8 Book Review VIDEOAGE December 2023 Author and journalist Mark Seal shares a behind-the-scenes look at what went on during the filming of Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather in his well-researched new book. From Real Life to the Silver Screen: New Book Explores The Making of The Godfather By Luis Polanco “I believe in America.” The iconic opening line of The Godfather, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, and released by Paramount in 1972, ushers in one of the main strands of the movie: the immigrant experience in the pursuit of the American Dream and the darker underbelly of said dream. As well known, the film revolves around a powerful crime family and the head of the family, Vito Corleone, to tell a devastating story about power, corruption, loyalty, and above all, family. The compelling storytelling, well-crafted screenplay, and the atmospheric cinematography, all contribute to making The Godfather into what is considered one of the greatest movies ever made. But behind the making of The Godfather lies a network of mythmaking, obscured by rumors and ego from studio execs, producers, and talent. In his new book, Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli: The Epic Story of the Making of The Godfather (448 pgs., Gallery Books, 2021, $28.99), author Mark Seal seeks to present the truth. Maybe because of the movie’s popularity, many topics have been left underdiscussed, overlooked, and misrepresented. With his latest book, Seal pulls back the glitzy veil of Hollywood to deliver something closer to historical fact, with new interviews and thorough research on the exemplary film. Seal has written and co-written more than 15 books. Since 2003, he has served as a contributing editor at Vanity Fair, where his subjects have ranged from scandal and murder to business and Hollywood. In Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli, Seal chronicles the entire history of the movie, starting even before the film was on the table of possibilities. He begins with the real-life story of Joseph Valachi, the American mobster who first disclosed the existence of the mafia in his public testimony in the 1960s. This story would come to influence Mario Puzo, author and screenwriter of The Godfather. One of the strengths of Seal’s book is his ability to zero in on the individual stories of the various people involved in making The Godfather a classic. His craft as a biographer and storyteller comes to the fore in relating the stories of the lives of Puzo and others, including Paramount executive Robert Evans, producer Albert Stotland Ruddy, and filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, among others. In Seal’s hands, the story of The Godfather’s transformation from novel to movie is an interesting one. The critical success of Puzo’s novel The Godfather spurred Paramount to adapt it into a movie. However, the studio’s distribution didn’t think the film would perform well given it was a gangster movie, and the studio only decided to act on making the movie once Burt Lancaster’s production company put its hand in for the film rights. Competition was a great motivator as the studio then moved quickly to wrangle a producer to steer the project. Ruddy got the job as producer, and Puzo signed on for the screenplay. Then Evans and studio exec Peter Bart needed to find a director, but none of the studios’ first choices — Arthur Penn, Richard Brooks, Costa-Gavras — were available and none of the directors who expressed interest were an appropriate fit. After some deliberate thought, the duo surmised that the film, if it were to be authentic, would need an Italian-American director. Bart suggested Francis Ford Coppola, who Seal describes as “the youngest director on Paramount’s list: a big, burly, bearded, longhaired intellectual.” Coppola accepted the role reluctantly at first, fearful that the studio would stifle his autonomy and vision. Coppola would take creative control of the film by rewriting and working with Puzo on the screenplay and having a say in casting. For the major roles, he wanted Al Pacino, James Caan, and Robert Duvall. “Thus began the major battle of The Godfather, one that would far eclipse the heated skirmishes over where the movie would be shot and its increasingly escalating budget”, writes Seals. “On one side was Coppola, a young director determined to cast the actors he saw so vividly in his imagination. On the other side was Robert Evans, a studio chief determined to avoid the miscasting that had plagued Mob films like The Brotherhood.” Seal’s flair for storytelling runs throughout Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli, from his telling of what happened during the film’s production to his description of what happened afterwards. His book is an honorable testament to the film and its successes. As Seal mentions early on, “[The Godfather] revitalized Hollywood, saved Paramount Pictures, announced the arrival of Francis Ford Coppola as one of the great directors of the new era of film, minted a new generation of movie stars, made its writer, director, and producer rich.” One of the strengths of Seal’s book is his ability to zero in on the individual stories of the various people involved in making The Godfather a classic.
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