The Godfather - 1972

The Godfather is a 1972 American gangster film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the 1969 novel by Mario Puzo. With a screenplay by Puzo, Coppola and an uncredited Robert Towne,[3] the film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard Conte and Diane Keaton, and features John Cazale, Talia Shire, and Abe Vigoda. The fictional story, spanning the years between 1945 and 1955, chronicles the experiences of the Italian-American Corleone crime family. Two sequels followed: The Godfather Part II in 1974, and The Godfather Part III in 1990.

Plot:-
During his daughter Connie's (Talia Shire) wedding reception, crime family patriarch Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) hears requests for favors, one of which comes from singer Johnny Fontane (Al Martino) asking for help in landing a movie role that will revitalize his flagging career. The Don's adopted son and family consigliere, Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall), is dispatched to Hollywood to meet with wealthy studio head Jack Woltz (John Marley) to fulfill Fontane's request. Woltz angrily refuses to cast Fontane, but when he later finds the severed head of his prized racehorse in his bed, he changes his mind.

Upon Hagen's return, drug lord Virgil Sollozzo (Al Lettieri) asks Don Corleone to protect the rival Tattaglia family's heroin business. Disapproving of drug trafficking and fearing the loss of his political influence, he rejects the proposal and sends his henchman, Luca Brasi (Lenny Montana), to spy on Sollozzo and mob boss Bruno Tattaglia, but they kill Brasi.

Sollozzo's men try to assassinate Don Corleone; he survives, but is severely wounded. Sollozzo then kidnaps Hagen and persuades him to offer Corleone's eldest son, Sonny (James Caan), the deal previously offered to the Don. As a warning, the Tattaglias send the Corleones fish wrapped in Luca Brasi's bulletproof vest to confirm that he "sleeps with the fishes". Corleone's youngest son, Michael (Al Pacino), thwarts a second assassination attempt at the hospital where his father is being treated, but his jaw is broken by corrupt police officer Captain McCluskey (Sterling Hayden). Sonny retaliates by having Tattaglia's son killed.

Michael, who previously wanted nothing to do with the "family business", volunteers to kill Sollozzo and McCluskey, and Sonny reluctantly approves. Michael meets them at a local Italian restaurant in a supposed attempt to settle the dispute. Michael pretends he needs to use the bathroom, and following a plan he initiated, retrieves a gun hidden there. Michael returns to the table and kills both Sollozzo and McCluskey. He leaves the country and takes refuge in Sicily, where he soon marries a young local woman named Apollonia Vitelli (Simonetta Stefanelli). The third Corleone brother, Fredo (John Cazale), is sent to Las Vegas, where he is sheltered by Corleone associate Moe Greene (Alex Rocco). Open warfare soon erupts between the Corleones and the other members of the Five Families, while the police and other authorities begin to clamp down on Mafia activity. Don Vito is particularly distressed when he learns of Michael's involvement, since he had hoped for bigger, better things for his favorite son.....