Movies - TV
Francis Ford Coppola Had To Sneak A Classic Godfather Scene Into The Movie
By BILL BRIA
Francis Ford Coppola encountered resistance from Paramount producers and executive Robert Evans. To keep creative control, he had to sneak a classic scene into "The Godfather."
While numerous accounts of Coppola's misery during filming exist, the breaking point was creative differences surrounding the death scene of Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando).
In the film, Corleone suffers a fatal heart attack in a tomato patch while playing with his grandson, who runs off, oblivious to the older man's plight.
Coppola already had to battle for the scene's inclusion, and Paramount was limiting filming locations. Thanks to Brando’s quick thinking, it was included in the final cut.
During the outdoor wedding scene, Coppola set up a tomato patch and was ready to quickly film the death scene unnoticed, but an executive was present and wanted it shut down.
The young actor in the scene caused delays. Brando improvised by putting an orange peel in his teeth to scare the boy and make him run off as needed.
As they filmed the boy running away, the executive shouted, "'That's it, wrap!'" Later, they secretly went back and got a wide shot of the Godfather lying dead in the tomato patch.