The Godfather's James Caan Upset Francis Ford Coppola Cut A Long Scene
The Godfather's James Caan is still upset over director Francis Ford Coppola's decision to cut an extended scene from the movie. Released in 1972, The Godfather quickly became the most popular film of the year, topping the box office chart with $86 million gross (approximately $583 million adjusted for inflation). The film became a cultural phenomenon and is recognized as one of the best films ever made. The American Film Institute placed The Godfather as the third best film of all time in their 100 Years... 100 Movies list, only to be bumped to second place in their updated 2007 list, only behind Citizen Kane.
James Caan stars as Santino "Sonny" Corleone, the mafia family's patriarch Vito Corleone's (Marlon Brando) eldest son in The Godfather. After Vito rejects a business proposition with the rival family, the Tattaglias, he is gunned down in the streets as retaliation. This temporarily pushes Sonny to the head of the family with revenge on his mind. However, one scene cut from The Godfather had Caan's Sonny and Robert Duvall's Hagen opposite each other, and Caan's still not over it.
In a recent THR interview, venerable actor James Caan opens up about his experiences working on the iconic crime film The Godfather. Caan remembers a pivotal moment in the saga's first film when Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) takes a significant step forward as a part of the Corleone family and reveals his plan to kill both Sollazzo and New York City police Captain McClusky. In the scene, Sonny and the family's consigliere, Hagen (Robert Duvall), argue over taking action against the Tattaglia family and the corrupt NYPD captain. According to Caan, there was a scene written that takes place before that moment but was cut out of the final film. Read what Caan had to say about the matter below.
"When Michael [Pacino] tells me he is going to take care of the cop and Sollozzo [Al Lettieri], I say, ‘You’ll get brains all over your nice Ivy League suit.’ There was a scene before in the same room that I had with Bobby [Duvall] that was like 10 pages long — and Francis cut all of it out! I was so pissed off, I couldn’t watch the rest of the film."
Although Caan was upset with Coppola for cutting a scene in which Sonny was the central focus, the actor was still happy with how the film turned out, adding, "But otherwise, he gave me a great honor." Caan garnered nominations for his role at the Academy Awards and the Golden Globes. Although he did not win, The Godfather took home top honors at both award ceremonies.
Before production on the film began, both Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo, the original writer of the book the film is based on, independently wrote two separate screenplays for the film. The two later combined their scripts, trimming and excising any scenes that did not fit with the film thematically, and ended up with a screenplay that sat at a whopping 163 pages. The average screenplay length sits between 90 and 120 pages. Although the scene in question was most likely a well-written one, as evidenced by Caan's reaction to its removal, there is no doubt that the scene was unnecessary due to The Godfather's unanimous critical acclaim as a near-perfect film. Caan was given the role of a lifetime, winning over critics and audiences worldwide with his immortalizing performance. Although Sonny died in the first film, Caan returned for a brief yet memorable cameo in The Godfather Part II.
Source: THR