Marlon Brando in The Godfather
The Godfather, one of the greatest films ever made, might not have existed without a pact with the devil. In 1971, the film's producer, Al Ruddy, made headlines by appearing at a press conference with the Italian-American Civil Rights League, which was headed by a mobster. Ruddi, who has died aged 94, assured his new friends that the film would not use the terms «Mafia» or «Cosa Nostra» — derogatory terms for Italian-Americans. His superiors were furious.
Albert S. Ruddy, born and raised in New York City, was an architect who made the career move to co-create the POW sitcom Hogan's Heroes. He went on to produce The Longest Yard, The Cannonball Run and Million Dollar Baby. But his fight to make The Godfather in the face of threats, scare tactics and boycotts made him a Hollywood legend—even if his overlords at Paramount didn't see it that way at the time.
Parent company Paramount Gulf + Western was furious that Ruddy had gone rogue and made the deal publicly. In truth, this was a small concession, and Ruddy resisted the League's requests to change some details, including the Italian surnames in the film. According to Ruddy, he did everything necessary so that “The Godfather” could continue filming in New York without problems.
Charles Bluedorn, Gulf's terrifying boss + Western called Ruddy into his office and promptly fired him. But the producer was quickly reinstated at the insistence of director Francis Ford Coppola, who knew that The Godfather could not be made without Ruddy. And while the handshake agreement did its job, The Godfather and the Italian-American Civil Rights League would continue to be—and painfully—intertwined.
Al Ruddy with Marlon Brando on the set of The Godfather Photo: Getty
On June 28, 1971, the League held its second annual Unity Day rally in Manhattan's Columbus Square. About 15,000 people were there, brought together by the League's founder and kingpin, Joseph Colombo, an impeccably dressed, handsome salesman and family man. Colombo's mission was to rid America of the word «Mafia», which he claimed was a myth, and to stop the slander and persecution of decent, law-abiding Italian Americans.
The league, with 45,000 paying members, attracted the support of celebrities and politicians. In November 1970, Frank Sinatra performed a benefit concert at Madison Square Garden. Two months later, New York Magazine named Colombo one of the city's 10 most influential people.
But there was a catch: Joe Colombo was indeed a family man — the boss of the Colombo crime family. Joe Colombo's official business was real estate; but the real profit lay in gambling, usury, robbery and extortion. “It was unprecedented,” Mark Seale wrote in his 2021 book “Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli,” about the creation of “The Godfather,” “a mob boss who doubled as a civil rights leader.”
The Unity Day rally turned into a bloodbath even before Colombo took the stage. A gunman with fake press credentials shot Columbo three times in the head and neck, paralyzing the gunman and putting him into a coma. The shooter was a 25-year-old African American man named Jerome Johnson, who was also shot during the fight. A previously unheard-of Black Power group claimed responsibility for the Colombo shootings, but investigators suspected Johnson was sent by rival mobsters—punishment for the Colombo League bringing attention to the mafia and for being too publicly punished by the FBI, which led to the potential criminal. retribution from the feds.
Joe Colombo, former boss of the Colombo crime family Photo: Bettmann
Columbo publicly opposed The Godfather. When Columbo was shot, Francis Ford Coppola was just four blocks away, filming climactic scenes that had an eerie parallel: Michael Corleone's men striking out at rival bosses.
Although The Godfather was initially targeted, the mob embraced the film and its themes of honor and old-school loyalty. “No group was more fascinated, appreciative and proud of the Godfather theme than the Mafia,” wrote organized crime reporter Selwyn Raab.
Joseph Colombo was a capo (captain of his own team) in the Profaci family, one of the «Five Families» of New York organized crime. When his boss Joe Magliocco conspired to kill Carlo Gambino (referred to as the «boss of bosses»), Colombo warned Gambino about the plot. Colombo's loyalty to the Gambinos—or betrayal of Magliocco, depending on your point of view—was rewarded: Joe became head of the Profaci family, renamed the Colombo family, at the relatively young age of 41. Colombo formed the Italian-American Civil Rights League in response to additional attention to his activities and the indictment of his son Joseph Jr. in a $300,000 conspiracy to melt down nickel coins and sell them as silver bullion. . Colombo picketed the FBI office over his son's indictment (he was later acquitted) and spoke out publicly in the media.
Colombo profited from a growing culture of protest and distrust of authorities. “This is a new trend,” an unnamed FBI agent told the press. “Everyone, even the mafia, is demonstrating now.” Indeed, Colombo brazenly turned the FBI investigations against them by presenting it as institutionalized persecution and discrimination against Italian Americans. The League opposed film and television portrayals of Italian Americans as idiots and gangsters and picketed newspapers and television stations.
“We have always been slandered,” said “The Godfather” actor Gianni Russo, speaking in the documentary “The Godfather and the Mafia.” “Every Italian-American was in the Mafia.” If you were successful, no matter how hard you worked, you were labeled as part of the mafia. [The League] really was a good thing when it was first created.”
The league was successful. He pressured Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach to prevent—though in fact simply delay—the publication of “The Valachi Papers,” a biography of mobster-turned-government witness Joe Valachi. The Department of Justice and the New York State Police, also under pressure from the League, banned the words «Mafia» and «Cosa Nostra» from press releases and statements.
On 11 June 1970, the League's first Unity Day rally attracted a huge crowd ranging from 50,000 to 250,000 people. “The league is under the eyes and protection of God,” Colombo told a reporter. “As long as she does good things, the League will become stronger and stronger, and those who go against the League will feel His sting.”
Al Martino and Marlon Brando in The Godfather
Writing in Vanity Fair, Mark Seale noted that the word «Mafia» gained prominence in the United States following the 1951 report of the Kefauver Committee, an investigation into organized crime headed by Senator Estes Kefauver. «Mafia» was the intended title of Mario Puzo's novel, which was retitled «The Godfather» and published in 1969.
Puzo admitted that he had «never met a real, honest gangster,» but he researched the Mafia intensively. An avid gambler, Puzo hung out at the tables in Vegas and quizzed well-connected pit boss Ed Walters about the inner workings of the Mafia. As Mark Seal noted, Walters and his dealers were happy to give out this information — as long as Puzo kept the chips on the table.
Puzo — thanks to his gambling — was deeply in debt. He wrote The Godfather purely as a commercial venture. Robert Evans, the head of Paramount, told Seale that Puzo came to his office to sell an option before the book was written. When the film became a bestseller, Paramount put The Godfather into production. Francis Ford Coppola didn't want to direct it, but like Puzo, he was in the red. Paramount made Coppola an offer he couldn't refuse.
Coppola fought numerous battles with Paramount executives, such as over casting Marlon Brando and shooting the film as a period piece in New York. Robert Evans wanted the film to be authentic enough that audiences could «smell the spaghetti,» but the studio apparently drew the line at the added expense of filming in New York. Coppola ultimately won the battle to make the film in New York, but the production soon encountered mob resistance.
Publicly, Joe Colombo sent out a press release against the production, calling Puzo's original novel «false and libelous.» Away from the public eye, the campaign was more insidious. Back in Los Angeles, Al Ruddy received threatening calls and was warned by the LAPD that he was being followed. To throw them off track, Ruddy swapped cars with his assistant Betty McCartt. In the middle of the night, someone shot through the car windows. McCartt found a note where the windshield once was, warning them not to film The Godfather. “We were getting subtle messages,” Ruddy said, referring to “The Godfather and the Mob.”
Robert Evans also received threats. “Get some advice,” they warned him over the phone. “We don’t want to break your sweet face or harm the newborn. Get out of town. Don't make any films about family here. Got it?» Evans said he wasn't the film's producer, but the caller wasn't impressed. «When we kill a snake, we cut off its damn head,» the voice said.
When production was established in Gulf's New York office + There were threats of an explosion in the West. Meanwhile, businesses and families that had agreed to allow the filmmakers to use their premises for filming suddenly withdrew their permissions—someone was applying pressure. When Coppola stopped for lunch during a test shoot for Little Italy, the crew left the restaurant to find their van stolen.
The biggest threat to production was the infiltration of the trade unions by the mafia. Joe Colombo could initiate strikes that would disrupt critical supplies and transportation. Al Ruddy had to meet with the bandits and make a deal.
Al Pacino, Francis Ford Coppola and James Caan on the set of The Godfather Photo: Alami
After attending a meeting of the Italian-American Civil Rights League and assuring them that The Godfather did not discriminate against Italian Americans (the film also featured crooked Jews and Irish, he insisted), Ruddy held a private meeting with Joe Colombo and his cronies. After receiving the script, Columbo couldn't get past the first page. «What does 'Fade in' mean?» — Columbo asked him. They agreed that the word «Mafia» would not be used in The Godfather. Columbo didn't even know that this word appeared only once in the script.
The next day, Columbo tricked Ruddy into attending a major press conference. Thanks to a deal between the film and the mafia, published in all newspapers, Gulf + Western shares fell two-and-a-half points overnight — worth billions of dollars. Ruddy probably angered executives further when he attended a gala dinner honoring Colombo as Humanitarian «Man of the Year.»
When filming finally began, the mafia maintained a presence. Gangsters came to watch the scenes of the execution of Don Corleone performed by Brando and criticized the authenticity of Brando’s suit and hat; how the actors held their weapons. Carlo Gambino watched from a cafe across the street. Brando recalled in his autobiography that Pennsylvania mobster Russell Bufalino, whom he called “Joe,” later played by Joe Pesci in “The Irishman,” came to his trailer and told him about his treatment by the U.S. government and the squid. Brando gave him a tour of the set.
Stores and apartments that had previously had their permits revoked were now open for filming — much of the money the studio paid for their use went straight to the mob. There were also real gangsters who played extras in the classic wedding scene. Lenny Montana, a former wrestler and protector of the Colombo family, played Luca Brasi, Don Corleone's hitman.
Al Ruddy (left) with Liza Minnelli and Joel Gray at the 1973 Academy Awards. Photo: Bettmann
Al Martino, who plays Sinatra-like singer Johnny Fontane, told Mark Seale that he turned to his godfather Russell Bufalino to help him get the role, mirroring his character in the film who asks Don Corleone to provide strong support for the Hollywood producer. The FBI was also there. James Caan, who plays Sonny Corleone, was under surveillance because of his friendship with Carmine Persico Jr., a member of the Gambino crime family.
The shooting of Joseph Colombo marked the beginning of the so-called gang war. Some believed that «Crazy» Joe Gallo carried out the shooting on orders from the Commission (the governing body of the Mafia) of the Italian American Civil Rights League, which was drawing undue attention to the activities of the Mafia. Less than a year later, Crazy Joe was shot and killed in a Little Italy restaurant while celebrating his 43rd birthday. Joe Colombo remained in a coma for seven years and died of cardiac arrest in May 1978.
The Godfather premiered on March 14, 1972. Anthony Colombo, Joe's son, was upset that he and his co-stars weren't invited to the premiere, so Al Ruddy held a private screening. The projectionist told Ruddy that the smart guys gave him a $1,000 tip.
Indeed, the “Godfather” was embraced by real bandits. “The film confirmed their lifestyle and decisions to join the Mafia and embrace its creed,” wrote Selwyn Raab in his book Five Families. “Moreover, it apparently justified the perverse belief that mafiosi were members of a respected, benevolent society of worthy, distinguished people.”
The FBI saw gangsters imitating the film — kissing rings, acting like the characters, and using the term «Godfather» (which was invented by Puzo — possibly inspired by the Kefauver Report, which noted that crime boss Frank Costello was the godfather of another criminal's child) . The film's music was played at weddings and parties — it was the «national anthem» of the mafia, Selwyn Raab said.
John Marley in the famous scene from the film “The Godfather” Photo: Alamy
Salvatore «Sammy the Bull» Gravano, who said he was «thrown out» of movies because of how brilliantly The Godfather portrayed their lifestyle, has admitted to stealing Don Corleone's catchphrases. «In real life, I would use phrases like, 'I'm going to make you an offer you can't refuse,'» he told The New York Times. «And I always told people, like in The Godfather, 'If you have an enemy, that enemy becomes my enemy.'
In 2001, a former Pennsylvania police officer told the Irish Independent that in every raid on a gangster's home, The Godfather films were found on video. Joe Coffey, a former racketeering investigator, said the same thing in the documentary. “When we show up with guns drawn and all this routine, they have a tape of The Godfather on the TV VCR,” he said.
His influence may be even more sinister. In May 1991, construction contractors from Palermo, Sicily, found a horse's head in a car. Ten years later, also in Palermo, another horse's head was found in a car — this time with a knife between the eyes. In 2008, the owner of a bread shop in Villafranca Padovana in northern Italy was sent the head of a donkey after he refused to pay protection money to a low-level gang (“This man didn’t know a donkey, he didn’t own a donkey, he doesn’t care about donkeys. This is not made sense. It was the work of idiots,” said a police spokesman).
Sammy the Bull called the film guilty of his crimes. “I killed 19 people,” he told The New York Times. “I only committed one murder before I saw the movie.”
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