The Godfather is a 1972 crime drama film based on the 1969 novel of the same name by Mario Puzo and directed by Francis Ford Coppola , with a screenplay by Puzo, Coppola, and an uncredited Robert Towne . [2] It stars Marlon Brando , Al Pacino , James Caan , Richard S. Castellano , Robert Duvall , Sterling Hayden , John Marley , Richard Conte and Diane Keaton , and features John Cazale and Abe Vigoda . The story spans ten years from 1945 to 1955 and chronicles the Italian-American Corleone crime family . The Godfather received Academy Awards for Best Picture , Best Actor , and Best Adapted Screenplay , and has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry . In addition, it is ranked as the second greatest film in American cinematic history, behind Citizen Kane on the AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) list by the American Film Institute . [3] Two sequels followed The Godfather: The Godfather Part II in 1974 , and The Godfather Part III in 1990 . Coppola's Godfather Trilogy The Godfather (1972) Ten Academy Awards nominations and the winner of 3 Oscars: Best Picture, Best Actor (Marlon Brando), and Best Adapted Screenplay; the top-grossing film of the year, and a $134 million box-office hit; set in the mid to late 1940s NYC with Marlon Brando as Don Vito Corleone, head of the crime family. 187 minutes Eleven Academy Awards nominations, and the winner of 6 Oscars: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Robert DeNiro as the young Don Corleone), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Art Direction, and Best Score Oscars; $57 million in box-office business; both a sequel-continuation and a pre-quel to the 1972 film; now Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) serves as the family's don in Part II, interspersed with the tale of his father Don Vito's (Robert DeNiro) rise to power in New York's Little Italy. The Godfather, Part III (1990) 162-170 minutes With seven Academy Awards nominations (including the first for cinematographer Gordon Willis in this trilogy) and zero Oscars, but $66 million in box-office business; the story begins in 1979, about 20 years after Michael Corleone (Pacino) (now in his 60s and in Nevada attempting to legitimize the business) gave the order to have his older brother killed and eight years since Michael and Kay have seen each other; the only film without Robert Duvall. |