Book Review—Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli: The Epic Story of the Making of The Godfather by Mark Seal
If you love film history, an underdog story, and / or The Godfather movies, Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli: The Epic Story of the Making of The Godfather by Mark Seal is a great book. Believe it or not, the movie should have never been made. Furthermore, by all accounts this movie should have been a flop and the whole movie industry should have gone down with it. Instead, it ended up becoming a classic and making the movie industry bigger than ever.
Mario Puzo was a middle-aged failed writer who took his love of research and wrote a book no one seemed to want, except the public who couldn’t get enough of it once it was published. He toiled away on it for years and was told no again and again and again. But he kept going because truly he had nothing else to do that was even a viable living. He was a co-writer on the screenplay even though he’d never before written one.
The movie was remarkably difficult to make for many reasons:
- Brando was the only known quantity and he had been labeled as a difficult has-been not worth the effort. Paramount didn’t want him for the role.
- All the other actors were unknowns except for a handful of theater credits between them. The Paramount executives didn’t want any of them, and yet Coppola fought hard for each one.
- Coppola was known for making art films, was broke, and often seemed like he wasn’t up to the task on any level.
- Paramount and the whole movie industry were tanking hard, and they placed all their bets on this film. It’s incredible that the Paramount executives got so little of what they wanted from the film, and Coppola got nearly everything he wanted despite the extremely expensive price tag and logistical nightmares.
- And then there was that tiny detail of the Mafia not being thrilled about how they were portrayed by an author and a director who had never even known someone on the inside of the organization much less been on the inside of the organization themselves.
What I found astounding is that Coppola refused to compromise on anything. While many, Paramount executives included, thought he should just be grateful for any job in the film industry, Coppola wanted to make this movie his way. He desperately needed the money, and yet he stood his ground and wanted the art and the family story to shine through. How this movie ever made it onto the screen is nothing short of a miracle. It went on to win several Academy Awards and launched the careers of countless people who are now movie legends.
For any creatives who are frustrated for a thousand different reasons in their careers, this book tells the dramatic tale on an against-all-odds story about one of the greatest movie franchises of all time that is still paying off for Paramount in spades. Paramount+ just released The Offer, its newest miniseries that explores the behind-the-scenes making of The Godfather.