15 Facts About The Making of the Godfather Movies
![15 Facts About The Making of the Godfather Movies](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/1/0/0/772100_320x180.jpg)
Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather and The Godfather Part II are widely considered some of the best movies ever made, arguably containing the best ever story on the big screen. Godfather Part III? We don't talk about Godfather Part III.
The stories, the acting, even the fight scene where Sonny beats the tar out of Carlo with a phantom punch is still beloved by cinephiles. There have been books, classes, and documentaries about the making of this classic film, yet not all them have all the details.
For instance, did you know Marlon Brando was set to make a cameo in Part II? Or that Michael Corleone almost had a mustachioed actor play him instead of Al Pacino? Or the guy portrayed in the movie The Green Book is actually in the movie?
Leave the gun, take the cannoli, and read up about these 15 behind the scenes factoids about The Godfather that you can't refuse.
![The Godfather got made partly because a studio bigwig loved the mafia. Bluhdorn When Charles Bluhdorn, who was chairman of Paramount's parent company and had rumored mafia connections, asked producer Al Ruddy What do you want to do with this movie? Ruddy said Charlie, I want to make an ice-blue,](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/1/3/1/772131.jpg)
Source: Vanity Fair
![The Ellis island scene in The Godfather Part II was shot in Trieste, Italy. The location was Trieste's Old Fish Market (which has since been restored and turned into a cultural center).](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/1/3/3/772133.jpg)
Source: Movie Locations
![Originally, Marlon Brando was going to have a cameo in The Godfather Part IL. He was scheduled to appear for one day of shooting, but didn't show up, apparently because of a financial dispute with the studioc so the flashback scene was rewritten at the last second. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/1/3/0/772130.jpg)
Source: IndieWire
![They were going to make The Godfather Part IV. Coppola had an idea for it and discussed it with Mario Puzo, and Andy Garcia was going to play the lead. But the project folded after Puzo died.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/1/3/2/772132.jpg)
Source: GQ
![They pulled a prank on Lenny Montana in The Godfather to get him to relax. Montana, who wasn't an actor but played Luca Brasi, was super nervous about doing a scene with Marlon Brando. So they put a piece of tape on his tongue with F**k You written on it,](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/1/2/7/772127.jpg)
Source: Vanity Fair
![Burt Reynolds was offered the role of Michael Corleone, but passed. According to rumor, Marlon Brando said he'd quit if they brought Reynolds onboard. I was flattered that he was upset, said Reynolds.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/1/2/9/772129.jpg)
Source: Variety
![The Godfather doesn't use the words mafia or la cosa nostra because of an agreement with the mob. W W W R Joe colombo After Joe Colombo, mobster and also cofounder of the Italian-American Civil Rights League, threatened to obstruct the movie shoot, producer Al Ruddy assured him the movie](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/1/2/8/772128.jpg)
Source: MentalFloss
![Hyman Roth from The Godfather: Part II was based on Meyer Lansky, a real gangster. The story goes that Lansky called Roth after seeing the movie and said the performance was great, but also told him, You could have made me more sympathetic. After all, I am a grandfather.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/1/2/4/772124.jpg)
Source: AMC
![Tony Vallelonga (from The Green Book) was in The Godfather. Vallelonga (played by Viggo Mortensen in The Green Book) met Francis Ford Coppola and casting director Louis DiGiaimo at the nightclub Copacabana, and they put him in the movie as an uncredited wedding guest.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/1/2/5/772125.jpg)
Source: Bustle
![The studio absolutely did not want Marlon Brando in The Godfather. They thought he was so much trouble, they'd only consider him if he did a screen test, took zero pay, and put up a million-dollar bond as insurance. In the end, he did a screen test, got paid](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/1/2/6/772126.jpg)
Source: NPR
![The Godfather was almost set in Kansas City. M That's where the first draft of the script was set, and the studio even took Francis Ford Coppola on a tour of the Italian neighborhoods in Kansas City.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/1/2/2/772122.jpg)
Source: NPR
![Sofia Coppola replaced Winona Ryder in The Godfather Part IlI at the last minute. Ryder got suddenly sick, and the two alternatives they'd had didn't pan out, so Francis Ford Coppola said I'm going to try Sofia. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/1/2/1/772121.jpg)
Source: Entertainment Wekkly
![George Lucas shot the news insert footage in The Godfather. Mirror Daily 3 NEW CORLEQ VITO FEARED MURDER Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola are longtime friends, and they've worked on each other's films over the years. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/1/2/3/772123.jpg)
Source: TIME
![Real-life gangster Frank Costello inspired Don Corleone. He was called The Prime Minister of the Mafia, and he was measured and used violence only when other options were exhausted. Marlon Brando even based Corleone's voice on Costello's. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/1/2/0/772120.jpg)
Source: AMC
![Jack Nicholson turned down the role of Michael Corleone. Back then I believed that Indians should play Indians and Italians should play Italians, he said.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/1/1/9/772119.jpg)
Source: MovieLine