Secrets of The Godfather

A conversation between Francis Ford Coppola and editor and publisher Marvin R. Shanken

- By Marvin R. Shanken

Cigar Aficionado editor and publisher Marvin R. Shanken sat down with director Francis Ford Cop-pola in 2003 for a lengthy conversation about The Godfather. The discussion revealed one remarkable detail after another about Coppola’s classic film. Excerpts from that exclusive interview follow. You can read the entire conversation at cigaraficionado.com.

SHANKEN: The Godfather is frequently named as America’s favorite movie. But there are reports that Paramount offered the film to as many as 30 other directors before you, and they all turned it down.

COPPOLA: I don’t know if 30 directors turned down The Godfather, but definitely some directors did. There had been a movie a year or so before The Godfather based on a novel called The Brotherhood, starring Kirk Douglas. It was a big studio production, sort of about the Mafia. It was not successful. When The Godfather proposition came out, a lot of people thought, “That won’t work.” Hollywood is very quick to judge what can work and what can’t work. So, the idea didn’t really light a fire with anyone. The movie studio executives concluded, when [Mario] Puzo’s book first came out, that they would make a movie very cheap and they would get a young guy who knew about the new cost-conscious techniques.