For such an iconic film, Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather (1972, Albert S. Ruddy Production; Paramount) only took home three Academy Awards out of ten nominations: Actor for Marlon Brando as Don Vito Corleone, Writing (Screenplay – based on material from another medium), and Best Picture. It failed to take home a statue for Best Supporting Actor even though three members of the film’s very male cast were nominated in the category: Al Pacino as Michael Corleone, James Caan as Sonny Corleone, and Robert Duvall as Tom Hagen. The Godfather lost its remaining nominations (with the exception of Costume Design) to the night’s other most nominated film, Cabaret, which won eight Oscars for its ten nominations (including Sound, Film Editing, and Directing for which The Godfather was also nominated).

Marlon Brando in his most memorable role as Don Corleone.

One of the most memorable moments during the 1973 Academy Awards (and in the entirety of Academy history) occurred when Marlon Brando was announced the Best Actor winner. Brando had declared earlier that he would boycott the awards ceremony and sent a little known actress named Sacheen Littlefeather to read a letter on his behalf. Littlefeather, who also happened to be the president of the National Native American Affirmative Image Committee, was not received very cordially by those present at the ceremony when she took the stage and waved away the Oscar for one of the most memorable performances in all of cinematic history. Due to “time restraints,” Littlefeather did not read Brando’s entire letter, but you can read the full text here: https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/packages/html/movies/bestpictures/godfather-ar3.html. Basically, Brando felt that “the motion picture community has been as responsible as any for degrading the Indian and making a mockery of his character, describing him as savage, hostile and evil.” Brando continued, “I think awards in this country at this time are inappropriate to be received or given until the condition of the American Indian is drastically altered. If we are not our brother’s keeper, at least let us not be his executioner.” The Academy Awards as social platform is nothing new (à la this year’s ceremony in particular), but employing a strategy of not showing up in order to make a statement about something you believe in is kinda unique. Like Brando himself, I suppose. His Vito Corleone is nothing short of brilliant, after all. No one else could have played that role to such perfection.

Sacheen Littlefeather at the Oscars with Brando’s infamous rejection letter.

As shocking as parts of The Godfather are, the film is still so convincing in some ways that a pretty popular search on Google is if the movie is based on a real story. The simplest answer to that question is that The Godfather (the film) is based on Mario Puzo’s 1969 novel of the same name, which might have taken some inspiration from real-life mob families and organized crime environs. Puzo, whose writing career was a struggle prior to his most famous novel, confessed, “I’m ashamed to admit that I wrote The Godfather entirely from research. I never met a real honest-to-God gangster. I knew the gambling world pretty good, but that’s all.” After the famous film came out, real-life gangsters, said Puzo, “refused to believe that I had never been in the rackets. But all of them loved the book.” Is that a good thing? Let’s move on…

1972 was a year that would change America forever, though that wouldn’t be completely apparent until a few years later. The year of The Godfather was the same year that a group of men called the “White House Plumbers” broke into the Democratic National Committee offices in the Watergate Hotel in Washington D.C. The event would provide a name for one of the most notorious and tragic scandals in the American Presidency and lead to the resignation of President Richard Nixon in 1974. It is no wonder, then, that films rich in corruption, violence, and intrigue found precedence in the 1970s since their contents mirrored the reality of the world into which they were released—even if their creators originally intended them as fiction.

For more thoughts on The Godfather and its significance, please check out the full post this weekend!