By N.S.
Back in 1971, when Coppola was shooting Day One of The Godfather, several cast members concluded that this was going to be one of the biggest bombs of all time. Jimmy Caan (Santino “Sonny” Corleone) and Diane Keaton talked about what they were going to do with the rest of their lives.
Of course, the picture would break all box-office records set in 1965-1966 by The Sound of Music, get ten Oscar nominations (including one for Caan for Best Supporting Actor), win three Oscars (though it deserved many more), become an inexhaustible font of back stories, create legends, and be one of the greatest pictures ever made.
Caan’s Sonny was one of those spirits that hung over three Godfather pictures.
Caan was a Jewish street fighter from the Bronx, and so when his character catches his wife-beating brother-in-law, Carlo (Gianni Russo), on the street, he improvised a little, smacking Carlo in the face with a garbage can cover, among other things.
Caan rescued The Godfather, Part II. Coppola wanted to bring back The Bum for a cameo role, only T.B. wanted crazy money. Coppola wanted to bring back sentimental favorite Peter Clemenza (Richard Castellano), who was on board to teach Coppola to “be Italian,” but Castellano let his live-in girlfriend and future wife, Ardell Sheridan (Mrs. Clemenza, on screen) talk him into making crazy demands in terms of both money and back story, and so Coppola and Mario Puzo wrote him out. They replaced the young Clemenza with a brilliant, ballsy young unknown named Bruno Kirby, and the middle-aged Clemenza with playwright Michael V. Gazzo, for whom Coppola and Puzo wrote some of the most beautiful scenes in the picture.
By the end of Part II, things were so dark and depressing that Coppola (now producer-director-screenwriter) desperately needed some magic. Jimmy C. brought the magic.
An uncredited Caan dominated the nostalgic final scene, in which all of the brothers and Pop were still alive and intact. That’s where, while waiting on Pop to arrive home with a big pizza, Michael announces that he’s just enlisted in the Army. Sonny smacks him in the head, “Stupid! You go to college to learn how to be stupid! You only fight for your own family.” And then everyone gets up to welcome Pop home, off-camera.
In Part III, which I knew would be a disaster, but which actually turned out much better than I’d expected, Caan didn’t even do a cameo, but in the best touch of the picture, Andy Garcia plays his hot-headed, bastard son, Vincent. Every time Uncle Michael shakes his head over Vincent and says, “He’s just like his old man,” there is nothing but love in his voice and on his face. Garcia was perfect, was nominated for Best Supporting Actor, and should have won.
imdb.com: Two of Caan's greatest honors were being voted "Italian of the Year" in New York twice, after his role as Sonny Corleone in The Godfather (1972)]: "I'm a Jew from the Bronx. I feel guilty about accepting these awards, but they wouldn't let me turn them down."
For The Godfather, Caan got paid $35,000. For Part Two, again Caan got paid $35,000. For Part Three, he got nothing but warm memories from his millions of fans.
“James Caan, The Godfather and Misery star, dead at 82
“James Caan, the Bronx-born actor who starred in The Godfather and Misery among countless other films, has died. He was 82.”
https://nypost.com/2022/07/07/james-caan-the-godfather-and-misery-star-dead-at-82/
6 comments:
Great guy,great actor.Nothing more to add from me(except to say, when Caan exploded on the scene in 1971,we still had a pretty damn good country--with exceptionally talented White actors and actresses around--to pay our $3 to see.)
--GRA
Every one of these people who pass,diminishes our country,a little bit,each time it happens.
Our greatness as a country was reflected in our movies,TV and music(also politics and military).It isn't a coincidence that our decline in the United States correlates to the passing of the legends from those decades past.All of them are White--all of them stalwarts of entertainment.
Your country is only as good as its people.Look around and see who are replacing guys like James Caan,John Wayne,Jimmy Stewart,Bob Hope,Don Rickles,Johnny Carson etal.
No one with any talent,patriotism,character or intelligence.
--GRA
I should have added sports into the mix--another example of our decline.
--G R A
"They replaced the young Clemenza with a brilliant, ballsy young unknown named Bruno Kirby, and the middle-aged Clemenza with playwright Michael V. Gazzo"
Clemenza died of a heart attack. Gazzo played Frank Pentangeli.
"I should have added sports into the mix--another example of our decline."
Correct. Obsessiveness with sports. And worse hero worship of some bad guys that play the game. Especially in certain sports with a certain domination by certain demographics.
OH for certain you know who I am certainly talking about. I am certain you do.
Anon, Saturday, July 9, 2022 at 1:58:00 PM EDT
I stand by my statement. Pentangeli WAS the middle-aged Clemenza, just under a different name. Someone had to fill that sentimental void, with or without Richard Castellano.
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