'My father made him an offer he couldn't refuse. Luca held a gun to his
head and my father told him that if he didn't agree to let Johnny go, Luca
would blow his brains out.'
So Michael, youngest son of Don Vito Corleone, introduces his
girlfriend Kay to his father's business practice. His father is a gangster, a
very important gangster. He is the Godfather of one of the most
powerful and richest families in New York. His business is fear and
murder. Michael, an innocent college boy, doesn't want anything to do
with his father. He's different from the others in his family. All he wants
is a quiet, peaceful, honest life with Kay. But this isn't as easy as he
thinks. Things happen, and Michael begins to change. He slowly
realizes that, at heart, he's a Corleone too. And, if he must, he can be as
deadly as the rest . . .
Mario Puzo was born in New York in 1920. He has written many books
but The Godfather, which he wrote in 1969, is his most famous. In
1972, it was made into a film by Francis Ford Coppola. Marlon Brando
won an Oscar for his performance as Don Vito Corleone. Coppola and
Puzo won an Oscar for the best writing of a film. Coppola, born in
1939, was one of Hollywood's most important film-makers in the 1970s.
As well as The Godfather and The Godfather 2 (1974), he made
Apocalypse Now (1979), also starring Marlon Brando.
His films during the 1980s were not so popular but, more recently, he
has made two successful films: The Godfather 3 (1990) and Bram
Stoker's Dracula (1992).
Mario Puzo has written several films as well as books. His best-known
films are Superman (1978) and Superman 2 (1980).