'The Godfather' Turns 50, Where Are They Now-- Part 7: Talia Shire, Diane Keaton and John Cazale

TALIA SHIRE

After playing the abused wife in "The Godfather", the actress was the ever-supportive Adrian in "Rocky."

Shire, now 75, reprised the role on "Rocky's" four sequels and appeared on others, including "I Hear Huckabees" (2004) and "Palo Alto" (2013).

DUANE KEATON

Now 76, Keaton played wife Kay in all three movies and established herself as one of Hollywood's premier actresses in films such as "Annie Hall" (1977), "Baby Boom" (1987) and "The First Wives Club" (1996).  Her latest charmers?  "Poms" (2019) and "Love, Weddings & Other Disasters" (2020).

JOHN CAZALE 

The Boston native, memorable as Fredo in two "Godfather" films, went on to other memorable performances in "The Conversation" (1974) and "Dog Day Afternoon" (1975).  He died of cancer atbv42 after completing his role for "The Deer Hunter" (1978).  He was in a relationship with his "Deer Hunter" co-star Meryl Streep at the time.

A Great Movie.  --CootFather

'The Godfather' Turns 50, Where Are They Now?-- Part 6: Robert Duvall and James Caan

ROBER DUVALL

Since his film debut as Boo Radley in "To Kill a Mockingbird" (1962), Duvall -- who played the Corleone's legal consultant Tom Hagen -- has racked up seven Oscar nominations, including "The Judge" in 2015.  (He won in 1984 for "Tender Mercies.")

The actor, now 91, is also a skilled tango dancer.

JAMES CAAN

He auditioned for the role of Michael Corleone before Coppola chose him for brash older brother Sonny.  Now 81, Caan has stayed busy during the later decades with more than 90 film and TV credits -- most notably in the 2003 holiday classic "Elf."

--Cooter

'The Godfather' Turns 50-- Part 5: Where Are They Now? Al Pacino and Marlon Brando

AL PACINO

**  The New York City-born actor who starred in all three "Godfather" movies, has memorably portrayed intense characters from both sides if the law in films such as "Dog Day Afternoon" (1975), "Scarface" (1983), "Heat" (1995) and "The Irishman" (2019).

Still in demand at age 81, he most recently co-starred in "House of Gucci."

MARLON BRANDO

**  The mercurial star-- who made an explosive debut in the 1950s in "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "On the Waterfront" -- refuse to appear in "The Godfather:  Part 2."

But he agreed to pull off a tongue-in-cheek version of a Godfather-lik mob boss in the 1990 comedy "The Freshman."

He died in 2004 at age 80.

--Cooter

'The Godfather' Turns 50-- Part 4: About That Horse's Head

THAT BLOODY HORSE HEAD

Discovered in the bed of the ruthless movie producer, it wasn't a prop:  it was a real horse's head from a dogfood plant in New Jersey.  That scream the producer let out was as good as Pacino's in "Godfather 3."

THE GODFATHER IN POP CULTURE

"Return of the Jedi" (1983)  It's no coincidence that Princess Leia kills Jabba the Hutt by strangling him with her chain.  Screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan was inspired by Luca Brasi, whose eyes and tongue bulge out as he is garroted by an assassin.

"You've Got Mail" (1998)   Doing his best Vito impression, Tom Hanks insists that life's problems can be solved by one of the Godfather's credos, telling Meg Ryan to "go to the mattresses," to fight for her business to stay open.

"The Sopranos" (1999)   The TV series made several references to the original mob family, like when Tony Soprano gets shot after chugging orange juice near his car.

"Despicable Me"  (2010)   Even this G-rated kiddie movie includes a nod"  Villain Gru finds a doll's head in his bed and screams bloody murder.

--CootFather

'The Godfather' Turns 50-- Part 3: $100,000 and Set Hijinks

**  $100,000

That's what it cost to do Sonny's tollbooth death scene (all those bullets) and blood packers, you know.

**  Hijinx On Set

Caan and Duvall, initially intimidated by the legendary Brando, broke the ice on set by dropping their pants and mooning him.  "He made me!" Caan says of Duvall.

Brando upstaged them by dropping his own trousers while the crew was  setting up the wedding scene photo.

**  A Blond Michael?

The studio floated Robert Redford and Ryan O'Neal for the role of the youngest Corleone brother.

Martin Sheen also auditioned.

--CootMoon

'The Godfather' Turns 50-- Part 2: It Was a Family Affair and That Darn Cat, What? No Brando?

**  IT WAS A FAMILY AFFAIR

Director Francis Ford Coppola didn't just cast his sister, Talia Shire, in the movie.  Their father, Carmine Coppola composed the music for the soundtrack.  

And, the baby boy that was in the baptism scene was the director's daughter who grew up to appear in the sequels (in other roles) and has become a renowned writer and director herself.

Her brothers, Roman and Gian-Carlo, also had small background roles.

*********************************

**  THAT CAT

It was a stray that Coppola told Brando to improvise with.

**  NO MARLON BRANDO?

Paramount actually preferred to have Burt Lancaster, Laurence Olivier  or Anthony Quinn to play crime boss Don Vito Corleone.

--CootCat

'The Godfather' Turns 50-- Part 1

From the February 27, 2022, Parade Magazine by Mara Reunstein.

Some of the questions that arose during the filming of this movie classic released fifty years ago were:

The cast is all wrong.

The tone is too somber.

It needs to be shorter.

Does it have to be set in the 1940s?

Those were just some of the questions Paramount Pictures executives had about the adaptation of Mario Puzo's gangster movie about a powerful Italian American family as it lumbered to its March 1972 release.

Director Francis Ford Coppola, who had co-written the big war biopic "Patton" after Elia Kazan and Arthur Penn turned it down.

Today Coppola's "The Godfather" is considered a true cinematic masterpiece and a pop culture touchstone.

It grossed $136 million in all, surpassed at the time only by "Gone With the Wind" and "The Sound of Music.  Adjusted for inflation, that's $711 million, making it the 26th highest-grossing film of all time.

Well, add another $6 to that when I had my own private showing at the Fox Lake Theatre.  (I was the only one in the theater back in March.  This was my first theater seen movie since February 28, 2020 for some reason.)

--CootBrando

50 Things About 'The Godfather'-- Part 8: Joel Grey?

47.  Caan, Duvall and Pachino were all nominated in the supporting actor category, but the winner was Joel Grey for "Cabaret."

48.  All deep and abiding respect for Joel Grey, but the fact that Pacino didn't win for playing Michael Corleone is mind-boggling.

49.  Two years later, the Academy had the opportunity to get it right when Pacino was nominated for best actor for "The Godfather Part II" - but the Oscar went to Art Carney for "Harry and Tonto."

50.  "The Godfather" is the most memorable, most influential, most beloved, most discussed, most imitated, most entertaining American movie ever made (with the possible exception of "The Godfather II."

--Cooter

50 Things About "The Godfather"-- Part 7: Killing Sonny

42.  Some 400 squibs were affixed to Caan to produce one of the bloodiest scenes since "Bonnie & Clyde,"  Possibly a case of overkill.

43.  The killing of Sonny at the Long Beach Causeway took three days to film and cost about $650,000 in today's dollars.

44.  Brando famously refused to learn his lines, so cue cards were taped on lamps, desks, bushes and even other  actors.

45. "The Godfather" is still the 25th highest grossing film of all time, with an adjusted-for-inflation gross of $722 million.

46.  At the 45th Academy Awards, the film won best picture, best actor for Brando and best adapted screenplay for Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo.

--CootWhat'sMyLine?

Fifty Things About "The Godfather"-- Part 6: Who Sleeps with the Fishes?

37.  "Do you know who I am?  I'm Moe Greene!  I made my bones when you were going out with cheerleaders!"

38.  "Fredo, you're my older brother and I love you.  But don't ever take sides with anyone  against the family again.  Ever."

39.  "That's a Sicilian message.  It means that Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes."

40.  Pacino and Keaton got hammered after the big wedding scene because they were both convinced the movie was going to be terrible and potentially career-damaging.

41.  James Caan recently tweeted a black and white photo of himself covered with "blood" after filming the scene in which Sonny was killed.  (Two girls are seen looking through the window of the toll booth.  They appear to be either confused or horrified.)  Wrote Caan:  "Jimmy, that's a wrap!  Yeah, yeah I know.  End of Tweet."

--CootShot

Fifty Things About "The Godfather"-- Part 5: 'I'm Gonna Make Him An....'

30.  A  generation later,  "The Sopranos" would pay tribute to "The Godfather" by having  the strip club named "Bada Bing."

31.  "Modern Family" paid tribute to "The Godfather" in an episode titled "Fulgencio," which features a baptism ceremony intercut with scenes of revenge.  (Nobody is actually killed, because "Modern Family" was a sitcom and that would have been insane.

32.  Don Corleone's cat was a stray found on the Paramount lot.

33.  Warren Beatty, Jack Nicholson and Dustin Hoffman all reportedly turned down the role of Michael.

********************************

REMEMBER THESE QUOTES.

34.  "I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse."

35.  "I believe in America.  America has made my fortune.  And I raised my daughter in the American fashion."

36.  "A man who doesn't spend time with his family can never be a real man."

--CootFather

Fifty Things About 'The Godfather'-- Part 4: Don't Want No Oscar, No Way, No How

24.  Brando skipped the Academy Awards and sent Sacheen Littlefeather in his stead to explain why he was declining the Oscar to protest Hollywood's treatment of Native Americans.

25.  Pachino was also a no-show at the Oscars because he felt he should have been in the best actor and not supporting actor category given that he had more screen time than Brando.

26.  Robert De Niro and Marlin Brando win Oscars for playing the same character at different points in his life.  (Heath Ledger and Joaquin Phoenix won Oscars for playing the Joker -- but two very different versions of the character in two standalone movies.

27.  That was a real horse's head.

28.  James Caan's Sonny favored the nonsensical phrase "bada bing."

29.  Caan had overheard the real-life mobster Carmine Persico using the phrase.

--RoadBing

50 Things About 'The Godfather'-- Part 3: Same Gal, Three Movies (and Related)

15.  Marlon Brando was 47 years old when he played Don Corleone -- the same age as Bradly Cooper, Leonardo DiCaprio and Joaquin Phoenix are today.  (He sure looked a lot older than that to me.)

16.  Before Brando was cast, the top choices tp play Don Corleone included Ernest Borgnine and Laurence Olivier.

17.  Joe Spinell, who played the hitman Will Cici, went on to portray the loan shark Gazzo in "Rocky."

18.  When Clemenza recites the ingredients for his spaghetti sauce ("You start off with a little bit of oil, then you fry some garlic, then you throw in some tomatoes...", that's in the Coppola family recipe.

19.  Nearly every critic in America praised the family, but Stanley Kauffman of the New Republic slammed Brando's performance, said Al Pacino "rattles around in a part too demanding for him" and opined James Caan was merely "OK as his older brother."

20.  Sofia Coppola was in all three "Godfather" films.

21.  In the original, she was Michael Francis Rizzi, the infant son of Connie and Carlo who is getting baptized.

22.  In "Godfather II," Sofia can be seen very briefly as an immigrant girl on the ship taking Vito Corleone to Ellis Island.

23. In "Godfather III," she was Mary Corleone, daughter of Michael and Kay.

--Cootleone

50 Things About 'The Godfather'-- Part 2: 'Leave the Gun, Take the ...'

8.  The studio wanted "The Godfather" to be set in modern times (the 70s back then) and perhaps Kansas City to save in the budget, but Coppola insisted on keeping it in New York from 1945 to 1955.  Aren't we glad he did.

9.  Actor Richard Castellano, playing Clemenza, improvised one of the most memorable lines in the film:  "Leave the gun, take the cannoli."

10.  Francis For Coppola's good friend, George Lucas was in charge of the montage of newspaper headlines and crime scene photos depicting the bloody war between the five families.

11.  Lucas' contributions was his way of saying thanks to his friend Francis, who helped raise funds for his "American Graffiti."

12.  Coppola's father Carmine is the piano player in the aforementioned montage.

13.  The combined salaries of Al Pacino, James Caan and Diane Keaton was $105,000.  They were each paid $35,000.

14.  Robert Duval was paid $36,000 for his two months of work.  He must have had a better agent.

--Cooter

50 Things About 'The Godfather' on Its 50th Anniversary-- Part 1: Dem Oranges

 The movie "The Godfather" was released on March 15, 1972.  I don't remember if I saw it on the big screen back then or not.  Most likely not.  But on March 24 this year I finally got my chance to see it at the theater and took advantage of it at the Fox Lake Theatre in Fox Lake, Illinois.  

I was expecting a big crows and was surprised when I found myself the only one there.  Oh, well, my own private screening.

I have seen it many times on TV.  That was just one magnificent film.

Chicago Sun-Times movie columnist Richard Roeper wrote an article "50 Ways to Love 'The Godfather.' "

Here they are:

1.  ORANGES.  Beware the oranges.  When you see one in the movie, death and heartbreak are sure to follow.

2.  CONNIE'S WEDDING:  The soon-to-be-late Tessio juggles an orange.

3.  STREET WHERE DON CORLEONE gets shot:  Oranges spilled.  "I'm gonna buy some fruit."

4.  PRODUCER JACK WOLTZ's dining room table with a giant bowl or oranges.

5.  THE FIVE FAMILIES' MEETING:  An orange atop the bowl of fruit on the table.

6.  DON COREONE's DARDEN:  Oranges

7.  PRODUCTION DESIGNER DEAN TAVOULARIS used the oranges to brighten the otherwise muted hues of the sets.

Beware the Oranges.  --CootFather

The First Earth Day, April 22, 1970, at NIU

From the April 22, 2020, MidWeek (DeKalb County, Illinois)  "Looking Back."

1970. 50 Years Ago.

"A science class at the NIU Lab School in observation of 'Earth Day,'  buried pollution and other evils of the world this morning.

"The group had a funeral march through NIU's campus and later buried the coffin near the lab school."

Wonder whatever happened to it?

Here's to the Earth.  The Only One We "Got."  --CootEarth

Fiftieth Anniversary of "Star Trek"-- Part 2: "The Trouble With Tribbles"

These are the words of William Shatner (Captain Kirk)   This show really launched his career.

"Star Trek" was driven by Science Fiction.  It wasn't "Buck Rogers."  At its best, it was complex.  Many great science fiction writers suggested story ideas for the television series.  Creator Gene Roddenberry had the vision to hire the right people to tell and dramatize those stories and viewers were captivated.

For example, one of the most memorable life-forms in the series was the Tribbles: small, cute, furry creatures.  Without the rules and regulations of nature, these Tribbles multiplied beyond belief and consumed exponentially more food, indicating the potential of annihilation because of overwhelming reproduction, which is what we are seeing in overpopulation right now.

At its best, "Star Trek" tackled global issues and clumped them into Science Fiction.

Another favorite one of mine was when the Enterprise got caught up in a kill zone for a planet which had cleaned up war so it wasn't so terrible. People deemed to be in kill zones had to report to kill sites and go into chambers to die.  The war had been going on for ages and only ended when Kirk forced their hand into a real war.

--CootKirk

Fiftieth Anniversary of "Star Trek"-- Part 1: As In "T"

From the August 28, 2016, Parade magazine "Why We Love Star Trek" by William Shatner.

"Star Trek" was first aired on September 8, 1966 with its mission to "boldly go where no man has gone before."  It did not do so well in the ratings back then but has since captured the love of multiple generations of families.

It is one of the most iconic sci-fi entertainment franchises along with, of course, "Star Wars."  It has spun off TV shows, blockbuster movies, games, books and other merchandise.

"Star Trek" has endured for 50 years, despite that shaky start.

According to actor William Shatner, who played Capt. James T. (Do you know what the T. stands for? Answer below) Kirk, 85, commander of the Starship Enterprise in the original TV  series and several movies:  I think 'Star Trek,' like science fiction in general, is mythology.  It offers a look into the future that's written by imaginative, creative artists whose vision may or may not be true, but we don't know until the future arrives.  It's not unlike religion--  we don't know for sure, but we take it on board."

Am I a Trekkie?  You Betcha.  --DaTrekker

The "T" Stands for "Tiberius."

NIU's Huskie Stadium Turns 50-- Part 2: Games Played at Glidden Field Before That

Before the 1965, NIU football games were played at 5,500 seat Glidden Field on the campus' east side.  This is where the Art Building is now located.  After quarterback George Bork led the Huskies to the AP Small College Championship in 1963, plans began for a new, much-bigger stadium.

Construction delays, however, caused the first home game in  the stadium to be on November 6, 1965, a 48-6 victory over the Illinois State redbirds.The September 20, 1969, game with the University of Idaho marked the first major college football game in the state of Illinois to be played on artificial turf.  I was there for that game which Northern won 47-30.

While a student, a rarely ever missed a home game.

--CooterFan

NIU's Huskie Stadium Turns 50-- Part 1

From Wikipedia.

When the Northern Illinois University Huskies open their 2015 season in DeKalb, Illinois, this Saturday against UNLV, this will mark the 50th year of Huskie Stadium.  I have been to this stadium many times, including the 1969, 1970 and 1972 seasons when I was a student.

To mark the occasion, the Huskies will be wearing throwback jerseys like the one they wore at the inaugural season fifty years ago.

Technically, the place is called Brigham Field at Huskie Stadium.  (Huskie is the spelling of the mascot adopted by NIU in case you're wondering.  This is driving the old spellcheck crazy.)

Huskie Stadium opened for business in 1965, four tears before I got there.  It was one of the earlier structures on the campus' west side.

Its original capacity was 20,257 from 1965-1981.  During those years you could say we had half a stadium.  It was expanded in 1982 to 30,998 with the opening of the east side (for students).

Go You Huskies!!  --DaHuskieCoot