NOVEMBER 2022:

FAMILY SQUABBLES…

As The Godfather celebrates its 50^th Anniversary in 2022, a new limited series looks at the making of the iconic film classic and landmark gangster film, Paramount+’s limited series, The Offer is loosely inspired by Mark Seal’s seductive book, Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli: The Epic Story of the Making of The Godfather, published in 2021, about the tumultuous journey by Paramount Pictures to get The Godfather made in 1971 and was written from the recollections of the film’s producer, Albert S. Ruddy, who shared the shocking events of making the film with Seal. The Francis Ford Coppola film released on March 14, 1972, and adapted from Mario Puzo’s 1969 crime novel of the same title was in itself problematic when it was being published due to the Italian American community taking issue with how they are portrayed through the mafia family, the Corleone family, whose central character was Don Vito Corleone, played by Marlon Brando in the film, and the role for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1973. Even Brando’s winning the Oscar for The Godfather became controversial. In this The Godfather, I will take a look at the events of the ten episodes and the stories that make up the limited series, I will look at which of these stories were true and factual and which were dramatized and written for the series. I have chosen these events that make up the limited series to focus on its history in the making of the film considered to be the second greatest film of all time behind Citizen Kane, and how some of these events could have very well kept one of the greatest films ever made from never being made.

AN OFFER THEY COULDN’T REFUSE…

The Offer came about after an infamous confrontation that sparked the imagination of the limited series’ creator, Michael Tolkin between Mario Puzo and “The Chairman of the Board”, Frank Sinatra at Chasen’s Restaurant in West Hollywood, California. “Ol’ Blue Eyes” was not happy about the book or that it was being adapted into a film for Paramount, Sinatra felt that the book made Italian-Americans look like animals and rebuked the publishing of the book in 1969 as well as the production in 1972. He felt personally attacked by the book and film as it was rumored that the character of Johnny Fontane was based on his likeness and rumored connections to organized crime boss Sam Giancana in Chicago.

When discussing the creation of the limited series, Tolkin had this to say:

“The only story I knew about making ‘The Godfather’ was that Mario Puzo got into a fight with Frank Sinatra at Chasen’s, so I had five minutes in the show written, and I just needed nine hours and 55 minutes more to fill it in.”

– The Offer creator and writer, Michael Tolkin

So yes, the scene in the first episode of The Offer is based on fact, Chasen’s Restaurant was located in West Hollywood and back then a celebrity hot spot near Beverly Hills, the restaurant closed in 1995. According to the August 21, 1972 New York magazine piece written by Puzo, he claims he was invited by an unnamed “famous millionaire” friend to attend a dinner party at the restaurant where this friend wanted to introduce the author to the millionaire’s friend, Francis Albert Sinatra. The way Puzo wrote it when he was brought over to Sinatra’s table, who was supposedly at the restaurant dining with John Wayne, Puzo claimed, Sinatra replied without ever looking up from the food on his plate.

According to the author, Sinatra said to the millionaire friend and Puzo,

“No, I don’t think so. I don’t want to meet him. Who told you to put that in the book? Your publisher?”

– Frank Sinatra to Mario Puzo during Chasen’s Restaurant fight in 1971.

Puzo recalls in the article that at that point Sinatra began to “shout abuse” and threatened to beat him if it wasn’t for Sinatra’s age. And Puzo recalled that when he was leaving Sinatra snarled,

“Choke. Go ahead and choke.”

– Frank Sinatra to Mario Puzo at Chasen’s Restaurant

But before this scene occurs towards the end of the episode it is mentioned a few times earlier in the beginning of the episode that Sinatra has taken great offense to the book which is only made clear to be personal by the confrontation later at Chasen’s Restaurant. In the limited series, the late Puzo is played by Patrick Gallo, who by the end of the episode, titled “A Seat at the Table,” is trying to stab Frank Sinatra, played by Frank John Hughes, with a knife in self-defense. The violent portion of the episode was dramatized for the series, as there was no evidence of violence by means of cutlery in the actual verbal fight that took place, however, Albert S. Ruddy, played by Miles Teller in the series, did recount to Mark Seal that Puzo had to be restrained and escorted out by the staff at the restaurant, according to Ruddy, who was also present at the infamous dinner party, Puzo later told him he was disheartened that Sinatra, who was one of his idols, was so livid about his novel.

Coppola would later admit in the DVD commentary for the film that the widely believed rumor about Sinatra being the inspiration for the Fontane character was “based on a kind of Frank Sinatra character.” Paramount was hesitant about the Fontane character in the film fearing that Sinatra might actually sue the studio and since Sinatra’s disdain for The Godfather goes all the way back to 1969 when the novel was published they knew it could be possible, Sinatra went as far as to demand to see an early manuscript of the novel and reportedly cautioned actor and singer Al Martino, who played the role of Fontane, that if he played the character in the film, he would be banned from performing in Las Vegas. Sinatra was part owner of the Las Vegas Sands hotel, and it also ironically was where Puzo researched his novel on the mob. Mark Seal said about Sinatra and the film, “In many ways, Sinatra loomed over the ‘The Godfather’ production from afar.” But when the publishers refused Sinatra’s request for the manuscript, and then later when the film was being produced Puzo assured him the character had a very minor part in the film, due to the film condensing the story of the novel and choosing just to focus on the Corleone family rather than the other backstories that consisted in the novel around other characters due to the time constraint of how long the film could be, Sinatra’s vocal rebuke simmered for years.

Puzo still remained disappointed in Sinatra’s distaste of his novel and the film writing in the 1972 article,

“In the house where I grew up, my mother had two pictures in the kitchen: one of the pope and one of Sinatra. And the fact that Frank Sinatra doesn’t like me, or would think I would do anything to hurt him, breaks my heart.”

– Mario Puzo, New York magazine, 1972

Having the real mafia protesting the depiction of its organization and Italian-Americans in The Godfather wouldn’t help the production either and cause more problems for Ruddy, Coppola, and Paramount and they would involve themselves, much like Sinatra in trying to get the production shut down, which leads us to the involvement of the mafia in the production as depicted in the limited series.

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE CONNECTIONS…

In the last five minutes of the first episode of The Offer, Bettye McCartt, Ruddy’s personal assistant, and Ruddy are in his car about to leave the house Ruddy has rented for Coppola and Puzo to live in while they are writing the script for The Godfather, and after a pasta dinner that in the series, inspired the sauce making scene of the film, they are sitting in the car discussing and laughing at how Coppola and Puzo have bonded to the point that they seem like an old married couple, but in the background of the shot danger is approaching in their blind spot, a man appears behind the car with a rifle and fires at the back window shattering glass throughout the vehicle causing Ruddy and McCartt to duck for cover and then the scene fades to black and the episode is over. And so, the title of the second episode is born, “Warning Shots” and sets up the dynamic for the rest of the limited series.

In the introduction scene of the first episode, we meet Carlo Gambino, played by Anthony Skordi, and Joe Colombo, played by Giovanni Ribisi who are discussing a man who had just left after giving Gambino pastry as a thank you for his understanding and compromise in Colombo negotiating a deal with the man over money, he owes Colombo. Gambino explains that Colombo can’t be that understanding with people who owe him money, Colombo explains that the man’s son is sick and he’s giving him six months to pay back what he owes with a Vigorish attached to the six months. Gambino insists this is no way to lead his organization, but Colombo assures him if he doesn’t pay in six months, hell kill him and his entire family. In that scene were made aware of Colombo’s willingness to compromise and negotiate a deal but be ruthless at the same time. This is important for the viewer for the storyline in the future and because the conversation then turns to this book, The Godfather, and Colombo can’t believe it is still at the top of the best-seller list since coming out in 1969 and heard that it is now being made into a film and that it can’t happen because this film and the book it is being adapted from is such an insult to the Italian American community. The writers have now set the groundwork for the entire series and the problems that the production would face at Paramount, and at the center of those problems were the mafia and Joe Colombo.

In the second episode, we see those issues that Colombo discussed with Gambino start to come to light, and the beginning of the involvement of the mafia in the production of The Godfather. The events surrounding the series and Ruddy and Colombo are based in fact and while some elements were dramatized for the series, Ruddy’s life was most definitely in danger while he tried to get the film made. He did, in fact, get the windows of his car shot out, as well as did McCartt. Ruddy was also made aware that he was being followed by the FBI, who was investigating Mickey Cohen in L.A. Tolkin spent three weeks interviewing Ruddy and basically using his story as research for the film.

Mark Seal wrote in his book,

“How these two titanic forces came together is one of the most astounding stories in the annals of film.”

Joe Colombo was the leader of the Colombo crime family, which was considered to be one of the Five Families of the New York City ring of organized crime known as the American Mafia in the 1970s. Colombo was also the leader of the Italian American Civil Rights League, which was co-founded by Colombo to campaign against Italian American stereotyping in film and television, especially the use of the word “Mafia” in these entertainment mediums. The influence of Colombo’s League was so influential that they convinced the Justice Department and the New York State Police to stop using the word “Mafia” when referring to investigations in press releases. Colombo and the League organizers even mobilized tens of thousands of people to rallies and marches in New York City, organizing a benefit concert at Madison Square Garden with Frank Sinatra to raise over half a million dollars, and according to Ruddy, this was all to try and stop the production of The Godfather.

It is Frank Sinatra who made requests to Colombo that the League be used to antagonize the film production and Paramount to try and get the film shut down, all a personal vendetta of course, over the character of Johnny Fontane. The League fought the production publicly while the mob fought the production behind the scenes. The film was also publicly denounced by New York Congressman Mario Biaggi, who is played by Danny Nucci, in the limited series. Petitions were circulated throughout the Italian American community in the boroughs of New York City urging a boycott of the film, and many of the businesses and homeowners in the New York City Italian neighborhoods where the film ends up filming on location for most of the limited series ten episodes had refused to let Coppola or the crew of the production and film on their properties. The Teamsters Union even threatened to stop all transportation and deliveries for the production at the behest of Colombo. We see this event dramatized in the series when the production is halted in New York City temporarily and Ruddy must figure out how to safely get the film made without aggravating the mob.

And it is a fact that not only Ruddy but also the head of Paramount Pictures, Robert Evans, played by Matthew Goode in the limited series, also received death threats from the mob to intimidate them into not making the film. In the limited series, Evans travels to New York City to check in on the on-location production and receives a dead rat in a copy of The Godfather novel delivered to his hotel room, and hastily checks out of his hotel and returns to L.A. the constant intimidation by the mob and Ruddy’s increasing concern over the welfare of his crew and cast of the production leads him to meet privately with Colombo and strike a deal that would allow the mob and Colombo to allow the production to finish in New York City and the film to be made. Among the concessions that Ruddy makes to Colombo is removing all mentions of the word “Mafia” in the script, he does so by offering up a copy of the script to Colombo to read but due to him not being able to read a script he delegates it to his people to read, it’s assumed that no one read it because they of the same reason, making the scene in the limited series factual in nature. The other concessions that Ruddy makes to Colombo are that he would give jobs and parts in the film to League members, and he also agrees with Colombo that Paramount will donate the proceeds from the Premiere of the film to the League.

Ruddy makes good on the concession to give a part to a League member when the original actor that was cast to play Luca Brasi died and the part was given to Lenny Montana. Writer and showrunner Nikki Toscano said of the deal,

“After Lenny Montana had been cast as Luca Brasi, he was hired by a certain mobster to beat up Al Ruddy, Montana then showed up at Ruddy’s doorstep and attacked him, leaving him beaten and bloodied, and then showed up for filming the next day.”

– The Offer, writer and showrunner, Nikki Toscano

Ruddy forgave the beating and Montana went on to film one of the most iconic scenes of the film where life imitated art and he was the one bloodied and beaten.

“Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes.”

– Peter Clemenza, The Godfather (1972)

Ruddy, however, did not make good on the last part of his concessions when Paramount refused to donate the proceeds of the film premiere to the League, when the deal was made public it actually resulted in Ruddy being fired from the production, by Charles Bluhdorn, played by Burn Gorman in the limited series, only to be rehired at the request of Coppola and the intimidation of Colombo on Paramount to rehire him, basing the similar scenes in the limited series on the facts. Tolkin said of the precarious situation, “Colombo put Al in a compromising position and that really was a crisis.” But while this situation was a crisis, the film benefited from having mob guys like Carmine “the Snake” Persico and Andrew “Mush Mouth” Russo on set as what filmmakers would call technical advisors because they schooled them in the culture and traditions of the underworld. Even though it may not have been wise to cast real-life Colombo crime family soldier Lenny Montana in the role of the fictional Corleone family hitman Luca Brasi, the film was better for the involvement of the mob. Ruddy’s friendship overtime with Colombo is what got the film made because they visited the local Italian Americans that were boycotting the production and got them to agree to work with the crew of the film and the scene in which Colombo roughs up the Staten Island homeowner whose house served as the Corleone family home after he tries to back out of the production, was also based in fact.

The friendship would be brought to an end when sixty days into filming The Godfather, while Coppola was down the way filming the iconic restaurant murder scene with Al Pacino, who played Michael Corleone, Joe Colombo was gunned down during a League rally in Columbus Circle by a hitman sent by Joe Gallo, played by Joseph Russo in the film, whose return from Prison to claim his leadership that Colombo took, and was approved by Gambino due to Colombo bringing too much attention to the mob through the League. This scene was dramatized in the limited series, but there is no evidence to prove that Ruddy was present for the shooting as it is portrayed in the episode that features Colombo’s shooting. While Colombo survived being shot in the neck and head, he was paralyzed and remained in a coma for the next seven years until he died from cardiac arrest. Joe Gallo met his fate on his birthday while he was out having a celebration dinner and was gunned down and killed presumably in retaliation for the hit on Colombo.

The film was released while Colombo was still in the hospital and the last concession that Ruddy had made to him was that the New York City “boys” would be able to attend the premiere of the film. When Paramount refused this concession by Colombo to Ruddy to let the mobsters attend the premiere, Ruddy snuck out a print of the film from L.A. to New York City and held a private screening for the film. Ruddy told Seal, “There must have been a hundred limousines out front.”

The Godfather went on to break box office records, won three Academy Awards including Best Picture, and is also widely regarded as one of the greatest films of all time next to being the landmark gangster film and an inspiration to filmmakers. As far as the premiere in New York City for the “boys,” they loved it and mobsters no longer hated the film as an insult to Italian Americans, they were inspired by it just like Hollywood. When the New York Times and its reporter Jeffrey Goldberg interviewed Sammy “The Bull” Gravano in 2000, he had asked whether Gravano, the notorious mafia hitman, had been influenced by The Godfather in any way, Gravano said,

“Well, I killed 19 people, I only did one murder before I saw the film.”

– Sammy “The Bull” Gravano, New York Times, 2000

MY FAMILY RECOMMENDATION…

While the limited series is filled with dramatization and fictional events, it is also steeped in truths about the making of the film and the involvement of the mafia in the film, and the dangerous uphill battle that Ruddy, Evans, and Paramount were up against with the mob. And it wasn’t the typical problems faced in any production of a film, The Godfather faced life-threatening consequences if the film got made without the approval of the mob, forget Frank Sinatra. But it is absolutely unconscionable to think this film was almost not made for the safety of the crew, cast, and Paramount executives and producers. But to know that the film went through all of these battles behind the scenes makes the film more authentic in the story it told of family, loyalty, and protecting them at all costs. The film was something of a worked metaphor for the effort made by Albert S. Ruddy to get the film made. And as much as you hope in the last scene of the film when Evans asks Ruddy to start working on The Godfather Part II script with Coppola and Puzo that he is going to say yes, you know that he historically turned it down to get his film The Longest Yard with Burt Reynolds made, and the rest is film history and The Offer on Paramount+!

All 10 episodes of The Offer are available to stream exclusively on Paramount+ now or are available for purchase at your preferred retail store.