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Post by hi224 on Feb 26, 2020 22:23:06 GMT
reading of him being considered for Vito Corleone made me think perhaps he'd approach the role like his Leopard role dignified and refined but lacks the fiery passion.
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Post by RiP, IMDb on Feb 26, 2020 23:20:03 GMT
Reading of him being considered for Vito Corleone made me think perhaps he'd approach the role like his Leopard role dignified and refined but lacks the fiery passion.
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Post by politicidal on Feb 27, 2020 5:38:16 GMT
Yeah it would had been too reserved.
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Post by mikef6 on Feb 27, 2020 5:39:22 GMT
Of all the actors who I have heard or read had been offered or considered for Don Corleone, only Brando makes any sense.
Well, Sir Larry was considered and he may have been able to pull it off if Brando had never existed.
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Post by TheOriginalPinky on Feb 27, 2020 21:10:31 GMT
reading of him being considered for Vito Corleone made me think perhaps he'd approach the role like his Leopard role dignified and refined but lacks the fiery passion. That was a terrible film, and Lancaster seemed so out of place in it.
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Post by Jep Gambardella on Feb 27, 2020 21:45:31 GMT
Of all the actors who I have heard or read had been offered or considered for Don Corleone, only Brando makes any sense. Well, Sir Larry was considered and he may have been able to pull it off if Brando had never existed. Who's that? Larry Niven? Laurence Olivier? I can't imagine either of them as Don Corleone!
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Post by mikef6 on Feb 27, 2020 21:56:19 GMT
Of all the actors who I have heard or read had been offered or considered for Don Corleone, only Brando makes any sense. Well, Sir Larry was considered and he may have been able to pull it off if Brando had never existed. Who's that? Larry Niven? Laurence Olivier? I can't imagine either of them as Don Corleone!
It was Olivier who was on the final short list along with Brando and George C. Scott. When Coppola and his casting director called Mario Puzo to ask about his preference, Puzo said that Brando had been in his mind as he was writing the novel. As far as I can tell, neither Olivier nor Scott were ever contacted about the role.
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Post by Jep Gambardella on Feb 27, 2020 22:12:32 GMT
Who's that? Larry Niven? Laurence Olivier? I can't imagine either of them as Don Corleone!
It was Olivier who was on the final short list along with Brando and George C. Scott. When Coppola and his casting director called Mario Puzo to ask about his preference, Puzo said that Brando had been in his mind as he was writing the novel. As far as I can tell, neither Olivier nor Scott were ever contacted about the role.
I guess we should be thankful for that!
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Post by BATouttaheck on Feb 27, 2020 23:31:57 GMT
Speaking of OMG ! possibilities for Don Corleone (Olivier / Geo C Scott) "Elvis Presley dreamed of playing Don Vito Corleone in The Godfather (1972), but when he asked to audition for the part he was turned down."
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Post by Doghouse6 on Feb 28, 2020 0:25:22 GMT
reading of him being considered for Vito Corleone made me think perhaps he'd approach the role like his Leopard role dignified and refined but lacks the fiery passion. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding the post, but "fiery passion" is nowhere near the first phrase coming to mind when I consider Vito Corleone as rendered by Brando. I have no opinion on the suitability of Lancaster in the role, although fiery passion was certainly something of which he was more than capable, and well on display in films like Elmer Gantry, The Rainmaker, Seven Days in May or The Rose Tattoo.
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Post by Captain Spencer on Feb 28, 2020 1:48:22 GMT
Speaking of OMG ! possibilities for Don Corleone (Olivier / Geo C Scott) "Elvis Presley dreamed of playing Don Vito Corleone in The Godfather (1972), but when he asked to audition for the part he was turned down." "I'm all shook up about that offer he refused."
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Post by hi224 on Feb 28, 2020 5:03:27 GMT
reading of him being considered for Vito Corleone made me think perhaps he'd approach the role like his Leopard role dignified and refined but lacks the fiery passion. That was a terrible film, and Lancaster seemed so out of place in it. i guess individual subjectivity rules?.
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Post by Prime etc. on Feb 28, 2020 6:06:25 GMT
How much of a contrast would it be to Kirk Douglas in THE BROTHERHOOD which was the proto-Godfather everyone seems to forget, especially Paramount.
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Post by TheOriginalPinky on Feb 28, 2020 12:38:47 GMT
That was a terrible film, and Lancaster seemed so out of place in it. i guess individual subjectivity rules?. always!
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Post by teleadm on Feb 28, 2020 18:05:41 GMT
Don't forget that Mario Puzo's novel was published in March 1969, and consider the time it takes to develope even a first draft for a an eventual movie version, many names might have been brought up and even attached for short whiles, to create publicity before filming begun.
Edward G. Robinson was also one of the named mentiones, and offcourse that would have been a great conclusion of his career, he got a great conclusion in Soylent Green instead, and no matter how much I love Edward, no matter how sentimatally right it could have been, it wouldn't be the right choice.
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Post by mikef6 on Feb 28, 2020 19:50:57 GMT
Don't forget that Mario Puzo's novel was published in March 1969, and consider the time it takes to develope even a first draft for a an eventual movie version, many names might have been brought up and even attached for short whiles, to create publicity before filming begun. Edward G. Robinson was also one of the named mentiones, and offcourse that would have been a great conclusion of his career, he got a great conclusion in Soylent Green instead, and no matter how much I love Edward, no matter how sentimatally right it could have been, it wouldn't be the right choice. Actually, the number of people interviewed for the role of the Don may have numbered in the hundreds. Every Italian actor or actor of Italian descent they could get a hold of was brought in for a talk. Among them were Ernest Borgnine, Raf Valone (who got the part of the Pope in Godfather III), Richard Conte (cast as Barzini) and Anthony Quinn. Even Sophia Loren's husband, the producer Carlo Ponti, came up in discussion. But the person Coppola wanted was an actor of charisma and authority. The kind of personality that his just walking into a room would silence conversation and be an Event, according to one book devoted to the Godfather movies. That's how the final short list of Brando, Olivier, and Scott came into being.
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Post by BATouttaheck on Feb 28, 2020 20:00:14 GMT
Thing is .. whoever played the role would have become Don Vito Corleone and everyone else would have been "what if he had played him ?" alternates. Same thing with the Harrison Ford vs Tom Selleck as Indiana Jones debate. Both would have been terrific BUT they would most likely have been two different Indy's.
Good to see that they did consider same actual Italians for the role mikef6. I had wondered about that ! Shades of Chuck Connors or Burt Lancaster as Geronimo
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Post by petrolino on Feb 28, 2020 20:01:07 GMT
Dom DeLuise was also in the running.
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Post by mikef6 on Feb 28, 2020 20:03:15 GMT
Thing is .. whoever played the role would have become Don Vito Corleone and everyone else would have been "what if he had played him ?" alternates. Same thing with the Harrison Ford vs Tom Selleck as Indiana Jones debate. Both would have been terrific BUT they would most likely have been two different Indy's.
Good to see that they did consider same actual Italians for the role mikef6 . I had wondered about that ! Shades of Chuck Connors or Burt Lancaster as Geronimo I think a lot of people assumed that Brando was of Italian stock because his family name ends in a vowel.
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Post by hi224 on Feb 28, 2020 21:36:39 GMT
Thing is .. whoever played the role would have become Don Vito Corleone and everyone else would have been "what if he had played him ?" alternates. Same thing with the Harrison Ford vs Tom Selleck as Indiana Jones debate. Both would have been terrific BUT they would most likely have been two different Indy's.
Good to see that they did consider same actual Italians for the role mikef6 . I had wondered about that ! Shades of Chuck Connors or Burt Lancaster as Geronimo I think a lot of people assumed that Brando was of Italian stock because his family name ends in a vowel. I feel like Elvis asking to audition for Vito was a myth, as I read it was Tom Hagen but maybe I am wrong.
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