Originally conceived as a "quicky" gangster movie, "The Godfather" has endured over more then 30 years and in most circles is generally accepted as one of the top three films ever made.

When Paramount Pictures bought the rights to film the best selling novel by Mario Puzo, it planned to release it to coincide with the paperback issue of the book. After much consideration, the job of adapting and directing the film went to a young film maker named Francis Ford Coppola. Not only had Coppola recently won an Oscar as one of the writers of "Patton," but the studio felt that if they hired an Italian-American director they would avoid any trouble with the Italian-American community. Working with Puzo, Coppola penned an epic, far from the cheap drive in movie the studio wanted. Despite the protests of the suits at Paramount, who wanted Ernest Borgnine in the role, Coppola hired Marlon Brando to play the title character, Don Vito Corleone. He also chose Al Pacino, a young theatre actor, for the pivotal role of Michael Corleone much to the chagrin of the studio, who suggested everyone from Warren Beatty to Burt Reynolds to Robert Redford. Coppola also chose to shoot the film in New York, rather then on a sound stage, feeling the actual locations would give the film the realistic look he wanted.

Released in March 1972, "The Godfather' played on 6 screens and grossed an amazing $300,000. That's $50,000 per screen. It went on to earn an amazing $86 million in its first run in the US. It battled Bob Fosse's "Cabaret" in all of the end of the year award presentations, though "Cabaret" earned five more Oscars, including Best Director for Fosse. My first viewing of the film was a "Special Event" that ABC presented in 1973. At the time, Coppola was directing "The Godfather Part II," and was seen during the commercial breaks editing footage from that film. Coppola also made a PSA informing viewers that the film was not an indictment of Italian-Americans. In other words, everyone from Italy wasn't in the mob! Incidentally, "The Godfather Part II" went on to win the Best Picture Oscar as well, becoming the first sequel to win the award. In 1990, "The Godfather, Part III" also earned a Best Picture nomination, making it the first time all films in a trilogy had been nominated for Best Picture. This later happened with the "Lord of the Rings" films, with the third film, "Return of the King," taking home the big prize.

Next week I'll look at a film that won almost every critic award as Best Picture only to be sunk at the Oscars by the juggernaut that was James Cameron's "Titanic":   "L.A. Confidential"

Well, that's all for now. Have a great week. See ya!