“A man who doesn’t spend time with his family can never be a real man…”
Don Corleone – “The Godfather”
50 YEARS OF FAMILY…
On February 25, 2022, Francis Ford Coppola‘s American crime classic, The Godfather was rereleased in theaters for the 50th Anniversary of the film’s original theatrical release on March 24, 1972. The film was then remastered and rereleased on 4K Ultra HD and Digital on March 22, 2022. The film is based on the 1969 crime novel of the same title by Mario Puzo, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Coppola. The film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Richard Castellano, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard Conte, and Diane Keaton. It is the first installment in The Godfather trilogy, which chronicles the Corleone family under patriarch Vito Corleone, played by Brando, from 1945 to 1955. It also focuses on the transformation of his youngest son, Michael Corleone, played by Pacino, and his rise from a reluctant family outsider to a ruthless mafia boss.
![Francis Ford Coppola attends the "The Godfather" 50th Anniversary Celebration at Paramount Theatre on February 22, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. Photo Credit: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic](https://i1.wp.com/moviestohistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Francis-Ford-Coppola.jpeg?ssl=1)
![Atmosphere at Paramount studios for "The Godfather" 50th Anniversary premiere screening event in Los Angeles, California, on February 22, 2022. Photo Credit; Chris Delmas/AFP via Getty Images](https://i2.wp.com/moviestohistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/The-Godfather-Rerelease.jpeg?ssl=1)
![Author: Mario Puzo, Cover artist: S. Neil Fujita, Country: United States, Language: English, Series: "The Godfather", Genre: Crime novel, Publisher: G. P. Putnam's Sons, Publication date: March 10, 1969, Dewey Decimal: 813.54 Followed by "The Sicilian"](https://i2.wp.com/moviestohistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/22The-Godfather22-by-Mario-Puzo-847x1024.jpeg?ssl=1)
![American author and screenwriter Mario Puzo.](https://i0.wp.com/moviestohistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Mario-Puzo.jpeg?ssl=1)
![Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola with Puzo's 1969 crime novel, "The Godfather" in 1972. Coppola and Puzo co-wrote the script for the 1972 film by the same name and won "Best Adapted Screenplay" at eh Academy Awards in 1973. Photo Credit: Paramount Pictures](https://i0.wp.com/moviestohistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Mario-Puzo-and-Francis-Ford-Coppola-in-1972.jpeg?ssl=1)
![Brando in One-Eyed Jacks (1961) Photo Credit: Getty Images](https://i2.wp.com/moviestohistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Marlon-Brando.png?ssl=1)
![Al Pacino attends "The Godfather" 50th Anniversary Screening during the 2022 Tribeca Festival at United Palace Theater on June 16, 2022 in New York City. Photo Credit: Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for Tribeca Festival](https://i2.wp.com/moviestohistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Al-Pacino.jpeg?ssl=1)
![James Caan arrives at the "The Godfather" 50th Anniversary Celebration at Paramount Theatre on February 22, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. Photo Credit: Steve Granitz/FilmMagic](https://i0.wp.com/moviestohistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/James-Caan.jpeg?ssl=1)
![Richard S. Castellano attends the New York premiere of "The Godfather" and afterparty, at the Loews State I Theatre and the St. Regis Hotel, respectively, on March 14, 1972. Photo Credit: Harry Morrison/WWD/Penske Media via Getty Images](https://i0.wp.com/moviestohistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Richard-Castellano-.jpeg?ssl=1)
![Robert Duvall attends "Apocalypse Now" - 40 Years And Restoration during the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival at Beacon Theatre on April 28, 2019 in New York City. Photo Credit: Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for Tribeca Film Festival](https://i2.wp.com/moviestohistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Robert-Duvall.jpeg?ssl=1)
![Actor Sterling Hayden visits "The Merv Griffin Show" on March 5, 1980 at the TAV Celebrity Theatre in Hollywood, California. Photo Credit: Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images](https://i1.wp.com/moviestohistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Sterling-Hayden.jpeg?ssl=1)
![Headshot of John Marley (1907-1984), US actor, smoking a pipe, circa 1970. Photo Credit: Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images](https://i0.wp.com/moviestohistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/John-Marley.jpeg?ssl=1)
![Diane Keaton attends the NeueHouse x Mack & Rita Premiere at NeueHouse Los Angeles on August 10, 2022 in Hollywood, California. Photo Credit: Michael Kovac/Getty Images for NeueHouse](https://i0.wp.com/moviestohistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Diane-Keaton-.jpeg?ssl=1)
!["The Godfather Trilogy" consists of "The Godfather" (1972), "The Godfather: Part II" (1974), and "The Godfather: Part III" (1990). In December 2020, a recut version of Part III was released to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the film's release and was titled, "The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone" Photo Credit: Paramount Pictures](https://i2.wp.com/moviestohistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/The-Godfather-Trilogy.png?ssl=1)
![Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, Screenplay by Mario Puzo, and Francis Ford Coppola, Based on "The Godfather" by Mario Puzo, Produced by Albert S. Ruddy, Starring: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Richard Castellano, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard Conte, Diane Keaton, with Cinematography by Gordon Willis, Edited by William Reynolds, and Peter Zinner, with Music by Nino Rota, Production companies: Paramount Pictures, and Alfran Productions, Distributed by Paramount Pictures. (1972)](https://i0.wp.com/moviestohistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/The-Godfather.jpeg?ssl=1)
![Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, Screenplay by Francis Ford Coppola, and Mario Puzo, Based on "The Godfather" by Mario Puzo, Produced by Francis Ford Coppola, Starring: Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, Robert De Niro, Talia Shire, Morgana King, John Cazale, Mariana Hill, Lee Strasberg, with Cinematography by Gordon Willis, Edited by Peter Zinner, Barry Malkin, and Richard Marks, with Music by Nino Rota, Production companies: Paramount Pictures, American Zoetrope, and The Coppola Company, and Distributed by Paramount Pictures. (1974)](https://i1.wp.com/moviestohistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/The-Godfather-Part-II-.jpeg?ssl=1)
![Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, Written by Mario Puzo, and Francis Ford Coppola, Produced by Francis Ford Coppola, Starring: Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire, Andy García, Eli Wallach, Joe Mantegna, Bridget Fonda, George Hamilton, Sofia Coppola, with Cinematography by Gordon Willis, Edited by Barry Malkin, Lisa Fruchtman, and Walter Murch, with Music by Carmine Coppola, Production companies: Paramount Pictures, and Zoetrope Studios, and Distributed by Paramount Pictures. (1990)](https://i1.wp.com/moviestohistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/The-Godfather-Coda-The-Death-of-Michael-Corleone-691x1024.jpeg?ssl=1)
![(L to R) The Corleone Family: James Caan, Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, and John Cazale. (1972) Photo Credit: Paramount Pictures](https://i2.wp.com/moviestohistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/The-cast-of-The-Godfather.webp?ssl=1)
![Marlon Brando as Don Vito Corleone in "The Godfather" (1972)
Photo Credit: Paramount Pictures](https://i0.wp.com/moviestohistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Don-Vito-Corleone-1024x576.jpeg?ssl=1)
![Al Pacino as Michael Corleone in "The Godfather" (1972)
Photo Credit: Paramount Pictures](https://i2.wp.com/moviestohistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Al-Pacino-as-Michael-Corleone-1024x576.jpeg?ssl=1)
‘TIS THAT TIME OF YEAR…
In 2010, AMC Network became the gift that keeps on giving in the holidays season. It started playing The Godfather Part I and Part II on Thanksgiving and the day after Christmas and they would it would be an all-day marathon. If you missed the daytime run of the films, you could stay up into the wee hours of the night waiting to get up for some early Black Friday shopping and spend “Thanksgiving With The Godfather”, or when the hustle and bustle of the holidays have passed and everyone is happy with what Santa brought them so you just want to lay around enjoying some film classics. And why not, the kids are off playing in their rooms with their new gifts, why not enjoy “The Godfather After-Christmas Marathon” and indulge in some “pornography of violence,” as quoted from a New York Times article from 1974 that took issue with the film playing on television during the day with children possibly viewing it. So how does one associate The Godfather with “family’ and the cheerful holiday season? Regardless of the violent nature of the crime film, it centers around the loyalty and love of an Italian family in America and the holidays are about the love of family and spending time with the ones you car about and showing gratitude for the time given together. That’s just one simple way to explain how the 50 year old crime classic and Academy Award Best Picture winner of 1973 is right where it belongs on AMC. But there is also the holiday scenes in The Godfather that at least make it relevant to be airing during the holiday’s.
![AMC Network logo](https://i0.wp.com/moviestohistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/AMC-logo.webp?ssl=1)
![Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, Screenplay by Mario Puzo, and Francis Ford Coppola, Based on "The Godfather" by Mario Puzo, Produced by Albert S. Ruddy, Starring: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Richard Castellano, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard Conte, Diane Keaton, with Cinematography by Gordon Willis, Edited by William Reynolds, and Peter Zinner, with Music by Nino Rota, Production companies: Paramount Pictures, and Alfran Productions, Distributed by Paramount Pictures. (1972)](https://i0.wp.com/moviestohistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/The-Godfather.png?ssl=1)
![Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, Screenplay by Francis Ford Coppola, and Mario Puzo, Based on "The Godfather" by Mario Puzo, Produced by Francis Ford Coppola, Starring: Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, Robert De Niro, Talia Shire, Morgana King, John Cazale, Mariana Hill, Lee Strasberg, with Cinematography by Gordon Willis, Edited by Peter Zinner, Barry Malkin, and Richard Marks, with Music by Nino Rota, Production companies: Paramount Pictures, American Zoetrope, and The Coppola Company, and Distributed by Paramount Pictures. (1974)](https://i2.wp.com/moviestohistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/The-Godfather-Part-II-719x1024.jpeg?ssl=1)
![MACY'S THANKSGIVING DAY PARADE -- 2021 -- Pictured: Tom Turkey Float. Photo Credit: Peter Kramer/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images](https://i0.wp.com/moviestohistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Thanksgiving.jpeg?ssl=1)
![Christmas Season decorations seen around an empty square at Alberta Legislature in Edmonton. In Edmonton, all official celebrations have been canceled or postponed at the last minute as New Years Eve coincided with a wave of record daily COVID-19 cases driven by the rapidly evolving Omicron variant. On Friday, December 31, 2021, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Photo Credit: Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images](https://i1.wp.com/moviestohistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Christmas.jpeg?ssl=1)
![Shoppers pass a promotional sign for 'Black Friday' sales discounts in London, on November 23, 2018. - Black Friday is a sales offer originating from the US where retailers slash prices on the day after the Thanksgiving holiday. In the UK it is used as a marketing device to entice Christmas shoppers with the discounts at stores often lasting for a week. Photo Credit: Ben Stansall/AFP via Getty Images](https://i1.wp.com/moviestohistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Black-Friday.jpeg?ssl=1)
![AMC's Thanksgiving With The Godfather marathon promotional commercial. Photo Credit: AMC 2018](https://i1.wp.com/moviestohistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Thanksgiving-With-The-Godfather.png?ssl=1)
![MACY'S THANKSGIVING DAY PARADE -- 2021 -- Pictured: (l-r) Elf, Santa Claus on Santas Sleigh Float Photo Credit:: Peter Kramer/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images](https://i2.wp.com/moviestohistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Santa.jpeg?ssl=1)
![AMC's The Godfather All Day Marathon or sometimes they advertise it as "The Godfather After Christmas Marathon" Photo Credit: AMC 2018](https://i1.wp.com/moviestohistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/The-Godfather-All-Day-Marathon.png?ssl=1)
![The New York Times article from 1974 highlighting the article about "The Godfather" that contained the quote "pornography of violence in response to the film airing during the daytime when children are viewing television. Photo Credit: NYT](https://i0.wp.com/moviestohistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/New-York-Times-Godfather-for-Xmas-1974.png?ssl=1)
!["The Godfather" title card from the film in 1972. Photo Credit: Paramount Pictures](https://i0.wp.com/moviestohistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/The-Godfather-Title-Card.png?ssl=1)
![The quote about America that opens "The Godfather" film and is said by Bonasera while asking a favor of Don Vito Corleone in the day of his daughter's wedding. Photo Credit: Gracious Quotes](https://i1.wp.com/moviestohistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/America-The-Godfather.jpeg?ssl=1)
![Francis Ford Coppola and Dorthy Puzo with her husband, Mario Puzo's Oscar after winning Best Adapted Screenplay for "The Godfather" (1972) Photo Credit: AMPAS](https://i1.wp.com/moviestohistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/45th-Academy-Awards-.webp?ssl=1)
![A scene from "The Godfather" with Diane Keaton and Al Pacino. (1972) Photo Credit: Paramount Pictures](https://i1.wp.com/moviestohistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/The-Godfather-Christmas.jpeg?ssl=1)
FAMILY TIME…
With all of that being said it should be pretty clear to you by now why The Godfather is the Featured Blog of the month for November! The film just celebrated a milestone anniversary of 50 years, and since it is in fact the holiday season, I’m sure you’re about to run into one of those Corleone family marathons any day now. Since the film is the Featured Blog of the month, you can also expect to see a Critique about those 50 years and the films original release in 1972. You can also expect to read a Recommendation that goes more into depth about why The Godfather is a holiday favorite despite the film’s criminal and violent elements at play throughout. There will also be a Review of the things that you may not have known about the making of the film 50 years ago. You will also get a Top Ten List of My Top Ten Thanksgiving Movies! And last but not least, why you’re reading this blog post, for the Official Trailer for The Godfather that was promoting the 50th anniversary and rerelease of the film in theaters to commemorate it!
![Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, Screenplay by Mario Puzo, and Francis Ford Coppola, Based on "The Godfather" by Mario Puzo, Produced by Albert S. Ruddy, Starring: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Richard Castellano, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard Conte, Diane Keaton, with Cinematography by Gordon Willis, Edited by William Reynolds, and Peter Zinner, with Music by Nino Rota, Production companies: Paramount Pictures, and Alfran Productions, Distributed by Paramount Pictures. (1972)](https://i0.wp.com/moviestohistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/The-Godfather-Header.png?resize=525%2C333&ssl=1)
You can watch the Official Trailer for The Godfather 50th Anniversary rerelease here:
![https://i0.wp.com/moviestohistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/cropped-d3d0f4de5c874cf7a06b2f50e0bc7820-2-10.png?resize=250%2C250&ssl=1](https://i0.wp.com/moviestohistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/cropped-d3d0f4de5c874cf7a06b2f50e0bc7820-2-10.png?resize=250%2C250&ssl=1)