Cinema lovers will be celebrating on March 14 because it will be the 50th anniversary of the premiere of The Godfather, the acclaimed film by Francis Ford Coppola that left its mark on the moviegoer's memory forever. Revered by many as one of the best films in history (the second behind Citizen Kane according to the list of the American Film Institute), the adaptation of Mario Puzo's novel also remains an iconic reference of cinema and the greatest influences of the gangster genre to date.
The production is full of curiosities and anecdotes, however, there is one that few know. And it is the agreement that one of the producers of the film closed with the Italian-American mafia to avoid boycotts and problems in New York during filming and premiere.
The journalist and writer Brian Viner reviewed the story in an article in the Daily Mail, narrating an unusual anecdote that, although half-known through Harlan Lebo's book (The Godfather Legacy: The untold story of the making of the classic Godfather trilogy, 1997), now shares details that further take the production's affiliation with the mafia.
But first, to better understand this story, we must start at the beginning. According to some, Paramount bought the rights to the novel when it was not yet finished, paying an advance of $10,000 that the author accepted immediately when he was drowning in debt because of the game. The deal included another $80,000 if the completed work was transferred to the movies. Little did Puzo know that the film would become the highest-grossing film of 1972.
The film was soon launched and in 1970 Coppola reluctantly joined the project, accepting the proposal after the financial failure of his film THX 1138 (1971). Over several months, the director wrote one version of the script and published another, arriving at a longer final draft than Paramount had originally requested. And then the production got down to work after closing an agreement with Marlon Brando that forced him to ensure that he would not produce any delays -due to his history as a problematic figure in the past-, later adding Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall and the rest of the cast.
And in the middle of it, all was Albert S. Ruddy, whose job as a producer was to get the product to fruition. At the same time that the production was taking place, New York had an Italian-American leader who claimed to fight for the rights of his community to banish stereotypes about the mafia and “our thing” in film and television. That was none other than Joseph Colombo, ironically the head of one of the five families that controlled the mob in New York City.
Beyond his position in organized crime, Colombo created the Italian American Civil Rights League in 1970 to protest against the persecution of Italians, and the stigma of mafia stereotypes. An irony of fate that has more mischief when we remember that when the press asked him about the existence of the mafia, he answered “Mafia, what mafia? There is no mob. Am I the head of a family? Yes, from my wife and my four sons and one daughter” (New York Times). For this reason, when he learned that the film was underway and that it would also be shot in his city, he stood up against Ruddy and Paramount, declaring war against any intention to propagate the idea of the existence of the mafia. As published by Mental Floss in 2017, Colombo had threatened to cause problems with unions, delays, and other obstacles that could complicate the study's investment. And his threats were not in vain, being one of the most important figures in organized crime at the time, the producer could not look the other way.
Although Colombo never accepted responsibility, the producer began to live disturbing experiences, such as a shooting against the windows of his car, threatening calls in his office, or being followed by a car. Even the Paramount subsidiary in charge of the project, Gulf & Western, received bomb threats, having to evacuate the building on two occasions.
Thus, at the beginning of 1971, Ruddy met with Colombo and his son Anthony to discuss the film. And he did something unusual today: he handed them the 155-page script and assured them that the film would not reinforce mafia stereotypes of Italians. But Colombo was clear about what he had gone for and told him that if they removed any mention of "mafia" or "our thing" from the script and donated the proceeds from the premiere to the foundation that the League had with a hospital, then it would not cause any problems for the League. the production. And Ruddy accepted.
But now, according to the Daily Mail, we know more details of that agreement that would have been even more extensive and specific. Like for example before Joseph Colombo, other mobsters would have tried to stop production by offering $1 million to the studio. Or that the threats Ruddy received made him dress up as Groucho Marx.
However, the most striking thing we now find out is that the producer offered extra roles to Colombo's associates in the film. Men who were “murderers and extortionists” and served them a special screening of the premiere just for them on a platter where 100 limousines poured out the doors. The theater projectionist later said that one of the “guests” had left him a $1,000 tip.
Curiously, after sealing the pact, the locations that until then had refused to lend themselves to the filming -such as a Brooklyn funeral home or a Staten Island house that they wanted to use as Don Corleone's home- were miraculously available. However, Gulf & Western executives were thrilled at the deal, their shares fell on the stock market, and Ruddy was fired, though he was rehired at Coppola's insistence.
The premiere was a complete success. Within days The Godfather had amassed a fortune at the US box office, surpassing the record set by Gone with the Wind, theaters had lines that stretched hours long, and Coppola began receiving fan letters signed by filmmakers like Frank Capra and David Lean.
And what happened to Joseph Colombo? Well, curiously, he never got to see the finished film because the same day that Coppola was filming the assassination attempt on Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) on June 28, 1971, four streets away in Colombo, he was shot three times in the head and neck during an active politician in protest against the stereotypes of his community. The killer was Jerome A. Johnson, a man disguised as a photojournalist at the event. He died instantly from being shot by Colombo's bodyguards.
On his part, Colombo spent 7 years in a coma and finally died in 1978. Although his family always blamed his rival Joe Gallo for the attack, who was killed a year later, police concluded that Johnson acted alone after a discussion days ago.
