Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli

The Epic Story of the Making of The Godfather

Mark Seal

• Publisher: Gallery Books
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN:
  9781982158590
• eBook ISBN:
  9781982158613
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Film & Video

NATIONAL BESTSELLER

This “wickedly pacey page-turner” (Total Film) unfurls the behind-the-scenes story of the making of The Godfather, fifty years after the classic film’s original release.

The story of how The Godfather was made is as dramatic, operatic, and entertaining as the film itself. Over the years, many versions of various aspects of the movie’s fiery creation have been told—sometimes conflicting, but always compelling. Mark Seal sifts through the evidence, has extensive new conversations with director Francis Ford Coppola and several heretofore silent sources, and complements them with colorful interviews with key players including actors Al Pacino, James Caan, Talia Shire, and others to write “the definitive look at the making of an American classic” (Library Journal, starred review).

On top of the usual complications of filmmaking, the creators of The Godfather had to contend with the real-life members of its subject matter: the Mob. During production of the movie, location permits were inexplicably revoked, author Mario Puzo got into a public brawl with an irate Frank Sinatra, producer Al Ruddy’s car was found riddled with bullets, men with “connections” vied to be in the cast, and some were given film roles.

As Seal notes, this is the tale of a “movie that revolutionized filmmaking, saved Paramount Pictures, minted a new generation of movie stars, made its struggling author Mario Puzo rich and famous, and sparked a war between two of the mightiest powers in America: the sharks of Hollywood and the highest echelons of the Mob.”

“For fans of books about moviemaking, this is a definite must-read” (Booklist).

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Preface: A Story as Extraordinary as the One Told Onscreen
• Epigraph
• Prologue: To the Mattresses!
• Chapter 1: “I Just Go Out and Kill for Them”
• Chapter 2: The Man in the Gutter
• Chapter 3: Hurricane Charlie and The Kid
• Chapter 4: The Best Selling Writer in the World
• Chapter 5: The Producer: The Man Who Gets Things Done
• Chapter 6: Coppola: A Celestial Occurrence
• Chapter 7: The Miracle on Mulholland
• Chapter 8: The War over Casting the Family Corleone
• Chapter 9: The Godfather vs. ‘The Godfather’
• Chapter 10: Tableau: Each Frame a Painting
• Chapter 11: Looking for Places to Kill People
• Chapter 12: Bada Bing!
• Chapter 13: “He Looked Like He Could Eat Raw Meat”
• Chapter 14: Dancing on a String
• Chapter 15: “I Met Him, I Married Him, and I Died”
• Chapter 16: “A Baptism in Blood”
• Epilogue: The Man Who Touched Magic
• Photographs
• Acknowledgments
• About the Author
• Selected Bibliography
• Index
• Copyright