Classic Movie Fact of the Week #6: The Mafia and «The Godfather»

Did you know that...

In Francis Ford Coppola's acclaimed Best Picture winner The Godfather (1972), the word «Mafia» is never heard on screen because the real Mafia did not allow its use.

Written by Mario Puzo based on his own eponymous bestselling novel, The Godfather chronicles ten years in the life of a fictional New York crime family. Academy Award winner Marlon Brando played the patriarch, Vito Corleone, while Al Pacino co-starred as his younger son Michael, who goes from being a reluctant family outsider to a ruthless mafia boss. The cast also included James Caan, Robert Duvall, Talia Shire and Diane Keaton. Critically acclaimed upon release, The Godfather became the highest-grossing film of 1972, winning Oscars for Best Picture, Best Actor (Brando) and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Due to its subject matter, The Godfather originally faced great opposition from Italian-Americans to filming on location in New York. In addition, the Italian-American Civil Rights League, which had recently been created by real-life mobster Joe Colombo, «cast a weary eye over the script» throughout production. The league, whose goal was to combat pejorative stereotypes about Italian-Americans, demanded that all mentions of «Mafia» and «Cosa Nostra» be removed from the dialogue. Colombo also requested that all the profits earned on the film's opening night be donated to the league's fund to build a new hospital. According to Coppola, Puzo's screenplay only contained two instances of the word «Mafia» being used and there was no reference whatsoever to «Cosa Nostra.» After those two expressions were deleted and replaced with other terms, the league gave its support of the film.

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SOURCES:

«25 Things You (Probably) Didn't Know About The Godfather»

«They're Having a Ball Making 'Godfather'» by Jerry Parker for The Toledo Blade (1971)

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