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The Godfather

1972 American crime film by Francis Ford Coppola

The Godfather is a 1972 film about a Mafia crime family and the outbreak of a New York City gang war in the late 1940s.

I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse. Now, you just go outside and enjoy yourself, and, uh, forget about all this nonsense. I want you, I want you to leave it all to me.
Where does it say that you can't kill a cop? I'm talking about a cop that's mixed up in drugs. I'm talking about a dishonest cop and a crooked cop who got mixed up in the rackets and got what was coming to him. It's not personal, Sonny. It's strictly business.
Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Written by Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's novel.
An offer you can't refuse.

Vito Corleone

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  • [to Bonasera] I want you to use all your powers, and all your skills. I don't want his mother to see him this way. [pulls sheet to reveal Sonny's bullet-ridden body] Look how they massacred my boy.
  • I spent my whole life trying not to be careless. Women and children can afford to be careless, but not men.

Peter Clemenza

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  • [to Rocco Lampone, after Rocco kills Paulie Gatto] Leave the gun. Take the Cannoli.

Dialogue

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[First lines]
Amerigo Bonasera: I believe in America. America has made my fortune, and I raised my daughter in the American fashion. I gave her freedom, but I taught her never to dishonor her family. She found a boyfriend, not an Italian. She went to the movies with him. She stayed out late. I didn't protest. Two months ago, he took her for a drive, with another boy friend. They made her drink whiskey and then they tried to take advantage of her. She resisted. She kept her honor, so they beat her like an animal. When I went to the hospital her nose was broken. Her jaw was shattered, held together by wire. She couldn't even weep because of the pain, but I wept. Why did I weep? She was the light of my life. A beautiful girl. Now she will never be beautiful again. [sobs] Sorry. I went to the police, like a good American. These two boys were brought to trial. The judge sentenced them to three years in prison and suspended sentence. Suspended sentence! They went free that very day! I stood in the courtroom like a fool, and those two bastards, they smiled at me. Then I said to my wife, "For justice, we must go to Don Corleone."
Vito: Why did you go to the police? Why didn't you come to me first?
Bonasera: What do you want of me? Tell me anything, but do what I beg you to do.
Vito: What is that?
Bonasera: [whispering in Vito's ear] I want them dead.
Vito: That I can't do.
Bonasera: I will give you anything you ask.
Vito: We've known each other many years, but this is the first time you ever came to me for counsel or for help. I can't remember the last time that you invited me to your house for a cup of coffee, even though my wife is godmother to your only child. But let's be frank here. You never wanted my friendship and, uh, you were afraid to be in my debt.
Bonasera: I didn't want to get into trouble.
Vito: I understand. You found paradise in America, you had a good trade, you made a good living, the police protected you, and there were courts of law. You didn't need a friend like me. But, now you come to me, and you say: "Don Corleone, give me justice." But you don't ask with respect. You don't offer friendship. You don't even think to call me Godfather. Instead, you come into my house on the day my daughter is to be married, and you ask me to do murder for money.
Bonasera: I ask for justice.
Vito: That is not justice. Your daughter is still alive.
Bonasera: Let them suffer then, as she suffers. How much shall I pay you?
Vito: Bonasera, Bonasera. What have I ever done to make you treat me so disrespectfully? If you'd come to me in friendship, then that 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.
Bonasera: Be my friend, Godfather. [kisses Vito's hand]
Vito: Good. Someday - and that day may never come - I'll call upon you to do a service for me. But until that day, accept this justice as a gift on my daughter's wedding day.
Bonasera: Grazie, Godfather.
Vito: Prego. [Bonasera leaves; to Tom] Give this to, uh, Clemenza. I want reliable people, people who aren't going to be carried away. After all, we're not murderers, in spite of what this undertaker thinks.
Michael: Well, when Johnny was first starting out, he was signed to this personal service contract with a big band leader. And as his career got better and better, he wanted to get out of it. Now, Johnny is my father's godson. And my father went to see this band leader, and he offered him $10,000 to let Johnny go. But the band leader said no. So the next day, my father went to see him, only this time with Luca Brasi. And within an hour, he signed a release, for a certified check for $1,000.
Kay: How'd he do that?
Michael: My father made him an offer he couldn't refuse.
Kay: What was that?
Michael: Luca Brasi held a gun to his head, and my father assured him that either his brains or his signature would be on the contract. That's a true story. That's my family, Kay. It's not me.
Johnny: [about Woltz] A month ago, he bought the movie rights to this book, a best-seller, and the main character, it's a guy just like me. I, uh, I wouldn't even have to act, just be myself. [choking up] Oh, Godfather, I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do.
Vito: [shaking Johnny] You can act like a man! [slaps Johnny] What's the matter with you? Is this how you turned out, a Hollywood finocchio that cries like a woman? "Eheheh! What can I do? What can I do?" What is that nonsense? Ridiculous. You spend time with your family?
Johnny: Sure I do.
Vito: Good, because a man who doesn't spend time with his family can never be a real man. Come here. You look terrible. I want you to eat. I want you to rest a while, and in a month from now, this Hollywood bigshot's gonna give you what you want.
Johnny: It's too late, they start shooting in a week.
Vito: I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse. Now, you just go outside and enjoy yourself, and, uh, forget about all this nonsense. I want you, I want you to leave it all to me.
Vito: [to Sollozzo] I must say no to you, and I'll give you my reasons. It's true, I have a lot of friends in politics, but they wouldn't be friendly very long if they knew my business was drugs instead of gambling, which they regard as a – a harmless vice. But drugs is a dirty business. It makes, it doesn't make any difference to me what a man does for a living, understand. But your business is, uh, a little dangerous.
Sollozzo: If you're worried about security for your million, the Tattaglias will guarantee it.
Sonny: Oh, you're telling me that the Tattaglias guarantee our investment?
Vito: Wait a minute. I have a sentimental weakness for my children, and I spoil them, as you can see. They talk when they should listen. But anyway, Signor Sollozzo, my "no" is final and I wish to congratulate you on your new business. I know you'll do very well, and good luck to you, especially since your interests don't conflict with mine. Thank you. [Sollozzo leaves] Santino, come here. What's the matter with you? I think your brain's going soft from all that comedy you're playing with that young girl. Never tell anybody outside the family what you're thinking again.
Sollozzo: Your boss is dead. I know you're not in the muscle-end of the family, Tom, so I don't want you to be scared. I want you to help the Corleones, and I want you to help me. [hands Tom a drink.] Yeah, we got him outside his office just about an hour after we picked you up. Drink it. So now it's up to you to make the peace between me and Sonny. Sonny was hot for my idea, wasn't he? And you knew it was the right thing to do.
Tom: Sonny'll come after you with everything he's got.
Sollozzo: That'll be his first reaction, sure. That's why you gotta talk some sense into him. The Tattaglia family is behind me with all their people. The other New York families will go along with anything that will prevent a full-scale war. Let's face it, Tom, and all due respect, the Don, rest in peace, was slipping. Ten years ago, could I have gotten to him? Well, now, he's dead. He's dead, Tom, and nothing can bring him back, so you gotta talk to Sonny. You gotta talk to the caporegimes, that Tessio and that fat Clemenza. It's good business, Tom.
Tom: I'll try, but even Sonny won't be able to call off Luca Brasi.
Sollozzo: Yeah, well, let me worry about Luca. You just talk to Sonny and the other two kids.
Tom: I'll do my best.
Sollozzo: Good. Now, you can go. I don't like violence, Tom. I'm a business man. Blood is a big expense. [receives news from an arriving car] He's still alive. They hit him with five shots, and he's still alive! Well, that's bad luck for me, and bad luck for you if you don't make that deal!
[Sonny opens a package to find two fish wrapped in Luca's bulletproof vest]
Sonny: What the hell is this?
Tessio: It's a Sicilian message. It means Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes.
[Police cars pull up outside the hospital where Michael is standing; he is grabbed by an officer and searched]
Officer Phil: Now hold still.
[Police Captain McCluskey leaves his car and approaches Michael angrily]
McCluskey: I thought I got all you guinea hoods locked up! What the hell are you doing here?
Michael: What happened to the men who were guarding my father, Captain?
McCluskey: Why, you little punk! What the hell are you doing, telling me my business? I pulled them guys off of here! Now you get outta here, and stay away from this hospital!
Michael: I'm not moving until you put some guards around my father's room.
McCluskey: Phil, take him in!
Officer Phil: The kid's clean, Captain! He's a war hero! He's never been busted for the rackets-
McCluskey: Goddamn it, I said take him in!
Michael: What's the Turk paying you to set up my father, Captain?
McCluskey: [enraged] Take a hold of him! Stand him up! Stand him up straight! [punches Michael, breaking his jaw]
Tom: This is business, not personal!
Sonny: They shot my father. It's business, your ass!
Tom: Even shooting your father was business, not personal, Sonny!
Michael: They wanna have a meeting with me, right? It will be me, McCluskey and Sollozzo. Let's set the meeting. Get our informers to find out where it's gonna be held. Now, we insist it's a public place: a bar, a restaurant, some place where there's people so I feel safe. They're gonna search me when I first meet them, right? So I can't have a weapon on me then. But if Clemenza can figure a way, to have a weapon planted there for me, then I'll kill 'em both.
Sonny: [laughing, along with the others] Hey, what are ya gonna do, nice college boy, eh? Didn't want to get mixed up in the family business huh? Now you wanna gun down a police captain. Why? Because he slapped you in the face a little bit? Hah? What do you think this is, the Army where you shoot 'em a mile away? You've gotta get up close like this and bada-bing! You blow their brains all over your nice Ivy League suit. [kisses Michael's head] You're taking this very personal.
Michael: Where does it say that you can't kill a cop? I'm talking about a cop that's mixed up in drugs. I'm talking about a dishonest cop and a crooked cop who got mixed up in the rackets and got what was coming to him. It's not personal, Sonny. It's strictly business.
[Committing to kill Captain McCluskey and Sollozzo, Michael seeks help from Peter Clemenza]
Clemenza: [shows Michael a revolver] This is as cold as they come, impossible to trace, so you don't worry about prints, Mike. I put a special tape on the trigger and the butt. Here, try it. [Michael takes the revolver] What'sa matter? The trigger too tight?
Michael: No. [fires] Ah, my ears.
Clemenza: Yeah, I left it noisy. That way, it scares any pain-in-the-ass innocent bystanders away. All right, you shot 'em both. Now what do you do?
Michael: Sit down, finish my dinner.
Clemenza: Come on, kid. Don't fool around. Just let your hand drop to your side, and let the gun slip out. Everybody'll still think you got it. They're gonna be staring at your face, Mike, so walk out of the place real fast, but don't run. Don't look nobody directly in the eye, but you don't look away either. Eh, they're gonna be scared stiff of you, believe me, so don't worry about nothing. You know, you gonna turn out all right. You take a long vacation, nobody knows where, and we gonna catch the hell.
Michael: How bad do you think it's gonna be?
Clemenza: Pretty god-damn bad. Probably, all the other families will line up against us. That's all right. These things gotta happen every five years or so, ten years. Helps to get rid of the bad blood. Been ten years since the last one. You know, you gotta stop 'em at the beginning, like they shoulda stopped Hitler at Munich. They should never have let him get away with that. They was just asking for big trouble. You know, Mike, we was all proud of you, being a hero and all. Your father, too.
Fabrizio: [in Sicilian, upon seeing Apollonia] Mamma mia, what a beauty.
[Apollonia says something in Sicilian and is startled to see the three men watching her. She and Michael exchange looks]
Fabrizio: [to Michael, in Sicilian] I think you got hit by the thunderbolt.
Calo: [in Sicilian] In Sicily, women are more dangerous than shotguns.
[Michael, Fabrizio, and Calo visit the Bar Vitelli]
Vitelli: [in Sicilian] Did you have a good hunt?
Fabrizio: [in Sicilian] You know all the girls around here? We saw some real beauties. One of them struck our friend like a thunderbolt. She would tempt the devil himself. Really put together. Such hair, such mouth!
Vitelli: [in Sicilian] The girls around here are beautiful but virtuous.
Fabrizio: [in Sicilian] This one had a purple dress and a purple ribbon in her hair. A type more Greek than Italian. Do you know her?
Vitelli: [in Sicilian] No! There's no girl like that in his town! [storms back into the cafe]
Fabrizio: [in Sicilian] My God, I understand! [gets up to look at the cafe]
Michael: [to Calo, in Sicilian] What's wrong?
Fabrizio: [in Sicilian] Let's go. It's his daughter.
Michael: [in Sicilian] Tell him to come here.
Fabrizio: [in Sicilian, points thumb inside] You don't understand. It's his daughter!
Michael: [in Sicilian] Call him. [Fabrizio heads inside to usher Mr Vitelli out, flanked by his sons] Fabrizio, translate for me. [to Mr Vitelli in English, with Fabrizio translating] I apologize if I offended you. I'm a stranger in this country and I meant no disrespect, to you or your daughter.
Vitelli: [in Sicilian, to Fabrizio] Who is this? He sounds American.
Michael: I'm an American hiding in Sicily. My name is Michael Corleone. There are people who'd pay a lot of money for that information, but then your daughter would lose a father...instead of gaining a husband. I want to meet your daughter with your permission and under the supervision of your family with all respect.
Vitelli: [in Sicilian, attaches suspenders] Come to my house Sunday morning. My name is Vitelli.
Michael [stands up, in Sicilian] thank you and what is your daughter's name?
Vitelli: Apollonia.
Michael: Bene.
Vito: [sees Tom Hagen with a drink] Give me a drop. My wife is crying upstairs. I hear cars coming to the house. Consigliere of mine, I think you should tell your Don what everyone seems to know.
Tom: I didn't tell Mama anything. I was about to come up and wake you and tell you.
Vito: But you needed a drink first.
Tom: Yeah.
Vito: Well, now you've had your drink.
Tom: They shot Sonny on the causeway. He's dead.
Vito: I want no inquiries made. I want no acts of vengeance. I want you to arrange a meeting with the heads of the Five Families. This war stops now.
[In the wake of Sonny's assassination, Don Vito talks to the heads of the Five Families]
Vito: How did things ever get so far? I don't know. It was so unfortunate, so unnecessary. Tattaglia lost a son and I lost a son. We're quits, and if Tattaglia agrees, then I'm willing to let things go on the way they were before.
Barzini: We're all grateful to Don Corleone for calling this meeting. We all know him as a man of his word. A modest man who will always listen to reason.
Tattaglia: Yes, Barzini, he is too modest. He had all the judges and politicians in his pocket, and refused to share them.
Vito: When? When did I ever refuse an accommodation? All of you know me here. When did I ever refuse, except one time? And why? Because I believe this drug business is gonna destroy us in the years to come. I mean, it's not like gambling or liquor, even women, which is something that most people want nowadays and it's forbidden to them by the pezzonovantes in the church. Even the police departments have helped us in the past with gambling and other things. They're gonna refuse to help us when it comes to narcotics. And I believed that then, and I believe that now.
Barzini: Times have changed. It's not like the old days when we could do anything we want. A refusal is not the act of a friend. Don Corleone had all the judges and the politicians in New York, and he must share them. He must let us draw the water from the well. Certainly, he can present a bill for such services. After all, we are not Communists!
Zaluchi: I also don't believe in drugs. For years I paid my people extra so they wouldn't do that kind of business. Somebody comes to them and says, "I have powders. If you put up three, four thousand dollar investment, we can make fifty thousand distributing." So they can't resist. I want to control it as a business, to keep it respectable. I don't want it near schools! I don't want it sold to children! That's an infamia. In my city, we would keep the traffic in the dark people, the coloreds. They're animals anyway, so let them lose their souls.
Vito: I hoped that we would come here and reason together. And as a reasonable man, I'm willing to do whatever is necessary to find a peaceful solution to these problems.
Barzini: Then we are agreed. The traffic in drugs will be permitted, but controlled, and Don Corleone will give us protection in the east, and there will be the peace.
Tattaglia: But I must have strict assurance from Corleone. As time goes by and his position becomes stronger, will he attempt any individual vendetta?
Barzini: Look, we are all reasonable men here. We don't have to give assurances as if we were lawyers.
Vito: You talk about vengeance. Is vengeance going to bring your son back to you or my boy to me? I forgo the vengeance on my son. But I have selfish reasons. My youngest son was forced to leave this country because of all this Solozzo business. All right. Now I have to make arrangements to bring him back here safely, but I'm a superstitious man, and if some unlucky accident should befall him—if he should get shot in the head by a police officer, or if he 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 me say that I swear on the souls of my grandchildren that I will not be the one to break the peace that we have made here today.
[Don Vito and Tom travel home from the Five Families meeting]
Tom: When I meet with the Tattaglia people, should I insist that all his drug middlemen have clean records?
Vito: Mention it. Don't insist. Barzini is a man who'll know that without being told.
Tom: You mean Tattaglia?
Vito: Tattaglia's a pimp. He never could've outfought Santino, but I didn't know until this day that it was Barzini all along.
[Now back in America, Michael visits Kay Adams in school and they go for a walk]
Michael: I'm working for my father now. He's been sick, very sick.
Kay: But you're not like him, Michael. I thought you weren't going to become a man like your father. That's what you told me.
Michael: My father's no different than any other powerful man; any man who's responsible for other people, like a senator or a president.
Kay: [laughs] You know how naïve you sound?
Michael: Why?
Kay: Senators and presidents don't have men killed.
Michael: Oh. Who's being naïve, Kay? Kay, my father's way of doing things is over, it's finished. Even he knows that. I mean, in five years, the Corleone family is going to be completely legitimate. Trust me. That's all I can tell you about my business.
[Michael talks to Moe Greene about buying his casino, but notices Fredo taking Moe's side when the issue of Moe slapping him is brought up]
Moe: I got a business to run. I gotta kick asses sometimes to make it run right. We had a little argument, Freddy and I, so I had to straighten him out.
Michael: [coldly] You straightened my brother out?
Moe: He was banging cocktail waitresses two at a time! Players couldn't get a drink at the table! What's the matter with you?
Michael: [ponders and picks up cigarette pack] I leave for New York tomorrow, think about a price. [stands and goes to couch]
Moe: [angrily stands up with Fredo slightly blocking him] Do you know who I am? I'm Moe Greene! I made my bones when you were going out with cheerleaders!
Fredo: Wait a minute, Moe, Moe, I got an idea. [Moe brushes him off; approaches Tom Hagen] Tom, you're the consiglieri and you can talk to the Don, you can explain...
Tom: Now hold it right there. The Don is semi-retired and Mike is in charge of the Family business now. If you have anything to say, say it to Michael.
[Moe Greene leaves]
Fredo: Mike! You don't come to Las Vegas and talk to a man like Moe Greene like that!
Michael: [takes a drag] Fredo, [looks at him] you're my older brother, and I love you, but don't ever take sides with anyone against the family again. Ever.
Vito: I knew that Santino was gonna have to go through all this, and Fredo, well, Fredo was...but I never - I never wanted this for you. I worked my whole life - I don't apologize - to take care of my family. And I refused to be a fool dancing on a string held by all of those big shots. I don't apologize. That's my life, but I thought that when it was your time, that you would be the one to hold the strings. Senator Corleone. Governor Corleone. Something.
Michael: Another pezzonovante.
Vito: Well, there wasn't enough time, Michael. Wasn't enough time.
Michael: We'll get there, Pop. We'll get there.
[Sal and Tom prepare to go to the meeting with Barzini]
Sal: I hope Mike can get us a good deal.
Tom: I'm sure he will.
Willy: [intercepts the two] Sal, Tom? Boss says he'll come in a separate car. He says for you two to go on ahead.
Sal: Hell, he can't do that. It screws up all my arrangements!
Cicci: Well, that's what he said.
Tom: I can't go either, Sal.
[Several button men close in around Tessio]
Sal: Tell Mike it was only business. I always liked him.
Tom: He understands that.
Cicci: 'Scuse me, Sal. [disarms Tessio]
Sal: [confidently] Tom, can you get me off the hook, for old time's sake?
Tom: Can't do it, Sally. [signals Cicci to take Tessio away]
[While Carlo dials the phone, Michael Corleone enters the room with Tom Hagen, Al Neri and Rocco Lampone. Carlo turns and looks at Michael's new inner circle]
Michael: You have to answer for Santino, Carlo.
Carlo: Mike, you've got it all wrong!
Michael: You fingered Sonny for the Barzini people. Ah, that little farce you played with my sister. Did you think that would fool a Corleone?
Carlo: Mike, I'm innocent. I swear on my kids. Please don't do this to me, Mike.
Michael: Sit down.
Carlo: Please don't do this. Please.
Michael: Barzini's dead. So is Phillip Tattaglia, Moe Greene, Stracci, Cuneo. Today, I settle all family business, so don't tell me you're innocent, Carlo. Admit what you did. [Carlo breaks down] Get him a drink. Come on. Don't be afraid, Carlo. Come on. You think I'd make my sister a widow? I'm Godfather to your son, Carlo. [Gives Carlo a drink] Go ahead, drink. Drink. No, Carlo, you're out of the family business, that's your punishment. We're finished. I'm putting you on a plane to Vegas. Tom? [Tom produces a plane ticket] I want you to stay there, understand? Only, don't tell me you're innocent, because it insults my intelligence. It makes me very angry. Now who approached you: Tattaglia or Barzini?
Carlo: It was Barzini.
Michael: Good. There's a car waiting for you outside, it'll take you to the airport. I'll call your wife and tell her what flight you're on.
Carlo: [last words] Mike, it was-
Michael: Get out of my sight.
[Carlo gets in the car and notices Clemenza sitting behind him]
Clemenza: Hey, Carlo. [strangles Carlo to death]
[Last lines; Connie has just accused Michael of having Carlo killed]
Michael: [chuckles to himself] She's hysterical. Hysterical.
Kay: Michael, is it true?
Michael: [rolls his eyes] Don't ask me about my business, Kay.
Kay: Is it true?
Michael: Don't ask me about my business.
Kay: No!
Michael: [slaps the desk] Enough! [pauses; sighs] All right, this one time. This one time, I'll let you ask me about my affairs.
Kay: Is it true? Is it?
Michael: [lies] No.
Kay: [smiles with relief] I guess we both need a drink, huh? Come on. [goes to the other room to get themselves a drink, but notices the men approaching Michael]
Clemenza: [kissing Michael's hand] Don Corleone.
[One of the men walks up, and slowly closes the door on Kay]

Cast

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Quotes about The Godfather

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  • One of my favorite books-and I emphasize the word book here because I'm not talking about the movie-is The Godfather, because that book took me to another world-not necessarily a real world, but it did make good guys of some rather unpleasant people. It did take me to another world.

See also

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