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Only three shots of actual money occur throughout this film:
The first instance happens when Frank Pentangeli is handed a $100 dollar bill, also known as a "C" note.
The second instance happens in the New York flashback sequence when a young Vito gives the landlord Roberto six $5 bills as six months rent increase in advance for Mrs. Colombo.
The third instance happens when the same six $5 bills are returned to Vito by Roberto after Roberto finds out who he is dealing with. The currency is plainly visible and counted bill by bill in the scene.
This is believed to have been done to show the secretive nature and private emphasis in the Corleone family, unlike other mafia films which always feature many shots of large amounts of money being actually shown. See also The Godfather.
The first instance happens when Frank Pentangeli is handed a $100 dollar bill, also known as a "C" note.
The second instance happens in the New York flashback sequence when a young Vito gives the landlord Roberto six $5 bills as six months rent increase in advance for Mrs. Colombo.
The third instance happens when the same six $5 bills are returned to Vito by Roberto after Roberto finds out who he is dealing with. The currency is plainly visible and counted bill by bill in the scene.
This is believed to have been done to show the secretive nature and private emphasis in the Corleone family, unlike other mafia films which always feature many shots of large amounts of money being actually shown. See also The Godfather.
Robert De Niro spent four months learning to speak the Sicilian dialect of Italian in order to play Vito Corleone. Nearly all of the dialogue that his character speaks in the film was in Sicilian.
Originally, the actors in the flashback scenes wore pants with zippers. One of the musicians pointed out that the zipper had not been invented at that time, so some scenes had to be re-shot with button-fly trousers.
Hyman Roth's character is loosely based on real-life mobster Meyer Lansky. Lansky, who at the time of the film's release was living in Miami, reportedly phoned Lee Strasberg and said, "Now, why couldn't you have made me more sympathetic? After all, I am a grandfather."
Francis Ford Coppola had a horrible time directing The Godfather (1972) and asked to pick a different director for the sequel, while taking the title of producer for himself. He chose Martin Scorsese, who the film executives rejected. Thus, Coppola agreed to direct the film, with a few conditions.
The door to Vito Corleone's olive-oil business was rigged so that it would not open if a nail was inserted into the lock. Coppola kept this a secret from Leopoldo Trieste, who played Signor Roberto, and his difficulty in opening the door was real. Coppola wanted to film Trieste, a known Italian comedian, improvising his way through the scene. When Genco Abbandando opens the door, Frank Sivero surreptitiously pulls the nail out.