SPOILER ALERT! This post contains spoilers relating to The Godfather.
I recently watched The Godfather for what was probably the fifth or sixth time since its release in 1972. It is one of the best films I have ever seen -- hence, the A rating you'll see below -- and is one of only two movies which I feel was clearly superior to the related book. (If you must know, the other was 1964's Fail Safe, graded A- here on April 1, 2012.) My count of five or six viewings is nothing compared to that of my mother, the Pook. For sure, she was comfortably in double digits. If there's a cinema in heaven the Pook is there right now, attending a Godfather triple feature.
I smile every time I recount the story Jill told about watching The Godfather with "Grandma Marie." The concept of spoiler alert was foreign to the Pook. So, every time the movie switched to a different scene, my mom could not resist telling her granddaughter what was about to happen. "Now this is where the guy wakes up with the horse's head in his bed." "Now this is where a bomb explodes in the girl's car." My mom could not help herself. She had dialogues memorized verbatim throughout the three hour film.
Each time I see The Godfather I pick up on something I hadn't noticed before. Without question, the story itself and the acting are pure brilliance. But there are other flourishes and nuances which combine to complement the obvious attributes. Here are several positive aspects which have kept The Godfather at or near the top of the list of the public's all time favorites.
* Famous quotes: How many times have you heard someone say, "Make him an offer he can't refuse"? Other noteworthy pieces of the film's dialogue include "Leave the gun, take the cannoli"; "It means Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes"; "It's not personal, it's strictly business."
* One memorable scene follows another: Two of my favorites are (i) the Louie's Restaurant conference among Michael Corleone (Al Pacino), gangster Sollozzo (Al Lettiere) and crooked cop McCluskey (Sterling Hayden), and (ii) the hospital scene featuring Michael and an extremely nervous Enzo the baker (Gabriele Torrei).
* Casting: Almost every character, major or minor, is perfectly cast, from Marlon Brando as the title character and Pacino as his youngest son Michael, to the other two brothers, Sonny (James Caan) and Fredo (John Cazale), plus the family's two main henchmen, Clemenza (Richard Castellano) and Tessio (Abe Vigota).
* Creepy killings: Moe Greene (Alex Rocco) gets plugged with a bullet through his glasses; Carlo is strangled from behind within seconds after getting in the front seat of a car; a mobster is shot after being trapped inside a store's revolving front door; Sonny is assassinated at a toll booth by a flurry of machine gun fire.
* Authentic Italian culture: The sprawling outdoor family wedding of the Godfather's only daughter, Connie (Talia Shire); Clemenza showing Michael how to prepare a huge pasta dinner for the family's associates; characters choosing to speak Italian to each other so people around them can't eavesdrop; Sonny sitting around in his "wife beater" undershirt.
* Putting intended victims at ease before they are killed: Sonny asks driver Pauli (Johnny Martino), who is suspected of betrayal, if he wants food or a drink, then orders Clemenza to rub Pauli out; Connie's husband Carlo (Gianni Russo) is handed an airplane ticket to Vegas moments before he gets in the car for his last ride; Luca Brasi (Lenny Montana) is poured a drink in a bar by a rival of the Corleones, then is bumped off while he stands at the rail.
* The evolution of Tom and Kay into acceptance of family business: Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall) is the family consigliere who functions as a legal adviser and is considered a son of the Godfather. Kay Adams (Diane Keaton) is Michael's girlfriend and eventual wife. At first they seem removed from the shady, corrupt operations of the Corleones, but as the story evolves it becomes impossible for them to distance themselves from the mafia world.
* Distinct traits and personalities of the brothers. Each of the three brothers plus Hagen has distinct personalities which hold true throughout the movie. Their words and actions realistically stay within the parameters attributable to those personalities. None of the men acts out of character for the convenience of the script writers, Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola.
One scene in particular stokes personal, fond memories for me, Momma Cuandito and our friends Sue and Bob Cipolle. In 2017 the four of us embarked on a road trip around Sicily, where we visited the mountain village of Savoca. There we sat outside Bar Vitelli to enjoy beers and a snack. That small outdoor seating area is also the location in The Godfather where Michael Corleone meets the father of Apollonia (Simonetta Stefanelli), the girl of Michael's dreams.
****
Here are the films I watched at home during the second quarter of 2019:
1. Bottled With Love (2019 romance; Bethany Joy Lenz and Andrew W. Walker are flirtatiously chatting on-line, not realizing they are co-workers in his father's family-owned business.) C+
2. The Godfather (1972 drama; Marlon Brando is the head of the Corleones, a powerful New York mafia family.) A
3. Gunfight At The O.K. Corral (1956 western; Burt Lancaster as U.S. Marshal Wyatt Earp is joined by alcoholic gambler and gunslinger Doc Holiday, played by Kirk Douglas, as they head to Tombstone to help keep the bad guys out of town.) A-
4. The Mule (2018 drama; Clint Eastwood owns a failing floral business but strikes it rich when he, at first unwittingly, agrees to transport illegal drugs for the Mexican cartel from Texas to Illinois, an enterprise which DEA agent Bradley Cooper is determined to end.) B+
5. One Is A Lonely Number (1972 drama; while she's going through a divorce, twenty-seven year old Trish Van Devere turns to elderly shop keeper Melvyn Douglas for counsel, and to handsome contemporary Monte Markham for a serious fling.) B-
6. Ring Of Fire (2005 music biopic; Joaquin Phoenix plays the Man In Black, Johnny Cash, who falls in love with Reese Witherspoon's June Carter from the moment they meet.) A
7. The Tattooed Stranger (1950 detective noir; New York City detective John Miles, assisted by botanist Patricia Barry, follows clues, including unusual blades of grass found at the crime scene, to figure out who murdered a woman bearing a tattoo on her arm.) B-
8. 3:10 To Yuma (1957 western; financially desperate rancher Van Heflin agrees to guard and transport captured outlaw Glenn Ford, knowing Ford's gang stands in the way.) B+
9. Woman On The Run (1950 crime noir; with the help of tabloid journalist Dennis O'Keefe, Ann Sheridan looks all over San Francisco for husband Ross Elliott who witnessed a gangland murder.) B
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