800 --> 00:35:26,400 Speaker 4: thinking that's a possibility. 657 00:35:27,160 --> 00:35:29,760 Speaker 1: All of a sudden, maybe at four am or whatever, 658 00:35:30,200 --> 00:35:34,160 Speaker 1: these words come to him. I went my own life. 659 00:35:34,560 --> 00:35:38,120 Speaker 13: I don't apologize to think care of my family, and 660 00:35:38,200 --> 00:35:42,880 Speaker 13: I refused to be a fool dancing on a string. 661 00:35:43,000 --> 00:35:46,440 Speaker 13: Have I all those big shots. 662 00:35:47,239 --> 00:35:49,920 Speaker 1: A couple of picks up Town at buck Henry's apartment 663 00:35:49,960 --> 00:35:51,320 Speaker 1: really early the next morning. 664 00:35:52,040 --> 00:35:56,400 Speaker 4: He didn't say much, and I didn't say anything, and 665 00:35:56,840 --> 00:36:02,440 Speaker 4: Practice finally about halfway there, said any luck, I said, well, 666 00:36:02,480 --> 00:36:07,239 Speaker 4: I think so. I gave him the script and he 667 00:36:07,400 --> 00:36:07,759 Speaker 4: read it. 668 00:36:09,000 --> 00:36:09,600 Speaker 11: He liked it. 669 00:36:09,920 --> 00:36:12,840 Speaker 1: Copla nods and he says, you show it Tomorrowlin and 670 00:36:13,080 --> 00:36:15,360 Speaker 1: Robert Town went, what you mean, I have to present 671 00:36:15,400 --> 00:36:17,759 Speaker 1: this tomorrow and Brando and he said, yeah, yeah, show 672 00:36:17,800 --> 00:36:20,080 Speaker 1: it tomorrow and takes it to Marrowlin on the set. 673 00:36:20,520 --> 00:36:22,960 Speaker 1: Apparently he loved it as everyone else did. It's one 674 00:36:23,000 --> 00:36:25,600 Speaker 1: of the great scenes in American cinema history. 675 00:36:26,480 --> 00:36:29,759 Speaker 4: At the end of the today shooting with Tomorrowland turned 676 00:36:29,760 --> 00:36:33,960 Speaker 4: to me said who the fuck are you and I said, yeah, 677 00:36:34,840 --> 00:36:35,640 Speaker 4: nobody really. 678 00:36:37,160 --> 00:36:37,799 Speaker 9: I thought that. 679 00:36:40,320 --> 00:36:43,520 Speaker 13: When it was your time that did you would be 680 00:36:43,560 --> 00:36:50,760 Speaker 13: the one of all the strings. Senator go on, governor 681 00:36:50,920 --> 00:36:51,440 Speaker 13: going on. 682 00:36:51,840 --> 00:36:55,840 Speaker 11: So we'll get that, we'll get that. 683 00:36:57,920 --> 00:37:01,120 Speaker 1: So great that when Coppla won the Oscar for screenwriting, 684 00:37:01,120 --> 00:37:04,200 Speaker 1: he thanked Robert Town for this scene. And the interesting 685 00:37:04,239 --> 00:37:06,840 Speaker 1: thing is the scene was written on Q cards for Brando, 686 00:37:06,920 --> 00:37:09,279 Speaker 1: as were many other scenes, and you could see them 687 00:37:09,320 --> 00:37:11,480 Speaker 1: holding up the Q cards for this scene in some 688 00:37:11,560 --> 00:37:14,360 Speaker 1: of the classic pictures from the shooting of the movie. 689 00:37:14,280 --> 00:37:16,520 Speaker 7: Because at this point in his career he had trouble 690 00:37:16,560 --> 00:37:17,840 Speaker 7: memorizing his line. 691 00:37:17,840 --> 00:37:20,239 Speaker 1: Right right, so he had Q cards for a lot 692 00:37:20,280 --> 00:37:23,080 Speaker 1: of these things, including this succession scene. 693 00:37:23,880 --> 00:37:27,120 Speaker 7: Let's fast forward to June twenty eighth, nineteen seventy one. 694 00:37:27,640 --> 00:37:30,000 Speaker 7: It's the sixty sixth day of filming in New York, 695 00:37:30,120 --> 00:37:32,239 Speaker 7: and Coppola is about to shoot a love scene at 696 00:37:32,239 --> 00:37:33,360 Speaker 7: the Saint Regis Hotel. 697 00:37:34,200 --> 00:37:36,920 Speaker 1: Yes, and just a few blocks away in Columbus Circle, 698 00:37:37,400 --> 00:37:40,840 Speaker 1: the Italian American Civil Rights League is hosting its second 699 00:37:40,880 --> 00:37:45,680 Speaker 1: annual Unity Day. The lineup includes bb King, Frankie Valley 700 00:37:45,719 --> 00:37:49,400 Speaker 1: in The Four Seasons, Sammy Davis Junior, and of course 701 00:37:49,760 --> 00:37:52,759 Speaker 1: the headliner Joe Colombo. 702 00:37:53,000 --> 00:37:55,240 Speaker 7: And now Ruddy had planned to attend right. 703 00:37:55,560 --> 00:37:59,960 Speaker 1: Yes, but the night before the rally he received a call. 704 00:38:00,040 --> 00:38:02,960 Speaker 8: Has been on the dais sitting next to Joe Columbo 705 00:38:02,960 --> 00:38:03,560 Speaker 8: when he was shot? 706 00:38:04,080 --> 00:38:06,600 Speaker 12: Okay, and I was told not to. 707 00:38:06,560 --> 00:38:09,319 Speaker 8: Be there that day, not asking me not to be 708 00:38:09,360 --> 00:38:12,520 Speaker 8: there under no circumstances. You to be a Columbus Circle 709 00:38:12,600 --> 00:38:17,400 Speaker 8: tomorrow sitting next to Joe Columbu and the phonecos clicked death. 710 00:38:18,600 --> 00:38:21,799 Speaker 1: No one from the movie attended the rally, and it's 711 00:38:21,840 --> 00:38:25,240 Speaker 1: probably best that they did not, because at eleven forty 712 00:38:25,239 --> 00:38:29,160 Speaker 1: five am, Joe Colombo is walking through the crowd when 713 00:38:29,200 --> 00:38:31,400 Speaker 1: he's approached by a man who appears to be a 714 00:38:31,440 --> 00:38:36,240 Speaker 1: press photographer. The man crouches down, but he's not pointing 715 00:38:36,239 --> 00:38:40,759 Speaker 1: a camera anymore. Instead, he points a pistol at Colombo 716 00:38:41,239 --> 00:38:45,279 Speaker 1: and fires three times in the St. Regis Hotel a 717 00:38:45,320 --> 00:38:49,000 Speaker 1: few blocks away. Coppola is watching this scene play out 718 00:38:49,040 --> 00:38:52,600 Speaker 1: on the news, and in that instance, the mob and 719 00:38:52,640 --> 00:38:56,680 Speaker 1: the movie makers become one. Filming in New York ends 720 00:38:56,760 --> 00:39:00,960 Speaker 1: days later on July. Tewod as Joe Colombo anguishes in 721 00:39:01,040 --> 00:39:05,680 Speaker 1: a coma at Roosevelt Hospital, but filming isn't truly over 722 00:39:06,200 --> 00:39:08,960 Speaker 1: because they still have a few pivotal scenes to shoot. 723 00:39:09,440 --> 00:39:11,920 Speaker 1: For those, the crew needs to head to the birthplace 724 00:39:11,960 --> 00:39:28,600 Speaker 1: of the Mafia sicily, Leave the Gun, Take the Canoli. 725 00:39:28,640 --> 00:39:31,520 Speaker 1: As a production of Airmail and iHeartMedia. 726 00:39:32,080 --> 00:39:34,439 Speaker 7: The podcast is based on the book of the same name, 727 00:39:34,520 --> 00:39:36,520 Speaker 7: written by our very own Mark Seal. 728 00:39:37,160 --> 00:39:38,880 Speaker 1: Our producer is Tina Mullen. 729 00:39:39,360 --> 00:39:41,520 Speaker 7: Research assistance by Jack Sullivan. 730 00:39:41,920 --> 00:39:44,680 Speaker 1: Jonathan Dressler was our development producer. 731 00:39:45,320 --> 00:39:49,560 Speaker 7: Our music supervisor is Randall Poster. Our executive producers are 732 00:39:49,640 --> 00:39:54,040 Speaker 7: Meet Nathan King, Mark Seal, Doan Fagan, and Graydon Carter. 733 00:39:54,680 --> 00:39:59,279 Speaker 1: Special thanks to Bridget Arseno and everyone at CDM Studios. 734 00:40:00,120 --> 00:40:03,400 Speaker 7: Comprehensive list of sources and acknowledgments can be found in 735 00:40:03,440 --> 00:40:07,360 Speaker 7: Mark Sieal's book, Leave the Gun, Take the Canolli, published 736 00:40:07,360 --> 00:40:10,320 Speaker 7: by gallery Books. An imprint of Simon and Schuster