The Godfather
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The Godfather is a 1972 film about a Mafia crime family and the outbreak of a New York City gang war in the late 1940's. Based on the novel by Mario Puzo.
- Directed by Francis Ford Coppola.
- Screenplay by Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo.
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Don Vito Corleone
- Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer.
- What have I ever done to make you treat me so disrespectfully? If you'd come to me in friendship, then this scum that ruined your daughter would be suffering this very day. And if by chance an honest man like yourself should make enemies, then they would become my enemies. And then they would fear you.
- You come to me, and you say, 'Don Corleone, give me justice.' But you don't ask with respect. You don't even think to call me Godfather.
- Some day, and that day may never come, I will call upon you to do a service for me.
- Do you spend time with your family? Good. Because a man who doesn't spend time with his family can never be a real man.
- I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse.
- I spent my whole life trying not to be careless. Women and children can be careless. But not men.
- Never let anyone outside the family know what you're thinking.
- Each man has his own destiny.
- Look how they massacred my boy.
- I want no acts of vengeance.
- You talk about vengeance. Is vengeance going to bring your son back to you? Or my boy to me?
- I'm a superstitious man, and if some unlucky accident should befall Michael - if he is to be shot in the head by a police officer, or be found hung dead in a jail cell... or if he should be struck by a bolt of lightning - then I'm going to blame some of the people in this room; and then I do not forgive. But with that said, I pledge - on the souls of my grandchildren - that I will not be the one to break the peace that we have made today.
- Tattaglia's a pimp. He never could've out-fought Santino. But I didn't know until this day that it was Barzini all along.
- I never thought you were a bad consiglieri, Tom. I thought Santino was a bad don, rest in peace.
- I never wanted this for you. I work my whole life, I don't apologize; to take care of my family, and I refused to be a fool, dancing on the string held by all those bigshots. I don't apologize; that's my life, but I thought that, that when it was your time, that you would be the one to hold the string. Senator Corleone; Governor Corleone. Well, it wasn't enough time, Michael. It wasn't enough time.
- Never get angry. Never make a threat. Reason with people.
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Michael Corleone
- Never hate your enemies. It clouds your judgement.
- It's not personal. It's strictly business.
- You have to answer for Santino.
- Don't tell me you're innocent, Carlo, because it insults my intelligence and makes me very, very angry.
- I'll make him an offer he can't refuse.
- [to Apollonia's father] Some people will pay a lot of money for that information; but then your daughter would lose a father, instead of gaining a husband.
- Don't ask me about my business, Kay.
- Being kind to a fellow man is profitable, in every sense. Both personally and bottom line.
- I'd burn in hell, to make sure that my children are safe.
- That's my family, Kay. It's not me.
- Fredo, you're my older brother, and I love you. But don't ever take sides with anyone against the Family again. Ever.
- (Giving the order for his brother to be killed) I don't want anything to happen to him while our mother is still alive.
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Santino "Sonny" Corleone
- There's a lot of money in that white powder.
- Goddamn F.B.I. don't respect nothing!
- We don't discuss business at the table.
- We'll hit the mattresses.
- You break your father's heart!
- Hey, listen, I want somebody good - and I mean very good - to plant that gun. I don't want my brother coming out of that toilet with just his dick in his hands, alright?
- You touch my sister again... I'll kill you.
- (On The Phone To His Sister) That sonofabitch...No, STAY THERE.
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Tom Hagen
- No Sicillian can refuse anything on his daughter's wedding day.
- 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. And if we don't get a piece of that action, we risk everything we have. I mean not now, but, ah, ten years from now.
- I've been as good a son to him as you have.
- Mister Corleone never asks a second favor after he's been refused the first. Understood?
- Mr. Corleone is a man who insists on hearing bad news immediately!
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Others
- Bonasera: I believe in America. America has made my fortune. And I raised my daughter in the American fashion. I gave her freedom, but I taught her never to dishonor her family. 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 a'broken. Her jaw was a'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. I went to the police, like a good American. These two boys were brought to trial. The judge sentenced them to three years in prison - suspended sentence. Suspended sentence! They went free that very day! I stood in the courtroom like a fool. And those two bastards, they smiled at me. Then I said to my wife, for justice, we must go to Don Corleone.
- Luca Brasi: Don Corleone, I am honored and grateful that you have invited me to your home on the wedding day of your daughter. And may their first child be a masculine child.
- Genco: Godfather... Stay... Stay, so that death will flee from me... In fear of you...
- Jack Woltz: Johnny Fontane never gets that movie. That part is perfect for him, it'll make him a big star, and 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 proteges. 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, and 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 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!
- Virgil "the Turk" Solozzo: I don't like violence, Tom. I'm a businessman. Blood is a big expense.
- Kay Adams: Say you love me, Michael.
- Clemenza: Mikey, why don't you tell that nice girl you love her? I love you with all-a my heart, if I don't see-a you again soon, I'm-a gonna die...
- Clemenza: Leave the gun, take the cannolis.
- Calo: In Sicily, women are more dangerous than shotguns.
- Don Emilio Barzini: [during a meeting with the Five Families] Times have changed. It's not like the Old Days, when we can do anything we want. A refusal is not the act of a friend. If Don Corleone has all the judges, and the politicians in New York, then he must share them, or let us others use them. He must let us draw the water from the well. Certainly he can present a bill for such services; after all... we are not Communists.
- Don Zaluchi: I, too, don't believe in drugs. For years I paid my people extra to stay away from that sort of stuff, but someone comes along saying, I've got powders where if you put up a three to four thousand dollar investment, you can make fifty thousand distributing, then there is no way to resist it. I want to keep it respectable. I don't want it near schools. I don't want it sold to children! In my city, we'd keep the traffic in the Dark People, the Coloreds - they're animals anyway, so let them lose their souls.
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Dialogue
- Johnny Fontane: Oh, Godfather, I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do.
- Don Corleone: [shouts] You can act like a man!
- [Don Corleone slaps Johnny]
- Don Corleone: What's the matter with you. Is this how you turned out? A Hollywood finocchio that cries like a woman.
- [Don Corleone imitates him sobbing]
- Don Corleone: What can I do? What can I do? What is that nonsense. Ridiculous.
- Kay: Michael, you never told me your family knew Johnny Fontane!
- Michael: Oh sure, you want to meet him?
- Kay: Yeah!
- Michael: You know, my father helped Johnny in his career.
- Kay Adams: Really? How?
- Michael: ...Let's listen to this song.
- Kay: [after listening to Johnny for a while] Please, Michael. Tell me.
- Michael: Well when Johnny was first starting out, he was signed to this contract with a big-band leader. And as his career got better and better he wanted to get out of it. Now, Johnny is my father's godson. My father went to see the bandleader, with a contract for $10,000 to let Johnny go, but the bandleader said no. So the next day, my father went to see the bandleader again, only this time with Luca Brasi. Within an hour, the bandleader signed the release, with a certified check of $1000.
- Kay: How did he do that?
- Michael: My father made him an offer he couldn't refuse.
- Kay: What was it?
- Michael: Luca Brasi held a gun to his head, and my father assured the bandleader, that either his signature or his brains would be on the contract.
- [Kay stares at Michael]
- Michael: That's a true story. ...That's my family Kay, it's not me.
- Jack Woltz: Johnny Fontane will never get that movie. I don't care how many dago, wop, guinea, greaseball goombas come out of the woodwork.
- Tom Hagen: I'm German-Irish.
- Jack Woltz: 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.
- Tom Hagen: Mr. Woltz, I'm a lawyer. I have not threatened you.
- Jack Woltz: I know almost every big lawyer in New York. Who the hell are you?
- Tom Hagen: I have a special practice. I handle one client. Now, you have my number. I'll await your call. By the way, I admire your pictures very much.
- Michael: My father is no different than any powerful man, any man with power, like a president or senator.
- Kay: Do you know how naive you sound, Michael? Presidents and senators don't have men killed.
- Michael: Oh. Who's being naive, Kay?
- [Sonny opens a package to find a fish wrapped in Luca's bulletproof vest.]
- Sonny Corleone: What the hell is this?
- Sal Tessio: It's a Sicilian message. It means Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes.
- Sonny Corleone: How's Paulie?
- Pete Clemenza: Oh, Paulie... won't see him no more.
- Capt. McCluskey: I thought I got all you Guinea hoods locked up, what the hell are you doing at this hospital!
- Michael: What happened to the men who were guarding my father?
- Capt. McCluskey: I pulled them guys off of here, eh, now get away from this hospital!
- Michael: I'm not leaving until you put some men around my father.
- Capt. McCluskey: Why you little snot-nosed punk! Phil, take him in!
- Cop: The kid's clean Captain, he's a war hero!
- Capt. McCluskey: God Damn it Phil, I said take him in!
- Michael: What's the Turk paying you to set up my father?
- Capt. McCluskey: [to Cop] Take a hold of him, stand him up real straight.
- [McCluskey punches Michael and breaks his jaw]
- Sonny Corleone: Hey, whataya gonna do, nice college boy, eh? Didn't want to get mixed up in the Family business, huh? Now you wanna gun down a police captain. Why? Because he slapped ya in the face a little bit? Hah? What do you think this is the Army, where you shoot 'em a mile away? You've gotta get up close like this and bada-bing. you blow their brains all over your nice Ivy League suit. C'mere...
- [kisses Michael's head]
- Michael: Sonny...
- Sonny Corleone: You're taking this very personal. Tom, this is business and this man is taking it very personal.
- Michael: It's not personal, Sonny. It's strictly business.
- [Michael is being drilled for a "hit" on Sollozzo and Capt. McCluskey]
- Pete Clemenza: All right, you just shot 'em both. Now what do you do?
- Michael Corleone: Sit down and finish my dinner.
- Michael: [while eating dinner with Sollozzo and McCluskey] What I want - what's most important to me - is that I have a guarantee: No more attempts on my father's life.
- Sollozzo: What guarantees could I give you, Mike? I am the hunted one! I missed my chance. You think too much of me, kid - I'm not that clever. All I want, is a truce.
- Michael: My credit good enough to buy you out?
- Moe Greene: Buy me out?
- [Fredo laughs nervously]
- Michael: The casino, the hotel. The Corleone Family wants to buy you out.
- Moe Greene: The Corleone Family wants to buy me out? No, I buy you out, you don't buy me out.
- Michael: Your casino loses money, maybe we can do better.
- Moe Greene: You think I'm skimmin' off the top, Mike?
- Michael: You're unlucky.
- Moe Greene: You goddamn guineas really make me laugh. I do you a favor and take Freddie in when you're having a bad time, and then you try to push me out!
- Michael: Wait a minute, you took Freddie in because the Corleone Family bankrolled your casino, because the Molinari Family on the Coast guaranteed his safety. Now we're talking business, let's talk business.
- Moe Greene: Yeah, let's talk business, Mike. First of all, you're all done. The Corleone Family don't even have that kind of muscle anymore. The Godfather's sick, right? You're getting chased out of New York by Barzini and the other Families. What do you think is going on here? You think you can come to my hotel and take over? I talked to Barzini, I can make a deal with him, and still keep my hotel!
- Michael: Is that why you slapped my brother around in public?
- Fredo: Aw now that, that was nothin', Mike. Now, Now uh Moe didn't mean nothin' by that. Sure he flies off the handle once in a while, but Moe and me, we're good friends, right Moe? Huh?
- Moe Greene: I gotta business to run. I gotta kick asses sometimes to make it run right. We had a little argument, Freddy and I, so I had to straighten him out.
- Michael: You straightened my brother out?
- Moe Greene: He was banging cocktail waitresses two at a time! Players couldn't get a drink at the table! What's wrong with you?
- Michael: I leave for New York tomorrow, think about a price.
- Moe Greene: Sonofabitch, Do you know who I am? I'm Moe Greene! I made my bones when you were going out with cheerleaders!
- Fredo: Wait a minute, Moe, Moe, I got an idea. Tom, you're the Consiglieri and you can talk to the Don, you can explain...
- Tom Hagen: Just a minute now, the Don is semi-retired and Mike is in charge of the Family business now. If you have anything to say, say it to Michael.
- [Moe Greene leaves]
- Fredo: Mike! You don't come to Las Vegas and talk to a man like Moe Greene like that!
- Michael: Fredo, you're my older brother, and I love you. But don't ever take sides with anyone against the Family again. Ever.
- Tom Hagen: Tessio. I always thought it would be Clemenza.
- Michael Corleone: It's the smart move. Tessio was always smarter.
- Tom Hagen: You know how they're going to come at you?
- Michael: They want to arrange a meeting between me and Barzini. On Tessio's ground. Where I'll be safe.
- Sal Tessio: Can you get me off the hook, Tom? You know, for old times' sake?
- Tom Hagen: Can't do it, Sally.
- Sal Tessio: Tell Michael I always liked him. This was strictly business.
- Tom Hagen: He knows that.
- Kay Adams: Michael, is it true? Did you have Carlo killed?
- Michael Corleone: Kay, don't ask me about my business.
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Cast
- Marlon Brando - Don Vito Corleone
- Al Pacino - Michael Corleone
- James Caan - Santino "Sonny" Corleone
- Robert Duvall - Tom Hagen
- Diane Keaton - Kay Adams
- Abe Vigoda - Sal Tessio
- Sterling Hayden - Captain McCluskey
- Talia Shire - Connie Corleone Rizzi
- Gianni Russo - Carlo Rizzi
- John Cazale - Fredo Corleone
- Richard Castellano - Pete Clemenza
- Jack Marley - Jack Woltz
- Al Lettieri - Virgil "the Turk" Solozzo
- Alex Rocco - Moe Green
- Richard Conte - Don Emilio Barzini
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See also
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