Batista was not a named character within The Godfather Part II, but it is inferred within the story that the "Cuban president," a role played by New York radio announcer Tito Alba, was a surrogate for the dictator. Lansky, known for his remarkable longevity among crime bosses, owned several Havana casinos from the mid-1940s until the revolution that ousted dictator Fulgencio Batista and brought Fidel Castro to power. In 1984, Puzo, who died in 1999, wrote The Sicilian, another novel in which the character Michael is featured, but in that book, which was set in Sicily circa 1950, Michael is not the major character.Īlthough all of the main characters of The Godfather Part II were fictional, many sources have noted the fact that "Hyman Roth" ( Lee Strasberg) was inspired by real-life Jewish gangster Meyer Lansky (1902-1983), who lived in Cuba for many years after being deported from the U.S. Neither novel is a sequel to the 1974 film, and instead follow the main characters' stories in different directions. The first, published in 2004, was The Godfather Returns, and the second, published in 2006 was The Godfather's Revenge. Also, the Sicilian and early New York sequences, which take up significant screen time in The Godfather Part II, were barely mentioned in the novel.Īs of 2009, two novels have been published which were sequels to Puzo's novel, both written by Mark Winegardner with the approval of Puzo's estate. The modern story for The Godfather Part II picks up about three years after the novel ends. However, even though director-screenwriter Francis Ford Coppola and Puzo shared an Academy Award and WGA Award for Screenplay based on material from another medium, the screen story for The Godfather Part II was, essentially, based only on characters from Puzo's novel. The screen credits state that The Godfather Part II was based on Puzo's 1969 novel The Godfather, which also was the basis for the 1972 film. Instead, he is thanked in the following written statement that appears after the song credits and before the names of the featured players: "The producers would like to thank James Caan for his special participation in this film." Following the 1901 prologue, the picture's narrative is divided between the early 20th century story of Don Vito Corleone ( Robert De Niro), as he rises in power in New York's Little Italy, and the period 1958 through the early 1960s, after Don Vito's death, when his son Michael solidifies his position as "Godfather" to the Corleone crime family. Actor James Caan, who appears briefly in the film's flashback dinner table scene set on Pearl Harbor Day, reprised his role as "Sonny Corleone" but was not credited in the onscreen cast list.
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The action then shifts to a First Communion ceremony in Lake Tahoe, over which the following statement is superimposed: "His grandson Anthony Vito Corleone Lake Tahoe, Nevada 1958." The film's credits commence at the end of the picture. Actor James Caan, who appears briefly in the film's. His older brother Paolo swore revenge and disappeared into the hills, leaving Vito, the only male heir, to stand with his mother at the funeral." The action of the prologue concludes with a shot of young Vito ( Oreste Baldini) in confinement on Ellis Island, onto which the following words are superimposed: "Vito Corleone Ellis Island 1901." In 1901 his father was murdered for an insult to the local Mafia chieftain. Although some contemporary sources, including the film's pressbook and studio publicity, variously include a comma, colon or a dash before "Part II," there is no punctuation in the onscreen credits.Īfter the title card, the following written prologue appears: "The godfather was born Vito Andolini, in the town of Corleone in Sicily.
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These brief images refer back to the final shots of The Godfather (1972, See Entry), although in The Godfather the man kissing Michael's hand is Richard Castellano, the actor who portrayed "Clemenza." The opening title card reads: Mario Puzo's The Godfather" with " Part II" added after a brief pause. Following the Paramount logo, there are two brief shots: the first is of an empty leather chair the second shows a kneeling man kissing the hand of "Michael Corleone" ( Al Pacino).
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An early working title for the film was Don Michael.