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GAME · 2006 · USA

The Godfather

12 archived facts 5 topics

Francis Ford Coppola's 1972 adaptation of Mario Puzo's novel, made under constant pressure from Paramount and now regarded as a landmark of American cinema.

12 Interesting Facts About The Godfather

Interesting Facts (3)

  1. #001

    Al Pacino could not return as Michael Corleone because he had already signed a likeness deal with another game company for Scarface: The World Is Yours (2006). EA/Paramount therefore had no right to his voice or likeness. Since the publisher holds the rights to The Godfather's story and characters, Michael still appears in the game, but with a different look and a new voice actor, Joseph May.

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  2. #002

    The player character is never named, only called "kid", but one mission shows a Mob "family" tree of all the Corleones. It includes a picture of the protagonist captioned "Trapani the Player". The Godfather II (2009) later gave his full name as Aldo Trapani. One of the Little Italy businesses you extort is called "Trapani's Bakery", yet someone else runs it and it belongs to the Stracci family, not the Barzinis who murdered the character's father, Johnny Trapani.

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  3. #003

    To cut costs, Paramount wanted Coppola to shift the story to 1972 and shoot in Kansas City rather than New York, but he convinced the studio to keep the post-World War II New York setting.

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Production Story (2)

  1. #004

    Marlon Brando recorded a small amount of dialogue to reprise Don Vito Corleone before his death. He was eager for the work, fascinated by the technology and approved of how his character was portrayed in the game. Poor health meant only one of his recordings made it in, and the oxygen tank he needed to breathe can be heard on the track. Brando's voice is used in just one scene, in the hospital, where Don Vito gives a short speech about Sollozzo when you approach his bed. Some scenes use clips of his voice taken from the film. Doug Abrahams, who also voiced Clemenza and Jack Woltz, was cast for his ability to mimic Brando and served as dialect coach as well.

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  2. #005

    The game's missions run parallel to the events of The Godfather (1972), but one comes straight from the novel. As in the film's opening, the undertaker Bonasera asks Don Vito to act against the young men who beat and tried to rape his daughter. The film never shows it, but in the book Don Vito tells Clemenza's men, Paulie Gatto among them, to "teach the boys a lesson". The player takes part in the beating.

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Behind the Scenes (3)

  1. #006

    Paramount kept backup directors on set throughout the shoot and threatened several times to fire Coppola, who was reportedly spared only after the studio saw the scene in which Michael kills Sollozzo and McCluskey.

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  2. #007

    Coppola held improvisation sessions in which the principal cast shared a family dinner in character and were forbidden to break character, which helped establish the family dynamics seen on screen.

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  3. #008

    On his walks to the set, Coppola found a stray cat and handed it to Brando to improvise with during the study scenes; the animal remained in Brando's lap through the entire day of takes.

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Characters & Cast (3)

  1. #009

    Brando would not ordinarily agree to a screen test, so Coppola arranged one by billing it as a "makeup test"; executives failed to recognize Brando beneath the makeup and were impressed enough to cast him.

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  2. #010

    Lenny Montana, a former professional wrestler, could not deliver a usable take opposite Brando all day, so Coppola wrote in a scene of Luca Brasi rehearsing his lines, turning Montana's nerves into part of the character.

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  3. #011

    Making-of footage on the 2-disc release shows that the film actors who reprised their roles for the game were given considerable star-status leeway and a say in their lines. James Caan in particular had strong opinions during recording about what his character would and would not say, and usually got his way.

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Easter Eggs & References (1)

  1. #012

    Set in New York between 1945 and 1955, the game lets you overhear passersby whose chatter sometimes nods to the period. Two men may be arguing over the better shortstop, Phil Rizzuto of the New York Yankees or Pee Wee Reese of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Others will declare "I hate the fuckin' Dodgers," and someone else remarks "Y'know? Truman was the best president we ever had." Harry S. Truman was in the White House during those years.

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