The Godfather III

1990 USA Color 161 minutes

Donal Donnelly Talia Shire Andy Garcia + Eli Wallach

Review

Al Pacino Still in business, old Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) is one of the wealthiest and powerful men around. His desire is to leave the mafia and go legit. When he makes a $600 million pay for the international conglomerate Immobiliare, they see an opportunity to launder their money. As a bonus Michael contributes $100 million for Sicily.

Andy GarciaVincent Mancini (Andy Garcia), Sonny Corleone's son, possesses a ruthlessness and taste for violence that Michael has long since lost. As the Immobiliare stakes escalate, the old head of the family recognizes the need for youth. But Vincent is attracted to Michael's daughter Mary (Sofia Coppola) and the old Don can't allow that. So Michael needs to find a way to separate the two lovers and at the same time to get rid of his enemies.

Cast

Directed by Francis Ford Coppola

Links and more

Watch the video The death of Joey Zaza (1,8mb)
Listen to: I command this family (Small mp3 file, 44kb) I command this family
Listen to: I’ve got a stone in my shoe (Small
mp3 file, 17kb) I’ve got a stone in my shoe
Listen to: They pull me back in (Small mp3 file, 27kb) They pull me back in
The Godfather trilogy
Mario Puzo library
American Mafia

 

Helmut Berger

News

Sofia Coppola

Congratulations
Within 2 days it will be Sofia Coppola`s 37th birthday. (May 14, 1971)
(Mary Corleone)

Within 30 days it would have been Carmine Coppola`s (Music composer) 98th birthday.
* June 11, 1910
† April 26, 1991

Trivia

Release date: December 20, 1990

The film was shot in: New York city, Rome, New Jersey, Sicily.

Oscar nominations:
Best supporting actor -> Andy Garcia
Best Director -> Francis Ford Coppola
Best Music, Song -> Carmine Coppola and John Bettis
Best Picture -> Francis Ford Coppola
Best Film
Best Cinematography
Editing
Best Art Direction

Robert de Niro convinced Coppola he could play young Vincent. Coppola liked the idea but things didn’t work out because de Niro had other commitments (Awakenings). Source / More (Book)

The Coppola family:
Father Carmine composed a part of the musical score
Sister Talia Shire played the sister of the don
Daughter Sofia Coppola was the daughter of Michael Corleone
Nephew Nicolas Cage auditioned but was rejected

Paramount tried to go ahead with the film for many years without either Francis Ford Coppola or Mario Puzo's involvement. No less than twelve scripts were written. At one point, they were even close to signing Sylvester Stallone to direct and star in the film.

Al Pacino: A major mistake was made in Godfather III, I think, which was they tried to redeem Michael Corleone. I don't think the audience wanted to see Michael Corleone as someone who is wanting or needing of redemption.

The writers, Francis Coppola and Mario Puzo, wanted to call the film The Death of Michael Corleone but were overruled by the studio who thought it would be more commercially viable to have the word Godfather in the title.

Robert Duvall said in The American 60 minutes show money was the reason he didn’t appear in The Godfather III. “If they paid Pacino twice what they paid me, that’s fine, but not three or four times, which is what they did.”. Source / More (Web)

Other sources say that Duvall wasn’t hired to keep the picture’s costs under control. The part was altered for the cheaper George Hamilton. A line of dialogue now says that Hagen died years before. Source / More (Book)

Bibliography


Bio

Al Pacino

Photo of Al Pacino

Remarkable:

Pacino never married.

Born:

April 25, 1940

Born as:

Alfredo Pacino

Alfredo was raised in New York (USA) by his mother and grandparents from age two. He dropped out of school at 17 and spent several years drifting from job to job. In 1966 Al was admitted to Lee Strasberg's Actors Studio. Making appearances in various plays, Pacino finally won an Obie award for “The Indian Wants the Bronx”.

The part of Michael Corleone in The Godfather (1972) changed his life. Instead of taking on easier projects for money, Pacino made films such as the true life crime drama Serpico(1973) and the tragic bank robbery film Dog Day Afternoon (1975).

In 1985 a monumental mistake, Revolution, kept him out of movies for the next four years. Despite his success in films Pacino considers himself first and foremost a stage actor, he remains commited to the theatre.

Academy awards

1993 Won Oscar Best Actor for: Scent of a Woman (1992)
1993 Nominated Supporting Role for: Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)
1991 Nominated Supporting Role for: Dick Tracy (1990)
1980 Nominated Leading Role for: ...And Justice for All (1979)
1976 Nominated Leading Role for: Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
1975 Nominated Leading Role for: The Godfather: Part II (1974)
1974 Nominated Leading Role for: Serpico (1973)
1973 Nominated Supporting Role for: The Godfather (1972)

Selected Movies