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She had little acting experience and took on the role after Winona Ryder dropped out shortly before filming began. As a newborn, she played Connie’s son in the baptism scene in Godfather I, was an extra in Godfather II and then Michael’s daughter, Mary, in the final film.
Coppola’s first choice, Vic Damone, had backed out - reportedly at the urging of Sinatra and others.īoth of Coppola’s sons made several on-screen appearances, as did his daughter, Sofia. But singer Al Martino, who played Fontaine in the first and third films, claimed that Fontane’s story more closely represented his own mob-assisted career, telling Vanity Fair that he’d used his mafia connections to convince Coppola to cast him.
#MICHAEL CORLEONE THE GODFATHER 1 THE BAPTISM MOVIE#
Sinatra reportedly believed it himself, going so far as to threaten Puzo when the writer tried to introduce himself at a Los Angeles restaurant shortly before the movie was filmed. One of the most enduring legends surrounding the film is that the character of singer-turned-actor Johnny Fontane, who gets a vital career boost thanks to his relationship with the Corleone family, was based on Frank Sinatra. READ MORE: The Five Crime Families of New York City: Inside the Rise and Fall of the Mafia Frank Sinatra attacked the first film Ruddy’s public deal infuriated Paramount, who threatened to fire him, but it ended the boycotts and threats. The League agreed to give its approval if the producers allowed the League to review the script (and remove the words “mafia” or “La Cosa Nostra”) and donate the proceeds of the New York premiere to the League. In February 1971, just before filming began, Ruddy sat down with Anthony Colombo, one of Joe Sr’s sons, and hashed out a compromise.
#MICHAEL CORLEONE THE GODFATHER 1 THE BAPTISM WINDOWS#
Producer Albert Ruddy’s car windows were blown out, and Paramount chief exec Robert Evans claimed to have received phone calls threatening him and his family, including then-wife Ali MacGraw.
The shoot was threatened with costly labor shutdowns aimed at derailing production, engineered by the organized crime groups that controlled the unions. But Colombo allegedly took things even further. The group quickly set their sights on The Godfather, protesting the film from the moment it was announced.
In 1970, a group (led in part by crime family boss Joe Colombo Sr.) formed the Italian American Civil Rights League, aimed at eliminating offensive stereotypes and depictions in business and media. Thanks to the real-life mob, the word 'mafia' never appears in the first film In 1968, he sold the rights for his yet-to-be-published book to Paramount Pictures, who were shocked when it became a runaway bestseller in 1969.
#MICHAEL CORLEONE THE GODFATHER 1 THE BAPTISM SERIES#
Eager to find a subject that he thought would appeal to the masses, he turned his attention to organized crime, which had become a hot-button topic thanks to a series of televised hearings in the U.S. By the mid-1960s, he had a large family - and growing gambling debts. Mario Puzo was a New York-born writer who had published several earlier books to little acclaim, even fewer sales, and had even worked under a pen name as a writer for pulp magazines. Both Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola came to the project due to money woes From casting squabbles to the producers’ real-life battle with organized crime bosses, here’s the story you may not know about The Godfather films. But when The Godfather was in production, it was anything but a surefire hit.
It’s one of the most popular and critically acclaimed movie series in Hollywood history.