Thank god for Coppola, otherwise Robert Evans would've destroyed everything. Everybody thinks highly of Evans as the main idea behind this movie, but the guy was just a bluffing egomaniac. The way he treated Al Pacino by calling him a 'midget' all through production--I mean, all he did was interfere, it was Ruddy and Coppola who had to face the heat all the time--from the Italian American League and stuff. And where was he all the time? Probably screwing some wannabe actress in his high-mansion. Then he comes along after everything is said and done and puts in Jazz scores and cuts the movie length and then asks Coppola to put it back to the original running time again?!? No wonder Brando didn't turn up for shooting on for the last flash-back of GFII. If it weren't for Coppola's intellect, Puzo's sleazy pulp-novel would've been transferred to screen with all the warts and all: Lucy Mancini's large pussy? Fonatane's dull philandering and whining etc. Thank you Coppola.
Well to be fair to Evans, he is also the man who is responsible for saying yes to Robert Towne when he wanted to write Chinatown rather than The Great Gatsby. He is responsible for hiring Roman Polanski to direct, and then leaving them alone to make the film.
This is also the man who produced Marathon Man, Black Sunday, Urban Cowboy, and The Two Jakes.
I think calling him a scum-bag and a whorehopper is a bit much.
Ultimately he was smart enough to not fire Coppola and wise enough to realize when he was wrong and let Coppola do it his way.
The real hacks are the ones you never hear about, because the films never got made or the original director got fired.
Yeah, sorry it was a bit too much. I just got a little emotional . I just don't think he deserved that much of credit, I mean the way he talks about it now he gives this picture that it was all him. Even Francis Coppola sent him a letter years later writing how upset he was with Evans going around bragging about the Godfather without admitting that their was a lot of other parties involved in the movie's success. It was Francis, Ruddy, Gordon Willis, Nina Rota, even script doctor Robert Towne (who helped in the important garden scene between Pacino and Brando) who were the main components. Evans made a few smart decisions, that's all. He lucked out. Thanks to the talent of others.
Is this going too bee another home video widescreen (1.78:1) release? (ala VHS, LD, & DVD) Or, will it be the first home video OAR (1.85:1) release?
Thanks.
Check this site out for color (as well as full frame vs. widescreen) variation: The Godfather - Widescreen vs Full-Frame Man, the BD of this should be a revelation!!!
LOL. The large pussy wasn't mentioned in the movie, but Sonny Corleone's large unit was hinted at in the scene where Lucy Mancini was gesturing how large it was to the other ladies at the wedding.
Well, at least one: I pre-ordered it from Amazon even though I don't have a Blu-ray player yet. I guess I have a couple of months to decide on which one to get.
I would say that most people probably saw it projected at 1.85:1 as most American theaters in 1972 would have been unable to project a flat film at any other ratio.
I have no idea if that was the intended ratio or not, maybe Mr. Harris knows.
Theatrically all three films were projected at somewhere around 1.85, but not necessarily based upon a rectangle, dependent upon the conditions of the individual theatre.
The first two films were photographed 1.37 open matte, and protected for a bit more than 1.77. The difference between 1.85 and 1.78 is several additional video lines of information top and bottom, and the difference virtually unidentifiable.