Don Vito Corleone (Character) Don Vito Corleone (Character) from The Godfather (1972) The content of this page was created by users. It has not been screened or verified by IMDb staff. There may be more photos available for this character. To select more photos to be displayed in this character's gallery, click the Edit Photos link. Overview Biography In the first film, Don Vito Corleone was portrayed by Marlon Brando... See more » Alternate Names: Godfather / The Godfather / Vito Corleone / Young Vito Corleone Filmography ... aka "Mario Puzo's The Godfather: A Novel for Television" - USA (complete title) ... aka "The Godfather 1902-1959: The Complete Epic" - USA (video title) ... aka "The Godfather Novella" - USA (alternative title) ... aka "The Godfather Saga" - USA (alternative title) ... aka "The Godfather: The Complete Novel for Television" - USA (alternative title) ... aka "NBC's Saturday Night" - USA (complete title) ... aka "SNL" - USA (informal title) ...

aka "SNL 25" - USA (alternative title) ... aka "Saturday Night" - USA (first season title) ... aka "Saturday Night Live '80" - USA (sixth season title) ... aka "Saturday Night Live 15" - USA (fifteenth season title) ... aka "Saturday Night Live 20" - USA (twentieth season title) ... aka "Saturday Night Live 25" - USA (twentyfifth season title) View All Photos (6) Movie Info Popularly viewed as one of the best American films ever made, the multi-generational crime saga The Godfather is a touchstone of cinema: one of the most widely imitated, quoted, and lampooned movies of all time. Marlon Brando and Al Pacino star as Vito Corleone and his youngest son, Michael, respectively. It is the late 1940s in New York and Corleone is, in the parlance of organized crime, a "godfather" or "don," the head of a Mafia family.

Michael, a free thinker who defied his father by enlisting in the Marines to fight in World War II, has returned a captain and a war hero. Having long ago rejected the family business, Michael shows up at the wedding of his sister, Connie (Talia Shire), with his non-Italian girlfriend, Kay (Diane Keaton), who learns for the first time about the family "business." A few months later at Christmas time, the don barely survives being shot by gunmen in the employ of a drug-trafficking rival whose request for aid from the Corleones' political connections was rejected. After saving his father from a second assassination attempt, Michael persuades his hotheaded eldest brother, Sonny (James Caan), and family advisors Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall) and Sal Tessio (Abe Vigoda) that he should be the one to exact revenge on the men responsible. After murdering a corrupt police captain and the drug trafficker, Michael hides out in Sicily while a gang war erupts at home. Falling in love with a local girl, Michael marries her, but she is later slain by Corleone enemies in an attempt on Michael's life.

Sonny is also butchered, having been betrayed by Connie's husband. As Michael returns home and convinces Kay to marry him, his father recovers and makes peace with his rivals, realizing that another powerful don was pulling the strings behind the narcotics endeavor that began the gang warfare. Once Michael has been groomed as the new don, he leads the family to a new era of prosperity, then launches a campaign of murderous revenge against those who once tried to wipe out the Corleones, consolidating his family's power and completing his own moral downfall. Nominated for 11 Academy Awards and winning for Best Picture, Best Actor (Marlon Brando), and Best Adapted Screenplay, The Godfather was followed by a pair of sequels. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi Rating: The Godfather (1972 movie): Is Vito Corleone a good person? - Quora Quora Movies The Godfather (1972 movie): Is Vito Corleone a good person? He's family-oriented, a good husband and father; he's fair and loyal; he doesn't want to run drugs or prostitution.

Written Oct 4, 2012 I want to give an illustration of Quora User's answer, which I completely endorse, by the way. In the mid-70's a Sicilian second cousin of mine (my grandmother was Sicilian, and one of the reasons I love The Godfather is that it reminds me of certain aspects of my childhood), moved to North Boston for a job after she got her MS. She moved into a certain apartment building, and drove to work every day. After a few days, she noticed that whenever she got home, the same parking space would be open in front of her building, not twenty feet from the front door. She shrugged it off ... Until one day she left for work, pulled away from the curb, and for some reason happened to look into her rearview ... where she saw a couple of guys crossing the street to put construction sawhorses around "her" parking space. She never checked up on it (would you?), but she reasoned out that a couple of guys knew approximately when she usually came home, or kept a lookout for her car, and removed the sawhorses just before she arrived.

What happened was that word had gotten around (probably through her building super or her landlord) that a young single Sicilian woman had just moved into the area, and the Dons were taking care of her, making sure she didn't have to walk a long way to get into her building -- the streets being what they were. Nobody ever said anything to her about it. Nobody ever asked her a favour in return. When she told me this, she told me very matter-of-factly, and I accepted it very matter-of-factly. If you are of a certain age, and you were close to the Italian or especially Sicilian community, this is something understood; there's nothing startling about it. This was the way the world worked. Written Apr 26, 2012 The book talks a little bit about this. The idea is that Vito is Sicilian and Sicilians are "principled." "Makes no difference what a man does for a living." Vito did everything for survival and so that he could run a society in a way he thought was fairest. No one elected him. No one appointed him. He was self appointed. So in this respect, not a great person.

In the film Godfather Part I the scene where Vito dies, this scene was actually completely impromptu. Marlon Brando pretends to be a monster when playing with Anthony. This was great, because Vito in many ways was a monster. He did favors for people then would ask for favors. Vito does what's convenient for him and his family. Johnny Fontane being in the film was completely undeserved. Johnny Fontane was a womanizer, showed up drunk and just wasn't a great employee. Waltz not hiring Johnny is completely understandable. But Vito forces his arm because Johnny is his god son. So the short answer is - I don't know - it's like asking if President Bush / Obama are good people? I think they think of it as they have a larger responsibility, which sometimes draws a blurry line of what good and bad is. Yes Bush / Obama were elected, but they have to make some tough calls because they are leaders and are doing something that we cannot do because they have a larger responsibility than any of us can imagine. I really believe that both Presidents, when they do something, most of the time they can what they are doing will help people and help more people than it hurts.

I really they think that. Republican or Democrat as much as we may dislike politicians, I think for the most part, most politicians have some hope of helping people. They sometimes make unpopular compromises so they can gain political capital in another way but I think most politicians really try to do something good. Vito was a politician. The idea is that Vito clearly makes a distinction of who he can or cannot kill. What he can do and what he should not do. He is very responsible with his power. Written Jan 22, 2013 I'm pretty ambivalent about this. I'm rereading the book and have been thinking hard on the subject. I want to look at both sides of the argument. I'm mostly going by depictions of the character from the book, but I may use the movie as well. Good person: First, his primary motivation for living a life of crime seems to be more about power (or lack thereof) than money, greed, avarice etc. He lives in the smallest house in the mall. His tuxedo he wore during the wedding wasn't flattering. He appears to have been faithful to his wife. He doesn't appear to have a very ostentatious lifestyle.

The two defining moments that lead him down a life of crime were about power. First, a mafia don murdered his family, forcing him to flee his country. It was only by the help of friends was he able to escape. Second, Fanucci, forced his employer to fire him from his job as a grocer so that the employer could hire his nephew. In both cases, he was at the mercy of a power greater than himself. He got into crime in order to help support his family, once he was without means. His life of crime helped him acquire the means, vis a vis money and "friends" that made him a power unto himself. No longer would he be at the mercy of any outside force, be it government or criminal. Second, despite Michael telling Kay that his father collects favors much in the same way Arctic explorers leave caches of food laying around, he does appear appreciate his relationships on a personal level. He appears to be touched and/or flattered several times: when the Senator gave a valuable wedding gift to his daughter, when Tom Hagen asks to work for him like one of his sons, and when Johnny Fontaine flies back to visit him.

Granted Fontaine is his godson, but he even seems flattered that Fontaine would come to him for help and advice. I think this is evidence that he appreciates his relationships on a personal level as opposed on a strategic or business level. If that weren't the case, the gift from the Senator would be more likely to be seen as someone paying tribute as opposed to a powerful person taking time to send gifts to the Don('s daughter) Third, as a continuation of the second point, he appears to do at least some favors out of the goodness of his heart, for lack of a better term. He took diseased orphan Tom Hagen in without hesitation. He cleaned up his neighborhood in Long Island after he discovered the scammers. He helped his wife's friend stay in her apartment after she'd been kicked out. Vito did not appear to do these things only to expect something in return later. He even appeared to be surprised when he discovered how much Hagen saw him as a fatherly figure. Also, Vito seems to see doing (at least some) favors as a sign of friendship and respect.

When the baker came to see him early in the book, it was said that Vito looked forward with pleasure to helping him out, since they were boyhood chums. When he asked for several thousand dollars, it appeared to be meant for bringing the Congressman, not as a payment to Vito himself. Finally, though we see Amerigo dread the day his favor would be called in, when it is called in, it was simply to do as good of a job as he possibly could do in fixing up Sonny for the funeral. In fact, both times we see favors called in, it was not expected that they would do anything illegal, or anything they wouldn't like. For Amerigo, it was working on Sonny. For Johnny, it was performing at the Family's casino to draw in customers. I think the best you can say about Vito is he is a person who does bad things for good reasons. He protects and raises his family. He helps out his friends and community. He doesn't appear to be psychopathic and enjoy hurting people. He doesn't live an ostentatious lifestyle. He simply no longer wanted to submitted to powers other than himself when doing so would have killed him and his family.

Bad Person: This is pretty easy. He is the head of a crime syndicate. He personally committed at least one murder that we know about. He ordered the murders of others. He gained control of the olive oil business through extremely dirty means. He uses a psychopath (Luca Brasi) to further his own ends. He has no compunction about breaking (most) laws in order to further enrich himself. He controls unions for the sole purpose of extortion against those he needs to deal with and power. Despite knowing that he is living a lifestyle that is dangerous, he allows two of his sons to work for him (with Michael, he didn't have a choice.) And, despite what I said earlier, there is at least some evidence that he gives out favors strategically for the purpose of getting something he wants/needs later. So, is Vito a good person? I don;t think it is a simple answer. I think one can honestly say yes and no. It does take a bit more mental gymnastics and rationalizations to argue in favor of yes, but I think there is still enough evidence that he isn't out-and-out evil. This question is probably a reflection of your answer to the question, do the ends justify the means?

Updated Feb 24, 2013 According to me, the beauty of the book lies not in the character of only Vito Corleone but the presence of the marginal character called Kay Adams- Michael's wife. She's not a prominent character, thus not making it a full-blown ethical debate. This image will help in the analysis of Vito's goodness: On one side we have the towering character of Vito Corleone who speaks of capitalism, hard-work, how all is he doing is out of necessity due to the government being crooks themselves. Using 'survival' argument of 'filling one's stomach'. He also makes some marvelous offers difficult to refuse. The reader is enamored by his charm. Gambling is after all not such a huge moral issue. And then slowly Puzo unveils what these offers were- involving bloodshed, killing- deciding who was worth living (Fannucci). Nevertheless Vito's survival arguments makes us willing to accept this new dimension of him. He represents what we want to be- powerful person, who in his deathbed could say "Life is Beautiful". And that's where Kay comes in-- she is a manifestation of our conscience.

A small voice within us nagging "But really, is Vito right? Do I want to become like him". And these small voices within us in the end decide for us how we perceive Vito- a good person or a bad person. Vito has numerous good qualities- helping needy, ones he loves- like his godson- Jonny, he loves his sons (other than Fredo), Tom who he has adopted. So dismissing Vito as an outright bad person would be inappropriate. He is not a bad person, but he has a compelling aura which makes the reader want to emulate him. He maybe good person- but what he did was not, and Kay's sound constantly reminds us he's not that good either. In summary, Vito like every human being has shades of grey- he is neither good nor bad absolutely and what makes the novel beautiful is manifestation of his both sides. Updated Jun 3, 2012 He is portrayed, brilliantly, as a folk hero, a man who always looks after his friends and who goes into crime so his family won't suffer the degradations of poverty. From the portrayal we get the old myth of the mafia as principled men of honour; "rustic chivalry".

Over and above that, Don Vito is no worse than many of the politicians of post war America, and of our own time. Being self-appointed makes little intrinsic difference. Don Vito would say he's no worse than them, and less hypocritical, but you can't imagine him claiming to be a "good person". Good and bad are absolute categories, easier to apply to acts than people. However murder is murder, so there is no way you could make a case for the Don being a "good person". Whether to apply the word "evil" is harder to answer. The Godfather (1972) The Godfather (1972) d. Francis Ford Coppola, 175 minutes Film Plot Summary The film began with the 1945 summer, Sicilian-style wedding party for crime family "godfather" Don Vito Corleone's (Marlon Brando) 18 year-old daughter Connie (Talia Shire) to Carlo Rizzi (Gianni Russo).

The ceremony was attended by returning WWII serviceman and family outsider - 25 year-old Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) and his non-Italian girlfriend Kay Adams (Diane Keaton), and the other two Corleone sons: hot-headed eldest 29 year-old "Sonny" (James Caan), and dumb 26 year-old unmarried middle son Fredo (John Cazale), as well as the family's trusted lawyer-consigliere Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall). 53 year-old Don Vito regally and ruthlessly held court, carrying on with the crime family business during his daughter's wedding reception. Corleone's godson Johnny Fontane (Al Martino) was denied a role in a Hollywood film run by studio producer Jack Woltz (John Marley). Advance man Tom Hagen immediately flew to Hollywood to negotiate for the role but failed to persuade him.

Later that night, Woltz discovered the bloody head of his prized horse Khartoum in his silk-sheeted bed - part of "an offer he can't refuse." Following World War II, the introduction of heroin business into Mafia operations was threatening, and a meeting was scheduled with all the representatives of other "families" including rival racketeer Virgil "The Turk" Sollozzo (Al Lettieri) - chief spokesman for the drug-trafficking Tattaglias (Victor Rendina). However, as an old-school Mafia leader, Don Corleone refused to join - content with the status quo and what he governed already - gambling, prostitution, and protection rackets. During the meeting, Sonny blurted out his thoughts - revealing his disagreement with his father's decision and his unbridled enthusiasm for getting into the drug business. The Don immediately instructed his principal lieutenant Luca Brasi (Lenny Montana) to spy on the Tattaglias. Brasi was killed in a grisly but riveting murder scene - by garrotting.

Soon afterwards, others in the Corleone empire were targeted - Sollozzo kidnapped Tom Hagen on a city street while he was Christmas shopping, and there was an assassination attempt on the Don while he shopped in an open street market for fruit in Little Italy in December 1945. Temporarily taking over the Corleone business was the Don's hot-tempered eldest son Sonny. Sollozzo wished to position Tom Hagen to bargain with and persuade Sonny, heir apparent, to approve of the narcotics deal. Sonny ordered hitman Clemenza (Richard Castellano) to immediately punish stoolie Paulie Gatto (John Martino) for setting up his father's ambush. During a second attempt on Don Vito Corleone's life in a hospital, he was saved by Michael - and it was revealed that police Captain McCluskey (Sterling Hayden) was corrupt and on Sollozzo's payroll. Michael volunteered to commit retaliatory murder of both Sollozzo and McCluskey during a "truce meeting" in an Italian restaurant in the Bronx, vowing: "It's not personal...

It's strictly business." Gangland violence and "bad blood" erupted, causing Michael to flee to Sicily where he was protected by Don Tommasino (Corrado Gaipa), Corleone's partner in the olive-oil import business. Michael married pretty local girl Apollonia Vitelli (Simonetta Stefanelli) who was shortly thereafter tragically murdered in a car-bombing. Back in the US, Sonny unleashed his passions against his brother-in-law Carlo Rizzi for repeatedly abusing and beating his sister Connie. However, he blundered into a trap that cost him his life - he was ambushed and assassinated at a toll-booth when betrayed by Carlo to rival gangster Emilio Barzini (Richard Conte). A meeting of the heads of the Five Families and associates - from upper New York State, New Jersey and Manhattan's West Side docks, the Bronx, and Staten Island (Barzini and Tattaglia were both dons there), including twelve principals, was held in a downtown city boardroom. Corleone was the head of the Sixth Family. Debate first centered around Corleone's refusal to allow drug trafficking and share "all the judges and the politicians" in New York.

Corleone wished to end the endless months of slaughter and was reluctantly willing to compromise and allow narcotics operations. From their short meeting, Corleone perceptively understood that Barzini had backed Sollozzo and Tattaglia from the very beginning. Following news of Sonny's death and the death of his own wife in late 1948 or early 1949, Michael returned home as the new, hardened Don, heir successor to his father. After being home for a year, Michael aggressively pursued ex-fiancee Kay and they were married in 1951 - he promised to go legitimate in five years. By 1952, Michael had taken over more and more of the business, with the Don's permission, planning to expand his family's operations (legal gambling, prostitution, and narcotics) into Nevada (Las Vegas), with Carlo serving as his "right-hand man," and Tom Hagen as "our lawyer in Vegas" - no longer consigliere. In Vegas, Michael visited with his brother Fredo and Johnny Fontane. He rejected his brother's studly attempts to impress him with a welcoming party, band, and women, at a meeting with casino boss Moe Greene (Alex Rocco).

Michael explained how the Corleone Family was changing its interests ("Now Moe Greene will sell us his share of the casino and the hotel so it could be completely owned by the Family...I'll make him an offer he can't refuse"); Michael reprimanded Fredo for opposing Family interests and supporting Greene (as Sonny had done earlier): "Fredo, you're my older brother, and I love you. But don't ever take sides with anyone against the Family again. Ever." In a vivid death scene in a garden among the tomato plants in 1954, the Don played with Michael's three year old son Anthony, his grandchild. He placed an orange peel in his mouth and pretended to be the boogeyman, before dropping dead of a heart attack. In the final extraordinary baptism scene, probably occurring in 1955, Michael acted as godfather at the christening of his sister Connie's (and Carlo's) child, his nephew and namesake. The scene brilliantly crosscut back and forth from the church to locations throughout the city as gangland murders were orchestrated.

With controlled intensity, Michael engineered a cold-blooded mass killing of Barzini, Tattaglia, Greene and all other rival gangleaders of the Five Families to settle the "Family business." Michael's capo Clemenza was also ordered to murder Carlo in a brutal and painful manner - strangling him from behind while inside a car bound for the airport. Carlo valiantly kicked a hole through the car windshield as he tried to break free while being choked to death. As the house was vacated and furnishings were moved by packers to their new home in Nevada, Connie hysterically accused Michael of being responsible for her treacherous husband's death. She called Michael a "lousy, cold-hearted bastard." Kay, Michael's non-Italian wife, asked whether Connie's accusation was true about the order to kill their brother-in-law. Denying responsibility, Kay was patronizingly lied to about his business. She stared at them in the study as tribute was paid - Clemenza embraced Michael, shaking and kissing his hand, clearly anointing him as the new Don Corleone of the Family: "Don Corleone." Symbolically, the door in Michael's office was shut on Kay.

Film Notables (Awards, Facts, etc.) Based on Mario Puzo's 1969 novel of the same name. Set in the mid to late 1940s NYC through to the mid-1950s, and filmed as a modern version of Shakespeare's King Lear featuring a king and three sons. With ten Academy Awards nominations and the winner of three Oscars: Best Picture, Best Actor (Marlon Brando), and Best Adapted Screenplay (co-written by Mario Puzo and Coppola). One of The Godfather's eleven nominations was removed, Best Music (Original Dramatic Score), when it was determined that Nino Rota's score had been used for a previous film. It was the top-grossing film of the year, and a $135 million (domestic) box-office hit, and $245 million (worldwide). With a production budget of $6.5 million, it was the most profitable film up to its time. All three of the Godfather pictures started with a party, and ended with a bloody massacre.

Also with famous lines such as: "Make him an offer he can't refuse" and "Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes." Don Vito Corleone The Godfather Movie Review & Film Summary (1972) | Roger Ebert Tweet “The Godfather” is told entirely within a closed world. That’s why we sympathize with characters who are essentially evil. The story by Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola is a brilliant conjuring act, inviting us to consider the Mafia entirely on its own terms. Don Vito Corleone ( Marlon Brando ) emerges as a sympathetic and even admirable character; during the entire film, this lifelong professional criminal does nothing of which we can really disapprove. Advertisement During the movie we see not a single actual civilian victim of organized crime. No women trapped into prostitution. No lives wrecked by gambling. No victims of theft, fraud or protection rackets. The only police officer with a significant speaking role is corrupt. The story views the Mafia from the inside. That is its secret, its charm, its spell; in a way, it has shaped the public perception of the Mafia ever since.

The real world is replaced by an authoritarian patriarchy where power and justice flow from the Godfather, and the only villains are traitors. There is one commandment, spoken by Michael ( Al Pacino ): “Don’t ever take sides against the family.” It is significant that the first shot is inside a dark, shuttered room. It is the wedding day of Vito Corleone’s daughter, and on such a day a Sicilian must grant any reasonable request. A man has come to ask for punishment for his daughter’s rapist. Don Vito asks why he did not come to him immediately. Advertisement “I went to the police, like a good American,” the man says. The Godfather’s reply will underpin the entire movie: “Why did you go to the police? Why didn’t you come to me first? What have I ever done to make you treat me so disrespectfully? If you’d come to me in friendship, then this scum that ruined your daughter would be suffering this very day. And if, by chance, an honest man like yourself should make enemies . . . then they would become my enemies.

And then they would fear you.” As the day continues, there are two more scenes in the Godfather’s darkened study, intercut with scenes from the wedding outside. By the end of the wedding sequence, most of the main characters will have been introduced, and we will know essential things about their personalities. It is a virtuoso stretch of filmmaking: Coppola brings his large cast onstage so artfully that we are drawn at once into the Godfather’s world. The screenplay of “The Godfather” follows no formulas except for the classic structure in which power passes between the generations. The writing is subtly constructed to set up events later in the film. Notice how the request by Johnny Fontane, the failing singer, pays off in the Hollywood scenes; how his tears set up the shocking moment when a mogul wakes up in bed with what is left of his racehorse. Notice how the undertaker is told “someday, and that day may never come, I will ask a favor of you. . .” and how when the day comes the favor is not violence (as in a conventional movie) but Don Vito’s desire to spare his wife the sight of their son’s maimed body.

And notice how a woman’s “mistaken” phone call sets up the trap in which Sonny ( James Caan ) is murdered: It’s done so neatly that you have to think back through the events to figure it out. Advertisement Now here is a trivia question: What is the name of Vito’s wife? She exists in the movie as an insignificant shadow, a plump Sicilian grandmother who poses with her husband in wedding pictures but plays no role in the events that take place in his study. There is little room for women in “The Godfather.” Sonny uses and discards them, and ignores his wife. Connie ( Talia Shire ), the Don’s daughter, is so disregarded that her husband is not allowed into the family business. He is thrown a bone--”a living”--and later, when he is killed, Michael coldly lies to his sister about what happened. The irony of the title is that it eventually comes to refer to the son, not the father. As the film opens Michael is not part of the family business, and plans to marry a WASP, Kay Adams ( Diane Keaton ).

His turning point comes when he saves his father’s life by moving his hospital bed, and whispers to the unconscious man: “I’m with you now.” After he shoots the corrupt cop, Michael hides in Sicily, where he falls in love with and marries Appolonia (Simonetta Stefanelli). They do not speak the same language; small handicap for a Mafia wife. He undoubtedly loves Appolonia, as he loved Kay, but what is he thinking here: that he can no longer marry Kay because he has chosen a Mafia life? After Appolonia’s death and his return to America, he seeks out Kay and eventually they marry. Did he tell her about Appolonia? Such details are unimportant to the story. Advertisement What is important is loyalty to the family. Much is said in the movie about trusting a man’s word, but honesty is nothing compared to loyalty. Michael doesn’t even trust Tom Hagen ( Robert Duvall ) with the secret that he plans to murder the heads of the other families. The famous “baptism massacre” is tough, virtuoso filmmaking: The baptism provides him with an airtight alibi, and he becomes a godfather in both senses at the same time.

Vito Corleone is the moral center of the film. He is old, wise and opposed to dealing in drugs. He understands that society is not alarmed by “liquor, gambling . . . even women.” But drugs are a dirty business to Don Vito, and one of the movie’s best scenes is the Mafia summit at which he argues his point. The implication is that in the godfather’s world there would be no drugs, only “victimless crimes,” and justice would be dispatched evenly and swiftly. My argument is taking this form because I want to point out how cleverly Coppola structures his film to create sympathy for his heroes. The Mafia is not a benevolent and protective organization, and the Corleone family is only marginally better than the others. Yet when the old man falls dead among his tomato plants, we feel that a giant has passed. Advertisement Gordon Willis ’ cinematography is celebrated for its darkness; it is rich, atmospheric, expressive. You cannot appreciate this on television because the picture is artificially brightened. Coppola populates his dark interior spaces with remarkable faces.

The front-line actors--Brando, Pacino, Caan, Duvall--are attractive in one way or another, but those who play their associates are chosen for their fleshy, thickly lined faces--for huge jaws and deeply set eyes. Look at Abe Vigoda as Tessio, the fearsome enforcer. The first time we see him, he’s dancing with a child at the wedding, her satin pumps balanced on his shoes. The sun shines that day, but never again: He is developed as a hulking presence who implies the possibility of violent revenge. Only at the end is he brightly lit again, to make him look vulnerable as he begs for his life. The Brando performance is justly famous and often imitated. We know all about his puffy cheeks, and his use of props like the kitten in the opening scene. Those are actor’s devices. Brando uses them but does not depend on them: He embodies the character so convincingly that at the end, when he warns his son two or three times that “the man who comes to you to set up a meeting--that’s the traitor,” we are not thinking of acting at all.

We are thinking that the Don is growing old and repeating himself, but we are also thinking that he is probably absolutely right. Pacino plays Michael close to his vest; he has learned from his father never to talk in front of outsiders, never to trust anyone unnecessarily, to take advice but keep his own counsel. All of the other roles are so successfully filled that a strange thing happened as I watched this restored 1997 version: Familiar as I am with Robert Duvall, when he first appeared on the screen I found myself thinking, “There’s Tom Hagen.” Advertisement Coppola went to Italy to find Nino Rota , composer of many Fellini films, to score the picture. Hearing the sadness and nostalgia of the movie’s main theme, I realized what the music was telling us: Things would have turned out better if we had only listened to the Godfather. Popular Blog Posts The Godfather (1972) - Screen Insults - TV & Movie Quotes "I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse." Description: The now classic veiled threat of Marlon Brando when he played the Mafia Don Vito Corleone in the Oscar winning movie The Godfather (1972.

On the day of his daughter's wedding, mafia boss Don Corleone is the recipient of many congratulations and a few request that only he can oblige. When 1940s singer Johnny Fontane (Al Martino) a “good Godson” of Don Corleone expresses a deep interest in starring in a Hollywood war film being produced by movie big shot Jack Woltz (John Marley), the Godfather tells Johnny, “He’s a businessman. I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse.” Don Vito then sends his emissary Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall) to offer the Don’s undying friendship, if Woltz could do this favor. But Mr. Woltz, who holds a grudge against Johnny Fontane for messing around with one of his starlets, refuses the Godfather’s request saying, “Now you listen to me, you smooth talking son-of-a-bitch! Let me lay it on the line for you and your boss, whoever he is. Johnny Fontane will never get that movie! I don't care how many dago guinea wop greaseball goombahs come out of the woodwork!” Soon after, Mr.

Woltz wakes one morning to find the decapitated head of his $600,000 race horse (Khartoum) sharing the blood stained satin sheets of his bed. Not surprisingly, Johnny Fontane gets a call to report to work on the film. The incident with the horse's head is but one of many extreme examples of graphic violence and retribution as when Santino ‘Sonny’ Corleone (James Caan) says, “They hit us. So we hit them back.” Later, when Sonny Corleone rushes to the home of his sister to protect her from an abusive husband, he is shot to death at a causeway tollbooth by a hail of machine gun bullets. When Don Vito Corleone sends wiseguy Luca Brasi (Lenny Montana) to snoop around the Tattaglia family, one thug pins Luca’s left hand to a tavern countertop with a knife while another man chokes him to death with a cord. Later, the Corleone family receives a fish bundled in a newspaper.

This is the Sicilian message: “Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes.” Retaliating for the assassination attempt on the life of Don Corleone who is shot in the streets at a neighborhood produce stand, Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) kills mobster Virgil "The Turk" Sollozzo (of the Tarttaglia family) and a crooked police commissioner McCluskey during a meeting at the Louis Italian restaurant. Later, after Don Corleone recuperates from the assassination attempt, he meets with a group of 1940s mobsters (a council of the five families) who discuss the possibility of getting into the illegal drug trade. Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) is against the idea (although gambling, liquor and prostitution are acceptable). In deference to Don Corleone, one of the mobsters recognizes the dangers of drugs but consoles him by saying, he would only sell to the "dark people, the coloreds...They’re animals anyway. So let them lose their souls." Before he leave the meeting, Don Corleone pleads for the safety of his son, Michael who is about to return to America after the Sollozzo killings..

Some members or the council object, asking how can they guarantee Michael's safety, but Don Corleone warns: "You talk about vengeance. Is vengeance going to bring your son back to you or my boy to me? I forgo the vengeance of my son. But my youngest son had to leave this country because of this Sollozzo business. So now I have to make arrangements to bring him back safely cleared of all these false charges. But I'm a superstitious man. And if some unlucky accident should befall him, if he should be shot in the head by a police officer, or if should hang himself in his jail cell, or if he's struck by a bolt of lightning... *then I'm going to blame some of the people in this room*... and that, I do not forgive.

But, that aside, let say that I swear, on the souls of my grandchildren, that I will not be the one to break the peace we have made here today." With the death of Vito Corleone, a gruesome list of killings are initiated by the new Godfather Don Michael Corleone who ironically is attending the baptism of his sister’s baby, where he answers, “Yes” to the question “Do you renounce the devil?” Throughout the film the Corleone family members made it very clear that their violent actions are “not personal.” They are “strictly business.” In the sequel The Godfather II (1974) G. D. Spradlin as U. S. Senator Geary shares his utter contempt for Mafia Don Michael Corleone (Al Pacino): “I don’t like your kind of people.

I don’t like to see you come out to this clean country in—oily hair, and dressed up in those silk suits, and try to pass yourselves off as decent Americans...I despise your masquerade—the dishonest way your pose yourself, and your fucking family.” For insulting the Corleone family, the Senator is framed for the murder of a prostitute and then blackmailed to help the Corleone family get a gaming license for their casino. Michael Corleone later renounces his brother Fredo (John Cazale) for betraying the family's interests, saying, "Fredo, you’re nothing to me now. You’re not a brother, you’re not a friend. I don't want to know you or what you do. I don't want to see you at the hotels; I don't want you near my house. When you see our mother, I want to know a day in advance, so I won't be there.

You understand?" Later, while visiting Cuba to meet with Hyman Roth (Lee Strasberg), Michael Corleone learning of Fredo's latest betrayal, cups his hand around the face of his brother, firmly plants a kiss on his lips, and says, "I know it was you Fredo. You broke my heart. You broke my heart." Michael then waits until his mother dies (in respect for her feelings) and has Fredo killed while fishing in a boat on a lake. Note: The "Kiss of Death" as delivered by Don Michael Corleone to his brother Fredo is a traditional Mafia (aka “Cosa Nostra“) method of informing an opponent that his days were numbered. The kiss on the lips can be both a warning to get something done (i.e., pay your debts or else) or a disingenuous means of informing someone that their life would soon end. Reportedly, mob leader Vito Genovese gave Joe Valachi a simple "kiss of affection" while both were serving time in a Federal penitentiary in Atlanta. Valachi, thinking his death was imminent became an informer to the FBI to gain protection from the underworld.

The motion picture The Valachi Papers (1972) from the book by Peter Maas tells the story of Mafia life as seen through the eyes of famed informer Joseph Valachi (played by Charles Bronson). According to the Mafia Encyclopedia, in 1931 mobster Lucky Luciano "ordered the act (of kissing) stopped even as a form of greeting when Mafiosi met. Such public acts...might strike terror in the hearts of Sicilian peasants but were counterproductive in the United States." Sonny Corleone | Villains Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia [ show ] Role in the Godfather saga Sonny "makes his bones" when he is 19, and soon afterward becomes a capo in his father's family. By the end of World War II, he is his father's underboss and heir apparent, respected and feared as a ruthless killer with an explosive temper. He is not without a softer side, however; at the age of 11, he takes in a homeless boy, Tom Hagen, who thereafter lives with the family and becomes the family's consigliere.

As the oldest child, he serves as a protector to his younger siblings and is shown to have a very close relationship with his brother, Michael, and sister, Connie. The book also reveals that he cannot bring himself to harm women or children, or anyone who can't defend themselves. Although Sonny has a wife, Sandra, and four children, he frequently cheats on her with other women, including Lucy Mancini, who served as one of his sister's bridesmaids. The normal course of events in Sonny’s life is upturned when Virgil "The Turk" Sollozzo comes to Don Vito with an offer of entering the narcotics trade, backed by the Tattaglia Family. During the meeting, Sonny speaks out of turn and expresses interest in the plan. Vito refuses the offer, however, and Sollozzo tries to assassinate him in hopes that Sonny, as his father's successor, will go into business with him. The assassination attempt fails but leaves Vito near death, although he eventually recovers. Sonny takes over as acting boss.

When Sonny finds out that the Tattaglias also killed longtime Corleone enforcer Luca Brasi, he orders the death of Bruno Tattaglia, son and underboss of family boss Philip Tattaglia. He then issues an ultimatum to the Tattaglias: Turn over Sollozzo or face war. This sets off the first real conflict in the New York Mafia in a decade, and puts the novel's plot in motion. Sonny's death.Michael, who had previously distanced himself from the family's criminal enterprise, volunteers to kill Sollozzo and his bodyguard, police Captain McCluskey. Sonny is impressed by Michael's loyalty, but doubts that his "college boy" brother has it in him to commit murder. Additionally, despite his violent streak, Sonny is leery of killing a police officer, as it has long been a hard and fast rule in the American Mafia that police and other law enforcement officials are not to be harmed. However, Sonny ultimately gives Michael the clearance to carry out the hit after Michael convinces him that since McCluskey is serving as Sollozzo's bodyguard, he has crossed into their world and is fair game.

Sollozzo and McCluskey set a meeting with him in a small Italian restaurant in the Bronx. Michael kills them both, and is sent immediately to Sicily to wait out the inevitable crackdown on the Five Families. In retaliation, Don Emilio Barzini, the real mastermind of the conspiracy, enlists the help of Sonny's brother-in-law, Carlo Rizzi, in setting a trap for Sonny. Sonny had already beaten Carlo to a pulp upon learning that Carlo was abusing Connie. To draw Sonny out into the open, a vengeful Carlo inflicts a particularly vicious beating on Connie, who telephones Sonny, begging for help. In a fit of rage, Sonny speeds out of the family compound unaccompanied, and heads for Connie's apartment in Hell's Kitchen to confront Carlo. As Sonny approaches the Long Beach Causeway toll plaza, Barzini's men emerge with tommy guns and gun him down before he can flee. Sonny's death does not go unavenged, however.

Vito realises, during a Commission meeting with the heads of the other crime families, that Barzini was responsible, and following Michael's ascension to power, Michael orders the deaths of the other mafia heads to cement his position as the most powerful mafia head in New York. Michael also has Clemenza kill Carlo after getting him to confess by falsely promising him exile instead of death for Connie's sake. Role in Godfather sequels Sonny appears in the original Godfather and in its sequel, The Godfather Part II. In the latter film, he briefly appears in some flashbacks as a young child. A later scene portrays the family dinner in which Michael announces he is volunteering to fight in World War II. He is angered by Michael's decision, and he berates his brother for risking his life "for a bunch of strangers." The flashback reveals that Sonny introduced Carlo to Connie and the rest of the family, hence their later marriage. In The Godfather Part III, Vincent Mancini is introduced as the illegitimate son of Sonny and Lucy Mancini. Vincent succeeds Michael as head of the Corleone family at the end of the film.

Vincent inherites Sonny's fiery temper which causes Michael to fear that Vincent will meet an early death like Sonny. Vincent's existence in the film contradicts the literary universe, as Puzo's original novel stated that Lucy never bore a child with Sonny. Family Vito Corleone — Father; played by Marlon Brando; in Part II played by Robert De Niro as young adult Vito Corleone. Carmela Corleone — Mother; played by Morgana King. Costanza 'Connie' Corleone-Rizzi — Sister; played by Talia Shire. Fredo Corleone — oldest brother; played by John Cazale. Michael Corleone — Youngest brother; played by Al Pacino. Tom Hagen — Adopted brother; played by Robert Duvall. Mary Corleone — Niece; played by Sofia Coppola. Anthony Vito Corleone — Nephew; played by Anthony Gounaris in The Godfather, played by James Gounaris in The Godfather Part II, and played by Franc D'Ambrosio in The Godfather Part III. Sandra Corleone — Wife; played by Julie Gregg.

Francesca Corleone — daughter, born 1937. Kathryn Corleone — daughter, born 1937. Frank Corleone — son, born 1940. Santino Corleone Jr. — son, born 1945. Vincent Corleone — illegitimate son with Lucy Mancini born circa 1946, played by Andy García. Ordered murders Paulie Gatto : Sonny ordered Peter Clemenza to kill Paulie because he betrayed Don Vito Corleone. (1945) Bruno Tattaglia : Sonny ordered Salvatore Tessio to kill Bruno because he plotted Don Vito Corleone's attempted assassination with Virgil Sollozzo. (1945) Virgil Sollozzo : Sonny ordered Sollozzo "The Turk" killed because he plotted Don Vito Corleone's attempted assassination with Bruno Tattaglia. (1947) Captain Mark McCluskey : Sonny ordered Captain McCluskey killed because he was assisting the Tattaglia Family.

(1947) Behind the Scenes Coppola staged Sonny's death scene in The Godfather to be reminiscent of the final death scene of Clyde Barrow (Warren Beatty) and Bonnie Parker (Faye Dunaway) in Bonnie and Clyde. Coppola had the car radio play the broadcast of the baseball playoff game won by Bobby Thomson hitting the Shot Heard Round the World. This would place Sonny's death on October 3, 1951, contradicting the novel by several years. Among the actors auditioning for the role of Michael during casting for The Godfather, one unknown off-Broadway actor named Robert De Niro also read for Sonny's part, as well as Michael's and Carlo's, without success. Raw footage of him in the scene where Paulie Gatto offers to kill Rizzi can be seen on the DVD. Eventually, Coppola cast Caan in the role and gave De Niro the part of Paulie, but he "traded" him to the film The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight for Al Pacino, who soon got the part of Michael. Anthony Perkins not only auditioned for Sonny, but also for Tom Hagen.

Originally Caan was to be cast as the main character Michael Corleone (Sonny's youngest brother), while Carmine Caridi was signed as Sonny. However Coppola demanded that the role of Michael be played by Al Pacino instead. The studio agreed to Pacino but insisted on having Caan be cast as Sonny, so he remained in the production. Caan was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the film, competing with co-stars Pacino and Robert Duvall, giving the movie three entries in that category. Cultural references Sonny's death scene has been parodied several times on The Simpsons, including in the final scene of "All's Fair in Oven War," an episode in which Caan lent his voice. In that episode, the tollbooth death scene is re-enacted as part of Cletus Spuckler's revenge on Caan for "stealing" his wife Brandine's heart. The scene where Sonny beats Carlo Rizzi has also been parodied, in the episode "Strong Arms of the Ma". In the episode "Mr. Plow", Bart is pelted with snowballs in a similar fashion to that of Sonny's final moments.

The tollbooth scene was parodied along with the execution montage in the final scene of the "Dabba Don" episode of the series Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law. In this scene the Ant Hill Mob from Wacky Races gun down Judge Mightor from their car. Bill Simmons, a columnist for ESPN.com, frequently compares the "Sonny Corleone move" to the "Michael Corleone move" when referring to hasty, rash decisions that end badly when a patient, reasoned approach would have been far more successful. Often, this analogy applies to free agent signings and trades in the NBA. In the episode "The Sundance Kids" of HBO's Entourage, after pelting Ari Gold with snowballs, Turtle makes a reference to Sonny's death by saying "we went Sonny Corleone on your ass." Also, in Season 3 in the episode "What about Bob?" Turtle makes a similar reference when he says "Vince, what the hell is going on? I feel like Sonny Corleone at the toll booth!". Vito Corleone | Villains Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse.

„ ~ Don Vito Corleone's most famous line and one of the most famous movie quotes of all time. Don Vito Corleone is a major character and the titular character from The Godfather novel and films although he appears more prominently in the first installment and in some reccuring flashbacks in the second. Vito was the first head of the Corleone Family and he was a senior Mafia don and a wealthy Olive oil business owner. In the 1972 film adaptaion, He was portrayed by the late legendary Marlon Brando, who later won the Oscar for his performance, and would later go on to play Walter E. Kurtz . In The Godfather: Part II ,He was portrayed by the legendary Robert De Niro who also portrayed Travis Bickle and Jimmy Conway . Biography The novel explains that Vito was born in the small town of Corleone in 1891. According to The Godfather Part II, he was born on December 7. His father, Antonio Andolini, is murdered by the local Mafia boss, Don Ciccio, because he refused to pay tribute to him. His older brother, Paolo, swears revenge, but is himself murdered soon after.

Eventually, Ciccio's henchmen come to the residence of the Andolinis to take Vito away and have him killed. Desperate, Signora Andolini takes her son to see the mafia chieftain herself. When Vito's mother goes to see Don Ciccio, she begs him to spare Vito. However, Ciccio refuses, reasoning that Vito would also seek revenge as an adult. Upon Ciccio's refusal, Signora Andolini puts a knife to his throat, allowing her son to escape, but is then shot dead by Ciccio's guards. (In the novel, she survives being shot and later reunites with her son in Sicily many years later.) Later that night, he is smuggled away, fleeing Sicily to seek refuge in America on a cargo ship full of immigrants. In the novel, he deliberately changes his name to Corleone, after his home town. The film, however, plays that he is renamed "Vito Corleone" because the immigration workers at Ellis Island mistake "Andolini" for his middle name and the name of his town for his last name.

According to The Godfather Part II, he later adopts the middle name "Andolini" to acknowledge his heritage. Vito is later adopted by the Abbandando family in Manhattan's Lower East Side, and he befriends their son, Genco, who becomes like a brother to him. Vito begins making an honest living at Abbandando's grocery store on Ninth Avenue, but loses the job, as an intimidated Abbandando is forced to fire Vito to make room for the nephew of Don Fanucci, a blackhander and the local neighborhood padrone. A young Vito (played by Robert De Niro) kills Don Fanucci He soon learns to survive and prosper through petty crime and performing favors in return for loyalty. During this time, he also befriends two other low-level hoods, Peter Clemenza and Salvatore Tessio . In 1920, he commits his first murder, killing Fanucci, who had tried to extort money from him. Vito chooses the day of a major Italian festival to spy on Fanucci from the rooftops as Fanucci goes home, and surprises him at the door to his apartment.

He shoots Fanucci three times, as the din from the festival and the towel he had wrapped around the gun as a makeshift silencer drowns out the noise from the gunshots. As a young man, Vito starts an olive oil business, Genco Pura (known as simply Genco Olive Oil in the films) with his friend Genco Abbandando. The company eventually becomes the biggest olive oil importer in the nation. Over the years he uses it as a legal front for his organized crime syndicate, while amassing a fortune with his illegal operations. In 1925, he returns to Sicily for the first time since leaving 24 years earlier. He and his partner, Don Tommasino, then set up a meeting with the aging Don Ciccio, where he kills him by carving his stomach open, thus avenging his murdered father, mother and brother. By the early 1930s, Vito Corleone has organized his illegal operations as the Corleone crime family. Genco Abbandando becomes his consigliere, or advisor, with Clemenza and Tessio as caporegimes.

Later, his oldest son Santino (nicknamed "Sonny") becomes a capo as well, and eventually his underboss. Around 1939, he moves his base of operations to Long Beach, on Long Island. While he oversees a business founded on gambling, bootlegging, and union corruption, he is known as a kind, generous man who lives by a strict moral code of loyalty to friends and, above all, family. He is a staunch believer in family values, rebuking his eldest son for conducting an affair, speaking contemptuously of his rival Don Tattaglia as "a pimp" and (in a deleted scene) expressing disgust ("infamia") at Jack Woltz's abuse of underage girls. At the same time, he is known as a traditionalist who demands respect commensurate with his status.

By the time of the novel and film, even his three closest friends — Abbadando, Clemenza and Tessio — never call him "Vito", but either "Godfather" or "Don Corleone." In both the book and the first scene of the first Godfather, he chastises his old friend, undertaker Amerigo Bonasera, for not coming to him first after his daughter is beaten up instead of going to the police. Although he has a reputation for ruthlessness, he disapproves of many of the vicious crimes carried out by gangs, and so seeks to control crime in New York by either consuming or eliminating rival gangs. In 1945, Vito is nearly assassinated when he refuses the request of Virgil Sollozzo to invest in a heroin operation and use his political contacts for the operation's protection. At the meeting for the request, Sonny intimates that he is interested in the offer; after the meeting, Vito warns his son that he should never let anyone but the family in on his thinking. Vito is supposed to be driven home by his bodyguard, Paulie Gatto (a soldier in the Clemenza regime), along with his son Fredo .

When the Don finds that Paulie is not there, Fredo tells him that Paulie has called in sick that day due to a cold. The Don crosses the street to buy oranges from a street vendor, when two of Sollozzo's hitmen come out from the shadows with guns drawn. Realizing the situation, Vito tries to sprint back to his Cadillac but he is shot five times. Drawing his weapon, Fredo tries to help his father, but is overcome with uncontrollable fear, fumbles with his gun—and can't get to his defense in time. Certain that the Don is dead, Sollozzo kidnaps Corleone family consigliere Tom Hagen and tells him to get Sonny to accept the drug deal. Hagen agrees, but warns Sollozzo that the Don's fanatically loyal hitman, Luca Brasi , will likely come after Sollozzo. Sollozzo merely tells him to "let me worry about Luca", not telling him that he already killed him hours earlier. Just as Hagen is released, Sollozzo finds out the Don survived. Enraged, he makes a second attempt two days later. The Don is at the French Hospital being guarded by men from Tessio's regime.

However, Sollozzo has police Captain Mark McCluskey — who has been on the take for many years — throw Tessio's men in jail, leaving the Don unguarded. Unfortunately for Sollozzo and McCluskey, Vito's youngest son Michael comes to visit his father just minutes before the attack is due. Realizing that his father is in danger, Michael has a nurse help him move the Don to another room and pretends to stand guard outside the hospital with Enzo the baker, a man who had come to visit the Don in gratitude for his earlier assistance in allowing him to stay in America. Injuries from the attack put Vito out of action for the next three years, during which Sonny serves as acting head of the family. Sonny determines that Paulie took money from Sollozzo in return for betraying the Don, and orders him killed. He also gets word the Tattaglias had killed Luca Brasi, and orders Tessio's men to kill the family's underboss, Bruno Tattaglia, when the Tattaglias refused to turn him over.

Michael persuades Sonny to allow him to avenge their father by killing Sollozzo and McCluskey himself, noting that as a longtime non-combatant he would be little suspected and that the otherwise off-limits action of killing a police captain was justified by the fact that McCluskey is serving as Sollozzo's bodyguard. Also, Michael points out, the family's media contacts can spread word of McCluskey's corruption. A year later, Sonny himself is assassinated in a plot instigated by his sister, Connie's abusive husband Carlo Rizzi, in revenge for beating up after first learning of his abuse. This forces Vito to resume command. He ordered that no inquiries be made, and also ordered that no vengeance should be sought. With the Don incapacitated, the other families had moved in on his business interests, as well as his labor rackets. With the Don's return, rival families now started reconsidering their moves.

Corleone making peace with Tattaglia After Sonny's funeral and other formalities, Vito orders Hagen to contact Emilio Barzini, the second most powerful Mafia chieftain in the country, in order to arrange a meeting of heads of all the families in America except the Chicago Outfit (considered the "black sheep" of the underworld). The meeting takes place in the board room of a Manhattan bank whose president was a close friend of the Corleones. In that meeting, Vito renounces all vengeance regarding his son's death, and reluctantly agrees to the drug operations. However, he says he only accepts this for "selfish reasons" in order to bring Michael back from exile in Sicily. He then says that, should anything happen to Michael or his other remaining children, he will exact indiscriminate vengeance upon all of the Dons. Though it pains him to do this, he gains the knowledge that both Tattaglia and Sollozzo were merely pawns in a bigger plot to destroy the family started by Barzini himself, aided and abetted by the other dons. After Michael's return from Sicily, Vito installs him in the family business.

After Michael's marriage to long-time girlfriend Kay Adams, Vito goes into semi-retirement. Michael becomes operating head of the family, with Vito as an informal consigliere. Michael sends Hagen to Las Vegas to act as the family's lawyer there and lay the groundwork for a planned move of most operations there after Vito's death. Clemenza and Tessio request permission to break off and form their own families after the move to Las Vegas. Michael's bodyguards Al Neri and Rocco Lampone are chosen to be the future caporegimes of the family. At the end of the novel, Vito dies of a heart attack while playing with his grandson Anthony in his garden. His last words in the novel are, "Life is so beautiful." Vito's funeral is a grand affair, with all the other dons, capos and consiglieres in New York attending. Vito tells Michael some days before his death that Barzini would set Michael up to be killed under cover of a meeting "to fix up things." Barzini would use a trusted member of the Corleone family as an intermediary.

At the funeral, Tessio tells Michael that he had set up a meeting on his territory in Brooklyn, where Michael would presumably be safe. However, Michael had anticipated this and has Tessio killed, as well as Dons Barzini and Tattaglia (and in the film, Dons Cuneo and Stracci as well) and Carlo Rizzi as well after getting him to confess to his part in Sonny's death, thus avenging his father and brother. The Godfather: The Game Vito Corleone also appeares in the 2005 video game adaptation of the first film where he sends the player on some missions.

Question: Who played Don Vito Corleone in the 1972 film The Godfather?
Answer: Marlon Brando