The god father was made in a very classical, almost shakespearean style. It was going to be about succession. Like a king who had three sons, and none of the sons had all his talents. [ speaking nonenglish ] michael could be ruthless when he had to be ruthless, but he could be friendly. Nord, he was a complex hero. In other words, he was a complex hero. Were here in the napa valley on a rainy day, to interview Francis Ford Coppola. Now, hes one of the greatest Movie Directors of alltime, without any question. If you google the best movies of all time, the greatest movies of all time, the godfather is number un, number one, usually. But The Godfather 2 is often on that list of top ten and so is Apocalypse Now. So of the 10, 15 greatest movies of alltime, this man has made three of them. I am really interested in talking to him for another reason. When i came to america first, i was in college and i took a class, classics of american cinema. It was in some ways helpful for me, because it gave me a sense of the culture and a country that i was now living in. And i wrote my final paper on the godfather. Actually, on the opening four or five minutes of the movie, the first scene. I had a thesis about what it all meant. Now i get to ask the man who made the movie whether i was right. When i first read the godf godfather, i was shocked. The author knew very little about italian culture. Anyone knows that don corleon is not possible. It would be don franchesco. So he didnt know anything about italy. He didnt. He was the most wonderful man. Also, the book was like it was so salacious and absurd story. I went from chapter after chapter about this girl and her doctor. Doctor who was having an affair with this girl who had certain anatomical problems. Ultimately, i diagrammed every page, and i found within this book this interesting story about america. And i was very intrigued with it, because it really introduced you to the idea that if you were the friend of a mafia guy, you had power because he was your friend. And if someone offended your friendship, it was like an alliance. So when i look at that Opening Scene i believe in america. America has made my fortune. You have this man who wanted to become part of the new modern america. And his daughter gets brutalized by these two thugs. He goes to the godfather and tries to, in a modern way, do a transaction. What do you want . So in a sense, he is representing the new america and the godfather is saying no, we have to move back into the old world of relationships, intangible favors. You dont offer friendship, you dont even think to call me godfather. And its this fascinating tension in america between wanting the individualism and the freedom of the new, but being pulled back into the world of the old. Does that make sense to you . Well, of course. It says everything about america, and why america is perhaps different from these other systems. So what is this . When i was a kid, i had been trained to be a Stage Manager. A Stage Manager has something called a prompt book. So that was my training. And i now was given the job of doing the godfather and i was nervous, because it was starting to become a big production. Here is this massive novel, and im going to be like a sculptor and sculpt a movie out. But before i knew how to do it, i was going to begin by Dissecting What was in the thing. So i thought i would ask myself four or five questions about what i was going to cover. What do you want to say in the briefest few words as to why youre doing it . As a director, i knew if i got that, maybe i didnt get great imagery or tone, but if you got that, you got it. So that horses head scene, in the book, the horses head is not in the bed, is it . Heres the book, no. What made you put it on the bed . I just thought it would be more interesting if he felt something in his bed and he opened the shoot and there was blood. Always you get more shock if you can get the audience to think its called misdirection. So if he saw blood, maybe the audience would think they had wounded him and hes discovering that he had a big gash in his head. As he opens, hes got blood. As he flips over the covers, then he sees that its the horses head. Ahhhhh ahhhh the book can say he had an incredible shock. How do you give the audience that incredible shock . You have to do it differently than the book describes. You say here, i think, if the audience does not jump out of their seat on this one, you have failed. Yeah, so im like the guy, the little voice saying all right, francis, are you ready to do this . I was scared. I figured if i had this with me, when i had to do the scene, i would have this voice, this Angel On My Shoulder telling me, the core is to reveal in a horrifying way what the don decided to do to convince him of the seriousness of his actions. If you do it, then you got the core. What will you do . What will you change . Will you make Something Better . Will you create something entirely new . Our Dell Technologies advisors provide you with the tools and expertise you need to do incredible things. Because we believe theres an innovator in all of us. Pain hits fast. So get relief fast. Only Tylenol Rapid release gels have laser drilled holes. They release Medicine Fast for fast pain relief. And now get relief without a pill with tylenol dissolve packs. Relief without the water. You pour your heart into everything you do, which is a lot. So take care of that heart with lipton. Because sippin On Unsweetened Lipton can help support a healthy heart. Lipton. Stop chuggin. Start sippin. I was always the new kid because i went to maybe 20 schools and then my dad was always taking me out of school. And i would get introduced in, uh, middle of other, um, we have a new student, his name is francis. Ha, ha, ha. Its a girls name. The Theater Department was where the girls were. As opposed to the footballs games, which i had no abilities in whatsoever. So i would hang out at the Theater Department and, be a techie. I would do the lights. And i would look down and i would see the teachers directing the kids. And i said, well, i could do that. You know, tell you to stand here, stand there. And, and you get to hofstra and do you then start to realize, uh when did you fall in love with movies . At hofstra, i started to, uh, direct oneact plays. And my oneact play was the best one that anyone ever had seen a student do. And there was a Little Theater called the Little Theater and they said, today only, four oclock were showing sergei eisensteins, ten days that shook the world. And i saw this four hour russian movie of eisenstein. Its, its about the bolshevik revolution. I never saw anything like it. I i was astounded, because theres no sound, and i hear everything just from the way the film is edited, and when i came out of that, i said, im not gonna go to the yale drama school, im gonna go to ucla film school, and i decided to become a film student. It was like a Night And Day decision. The godfather, um, why did you get the the directing job . You werent a famous movie director at that time. I was the opposite of a famous eh first of all there had been a movie, uh a year or so before the godfather called The Brotherhood, and it was, i think with kirk douglas. It was a big flop. And The Brotherhood was a gangster movie . And it was a gangster and so so the idea was, this is a bad way to so every every director turned it down, and so they decided to give this nobody, who was Italian American, a screenwriter and was young. I was about 28, uh, the chance. Is it true that you almost got fired several times . Oh yeah, for sure. I mean, i would say i was almost fired more than four times. One time i thought i was fired. All my ideas were counter to what they wanted. They wanted to shoot the picture in, uh, st. Louis, and they wanted the script to be set in the 70s, which is when it was gonna be made, because if you make the movie in normal time, like if we make a movie today, all the cars can be the same. Yeah. The hairstyles can be the same, the wardrobe can be the same, the props can be. If you make a period picture, youre adding a lot, a big layer of cost. And st. Louis wasnt new york, which is where the book was set. So, first thing i said is, i wanna shoot it in new york, and i wanna shoot it 1945, in the period of the book. And its very important that it be shot at period. And then they said, who is this kid . What does he think, its crazy. Were were gonna make the movie for two Million Dollars. Uh, whats It Gonna Cost if we try to go to new york . Then when they got into casting, and they wanted, you know, maybe ryan oneal or someone who had been in love story, which had been a big shit for them, to play the, uh, michael character. And i was emphatic, i wanted al pacino. I had met al pacino on another project that i had written, and i just thought he was an interesting guy. I liked him personally, and also, when i read the book. I i pictured al pacino in all those scenes where als walking across sicily with the guys with the shotguns. But but the biggest fight was over brando . An important person i was working with that that was a real casting talent, was a guy named fred rouse. Hes still living, and and still worked on my later pictures. And i remember saying to fred, you know fred, what if we, what if we try something unusual with the godfather, what if we just get the greatest actor in the world . So, whos the greatest actor in the world . Well, we said theres laurence olivier, and theres Marlon Brando. Brando was young. Brando was 47, he was a handsome, beautiful man that hed always been. Olivier was english, so he wasnt italian, he had an english accent. Hed have to act his way out of that. Brando wasnt italian, and he was young, so but i said, you never go wrong casting the most brilliant actor you can get. Yeah, theyll do something. So Stanley Jaffe said, francis, i tell you and i tell you as the president of paramount picture, Marlon Brando will never appear in this motion picture. And as president i say, dont even bring him up again. So when he told me that, i sort of whether it was fake, it was sort of fake. I just fell off the chair, fell on the floor, and everyone looked. And i said, if im supposed to direct a movie, and you tell me i cant even discuss a great actor like Marlon Brando, what can i say, okay, you know. And then they said, all right, well tell you what, we give you three conditions. One, he would have to do a screen test. Two, he would have to do the film for free. And three he would have to put a Million Dollar bond that he will not cause any disturbance, or uh mishigas, to use an italian word on the picture. In other words, he would put a wonld that he would not cause any trouble because he was considered possibly troublesome. So i said, i accept. So i contact brando, and i am i am totally i mean, Marlon Brando is god to me. I said, you know, since youre not italian, i thought you might, would like to fool around a little bit and do some improvisations and see how you would approach being an italian. So i didnt say the screen test. And he sort of said yes. And at one point, brando emerged from his bedroom in a japanese kimono with this beautiful blonde flowing hair. And then he um, he said Imitating Brando uh, hes Like A Bulldog and he put kleenex in his mouth. And and i so thats where the jowls came from . Yeah and he explained, he was like, and then he said Imitating Brando uh, you know, he was shot in the throat in the story. So maybe he talks, he always talks like that, you know . So he started go he started doing this. Just like im shooting, im amazed. Why do you come to me . Why do i deserve this generosity . But basically, it was miraculous what he did. And, and i thanked him. I decided to just take a chance and fly to new york and go to Gulf And Western and show it to the head of Gulf And Western, Charlie Bluhdorn. He was the, he was the bosss boss. Charlie bluhdorn was a viennese guy, he probably was around 50 at the time. And he was very demonstrative. He talked like francis what are you crazy guy. What are you doing . Very, he had a viennese accent. Hed talk like that. But any rate, charlie comes out, francis. Francis what are you doing here . Francis, where is bob, is anyone here . I said, no, no mr. Bluhdorn. I just wanted to show you something. What what do you gotta show me . I was like i have here a screen test of Marlon Brando and the guy, screen brando . Brando out. No brando. And i turned on and he sees brando come out with the blonde hair. What . Thats, thats no thats, bra, bra, thats incredible. He watches this transformation and Charlie Bluhdorn said, thats incredible. So if he says its incredible and hes gonna get the part, hes gonna get the part because hes the boss. And thats what happened. Wait what . Get it before its gone on the subway app introducing a revolutionary comfort mat that can be lengthened and even go around corners to perfectly fit your space. Because we dont want to be confined to just one area to stay comfortable while working. The comfortmat connect from weathertech. The Snaplink System makes it easy to connect end middle, and cornerpieces. For comfort that lasts as long as the day. Learn more about the Infinite Possibilities of the American Made comfortmat connect at weathertech. Com. Pain hits fast. So get relief fast. Only Tylenol Rapid release gels have laser drilled holes. They release Medicine Fast for fast pain relief. And now get relief without a pill with tylenol dissolve packs. Relief without the water. This rental car is so boring to drive. Lets be honest. The rentacar industry is the definition of boring. And the reason can be found in the name itself. Rent a car. You dont want a friend. You want the friend. You dont want a job. You want the job. The is always over a. Thats why we dont offer a car. We offer the car. Sixt. Rent the car. Brando was wonderful on the picture. He was, he did it. A lot of times, i know that they say director, oh he got a great performance. Directors dont get performance. I mean some directors will argue when i say this, actors give the performance. The directors like a coach. The directors may be there to say the right word at the right time, and give them a good direction. But the actor does it of course. Obviously, and brando did it. Brando was so ingenious of how he approached every scene. But i could do things, which i did like in the first scene in the godfather where i just took a cat off the floor, it was just a studio cat. It wasnt a prop cat. And i just put it in his hand. He didnt say to me, what do you want me to do with the cat . He just did it. And literally no matter what happened, he would incorporate it. He was that kind of an actor. H was, i mean he is the genius, that everyone do you think he was the best actor you ever worked with . Yeah. Yeah, i mean, because he was so unique. I used to joke that if a herd of buffalo ran through the room, he would say, oh look at the buffalo, he wouldnt say, why are there buffalo in the studio, which everyone else would. And then when you when you closed the movie, you end at a very dark place. You end where michael is lying to his wife. He lies to his wife. And hes just murdered a whole bunch of people. And he closes he goes out and hes being accepted. Oh, hes being accepted as the new god father. And the wife is watching, but shes going to be closed out of his life. And that was the end. And to you, what does that say . To me it was all a waltz. It was and its like something thats going to go on and on and on always. But the wife is always going to be excluded. So in a sense, it is about succession . Its about the the movie is about succession. Is when you did it, you thought this is it, no sequel. Oh no, i i when they said a sequel, oh, charlie says, you got the formula of cocacola. You gonna tell me youre not gonna make more cocacola . I said, no i dont wanna make any more cocacola. I thought it was over. I thought it was one movie. I had had enough of it, i really and you know, when i chose to the second film, the deal i made was i would write it, i would produce it, i would pick a director who would direct it, and when finally when i told them im ready, i have a script and everything. They said, well who do you want direct it . I said, well hes very talented and he can do it just as well as me, his name is marty scorsese. And they said, absolutely not. And so you no, i then got a phone call from Charlie Bluhdorn. He said, francis, now lets talk. This is charlie. You you got the formula of cocacola. You really are not gonna do it . This is incredible. Ill give you anything you want. So i said, all right charlie, ill do it. I want a Million Dollars. I want total control, without double checking anyone, not to show them the script, not to get their notes. And i wanna call it The Godfather Part Ii. So i get an answer, uh day he calls me back. He says, francis whatever you want. Youre gonna get a Million Dollars. Bob evans will have nothing to do, knowing youll be absolute control. But marketing does not feel that The Godfather Part Ii makes sens