The Godfather is undeniably one of the greatest movies of all time. And what some people may not know is that it is adapted from a 1969 novel of the same name. It was written by Mario Puzo and was an astounding success, selling nearly ten million copies in just two years. Unfortunately, the film adaptation quickly overshadowed Puzo’s novel, and now everyone knows The Godfather as “that Marlon Brando gangster movie,” not “that novel by Mario Puzo.”
And while the movie follows the novel quite closely, there are some major differences between them.
These are ten things that were cut from The Godfather (that were in the book).
Calo’s Death
You would be forgiven for not remembering who Calo is, as he certainly isn’t one of the major characters. Calo and Fabrizio traveled to Sicily to protect Michael when Michael fled the United States to escape the American authorities. Fabrizio proceeds to betray Michael and attempts to kill him with a car bomb. However, the plan fails, and Michael’s wife Appollonia is killed instead. In the movie, Appollonia is the only person to die in the explosion. In the novel, Calo dies with Appollonia. We don’t know why they excluded this from the movie, but there you have it!
Fabrizio’s Death
And while we’re talking about Calo and Fabrizio, let’s mention his lack of a death scene! You may remember the iconic final montage in which Michael eliminates all of his competition in one fell swoop. Yeah, Fabrizio is supposed to be a part of that. Michael discovers that Fabrizio is running a pizza joint in Buffalo under the name Fred Vincent and has him whacked. Fabrizio’s death was actually shot for the movie but was eventually deleted. That said, it can be seen in The Godfather Saga, a made-for-TV blending of the first two Godfather films.
Johnny Fontane
Johnny Fontane doesn’t play much of a role in The Godfather. He’s mainly there to kickstart the story and introduce the characters to the audience. He asks Don Corleone for help with a movie role, which eventually leads to the iconic scene where Woltz wakes up with a severed horse head.
However, Johnny plays a much larger role in the novel and is given a far deeper and more complex characterization. We learned about past marriages, the sore throat that debilitated his singing voice, his time in Hollywood, and his past estrangement from the Godfather.
Lucy Mancini’s Suicide Attempt
Another major character cut from the movie is Lucy Mancini, Sonny Corleone’s mistress. While she is only mentioned briefly in the movie, she has quite a substantial role in the novel. Lucy had long been a friend of Connie and even served as her maid of honor. However, she slept with Sonny on the night of the wedding, an event which kickstarted a years-long affair. She attempted suicide after Sonny’s murder and was sent to Las Vegas by Tom Hagen, a harsh detail that was omitted from the films.
Connie Apologizes To Michael
This certainly isn’t a MAJOR difference, at least in terms of plot. But it is a monumental shift in characterization and character development that deserves to be mentioned. At the end of the movie, Michael has Connie’s abusive husband whacked, and Connie denounces Michael and tells Kay that Michael is responsible for the slate of killings. In the novel, she still denounces Michael but is quick to apologize to him. She even vouches for him to Kay, telling her Michael is completely blameless.
Al Capone
And here we see Mario Puzo mixing fiction with reality. Al Capone becomes a tertiary character in The Godfather when he allies himself with New York mob boss Salvatore Maranzano. At Maranzano’s request, Capone sends two hitmen from Chicago in an attempt to assassinate Vito Corleone. However, the assassins are in turn killed by Luca Brasi, and Vito Corleone sends a condemning letter to Capone telling him to never interfere in their business again. This was never seen in the original movie. Too bad, too! It could have made for an awesome sequence.
Vito Corleone’s Past
Much of The Godfather Part II concerns the past of Vito Corleone. He is wonderfully portrayed by Robert De Niro, and that segment of the story contrasts wonderfully with the downfall of Michael and the Corleone family in the present. We think it was the right creative decision, as it works wonder for the drama and themes of the story.
That said, Mario Puzo goes into lengthy detail about Vito’s past in his novel, and Francis Ford Coppola decided to ignore it entirely for the time being. When it comes to the first Godfather, Vito’s past remains an enigmatic mystery.
Jack Woltz
Yes, Jack Woltz is in the movie, but there’s a very disturbing aspect of his character that is omitted. Not much is known about Jack Woltz in the movie, aside from the fact that he’s a big time movie producer. The novel goes into a bit more explicit detail, and we learn that Woltz is a criminal with a very dark past. He is also known for harassing the young daughters of his actresses. For whatever reason, this small but very important detail was omitted from the final film.
Kay And Tom
The ending of The Godfather is totally brilliant. After being accused of murder by Connie, Michael denies everything to Kay. She seems placated, but when she notices Michael being greeted as Don, she quickly puts the dots together and realizes that Connie was telling the truth. This goes down a bit differently in the novel. After the accusations, Kay flees to New Hampshire and Tom is sent by Michael to retrieve her. While there, Tom reveals some Corleone “secrets” to Kay, which puts his life in jeopardy. After returning, she attends Mass and prays for Michael’s soul.
Luca Brasi’s Backstory
We don’t learn much about Luca Brasi in the original Godfather, as he is one of the first major characters to die. However, he is given a far more extensive and brutal background in the novel that the movie never goes into. This includes killing and dismembering Al Capone’s hitmen, the so-called Olive Oil War, killing a Corleone soldier for making the family look bad, and even throwing his infant son into a burning furnace. Put simply, there is a TON of dark stuff about Luca Brasi that the movie NEVER touches. We don’t really blame them. It’s horrific.
