Francis Ford Coppola’s classic 1972 gangster drama The Godfather is one of the greatest films ever
made. The movie follows the aging patriarch of a powerful New York Italian American crime family,
Don Vito Corleone, played by Marlon Brando, as he navigates his way through the criminal underworld
while at the same time looking to transfer control of his criminal empire to one of his three sons.
The Godfather is a film that, even 40 years after its release, people are still talking about it,
still discovering new secrets and takes. Such is the richness of the film.
I’ve made several videos looking at The Godfather and will continue to do so,
so feel free to check out the channel and subscribe if you like what you see.
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The Godfather is a film which has an abundance of deleted scenes. Being based on a mammoth novel
and being 3 hours long, it isn’t surprising to learn that many scenes and subplots were left
on the cutting room floor. There’s huge segments of the book which never made it to the script,
let alone the movie, such as the horrifying origin story of Luca Brasi or the shocking
backstory of Al Neri, both subplots which I’ve already covered on the channel.
So this video is the first in what I hope is going to be a new playlist on the channel
where I take scenes from my favourite movies and TV shows and analyse them,
focusing in this video of a particular deleted scene which caught my eye.
Now, most movies have deleted scenes. But The Godfather is a little different,
a little special, because a lot of the deleted scenes from the first two Godfather films are
simply incredible. They’re stunning in places, and they add to the films
so much. Some of the deleted scenes bring about subplots that were in the book, some of them add
context to existing scenes in the film, and some of them are just great on an entertaining level.
Like with most deleted scenes from films, you can see why some of them were deleted.
For example, there’s two scenes early on in the movie between Don Corleone and his son
Michael talking to each other, with it being clear they don’t exactly see eye to eye. I was
happy that this didn’t make it to the final cut, because it gives more power to the scene between
them in the garden, and I like the fact that their fractured relationship is implied in the film,
rather than spelled out, even though you could argue it’s the central theme of the film.
However, again, you could argue the deleted scene
between Vito and Michael at the hospital was essential,
because Michael walks away from Vito, which adds power to the later scene at the hospital
where Vito is injured and Michael comes to him and comforts him, not leaving his side. Plus,
we get to see the original Corleone consigliere Genco, who isn’t even in the final film at all.
It shows you how great The Godfather is that even the deleted scenes are rich masterpieces, layered
and thought provoking. With almost every one you look at it and think “why didn’t they include this
in the movie?” And there’s so many of them that you could cobble them all together and make a
new film. In fact, that has actually happened. There are versions of The Godfather out there
which basically add in the deleted scenes and then show the first two films, or all three films, as
one giant epic movie, and in chronological order. There’s one version known as The Godfather Saga,
or The Godfather: A Novel for Television, which is the first two films put together and was released
on TV back in the 70s. I believe there’s one for all three films called The Godfather Epic,
and it’s a bit weird, and a real shame, that these versions of the movie trilogy, or at
least duology, aren’t widely available. They don’t seem to be available to purchase legally on DVD or
anything. I think there is one version on Amazon Prime, but it’s not available in my location. You
would have hoped that maybe Paramount would have done something at the tail end of 2020 while there
was hype for a re-edited version of The Godfather Part III, called The Godfather Coda: The Death of
Michael Corleone. I do hope to see one long cut of all three films with the deleted scenes included.
So today I wanted to take a look at one deleted scene from the first film,
to analyse and dissect what I think could easily be called the best deleted scene in the film.
It’s not epic or anything, not a lot happens and it isn’t particularly
necessary to include in the final film, but it is very deep.
It’s focused on Sonny Corleone, Vito’s eldest son and the heir to the family throne. You know,
funnily enough, a lot of the deleted scenes of The Godfather feature Santino, and I heard that James
Caan, who played him, was unhappy with director Francis Ford Coppola because he removed some of
his best works, and after seeing the deleted scenes, you can see where he’s coming from.
But anyway, for context, this scene takes place after Don Corleone is shot by Solozzo’s men,
after Vito turns down Solozzo’s offer to enter the drug trade.
It takes place after the assassination attempt and before Solozzo talks to Tom Hagen
after kidnapping him, so by this point, Luca Brasi’s already dead
and we’re not sure on the fake of Vito, so things look grim for the Corleones.
I’m not going to show the deleted scene itself, because the last time I tried to do something
like that, in my Why Was Tom Out video, Paramount flagged the video for copyright,
but you can see the deleted scene on Youtube. Maybe it’s worth checking
it out and returning here, but I’ll quickly walk you through it.
So Sonny is at home and then gets a call from a detective, who gives him the nod that his
father’s been shot. This is a strikingly crucial scene to Sonny’s development,
who is definitely one of the most underrated characters in The Godfather universe,
as he’s basically a hothead in the movie but is quite a lot more interesting in the books. We’ve
seen Fredo’s reaction to his father’s shooting, we saw Michael’s and here we see Sonny’s. he
immediately asks “is he dead?” but the detective can’t get close enough to find out. Sonny puts
the phone down and a wave of emotion comes over him. What’s he going to do? Is he gonna cry,
is he gonna throw the phone across the room? Is he gonna beat someone up? There is no one to beat up.
He even starts to get up at one point like he’s going to go on a rampage. But he instantly
regains his composure after the call and dials Tom Hagen’s number, but of course he isn’t in,
as he’s busy being kidnapped by Solozzo, so Sonny is completely alone. And it’s rare for us to see
him alone – I can’t think of a single scene in The Godfather where Sonny is actually on his own.
I wonder why this short but powerful 60 second scene was cut? Perhaps it was so that the movie
would focus more on Michael out of the three Corleone sons, what with what happens throughout
the rest of the film. If they kept it in would have made Sonny’s death even more shocking,
because up until his murder you could make the argument that he’s actually the protagonist of
the movie, until the film pulls the old Alfred Hitchcock Psyco bait and switch.
This scene also highlights the importance of Tom Hagen,
that the first action Sonny does is to call the family consigliere.
The scene is also a reference to a similar one in the book when Sonny learns of the shooting,
and it goes into the fact that Santino tried to keep a lid on his temper, because he knew he had
a problem with anger and rage, and acting out of anger at this point could be fatal.
Later, after the phone call from Solozzo’s man, Sonny goes to his parent’s home to tell
his mother the news. What’s striking his how dark the house is, how empty and gloomy it feels, in
stark contrast to the jovial wedding scene earlier in the film. Everything feels cold, there’s the
stench of death, the absence of something, something taken away from the household,
and ask anyone whose father has died, that’s often the feeling that comes about in the household
after the death of the head of the family, the father. And aside from the brief appearance
of his mother, Sonny is completely alone in this large, empty dark house, to us at least.
This is what’s it’s like when you take over, when the position of defending your family and leading
them is thrust into your hands. There’s no-one to hide behind, sure you have your capos and muscle,
but ultimately, you’re completely alone, as mob boss Tony Soprano puts it “You got no idea what
it's like to be number One. Every decision you make affects every facet of every other
thing. It's too much to deal with almost. And in the end you're completely alone with it all.”
Sonny calls out for his mother, who’s in the kitchen cooking, and he tells her the news the
only way he knows how, bluntly. And her reaction is interesting, because instead of becoming
hysterical or shocked, or asking a million and one questions, she asks if he’s been killed,
and then shuffles away to get ready in case they can go and see Vito. Sure, she might be in shock
here, but some viewers might think this is a case of poor acting, possibly why the scene is deleted.
But it’s so much more – her resigned reaction is a testament to the fact that she’s waited for this
news for years, she’s expected it, as the wife of a mob boss she knew one day it would come,
so on the day that it did, she wasn’t surprised. This is the business we’ve chosen,
as Hymen Roth would say. In fact there’s another deleted scene where Sonny tells Michael that their
mother’s reaction has been good, that she’s been through this before. She shows incredible strength
in front of her son – he doesn’t need to see her break down and cry, he’s got enough to deal with
at the moment. Maybe she goes upstairs and cries her eyes out, but for now she leaves Sonny to it,
who makes himself something to eat very quickly. Perhaps it says something about their relationship
that he takes his comfort in this situation from food as opposed to the warmth of his mother.
He then goes to his father’s office, takes a look at the chair of his father.
The big seat. The throne. The seat from which many decisions have been made, many men ordered to die.
The seat that represents the power of Don Vito Corleone, but right now it’s empty. And
perhaps the best moment from this scene is when Sonny, instead of sitting in his father’s chair,
pulls up one beside it. It signifies that he is not his father’s son, in the sense that he
lacks the attributes to become the next head of the family. It also foreshadows the fact that he
doesn’t become the next don, what with his death. And why did Sonny look at his father’s chair but
choose not to sit in it? Was it out of fear, that if he sat in it that would confirm his
father’s death? Was it reluctance to take up the mantle? Was it fear of becoming the new don,
and all the responsibilities that come with it? Was it guilt because him speaking out
of turn was why this entire fiasco started? Was it out of hope that his father might pull
through? Was it simply out of respect? Michael is the only person in the film who actually sits in
the chair aside from Vito in the film, and again, it’s brilliant foreshadowing. Whatever it was
it was definitely intentional because if you watch the scene closely Sonny makes a conscious decision
to sit in the other chair. The music also lines up perfectly, because it sounds mournful,
almost like this is the regretful passing of the torch scene, until Sonny sits in the other
chair and the music switches to a more forceful tone, as if we’re now getting down to business,
business of fighting, revenge and action, where Sonny is at his best and in his element.
But again, the overall scene highlights something not often showcased in The Godfather,
which is Sonny’s intelligence and wise and sensible reaction to his father’s shooting,
because he remains calm, and straight away phone’s Tessio,
who if I remember correctly has not appeared in the film yet. It’s established in the book
that Tessio’s regime is quite distance from the Corleones, as opposed to Clemenza’s,
to such an extent that many don’t even know that Tessio’s family is part of the Corleone family.
But Santino’s foresight and forward thinking is highlighted by him telling Tessio that he
doesn’t want to use Clemenza’s men, because he knows someone must’ve betrayed them, and that
someone must’ve come from Clemenza’s regime, or the traitor is Clemenza himself. Not only that,
but Tessio’s sharpness is also highlighted – when Sonny says he doesn’t want to use Clemenza’s men,
he doesn’t question the decision, because it’s likely he’s also worked out that there must be a
traitor in Clemenza’s crew and that’s why Sonny doesn’t want to use any of his men right now.
Both Clemenza and Tessio are senior to Sonny, but the way he speaks to Tessio over the phone
is with confidence and conviction, and it’s a great touch that he rings Tessio straight away
but then to phone Luca Brasi he has to get the number from a safe. I’ve seen one comment
on a YouTube video comparing this action to like opening a safe to get nuclear launch codes which,
when concerning Luca Brasi, is an apt comparison. Brasi only takes orders from Vito, so it would
have been interesting to see how a conversation between Sonny and Luca would have gone,
but of course, the phone simply rings out, because by this time Luca is already dead.
Sonny is quite unfocused throughout this segment of the film. He squeezes the phone,
he mumbles his conversation with his mother, he’s eating throughout, he puts the phone to the side
instead of on the hook – though he does a lot of things right you get a sense that he isn’t really
in charge, unlike the demeanour of Michael when he starts to get involved in the family business.
Perhaps there’s also something to take in Sonny eating – the lack of control,
the impulse to fill his stomach while he’s working things out, instead of getting right to business.
And that’s about it. It’s only a few minutes long, a very simple scene but it’s so rich, so full of
detail, and it showcase’s Sonny’s intelligence and also his calmness. He didn’t lose it here, he
handled himself well. It was only after the second assassination attempt, the one at the hospital,
where Sonny really started to get angry. And that makes sense – that’s a very dirty thing to do,
to kill a man while he’s already fighting for his life, not to mention his brother Michael,
a civilian, is punched by the crooked cop. And the book goes into more detail that in the war between
the Corleones and the other families, Sonny was actually winning, he was extremely effective,
which is why instead of open warfare Barzini resorted to trickery and deceitfulness to
get Sonny killed. Sonny isn’t just a angry dude, he’s considered a tactical genius in the book and
deleted scenes like this imply that. His one weakness was that he struggled to control his
emotions. He would have beena great underboss or street boss, at a level where there is someone to
hold his leash. But as boss? As Don Corleone says, he would’ve made a bad don. Maybe I should make a
video exploring Sonny’s character in great detail. If you want to keep an eye out for that, please
don’t forget to subscribe to the channel and hit the notification button, and thanks for watching.