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Post by hi224 on Dec 2, 2019 4:44:36 GMT
I know he was considered as well.
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Post by OldAussie on Dec 2, 2019 5:34:28 GMT
possibly.
I always thought his performance in The Betsy might be an indication of how he would have approached The Godfather.
Let's just say I'm glad Brando got the part.
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Post by cynthiagreen on Dec 2, 2019 11:52:23 GMT
I know he was considered as well. Not sure. THE BETSY popped up in my mind too when I saw the question. One possible feasible alternate to Brando would be actual GODFATHER co-star Sterling Hayden... he had the gravitas if not the Latin mien. Ditto Robert Ryan, who was still alive. Edward G? Brod Crawford?? Conte??? Lee J Cobb?  I'd bet Joseph Calleia could have made a good effort but was too old by then. Steiger? An against type Newman (his blue eyes concealed by contacts)? EDIT- Apparantly he was wanted for Tom Hagen! Was George C Scott in the frame?(EDIT yes he was And Quinn) According to my googling Borgnine was an early favourite , but that John Marley (Who ultimately played the studio head), Frank DeKova and Carlo Ponti made up the final shortlist with Brando & Olivier. GODFATHERS original cast list
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Post by cynthiagreen on Dec 2, 2019 12:03:48 GMT
possibly. I always thought his performance in The Betsy might be an indication of how he would have approached The Godfather. Let's just say I'm glad Brando got the part. Good call - That's what I thought of too.... Have made a few alternate suggestions above. And I've found THE BETSY - unseen since early 80s - to give another go to -  for the inspiration to revisit.....poor even by low standards of genre - good cast wasted 3/10 -.....is my memory of my appraisal, although newbie Tommy Lee Jones - who from memory had as much screen time as Olivier,and who I listed first in my notes on it, demonstrated early charisma and held his own......and it gave Lesley-Anne Down her break into Hollywood....but as yesterday's junk usually seems so much more fun than todays I may be more forgiving of it tonight. 
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Post by bravomailer on Dec 2, 2019 15:44:37 GMT
In one of the extras in a Godfather 1-3 set, Coppola talks about a meeting with the Gulf Western suits (GW was the parent company of Paramount then) who suggested John Wayne for the Don and Ryan O'Neal and Robert Redford for two of the sons. The suits didn't press him on the matter though. Producer Robert Evans (recently deceased) pokes fun at the suits in The Kid Stays In The Picture. Charles Bluhdorn, CEO of Gulf Western   |
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Post by Feologild Oakes on Dec 2, 2019 15:46:10 GMT
I personally don`t think so.
He is one of my favorite actors but i don`t think he would be a good Vito Corleone.
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Post by petrolino on Dec 2, 2019 17:54:59 GMT
Don't see why not. It's been built into this mythic role, but I don't think Vito's the centrepiece of the story. It's a good role I can imagine Laurence Olivier, George C. Scott, Rod Steiger, Jack Palance or any number of actors inhabiting well. Having said that, Brando proved to be the perfect choice and he brings an authenticity to the project that serves it well.
In which case, perhaps James Caan could have been replaced, but Caan and Robert Duvall were Francis Coppola's pals.
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Post by Prime etc. on Dec 2, 2019 18:50:34 GMT
Never heard of the Betsy--will have to check it out.
He was kind of old when he did Zeus but I liked his approach with the growling voice.
Anthony Quinn portrayed a godfather in The Don Must Die (and Abe Vigoda is in it).
No mention of the film that inspired the Godfather, THE BROTHERHOOD? Was Kirk Douglas considered for Vito Corleone?
Seems to me Paramount decided they really wanted to do a big mafia film and after the Brotherhood commissioned Puzo to write the novel (since Peter Travers(?) is mentioned in the epilogue notes that Puzo was talking to Paramount after writing 100 pages of his first draft so I would guess they had him use the basic plot of the Brotherhood).
The Godfather is perhaps the most wretchedly written famous books I have ever read.
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Post by politicidal on Dec 2, 2019 19:12:38 GMT
Egh, no thanks.
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Post by amyghost on Dec 2, 2019 19:22:09 GMT
Fascinating to see some of the names Coppola was considering for Sonny: John Saxon, Ben Gazzara, Lou Antonio and Anthony Zerbe, among others! (And Zerbe was also considered for Tom Hagen as well.)
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Post by cynthiagreen on Dec 2, 2019 19:32:49 GMT
It's been built into this mythic role, but I don't think Vito's the centrepiece of the story. Good point petrolino - It is the title role but not the lead - or at least it is secondary to Michael/Pacino in terms of screen time. Palance is an interesting suggestion. As Kirk has been suggested maybe we should throw Burt Lancaster into the mix ? I think I'd buy him.
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Post by Prime etc. on Dec 2, 2019 19:40:58 GMT
John Saxon portrayed Sonny-types in Italian mob movies.
In particular I KISS THE HAND.
Arthur Kennedy is the Godfather in that, I suppose Olivier could have done it in a similar fashion.
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Post by cynthiagreen on Dec 2, 2019 22:11:31 GMT
Well here is THE BETSY, for anyone so inclined. I did sort of enjoy it - more than the first time, although my expectations much lower. Olivier had done Big Daddy on TV a couple of years before this - and he's still sort of doing it here as a Detroit auto dynasty patriarch. Not his worst film or performance by a long shot - but he's handicapped by two time frames to the plot, where he has to play late 80s and early 40s in age (actually Olivier was aged 70 when it was shot). I'd forgotten it was more or less marketed as "LARRY DOES BONKBUSTER SHOCK!", complete with an on the job scene with a french maid, and an incestuous affair with daughter in law Katharine Ross. Rare to see Jane Alexander in such unmitigated tosh - presumably the opportunity to work with Olivier overrode her usual good taste. Cosy John Barry score - a rather middling one it must be said. And here's the UK poster - love the tagline.  THE BETSY
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Post by TheGoodMan19 on Dec 2, 2019 23:27:18 GMT
I always wondered how much truth is in the innumerable "Actor X was to play role Y in Movie Z". IMDb trivia is full of them. Like the rumor that Ronald Reagan was to star in Casablanca (yeeesh). Warner Bros did put out a press release saying Reagan and Ann Sheridan was to star in the film but they were never seriously considered. Or the famous "Search for Scarlett O'Hara". I've seen countless things about how many actresses were teased for the role. But I've also read that Vivian Leigh was the only choice Selznik wanted. He did one screen test. If she could do a southern accent, the part was hers. She did.
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Post by marshamae on Dec 3, 2019 1:48:57 GMT
Search for Scarlett was a publicity stunt. I think some other actresses were under consideration, but the hundreds who shot screen tests were just to build anticipation.
I think back in The day when studios bought or commissioned a script then cast it, those “ actors being considered” stories had more truth to them. Now , when agents and producers put a package together, script actors, director, maybe even cinematographer and designer, then shop the whole package to get financing, “ actors being considered” means they were given the script to read.
Reading this list of actors who might have been considered for Don Vito makes me realize how much this film would have lost if someone other than Brando had played the part. With Ryan, borgnine, et al , we have seen their tough guy act. Even with the great Olivier, it would have been Olivier’s construction of the Don. With Brando, we got not someone playing the Don, we got the Don. He pulled me completely into
the story ,erasing any sense of theater,
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Post by hi224 on Dec 3, 2019 2:11:35 GMT
Search for Scarlett was a publicity stunt. I think some other actresses were under consideration, but the hundreds who shot screen tests were just to build anticipation. I think back in The day when studios bought or commissioned a script then cast it, those “ actors being considered” stories had more truth to them. Now , when agents and producers put a package together, script actors, director, maybe even cinematographer and designer, then shop the whole package to get financing, “ actors being considered” means they were given the script to read. Reading this list of actors who might have been considered for Don Vito makes me realize how much this film would have lost if someone other than Brando had played the part. With Ryan, borgnine, et al , we have seen their tough guy act. Even with the great Olivier, it would have been Olivier’s construction of the Don. With Brando, we got not someone playing the Don, we got the Don. He pulled me completely into the story ,erasing any sense of theater, I believe Olivier would've been closer to Newmans performance in Road to Perdition a more refined, demure Vito who has pause and caution as well.
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Post by hi224 on Dec 3, 2019 2:12:21 GMT
I think he would have made Don Vito a more refined European more in line with his character in Spartacus than what the novel called for. Of course, he would have played it well. Lancaster really is an alternative and perhaps the only one which I see working.
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Post by llanwydd on Dec 3, 2019 2:30:01 GMT
A great actor for sure but by the time The Godfather was made, all of his roles were like caricatures. I think that affected the quality of the films. The idea of a hammy Vito Corleone almost makes me laugh.
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Post by hi224 on Dec 3, 2019 2:43:32 GMT
A great actor for sure but by the time The Godfather was made, all of his roles were like caricatures. I think that affected the quality of the films. The idea of a hammy Vito Corleone almost makes me laugh. Really? watch Marathon Man where he shows a lot of restraint and anxiety as a Nazi doctor from the war, its a nicely layered performance.
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Post by llanwydd on Dec 3, 2019 2:52:25 GMT
A great actor for sure but by the time The Godfather was made, all of his roles were like caricatures. I think that affected the quality of the films. The idea of a hammy Vito Corleone almost makes me laugh. Really? watch Marathon Man where he shows a lot of restraint and anxiety as a Nazi doctor from the war, its a nicely layered performance. I have seen Marathon Man. Great film. One of his most compelling performances of his late career. But I still have to call it a caricature. MM is what I would call a straight-faced farce.
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