Tony Danza turned down the role of Michael.

Did you know that Pacino was considered too short, looked too Italian and almost did not get the role of Michael because of that.

In part 1 they used a real horse head. In part 2 Marlon Brando was supposed to be in the birthday flashback scene but they wouldn't pay him enough so he said no.

George Segal was the actor who they wanted to play Sonny Corleone but he was busy with other commitments so they got James Caan to play the role.

Winona Ryder was to play the part of Michael Corleone's daughter in Godfather III. After some problems, the role went instead to Sofia Coppola, Francis Ford's daughter to the chagrin of countless Godfather fans. (nepotism, anyone?) Talia Shire, who played Michael's sister Connie in the saga is Francis Ford Coppola sister in real life.

When you see oranges in the films - get ready for an assassination attempt and/or death.

As most people know Marlon Brando won an Oscar for best actor, and Robert De Niro won an Oscar for best supporting actor for the young Vito Corleone. These are the only two actors to win Oscars for playing the same character. Godfather Part II is the only official sequel ever to win an Oscar for Best Picture. Finally, Sofia Coppola appears in all three films. She is the baby boy(!) Michael Francis Rizzi in I, then a small girl on the steam ship in II and of course appears in III for a more significant role!

Marlon Brando did not memorize most of his lines and read from cue cards during most of the film. Al Pacino's maternal grandparents emigrated to America from Corleone, Sicily, just as Vito Corleone had. The character Moe Greene was modeled after Jewish mobster Bugsy Siegel. The three-year-old child actor Anthony Gounaris responded best when his real name was used while shooting the film. That's why Michael's son's name is Anthony. When Sollozo speaks Italian to Mike in the restaurant, there are no subtitles. After telling McCluskey that he wants to speak Italian to Mike, this is what he says: "I am sorry. What happened to your father was business. I have much respect for your father, but your father... his thinking is old-fashioned. You must understand why I had to do that. Now let's work through where we go from here." After Mike comes out of the restroom Sollozo speaks Italian again without subtitles, this time saying, "Everything all right? I respect myself, understand? And cannot allow another man to hold me back. What happened was unavoidable. I had the unspoken support of the other family dons. If your father were in better health, without his eldest son running things, no disrespect intended, we wouldn't have this nonsense. We will stop fighting until your father is well and can resume bargaining. No vengeance will be taken. We will have peace, but your family should interfere no longer."

Francis Ford Coppola's mother and father were the couple dining at the italian restaurant where Michael murdered McClusky and Sollozzo. Coppola's father Carmine, is also the piano player in the scene where Corleone soldiers where preparing for battle. Lastly Carmine also conducted the orchestra for the wedding scene and wrote incidental music for the film.

Sophia Coppola was in all 3 godfather movies and even played a boy that was being baptized Asked for 7 million dollars for godfather II. This made FFC so upset that he threstened to make the movie start off with Michael Coreleones funeral. He then settled for 5 million.

Marlon Brando had Kleenex stuffed in his cheeks to give him those jowls.

I know it was called a Trilogy

Winona Ryder was cast in the Sophia role but broke something so pulled from the shoot!..Acknowledgements to my GF)

During rehearsals, a false horse's head was used for the bedroom scene. For the actual shot, a real horse's head was used. The head was acquired from a dog-food factory. The cat held by Marlon Brando in the opening scene was a stray the actor found while on the lot at Paramount, and was not originally called for in the script. So content was the cat that its purring muffled some of Brando's dialogue, and, as a result, most of his lines had to be looped. While Sonny is driving alone in his car, he's listening to the 3 October 1951 radio broadcast of Russ Hodges calling the Dodgers-Giants playoff - a half-inning before Bobby Thomson's "Shot Heard 'Round the World." Because Corleone, Sicily, was too developed even in the early 1970s, the Sicilian town of Savoca, outside Taormina, was used for shooting the scenes where Michael is in exile in Italy.

There are three movies.