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THE DVD SHELF: Restored "Godfather"; TV's "Pushing Daisies"; Disney's "Beauty"
By Steven Suskin
06 Oct 2008
This month we screen the grandly-restored five-DVD "Godfather: The Coppola Restoration"; the expanded new 50th Anniversary DVD of Disney's "Sleeping Beauty"; plus a quirky new TV series.
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There was a time, and not so long ago, when "an offer you can't refuse" might be something as innocuous as chocolate or vanilla, menthol or filter tip, or coffee, tea or me. This changed, and how, with the 1969 publication of Mario Puzo's novel "The Godfather," and even moreso with Francis Ford Coppola's 1972 film version. An invitation to purchase The Godfather: The Coppola Restoration [Paramount] — including "The Godfather," "The Godfather Part II" and "The Godfather Part III," along with a trunk load of extras — is not an offer you can't refuse, exactly; but if you haven't watched the first two installments recently, you might well want to do so. What you get are what are generally considered to be two of the best films of modern times, and in a cleaned up and dusted off condition that makes the prior video and DVD releases look faded and forlorn. These films needed restoring; by putting Mr. Coppola in charge, the work has been done to the high standards that he apparently demands.
The first film of the series was an immense blockbuster, and deservedly so. The second movie, which came along two years later, broke tradition by calling itself simply "The Godfather Part II." What kind of a sequel doesn't take a new title? Wouldn't unsophisticated moviegoers think that they'd already seen it, perhaps expecting that it was merely an expanded edition of the first? Well, it worked out okay, which is the reason why we have so many numbered sequels nowadays. Part II might not be quite as special as the original, but it's close enough. What's more, the latter joined the former as winner of the Best Picture Oscar, which is the only time a sequel has won; Part II also doubled the Oscar total, taking six statuettes to the original's three. And "The Godfather Part III," which came along in 1990? Well, you can't win 'em all. The final film was more manufactured than inspired, a business proposition rather than an artistic statement. Still, coming from Coppola and featuring three key members of the earlier films supplemented by some crusty newcomers, the last of the trio makes a watchable finale.
But take yourself back to 1972. Think of walking into a new, big budget motion picture and being presented with the virtually unknown trio of Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, and Diane Keaton. They weren't unknown, exactly. Pacino, in fact, already had a Tony Award (which didn't count for much in big-budget Hollywood), as best featured actor for Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie? (Among the Tony nominees Pacino beat out in 1969 was Richard Castellano, who also created one of the memorable roles — Pete Clemenza, the roly-poly caporegime — in "The Godfather." Also losing the Tony that year, over in the featured actress category, was Ms. Keaton.)
The nominal star of "The Godfather" was decidedly from the old school: Marlon Brando, whose excesses by that point made him almost unemployable. (Coppola had to fight the studio to get Marlon.) Brando had limited screen time in the film, but his was a dominating presence; enough to earn him the Best Actor Oscar. But it is not Brando to whom we're riveted. Sitting watching the first two "Godfather" films, we see Pacino and Robert De Niro (who played Brando's role as a young man in the second film, winning an Oscar of his own in the process). Consider the impact these two have had on the cinema of the last 35 years, and then marvel at the freshness of these early performances.
The above-mentioned actors are joined by Talia Shire (sister of Coppola, then-wife of David Shire), John Casale, Abe Vigoda, and Sterling Hayden in "The Godfather." The second film brings in two Actors Studio colleagues of Pacino with riveting performances, teacher Lee Strasberg and actor/playwright Michael V. Gazzo (author of A Hatful of Rain). Both received featured Oscar noms, losing to De Niro. Part III brings in even more top notch actors, including Eli Wallach and Joe Mantegna.
Coppola provided a DVD's worth of extras for the 2001 release of the three-film set. He has now provided a second bonus DVD for the "Coppola Restoration." While many of the DVD re-releases that come along are content to scrape together whatever bonuses they can scrape together, Mr. Coppola has clearly stepped back into his "Godfather" frame of mind for this one. The older bonuses are interesting, and the 2008 features even moreso, making this five-DVD box of more than casual note. Although the growth of Al Pacino — the bright young stage actor of 1972, transformed into the iconic movie star of 1990 — provides more than enough reason to sit down and watch all three parts of "The Godfather."
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