The Godfather (novel)
The Godfather referred to in the title is
Vito Corleone, whose surname recalls the town of
Corleone,
Sicily. Similarly, the maiden name of Corleone's mother is Corigliano, named after the town of
Corigliano Calabro,
Calabria; an area well known for
Ndrangheta activity. Vito has four biological children: hothead
Santino "Sonny" Corleone, the quiet and haphazard
Federico "Fredo/Freddy", the plain
Constanzia "Connie" Corleone, and
Michele/Michael Corleone.
Tom Hagen is roughly the same age as Sonny, and was taken in by Vito Corleone. As explained in the novel, Tom Hagen is a German/Irish orphan who lives on the streets of New York until he becomes friends with Sonny. He is ultimately taken in by the Corleones, but never legally adopted. He serves as the Corleone's personal lawyer.
Film adaptation
In
1972, a film adaptation of the novel was released, starring
Marlon Brando as Don Vito Corleone,
Al Pacino as Michael Corleone, and directed by
Francis Ford Coppola. Mario Puzo assisted with writing the screenplay and with other production tasks. The film grossed approximately $134 million and won various awards, including three
Academy Awards, five
Golden Globes and a
Grammy and is considered to be one of the greatest films of all time. The sequel,
The Godfather, Part II won 6
Oscars, and became the first sequel to win the Oscar for Best Picture.
Games
The video game company
Electronic Arts released a
video game adaptation of
The Godfather on March 21, 2006. The player assumes the role of a "soldier" in the Corleone family. Prior to his death,
Marlon Brando provided some voice work for
Vito, which was eventually deemed unusable and was dubbed over by a Brando impersonator.
Francis Ford Coppola said in
April 2005 that he was not informed of Paramount's decision to allow the game to be made and he did not approve of it.
[Godfather film director whacks Godfather game - by Tor Thorsen, GameSpot, April 8, 2005, retrieved April 8, 2005.] Al Pacino also did not participate, and his likeness was replaced with a different depiction of
Michael Corleone.
A
board game based on the movie was also produced.
In 2004,
Random House published a new sequel to the Godfather saga,
The Godfather Returns, by Mark Winegardner. A further sequel by Winegardner,
The Godfather's Revenge, is currently in the works.
Another Puzo novel featuring Michael Corleone as a minor character,
The Sicilian, was published in 1984. The novel was set at the end of Michael's two-year exile in Sicily, and the plot is based on the story of the real-life bandit
Salvatore Giuliano.
*
Mafia*
Crime*
Godparent*
Amazon.com's Product Page for The Godfather*
Barnes & Noble.com's Product Page for The Godfather*
The Official Mario Puzo's Library entry for The Godfather*
GodfatherFilms.com's entry for The Godfather*
20th-Century American Bestsellers's Entry for The Godfather*
Mark Winegardner*
The Godfather Returns
