The Godfather Family album -Recollect

September 27, 2009

James Caan was wired up to a huge number of explosive blood packs, or squibs, for the scene where his character, Sonny, is gunned down...

...The 147 squibs were a Hollywood record at the time, and Caan only endured the pain out of face-saving bravado

Brando was only 47 when he was cast as Vito Corleone, and had to have considerable ageing makeup, including a specially made dental plate to produce Don Vito's trademark puffy cheeks. (He'd stuffed his mouth with orange peel for the audition)

Marlon Brando (left) and Francis Ford Coppola (right) during makeup session for the film The Godfather I. During makeup sessions, Coppola would talk through the script with Brando

Francis Ford Coppola choreographs Marlon Brando's slide down the front of his car after his character's assassination in the film The Godfather I

Francis Ford Coppola flanked by James Caan, Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, and John Cazale

Al Pacino playing handball in a break between filming scenes for The Godfather I

Gifts were handed out at the end of production for The Godfather I. Brando was given some drums having hammered the skins since he was a boy. He has said on several occasions that if he hadn't been an actor he would have been a drummer

Vito Corleone (Robert de Niro) assassinates Fanucci. (The Godfather II)

Don Emilio Barzini (Richard Conte) oversees the cessation of hostilities between Don Philip Tattaglia (Victor Rendina) and Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando)

This image of Brando's Mafia boss Don Vito holding a cat is one of the most famous in the history of films