The early life and career of Vito Corleone in 1920s New York is portrayed while his son, Michael, expands and tightens his grip on his crime syndicate stretching from Lake Tahoe, Nevada to pre-revolution 1958 Cuba.
The continuing saga of the Corleone crime family tells the story of a young Vito Corleone growing up in Sicily and in 1910s New York; and follows Michael Corleone in the 1950s as he attempts to expand the family business into Las Vegas, Hollywood and Cuba.
Written by Keith Loh <loh@sfu.ca>
There was much debate over whether Robert De Niro should grow a mustache for the scenes where young Vito is a few years older but De Niro insisted. For the scenes where Vito returns to Sicily, he gained weight and wore a smaller version of the dental appliance Marlon Brando wore in Part I.
See more »
Goofs
Anachronisms:
When young Vito Corleone is first entering America, a green Statue of Liberty can be seen in the background. At the time this is taking place, the statue's patina had not fully developed. It should have been a dirty brown rather than green.
See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Title Card:
The godfather was born Vito Andolini, in the town of Corleone in Sicily. In 1901 his father was murdered for an insult to the local Mafia chieftain. His older brother Paolo swore revenge and disappeared into the hills, leaving Vito, the only male heir, to stand with his mother at the funeral. He was nine years old.
[gunshots and screams]
Woman:
[subtitled from Italian]
They've killed the boy! They've killed young Paolo! They've killed your son Paolo! See more »
Crazy Credits
As with the first film no opening credits are shown. Although it is now commonplace for films not to have opening credits, it was considered innovative in 1974. See more »