“The Godfather” holds a revered position in film history with the Corleone crime family saga – starring Marlon Brando, Al Pacino and James Caan – perched at No. 2 on the American Film Institute’s list of the 100 Greatest American Films of All Time.
However, the 50th anniversary of Francis Ford Coppola’s 1972 mob masterpiece has resurrected the negative opinion of one influential critic: Frank Sinatra.
The Chairman of the Board was not a fan of “The Godfather,” an opinion Sinatra made abundantly clear as Mario Puzo’s 1969 novel was being adapted for film. In a legendary blowup at Hollywood eatery Chasen’s, Sinatra snarled, “Choke. Go ahead and choke” at Puzo, who was taking a meal break from writing the film’s screenplay.
The infamous confrontation sparked the imagination of Michael Tolkin, creator of “The Offer,” a new Paramount+ series (premiering April 28) about the making of “The Godfather,” which features a re-creation of the fracas.
“The only story I knew about making ‘The Godfather’ was that Mario Puzo got into a fight with Frank Sinatra at Chasen’s,” Tolkin said last month about the 10-part series. “So I had five minutes in the show written, and I just needed nine hours and 55 minutes more to fill it in.”
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Frank Sinatra was less than thrilled with “The Godfather” and had a heated public confrontation with author Mario Puzo.
Sinatra’s vocal rebuke simmered for years.
“In many ways, Sinatra loomed over the ‘The Godfather’ production from afar,” says Mark Seal, author of “Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli: The Epic Story of the Making of The Godfather.” Sinatra partly owned the Las Vegas Sands hotel, where Puzo researched his novel on the mob.
Even before the book came out, Puzo’s publisher received a letter “from Sinatra’s lawyers demanding to see the manuscript,” Puzo wrote in his 1972 essay, “The Making of the Godfather.”
The publishers politely refused the request. When “The Godfather” was published, many assumed the novel’s central Johnny Fontaine character – a hard-drinking, womanizing, past-his-prime crooner who turns to the godfather to revive his career with a movie role – was modeled after Sinatra.
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When making the movie, the Paramount legal team “showed concern” about the possibility of being sued by Sinatra. “I reassured them the part was very minor in the film. Which it turned out to be,” Puzo wrote.
The simmer boiled over at Chasen’s when Puzo ran into Sinatra, an entertainer he referred to as an “idol from afar.” Puzo was dining with “Godfather” producer Al Ruddy as Sinatra greeted John Wayne in the room. “They both looked absolutely great, better than on the screen, 20 years younger,” Puzo wrote.