Facts About The Godfather You won’t Turn Down

The horse’s head left in the bed of the producer was real. It was originally going to be part of Marlon Brando’s lunch.

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The words “mafia” and “mob” weren’t used in the movie due to input from the Italian-American Civil Rights League, who felt it would stereotype Italian-Americans. They told director Francis Ford Coppola that it was an unfair generalization and he should change it if he didn’t want to get thrown into the ocean with cement shoes.

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Robert De Niro wanted to play the part of Sonny Corleone but Coppola didn’t want an actor to play Sonny so he gave the part to James Caan.

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The cat Vito Corleone is holding in much of the movie was a stray. Brando like the cat so much, he held him in much of the movie. When the movie was completed, Brando took the cat home with him and eventually ate him.

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Marlon Brando famously turned down his Oscar for The Godfather to draw attention to the problems of Native Americans; but, it seemed more designed to draw attention to Marlon Brando.

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Frank Sinatra was against the movie and would’ve been against the book if he had ever learned to read.

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The line, “Leave the gun… take the cannoli” was improvised by actor Richard Castellano… also, there was no cannoli because Marlon Brando had eaten it. For those keeping track, this is the last “Marlon Brando eats everything” joke.

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James Caan and Marlon Brando wore lifts in the movie. Originally, Brando wanted Coppola to have the rest of the cast shortened by removing vertebrae but the cost was prohibitive.

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Gianni Russo threatened to kill Marlon Brando during an argument on the set of The Godfather. He was quickly admonished by Francis Ford Coppola who told him, “Those are things we THINK but don’t say”…

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James Caan made some enemies on the set of The Godfather; in fact, for his assassination in the movie, there was some effort to replace the 127 squibs and associated special effects with live ammunition.