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"THE GODFATHER" (1972) (Marlon Brando, Al Pacino) (R) QUICK TAKE: Drama: In the 1940s, the Corleone crime family weathers changing times in business, as well as personal relationships, and a son newly returned from the war becomes increasingly involved in the business, despite his desire to stay on the outside. PLOT: Don Vito Corleone (MARLON BRANDO) is the powerful head of the Corleone family, which deals in unions and gambling, free from any consequences as enough political and legal power has been bought over the years. On the day of his daughter Connie's (TALIA SHIRE) wedding, we are introduced to all the members of his family, professional and personal. There's Sonny (JAMES CAAN), who is susceptible to bad tempers and is an active member in Vito's circle, becoming more involved after Don Corleone is felled for a time by the bullets of assassins. Tom Hagen (ROBERT DUVALL) is a consigliere, a trusted advisor to Don Corleone, who was taken in by the family at a young age when it was discovered that he didn't have a family. He grew up, became a lawyer, and makes sure that all that Don Corleone orders is followed and argues against decisions that would be dangerous for the family. Then there's Michael (AL PACINO), the war hero of the family who has just returned from his time in the war, bringing along with him Kay (DIANE KEATON), and a desire to remain as he is, not to be concerned with the inner workings of the criminal aspect of his family name. But it appears he doesn't have a choice, not only because he bears the Corleone name, but also because of what happens to his father that brings him into that circle, after he's harassed by a police captain and is angered by the incident. But with Michael, it's not an anger to match what Sonny feels when something bothers him. It's more like an anger with a cool, aloof exterior that gradually develops inside, and plans start to form about how to take care of those who have done wrong by him. There is also Fredo Corleone (JOHN CAZALE), brother to Sonny and Michael, who stays more along the sidelines when we first see him, but grows more involved once it's decided to look at Vegas as a viable prospect for the Corleone business. Besides the family, there are also those who work for the Corleones, such as Clemenza (RICHARD S. CASTELLANO), who permanently dispatches those who have displeased any member of the family (namely Sonny and Michael), as well as an expert on guns and how to not be fingered as a suspect in any crime. There's also Tessio (ABE VIGODA), another advisor, but with far less pull than Tom, as well as competing heads of New York crime families, such as Don Barzini (RICHARD CONTE), and Philip Tattaglia (VICTOR RENDINA). And the drama builds within all these elements. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? Older teens may be interested to see one of the most prominent crime family dramas in film history, and it may also appeal to those interested in seeing Al Pacino in earlier years, as well as anyone else in the cast. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R No official reason is given, but it's likely for bloody violence, some sexual content and brief nudity. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: MARLON BRANDO plays Don Vito Corleone, head of the Corleone crime family and father to Michael, Sonny, Fredo and Connie. We are introduced to the weight of his power when, on the wedding day of Connie, he hears requests by a few people that he must grant, as is the custom with any Sicilian, or at least a Sicilian with his pull. In business, he believes that the family is doing well enough with the unions and the gambling that they run, and the political and police power that they have bought from the profits of these ventures keeps them out of any potential legal trouble. He does not agree with the interest in drugs by the other families, believing that if he were to invest in it, the political power would disappear and so would the legal protection. He understands that for the other families, it is the future of business for them, but it is not his kind of business. AL PACINO plays Michael Corleone, a veteran of the Second World War who's returned on the day of his sister's wedding and is greeted warmly all around. All he wants to do is remain out of the family business and likely develop his relationship further with Kay. But an incident with a police captain motivates him into getting more involved and soon he becomes a key player in the family's business. Because of one of his actions, he goes into self-exile in Italy until the result of what he's done clears up. He smokes. JAMES CAAN plays Sonny Corleone, the one who would be most likely to take over for Don Corleone when the time comes, were it not for his penchant to run headlong into dangerous situations out of emotion rather than rational thought. He takes over for Don Corleone temporarily after the latter's wounded badly by the bullets of assassins. But his decisions threaten to put the family into danger, opening them up to attack by the other crime families in New York. He cheats on his wife, drinks, and smokes. ROBERT DUVALL plays Tom Hagen, a lawyer and trusted advisor to Don Corleone who handles business the Don requires, such as flying out to California to try to convince a Hollywood mogul to give the Don's godson a part he desires in a movie, and negotiating with other crime families. He also sees the danger inherent in what Sonny wants to do and tries to get him away from those ideas. TALIA SHIRE plays Connie Corleone Rizzi, sister to Michael, Sonny and Fredo, and wife to Carlo Rizzi. She endures verbal and physical abuse by Carlo. DIANE KEATON plays Kay Adams, girlfriend to Michael, whom is assured by him that he intends to remain outside of the family business, but is gradually shut out of Michael's business as he becomes increasingly involved. She drinks. JOHN CAZALE plays Fredo Corleone, brother to Michael, Sonny and Connie, who remains in the background, driving his father around, but becomes more involved when he's sent to Vegas to learn the business over there in order to see if setting up shop there is viable for the Corleones. AL LETTIERI plays Virgil 'The Turk' Sollozzo, who first presents Don Corleone with the opportunity to enter the drug trade, but Don Corleone refuses on the grounds that it's a "dirty business," and he would lose the political and police power he's spent years building to keep the family free of legal trouble. Sollozzo is not happy with this decision and tries different things to get around the Don, trying to appeal to Tom, and Sonny. STERLING HAYDEN plays Captain McCluskey, who harasses Michael outside the hospital where his father is recovering, punching him after Michael asks him how much "the Turk" is paying him to keep protection of his father out of reach. It turns out that indeed, McCluskey is in a partnership with Sollozzo regarding this drug business. Michael is angered by this and makes plans to eliminate that partnership. RICHARD S. CASTELLANO plays Clemenza, one of a few muscles of the Corleone family who handles those who displease members of the Corleone family (namely Michael and Sonny), and is an expert on untraceable guns, tutoring Michael on how he should handle a mission he's being sent on. ABE VIGODA plays Sal Tessio, another muscle, who factors in heavily much later in the film. LENNY MONTANA plays Luca Brasi, who first thanks Don Corleone for inviting him to the wedding, and is later called upon by Don Corleone to help him see what Sollozzo is actually all about. JOHN MARLEY plays Woltz, a Hollywood mogul who refuses to give Don Corleone's godson, Johnny Fontane, the lead role in a war picture that he's making and he explains to Tom why. He's racist toward various groups of people. AL MARTINO plays Johnny Fontane, Don Corleone's godson who is a well-known singer, as evidenced by the reception he receives when he arrives at the wedding from California, but also wants a role in a war movie that the producer won't give to him and goes to Don Corleone for help in that. He also appears later after the family arrives in Vegas to see about doing business there. GIANNI RUSSO plays Carlo Rizzi, husband to Connie, who verbally and physically abuses her, and Sonny gets wind of this. JOHN MARTINO plays Paulie Gatto, a driver to Don Corleone who's frequently absent and it's noticed after the attempted assassination of Don Corleone. ALEX ROCCO plays Moe Greene, a casino bigshot in Vegas who's incredulous and teed off when Michael tells him that he wants to buy his share of the casino they're in. SARO URZI plays Vitelli, whom Michael meets after a long walk and it is discovered that the girl Michael was entranced by on the walk is Vitelli's daughter, which he at first doesn't take kindly to, but soon grows to like Michael. SIMONETTA STEFANELLI plays Apollonia Vitelli, the girl Michael is attracted to and soon marries. CORRADO GAIPA plays Don Tommasino, Michael's guardian in Italy, who delivers to him news from America. ANGELO INFANTI plays Fabrizio, one of Michael's bodyguards. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: The following is a brief summary of the content found in this R-rated drama. Profanity consists of various expletives (but no "F" or "S" words) and other colorful phrases uttered, while a sexual encounter is seen (with movement and sound), as well as nudity, and some sexually-related dialogue is present. Violence consists of a few people being bloodily shot, some to disturbing effect, while there is also violence with non-lethal contact. That material and other moments of peril may be unsettling and suspenseful to some viewers, while potential imitative behavior is present. Various characters have varying degrees of disrespect and bad attitudes, including an extramarital affair, and spousal abuse, some of which exacerbates tense family material. There's also racism spoken, and murders planned and carried out of those who have displeased the family in some way by their actions. Some characters drink in various scenes and a few main characters, as well as minor ones, smoke a few times, while there's also drug-related dialogue. Should you still be concerned about the film's appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home, you may want to look more closely at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE Bonasera, the undertaker, tells Don Corleone of the violence brought against his daughter: "She found a boyfriend. Not an Italian. She went to the movies with him. She stayed out late. I didn't protest. Two months ago, he took her for a drive, with another boyfriend. They made her drink whiskey, and then, they tried to take advantage of her." Don Corleone motions for one of his men to give Bonasera a drink in a small glass, which he takes and drinks a little. After a collection of words spoken, Bonasera puts down the drink and goes over to Don Corleone to whisper to him what he wants done to the two boys. We see Sonny drink from a glass as Bonasera says to Don Corleone, "I'll give you anything you ask." Tom puts his drink down on a side table and gets up. At the wedding party, glasses of alcohol are held and drunk by many guests. Clemenza, who's just finished dancing, calls out, "Hey, Paulie! Let me have some wine. Paulie! More wine." Paulie hands Clemenza a pitcher with a quarter of wine left and as Paulie walks away, we see Clemenza begin to take a drink. Nazorine, another man seeking help from Don Corleone, holds a drink in a small glass. Tom says to Don Corleone, "Salud," and raises his glass. Michael drinks from a glass. With Johnny, Don Corleone says to the people around him, "My godson comes all the way from California. Give him a glass of wine." A man hands one to Johnny while others toast him with glasses raised. Fredo appears a little drunk when Michael introduces him to Kay. Don Corleone drinks three times from a glass while discussing business in his office. Tom lays out to Woltz what Don Corleone can do for him: "You're going to have some union problems, my client could make them disappear. Also, one of your top stars has moved from marijuana to heroin." Tom and Woltz hold drinks as they walk. Woltz asks him, "How's your drink, Tom?" and he replies, "Fine." A server pours wine for Woltz and Tom. Tom explains to Don Corleone that Sollozzo's "business is narcotics. He has fields in Turkey where they grow the poppy, and in Sicily he has the plants to process them into heroin." Tom also says, "He's a top narcotics man." Don Corleone asks Sonny what he thinks and Sonny replies, "There's a lot of money in that white powder." Don Corleone then asks Tom what he thinks and Tom says, "Well I say yes, there's more money potential in narcotics than anything else we're looking at. Now if we don't get into it, somebody else will. Maybe one of the five families, maybe all of them. Now with the money they earn, they can buy more police and political power. Then they come after us. Now we have the unions, we have the gambling, and they're the best things to have, but narcotics, is a thing of the future." A quarter of a bottle of alcohol sits on a small table next to Don Corleone, along with two small glasses. Later, Don Corleone briefly drinks from a small glass. He takes a bottle off a tray and refills Sollozzo's glass, and Sonny drinks from his own glass. Then, Don Corleone refuses Sollozzo's offer and says, "It's true, I have a lot of friends in politics. But they wouldn't be friendly very long if they knew my business was drugs instead of gambling which they regard as a harmless vice. But drugs is a dirty business." Luca Brasi walks into a bar to meet Bruno Tattaglia and bottles are seen behind the bar. Bruno holds up a glass of Scotch and asks Luca, "…scotch? Prewar." A bottle is seen on a coffee table as Michael walks into a room of the house. We see two clear glass bottles of alcohol behind Michael. Sonny says to an ailing Paulie, "How 'bout a drink, how 'bout a little brandy, that's good to sweat it out." Kay puts down a quarter-filled glass of wine, while another one is seen sitting on the table in front of Michael. Kay then drinks from her glass, and Michael holds his, then puts it down. Also at the table, a bottle of wine is seen, wrapped in a pouring basket. Behind Sonny, while he's talking to Michael who's sitting down, there's an opaque bottle and a clear glass bottle of alcohol. In asking where it's said that a cop can't be killed, Michael says, "I'm talking about a cop that's mixed up in drugs…" Sonny drinks from a beer bottle, and so does someone else at the table. A waiter pours out red wine in two glasses, and Sollozzo hands Michael a glass. A guy drinks from a glass at the head of a table of 10 men, including him. We see glasses of wine at the dinner table, and Connie drinks from a glass. We see many wine bottles on a long table at Vitelli's place. Angry over finding out that Carlo is cheating on her, Connie, among many actions, flings a pitcher that has some wine in it. Tom holds a drink as he looks at Don Corleone and Don Corleone holds his hand out and says, "Give me a drop." Tom hands the glass to him and he drinks a bit. Tom says to Don Corleone that he was going to wake him and tell him about the murder, and the Don replies, "But you needed a drink first. Now you've had your drink." We first see a bottle of wine on the table between the Dons, glasses all around, and then many bottles, and glasses, as the camera moves across a few of the Dons. Don Corleone says he refused to share his bought political power only once, "because I believe this drug business is gonna destroy us in the years to come. I mean, it's not like gambling or liquor or even women, which is something that most people want nowadays and is forbidden to them by the pezzonovante of the church. Even the police departments that have helped us in the past with gambling and other things are gonna refuse to help us when it comes to narcotics." The head of another family stands up and says, "I also don't believe in drugs. For years I paid my people extra so they wouldn't do that kind of business. Somebody comes to them and says, "I have powders. If you put up a three, four-thousand-dollar investment, we can make 50,000 distributing." So they can't resist. I want to control it as a business, to keep it respectable. I don't want it near schools. I don't want it sold to children. That's an infamia. In my city, we'll keep the traffic in the dark people, the colored. They're animals anyway, so let them lose their souls." Don Corleone says he wants to find a peaceful solution, and Don Barzini says, "Then we are agreed. The traffic in drugs will be permitted, but controlled." Tom asks Don Corleone, "When I meet with the Tattaglia people, should I insist that all these drug middlemen have clean records?" Don Corleone replies, "Mention it. Don't insist." A few women at a table hold glasses of champagne. Moe says to Michael about Fredo, "He was banging cocktail waitresses two at a time! Players couldn't get a drink at the table. What's wrong with you?" Don Corleone has a glass of red wine on the arm of his chair outside. Before he takes a drink of wine, he says to Michael, "I like to drink wine more than I used to. Anyway, I'm drinking more." Michael replies, "It's good for you, Pop." A nearly half-filled glass of wine sits next to Don Corleone on a table. Michael tells one of the men with him to get Carlo a drink. A hand next to Michael gives Carlo a glass, and he takes it. Michael says to him, "Go ahead, drink. Drink." Carlo drinks most of what's in the small glass. Michael takes Carlo's glass and puts it on a table as he gets up. Kay says to Michael, "I guess we both need a drink, huh? Come on." She then prepares a drink out of view of the camera. BLOOD/GORE Sonny spits in anger at the ground, next to the FBI badge shown to him, after he objects to the intrusion of the men snooping around and writing down license plate numbers. Woltz wakes up in his bed, and we see blood on one of his bed sheets. He looks at his hand, and there's blood all over it, as well as on his silk pajamas. He pushes his bedsheets back and finds lots more blood, and then the head of his horse Khartoum. We see innards sticking out of where the horse's neck was. Retaliation by Don Corleone for Woltz not giving Johnny Fontane the part he desires in a war movie. Bruno pats a hand against Luca's hand on the bar, then grabs it and holds his arm while Sollozzo stabs a knife into Luca's hand, and someone else wraps a cord tightly around Luca's neck, and he chokes to death with his eyes open wide, trying to struggle, but to no avail since the assailant behind him has a tight grip. We see a thin trail of blood on Luca's hand, and the knife in it, as the assailant brings Luca to the floor. Blood seeps from a bullet hole in Don Corleone's back, as he slowly turns around and falls over, then collapses. We see blood down Don Corleone's mouth as Fredo looks at him, distraught. Clemenza gets out of the car to urinate at the side of the road, and we hear the effort for a few seconds. In a wide shot, we see Rocco, in the back of the car, hold up a gun and shoot Paulie three times in the back of the head (the third shot not seen), and Paulie slumps forward. We see blood on Paulie's face, above his left eye, down his nose, resting on the steering wheel. Clemenza tells Michael what to do in order to get the gun from the bathroom at the restaurant: "Then you get up and you go take a leak. No, better still, you ask for permission to go." Michael stands up and shoots Sollozzo in the head, and we see not only a wound, but a red spray spread behind his head, and partly stain the jacket of the waiter standing nearby. He shoots McCluskey twice and on the second shoot, we see blood come down from McCluskey's head wound. McCluskey falls forward into the table, which falls down. Michael throws the gun down as he walks out. In a following shot, we see McCluskey's body on the floor. We see a black-and-white photo of a member of law enforcement standing over a body in a restaurant, another one of a policemen taking a gun off a body and still another of a bloodied body, on the face, shirt, all over. Sonny turns Connie around and we see she has a black eye. Sonny stops at a tollbooth, and can't get through. The tollbooth attendant ducks, closes his door, and men rise from the tollbooth across the way and they, as well as three men from the car in front of Sonny, fire at him with machine guns, bloodying him as he crawls out of his car, and he's hit with more bullets and screams, as we see more blood on him, as well as his mouth. One man stands over him as he lies on the ground, and fires more bullets into him, and then that man kicks him in the head. A wide shot shows us Sonny's body on the ground. We see Sonny's feet sticking out from under a sheet as his body is wheeled in. Don Corleone pulls back a blanket and shows Bonasera Sonny's bloodied face, telling him, "I don't want his mother to see him this way." Michael sees Fabrizio run from him, and screams "No!" before the car Apollonia is in explodes. We see part of her body outside the mangled mess of a car. Don Corleone coughs hard, staggers, then collapses and dies in the garden, and we see his body from afar while his grandson Anthony continues playing, unaware. Clemenza shoots three men in an elevator, another man shoots Moe Greene in the eye and we see blood spill down. Another man shoots another Don four times through a revolving door and we see blood on the man's white shirt. Another man machine-guns another Don who's in bed with a woman, and we see blood on the sheets. The fraudulent cop shoots Don Barzini's right-hand man, the driver, and Don Barzini as he runs up some steps. We see blood dripping out of a hole in Barzini's back, and Barzini falls head over feet down the steps. In a following sequence of shots, we see the bodies of the Dons. DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE It is mentioned that the Corleone family has "bought" political and police power that has lasted them for years and made them immune from any possible prosecution. Bonasera, the undertaker, tells Don Corleone of the violence brought against his daughter: "She found a boyfriend. Not an Italian. She went to the movies with him. She stayed out late. I didn't protest. Two months ago, he took her for a drive, with another boyfriend. They made her drink whiskey, and then, they tried to take advantage of her. She resisted. She kept her honor. So they beat her, like an animal. When I went to the hospital, her nose was broken, her jaw was shattered, held together by wire. She couldn't even weep, because of the pain. But, I wept. Why did I weep? She was the light of my life. Beautiful girl. Now she will never be beautiful again." After taking a drink offered to him, Bonasera continues: "I went to the police, like a good American. These two boys were brought to trial. A judge sentence them to three years in prison, and suspend their sentence. Suspended sentence. They went free that very day! I stood in the courtroom like a fool. And those two bastard, they smiled at me." Don Corleone tells Bonasera that he comes into his house, on the day of his daughter's wedding, and asks him to "do murder for money." "I ask you for justice," replies Bonasera. "That is not justice. Your daughter is still alive," says Don Corleone. "They must suffer then, as she suffers," answers Bonasera. Sonny says to his wife Sandra, "Come on, do me a favor, watch the kids, don't let 'em run wild. All right?" Sandra snaps back, "Well you watch yourself, all right?" It indicates that she's familiar with Sonny's philandering nature, which she sees when he goes off into the house with another woman, and she looks peeved. Paulie observes Connie collecting envelopes of money from various guests and says to himself, "Oh, if this was somebody else's wedding, sweet tomato," suggesting that he'd steal it otherwise. A man snaps a photo of Don Barzini, and he sends one of his men after the photographer. The man takes the photographer by the shoulder, then another man gets involved (though nothing more of that is seen), and the film is brought to Don Barzini, who rips it out, crumples it up, and throws it on the ground. He doesn't like to be photographed, especially because of his position. Sonny spits at the FBI badge shown to him, after he objects to the intrusion of the men snooping around and writing down license plate numbers. After, he grabs a photographer, shoves him against a car, and throws down his camera. Clemenza grabs Sonny before he can do any more damage, and Sonny reaches into his pocket and throws down two bills in front of the photographer to pay for it. About the solution to Nazorine's problem, Don Corleone says to Tom not to give the job to their "paisan. Give it to a Jew congressman in another district." Michael tells Kay about how Don Corleone helped Johnny with his career: "Well when Johnny was first starting out, he was signed to this personal service contract with a big bandleader. And as his career got better and better, he wanted to get out of it. Now, Johnny is my father's godson, and my father went to see this bandleader, and he offered him $10,000 to let Johnny go. But the bandleader said no. So the next day, my father went to see him, only this time with Luca Brasi. And within an hour, he signed a release, for a certified check of $1,000. Kay asks, "How'd he do that?" Michael replies, "My father made him an offer he couldn't refuse." "What was that?" Kay asks. "Luca Brasi held a gun to his head and my father assured him that either his brains or his signature would be on the contract. That's a true story." Johnny says to Don Corleone that he doesn't know what to do, and Don Corleone gets up, shakes him by the arms and shouts, "You can act like a man!" He slaps Johnny on the face and says, "What's the matter with you? Is this how you turned out? A Hollywood finocchio [Italian slang for "homosexual] that cries like a woman?" He imitates Johnny's crying while saying, "What can I do?" In a regular voice, he says, "What is that nonsense? Ridiculous." Tom lays out to Woltz what Don Corleone can do for him: "You're going to have some union problems, my client could make them disappear. Also, one of your top stars has moved from marijuana to heroin." Woltz asks Tom, "Are you trying to muscle me?" and Tom says, "Absolutely not." Woltz continues, "Now listen to me, you smooth-talking son of a bitch! Let me lay it on the line for you and your boss, whoever he is! Johnny Fontane will never get that movie. I don't care how many dago, guinea, wop, greaseball goombahs come outta the woodwork." Tom says to Woltz, "I'm German-Irish." Woltz replies, "Well let me tell you something, my kraut-mick friend. I'm gonna make so much trouble for you, you won't know what hit you." Woltz says to Tom that he can't let Johnny Fontane star in the movie he wants: "That part is perfect for him. It'll make him a big star. I'm gonna run him out of the business, and let me tell you why. Johnny Fontane ruined one of Woltz International's most valuable protégés. For five years we had her under training. Singing lessons, acting lessons, dancing lessons. I spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on her. I was gonna make her a big star. And let me be even more frank. Just to show you that I'm not a hard-hearted man, that it's not all dollars and cents. She was beautiful. She was young, she was innocent! She was the greatest piece of ass I've ever had, and I've had 'em all over the world! And then Johnny Fontane comes along with his olive oil voice and his guinea charm. And she runs off. She threw it all away just to make me look ridiculous and a man in my position can't afford to be made to look ridiculous! Now you get the hell outta here! And if that goombah tries any rough stuff, you tell him I ain't no bandleader. Yeah, I heard that story." Woltz wakes up in his bed, and we see blood on one of his bedsheets. He looks at his hand, and there's blood all over it, as well as on his silk pajamas. He pushes his bedsheets back and finds lots more blood, and then the head of his horse Khartoum. We see innards sticking out of where the horse's neck was. Retaliation by Don Corleone for Woltz not giving Johnny Fontane the part he desires in a war movie. Clemenza says to Sonny that there's word that his father's dead and Sonny, hot-headed, says to Clemenza, "Shut your mouth. What's the matter with you?" grabbing the lapels of his coat and shoving him against the wall. Sonny considers with Don Corleone's men killing those responsible for the attempt on the Don's life. After Paulie leaves the room, Sonny says to Clemenza, "I want you to take care of that son of a bitch right away. Paulie sold out the old man….I don't wanna see him again. Make that first thing on your list. Understand?" Sonny says to Clemenza as he's teaching Michael how to cook for 20 men if needed, "Why don't you cut the crap? I got more important things for you to do." The police captain, McCluskey, gets out of his car, looks at Michael being held by his men and says, "I thought I got all you guinea hoods locked up. What the hell are you doing here?" Michael asks what happened to the men who were guarding his father, and McCluskey replies, "Why, you little punk. What the hell are you doing telling me my business?" Michael asks McCluskey, "What's the Turk paying you to set up my father, Captain?" In response, McCluskey punches Michael hard in the face. Sonny says to Tom, "A hundred button men on the street, 24 hours a day. That Turk shows one hair on his ass, he's dead. Believe me." About the impending meeting with McCluskey and Sollozzo, Michael says, "They're gonna search me when I first meet them, right? So I can't have a weapon on me then. But if Clemenza can figure a way to have a weapon planted there for me, then I'll kill 'em both." Sonny says to Michael, "Hey. What are you gonna do? Nice college boy, huh? Didn't want to get mixed up in the family business. Now you want to gun down a police captain? Why? Because he slapped you in the face a little bit? Huh? What do you think, this is the army where you shoot 'em a mile away? You gotta get up close like this and-bada-bing!, you blow their brains all over your nice Ivy League suit." Sonny makes a shooting motion to Michael's head during this. Connie asks Carlo, "What's the matter with you, Carlo?" and he replies, "Shut up and set the table." Sonny yells at Tom, telling him what to do for him, and then says, "G*ddamn it, if I had a wartime consigliere-a Sicilian-I wouldn't be in this shape! Pop had Genco, look what I got." Sonny says to Tom at the dinner table, 'You know, n*ggers are having a good time with, uh, with our policy banks up there in Harlem. Carlo tells Connie to shut up, and Sonny fires back at Carlo, "Hey, don't you ever tell her to shut up." Sonny turns Connie around and we see a black eye. Sonny wants to kill Carlo, but Connie tries to defend him, saying that she hit him first. Connie finds out after answering a phone call that Carlo's cheating on her. She tells Carlo that "dinner's on the table," and he replies, "I'm not hungry yet." She answers, "Your food is on the table, it's getting cold." He says, "I'll eat out later," and she replies, emotional, "You just told me to make you dinner." He replies, "Hey, vaffanculo, huh?" and she yells, "I'll vaffanculo you!", runs to the other room and begins throwing things down. Carlo says to himself, "This little guinea brat." She throws down dishes, throws eggs, and Carlo comes in and says, "That's it break it all, you spoiled guinea brat. Break it all!" Distraught, Connie breaks things around the dinner table, flinging a pitcher with some wine in it and yells, "Why don't you bring your whore home for dinner?" Carlo replies, "Maybe I will. Why not?" Connie flings vases and things off the top of a cabinet. Carlo yells at her to clean it up and she shouts back, "Like hell I will!" He then takes off his belt while saying, "Clean it up, you guinea spoiled brat," and begins beating her with the belt. She screams, "You son of a bitch!" and tries to close a door on him. She throws down a set of poker chips and he hits her with the belt some more. She holds up a knife at him and he says, "Yeah, yeah, come on, now! Kill me! Be a murderer like your father! Come on, all you Corleones are murderers! Connie runs into the bathroom in the bedroom and closes the door, but Carlo kicks open the door and says, "Now I'll kill you. You guinea brat you," and continues beating her. We hear the strikes. Michael sees Fabrizio run from him, and Michael screams "No!" before the car Apollonia is in explodes. Don Corleone says he refused to share his bought political power only once, "because I believe this drug business is gonna destroy us in the years to come. I mean, it's not like gambling or liquor or even women, which is something that most people want nowadays and is forbidden to them by the pezzonovante of the church. Even the police departments that have helped us in the past with gambling and other things are gonna refuse to help us when it comes to narcotics." The head of another family stands up and says, "I also don't believe in drugs. For years I paid my people extra so they wouldn't do that kind of business. Somebody comes to them and says, "I have powders. If you put up a three, four-thousand-dollar investment, we can make 50,000 distributing." So they can't resist. I want to control it as a business, to keep it respectable. I don't want it near schools. I don't want it sold to children. That's an infamia. In my city, we'll keep the traffic in the dark people, the colored. They're animals anyway, so let them lose their souls." Moe Greene says to Michael, "You g*ddamn guineas really make me laugh." Some may find it offensive that Michael renounces Satan and accepts the Catholic Church, but the heads of the crime families in New York are killed one by one, most likely orchestrated by Michael. One gunman dresses as a cop. Connie says to Michael, "You lousy bastard. You killed my husband. You waited until Papa died so nobody could stop you and then you killed him!" Michael has a few men bring Connie upstairs for her to rest, saying in so many words that she doesn't know what she's talking about. Kay asks him if it's true and he denies it is. Relieved, she hugs him and he shows no remorse. Michael continues with his business and a man closes the door to the office, and effectively, on Kay. FRIGHTENING SCENES Scenes listed under "Blood/Gore" and "Violence" may be unsettling and suspenseful to younger viewers, and/or those with low tolerance levels for such material. GUNS/WEAPONS Machine guns/Handguns/Rifles/Explosives/Knives: Carried and/or used to threaten, wound and kill others. See "Violence" for details. Luca Brasi clicks open his gun, checks for bullets, then clicks it shut. Fredo quickly gets out of the car and fumbles with his gun, accidentally dropping it. Sonny hears a bang outside his home, takes a small handgun out of a drawer, and goes outside. Two men standing on the balcony of a house on the Corleone property stand watch with rifles. Clemenza holds out a small handgun to Michael, which we see up close, and says to him, "It's as cold as they come. Impossible to trace, so you don't worry about prints, Mike. I put a special tape on the trigger and the butt. Here. Try it." Michael takes it, holds it, and squeezes the trigger a little. Clemenza asks, "What's the matter, the trigger too tight?" Michael fires it and we hear the noise reverberate. Michael says, "My ears," and Clemenza replies, "Yeah, I left it noisy. That way it scares any pain-in-the-ass innocent bystanders away." Clemenza shows Michael what to do after he's shot McCluskey and Sollozzo: "Just let your hand drop to your side and let the gun slip out. Everybody will still think you got it." Michael stands up, points the gun, and clicks the trigger. During Michael's time in Italy, his two bodyguards are never seen without their rifles either in front of them or over their shoulders. Connie holds a knife at Carlo. During the baptism of Connie's baby, one man puts a gun together, and Clemenza carries a package with a gun inside. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "She was the greatest piece of ass I've ever had," "He was banging cocktail waitresses two at a time!" "Why don't you bring your whore home for dinner?" "Bastard," "My father made him an offer he couldn't refuse," "Now listen to me, you smooth-talking son of a bitch!""I don't care how many dago, guinea, wop, greaseball goombahs come outta the woodwork," "Now you get the hell outta here!" "I thought I got all you guinea hoods locked up. What the hell are you doing here?" "Why, you little punk. What the hell are you doing telling me my business?" "Bada-bing!" "I'll vaffanculo you!" "This little guinea brat," "You spoiled guinea brat," "Clean it up, you guinea spoiled brat," "You son of a bitch!" "You g*ddamn guineas really make me laugh," "You lousy bastard," "Hey! I'm gonna knock you dizzy," "Pain-in-the-ass," "Whore," "Stupid jerk!" "Now listen to me, you smooth-talking son of a bitch," "Well let me tell you something, my kraut-mick friend," "Who the hell are you?" "What is this nonsense?" "What the hell is this?" "Why don't you cut the crap?" "Bitch," "You/That son of a bitch," "Damn it!" "You never gave a damn about me!" and "You lousy, coldhearted bastard!" The violence may be enticing for some kids to imitate. Some kids might be enticed to act as if they're in the mafia, while the Italian accents throughout the film may be tempting to imitate as well. Clemenza pokes fun at Michael, telling him after he gets off the phone with Kay, "Hey Mikey. Why don't you tell that nice girl you love her?" In a more pronounced Italian accent, he jokes, "I love you with all o' my heart! If I don't see you again a-soon, I'm-a gonna die!" Sonny makes a shooting motion at Michael's head while amused at how Michael wants to get back at Captain McCluskey. JUMP SCENES None. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) A heavy amount of dramatic and tense music occurs in the film. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) None, but there is a song sung in Italian at the wedding party that couldn't be understood, but may possibly contain inappropriate material. PROFANITY At least 1 slang term for sex ("banging"), 1 using male genitals ("d*ck"), 8 hells, 6 asses, 6 S.O.Bs, 2 damns, 7 uses of "G-damn," 2 uses of "Jesus Christ," and 1 use each of "Oh my God," "My God," and "Oh, God." SEX/NUDITY Bonasera, the undertaker, tells Don Corleone of the violence brought against his daughter: "She found a boyfriend. Not an Italian. She went to the movies with him. She stayed out late. I didn't protest. Two months ago, he took her for a drive, with another boyfriend. They made her drink whiskey, and then, they tried to take advantage of her. She resisted. She kept her honor." Sonny and a woman have sex against a door, though no nudity is seen. Much later, elsewhere, Sonny opens a door while kissing her, reaches behind out of view of the camera, and slaps her on the rear, then says to her, "Hey! I'm gonna knock you dizzy." Woltz says to Tom about his horse, Khartoum, "I'm not gonna race him, though. I'm gonna put him out to stud." Woltz says to Tom that he can't let Johnny Fontane star in the movie he wants: "That part is perfect for him. It'll make him a big star. I'm gonna run him out of the business, and let me tell you why. Johnny Fontane ruined one of Woltz International's most valuable protégés. For five years we had her under training. Singing lessons, acting lessons, dancing lessons. I spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on her. I was gonna make her a big star. And let me be even more frank. Just to show you that I'm not a hard-hearted man, that it's not all dollars and cents. She was beautiful. She was young, she was innocent! She was the greatest piece of ass I've ever had, and I've had 'em all over the world!" Don Corleone says to Sonny, "What's the matter with you? I think your brain is going soft from all that comedy you're playing with that young girl." In wondering where Luca is, Clemenza suggests that Luca "might be shacked up." Tom replies, "Luca never sleeps over with a broad, he always goes home when he's through." Sonny says to Clemenza, "Now listen, I want somebody good---and I mean very good---to plant that gun. I don't want my brother comin' out of that toilet with just his dick in his hands, alright?" Clemenza replies, "The gun'll be there." One of Michael's bodyguards talks about a girl who would "tempt the devil himself," and Vitelli, whom he's talking to, puts two fingers together to indicate cleavage, asking about that, and then using both hands to indicate curves. Michael and his bride, in a white slip, kiss, and then she removes the slip, revealing her breasts, which are seen for five seconds, and they kiss again. Don Corleone says he refused to share his bought political power only once, "because I believe this drug business is gonna destroy us in the years to come. I mean, it's not like gambling or liquor or even women, which is something that most people want nowadays and is forbidden to them by the pezzonovante of the church." A few women sit at a table, two showing some cleavage. Moe says to Michael about Fredo, "He was banging cocktail waitresses two at a time! Players couldn't get a drink at the table. What's wrong with you?" SMOKING Michael and Enzo each smoke three times, Bruno Tattaglia smokes twice, Sonny, Luca, and Don Barzini each smoke once, and various other characters also smoke. Don Barzini holds a cigarette. Kay holds a cigarette. Woltz smokes a pipe. Luca takes a cigarette out of a pack, puts it in his mouth, and Bruno lights it for him. Bruno has a cigarette in his mouth as he looks at Luca. With a hand shaking, Enzo takes a cigarette out, puts it in his mouth, and has trouble flicking the lighter. Michael takes it, flicks it, and lights Enzo's cigarette for him. Clemenza puts an in-progress cigarette in his mouth. One of the heads of the five families smokes a cigar, while the Don next to him holds one. The man next to Don Corleone holds a cigar, and Don Barzini holds a cigarette. Two other Dons also smoke cigars. Michael holds a cigarette as he talks to Clemenza and Tessio. He also stubs a cigarette out in an ashtray. Michael holds a cigarette while listening to Moe Greene rail about Fredo. Michael takes out a cigarette after Connie leaves, puts it in his mouth, and lights it. TENSE FAMILY SCENES Sonny says to his wife Sandra, "Come on, do me a favor, watch the kids, don't let 'em run wild. All right?" Sandra snaps back, "Well you watch yourself, all right?" It indicates that she's familiar with Sonny's philandering nature, and when she sees Sonny go off into the house with another woman, she looks peeved. Johnny says to Don Corleone that he doesn't know what to do, and Don Corleone gets up, shakes him by the arms and shouts, "You can act like a man!" He slaps Johnny on the face and says, "What's the matter with you? Is this how you turned out? A Hollywood finocchio that cries like a woman?" He imitates Johnny's crying while saying, "What can I do?" In a regular voice, he says, "What is that nonsense? Ridiculous." Sonny yells at Tom, telling him what to do for him, and then says, "G*ddamn it, if I had a wartime consigliere-a Sicilian-I wouldn't be in this shape! Pop had Genco, look what I got." Connie asks Carlo, "What's the matter with you, Carlo?" and he replies, "Shut up and set the table." At the table, he tells her to shut up, and Sonny fires back at Carlo, "Hey, don't you ever tell her to shut up." Sonny turns Connie around and we see a black eye. Sonny wants to kill Carlo, but Connie tries to defend him, saying that she hit him first. Sonny finds him and throws a stick at him as he runs, then grabs him and throws him over a small gate into some garbage cans. He climbs over the gate, and punches Carlo hard, repeatedly. Then he knees him in the face and chest and close up, we see him holding his hair and punching him in the face. Then Sonny bites Carlo's hands clasped around the iron gate. He then pulls Carlo's leg, and throws something at him, then lifts up a garbage can and throws it down on him. He then bashes Carlo in the head with the garbage can lid a few times. Carlo tries to crawl away, but Sonny kicks him in the side, and then kicks him hard enough again in the side to trip him over. He kicks him once more hard, we hear Carlo groan, then he says to Carlo, "You touch my sister again, I'll kill you." He then kicks him once more in the face. Connie finds out after answering a phone call that Carlo's cheating on her. She tells Carlo that "dinner's on the table," and he replies, "I'm not hungry yet." She answers, "Your food is on the table, it's getting cold." He says, "I'll eat out later," and she replies, emotional, "You just told me to make you dinner." He replies, "Hey, vaffancolo, huh?" and she yells, "I'll vaffanculo you!", runs to the other room and begins throwing things down. Carlo says to himself, "This little guinea brat." She throws down dishes, throws eggs, and Carlo comes in and says, "That's it break it all, you spoiled guinea brat. Break it all!" Distraught, Connie breaks things around the dinner table, flinging a pitcher with some wine in it and yells, "Why don't you bring your whore home for dinner?" Carlo replies, "Maybe I will. Why not?" Connie flings vases and things off the top of a cabinet. Carlo yells at her to clean it up and she shouts back, "Like hell I will!" He then takes off his belt while saying, "Clean it up, you guinea spoiled brat," and begins beating her with the belt. She screams, "You son of a bitch!" and tries to close a door on him. She throws down a set of poker chips and he hits her with the belt some more. She holds up a knife at him and he says, "Yeah, yeah, come on, now! Kill me! Be a murderer like your father! Come on, all you Corleones are murderers! Connie runs into the bathroom in the bedroom and closes the door, but Carlo kicks open the door and says, "Now I'll kill you. You guinea brat you," and continues beating her. We hear the strikes. The Corleone family sits together at a funeral. Connie says to Michael, "You lousy bastard. You killed my husband. You waited until Papa died so nobody could stop you and then you killed him!" Michael has a few men bring Connie upstairs for her to rest, saying in so many words that she doesn't know what she's talking about. After Connie leaves, Kay asks him if it's true and he says it's not. Relieved, she hugs him, but he shows no remorse. Michael continues with his business and a man closes the door to the office, and effectively, on Kay. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT The inner workings of both Corleone families: One with a father, mother, brothers and a sister, and the other involved in what sounds like illegal activities, defending not only their name but their livelihood as well. Sonny says to Sandra that no Sicilian can refuse a request on a wedding day and with it being Connie's wedding, Don Corleone hears a few requests for his help. Don Corleone refuses Sollozzo's offer and says, "It's true, I have a lot of friends in politics. But they wouldn't be friendly very long if they knew my business was drugs instead of gambling which they regard as a harmless vice. But drugs is a dirty business." Another Don remarks that Vito Corleone never shared that political and police power he bought and basically has in his pockets and he responds that he only refused to share it that one time. It's suggested that with that kind of power he has, he's able to skirt any legal issues that would arise otherwise. Racism and prejudice is bandied about with little afterthought, such as Sonny talking about the "n*ggers" who are having a "good time" with "policy banks up in Harlem." The Hollywood mogul Woltz, among other men, also uses derogatory terms without a second thought. Carlo's actions toward Connie show that he believes he's inferior to her and when Sonny tells Carlo at the dinner table never to demand to Connie that she shut up, Sonny's mother tells him not to interfere. "The Godfather" is routinely hailed as one of the greatest motion pictures of all time, because of its epic examination of a family that's also involved in crime, and this story extended to the even more epic "The Godfather, Part II" which not only continued the Corleone's story of expansion in Las Vegas, but also jumped way back to show who Vito Corleone was decades upon decades ago, coming to America and beginning a new life for himself. For dedicated movie buffs, a discussion on film restoration and preservation could be useful, as there is a new release of "The Godfather" trilogy on DVD, fully restored, looking better than the first release, as Francis Ford Coppola made sure with this release that the films looked the best that they could, compared to the previous release which was made with whatever was available. VIOLENCE Hot-tempered over the intrusion of the FBI, Sonny grabs a photographer, shoves him against a car, and throws down his camera. Clemenza grabs Sonny before he can do any more damage, and Sonny reaches into his pocket and throws down two bills in front the photographer to pay for it. Johnny says to Don Corleone that he doesn't know what to do, and Don Corleone gets up, shakes him by the arms and shouts, "You can act like a man!" He slaps Johnny on the face and says, "What's the matter with you? Is this how you turned out? A Hollywood finocchio that cries like a woman?" Bruno pats a hand against Luca's hand on the bar, then grabs it and holds his arm while Sollozzo stabs a knife into Luca's hand, and someone else wraps a cord tightly around Luca's neck, and he chokes to death with his eyes open wide, trying to struggle, but to no avail since the assailant behind him has a tight grip. We see a thin trail of blood on Luca's hand, and the knife in it, as the assailant brings him to the floor. Two assailants run after Don Corleone, who trips over a basket of fruit as he tries to run, and falls against the car, where the men, together, fire nine shots into him. Clemenza says to Sonny that there's word that his father's dead and Sonny, hot-headed, says to Clemenza, "Shut your mouth. What's the matter with you?" grabbing the lapels of his coat and shoving him against the wall. In a wide shot, we see Rocco, in the back of the car, hold up a gun and shoot Paulie three times in the back of the head (the third shot not seen), and Paulie slumps forward. Michael asks McCluskey, "What's the Turk paying you to set up my father, Captain?" In response, McCluskey punches Michael hard in the face. Sonny hits Tom on the rear in friendliness, after telling him about his plans to shoot the Turk on sight, and he does the same to Michael after seeing him the day after his incident with the police captain. Michael stands up and shoots Sollozzo in the head, and we see not only a wound, but a red spray spread behind his head, and partly stain the jacket of the waiter standing nearby. He shoots McCluskey twice and on the second shoot, we see blood come down from McCluskey's head wound. McCluskey falls forward into the table, which falls down. Michael throws the gun down as he walks out. In a following shot, we see McCluskey's body on the floor. Sonny throws a stick at Carlo as he runs, then grabs him and throws him over a small gate into some garbage cans. He climbs over the gate, and punches Carlo hard, repeatedly. Then he knees him in the face and chest and close up, we see him holding his hair and punching him in the face. Then Sonny bites Carlo's hands clasped around the iron gate. He then pulls Carlo's leg, and throws something at him, then lifts up a garbage can and throws it down on him. He then bashes Carlo in the head with the garbage can lid a few times. Carlo tries to crawl away, but Sonny kicks him in the side, and then kicks him hard enough again in the side to trip him over. He kicks him once more hard, we hear Carlo groan, then he says to Carlo, "You touch my sister again, I'll kill you." He then kicks him once more in the face. Connie finds out after answering a phone call that Carlo's cheating on her. She tells Carlo that "dinner's on the table," and he replies, "I'm not hungry yet." She answers, "Your food is on the table, it's getting cold." He says, "I'll eat out later," and she replies, emotional, "You just told me to make you dinner." He replies, "Hey, vaffancolo, huh?" and she yells, "I'll vaffanculo you!", runs to the other room and begins throwing things down. Carlo says to himself, "This little guinea brat." She throws down dishes, throws eggs, and Carlo comes in and says, "That's it break it all, you spoiled guinea brat. Break it all!" Distraught, Connie breaks things around the dinner table, flinging a pitcher with some wine in it and yells, "Why don't you bring your whore home for dinner?" Carlo replies, "Maybe I will. Why not?" Connie flings vases and things off the top of a cabinet. Carlo yells at her to clean it up and she shouts back, "Like hell I will!" He then takes off his belt while saying, "Clean it up, you guinea spoiled brat," and begins beating her with the belt. She screams, "You son of a bitch!" and tries to close a door on him. She throws down a set of poker chips and he hits her with the belt some more. She holds up a knife at him and he says, "Yeah, yeah, come on, now! Kill me! Be a murderer like your father! Come on, all you Corleones are murderers! Connie runs into the bathroom in the bedroom and closes the door, but Carlo kicks open the door and says, "Now I'll kill you. You guinea brat you," and continues beating her. We hear the strikes. Sonny stops at a tollbooth, and can't get through. The tollbooth attendant ducks, closes his door, and men rise from the tollbooth across the way and they, as well as three men from the car in front of Sonny, fire at him with machine guns, bloodying him as he crawls out of his car, and he's hit with more bullets and screams, as we see more blood on him, as well as his mouth. One man stands over him as he lies on the ground, and fires more bullets into him, and then that man kicks him in the head. A wide shot shows us Sonny's body on the ground. Michael teaches Apollonia how to drive around the circle in front of the house, and she accidentally hits a chair. Michael sees Fabrizio run from him, and Michael screams "No!" before the car Apollonia is in explodes. Clemenza shoots three men in an elevator, another man shoots Moe Greene in the eye and we see blood spill down. Another man shoots another Don four times through a revolving door and we see blood on the man's white shirt. Another man machine-guns another Don who's in bed with a woman, and we see blood on the sheets. The fraudulent cop shoots Don Barzini's right-hand man, the driver, and Don Barzini as he runs up some steps. We see blood dripping out of a hole in Barzini's back, and Barzini falls head over feet down the steps. Clemenza reaches in front of Carlo with a cord of some kind, perhaps a piece of rope, and chokes him. We see Carlo's struggle as his feet kick out the windshield of the car he and Clemenza are in. Kay asks Michael if it's true that he had Carlo killed and Michael slaps his hand on the desk and shouts, "Enough!" Reviewed off DVD / Posted September 3, 2010