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Amidst the acclaim thatThe Godfatherreceived from all fronts, there was one influential critic of the movie — Frank Sinatra. The beef between Sinatra and the film began even before the start of filming. The singer and actor believed that one character in Mario Puzo’s novel, that of Johnny Fontaine, was modeled after him. On one occasion, Sinatra had a heated confrontation about this with Puzo where he threatened the author.
However, his threats on another occasion did not seem to bother singer Al Martino, who played the brief role of Johnny Fontaine in the film. In the end, all the efforts of Frank Sinatra to ruinThe Godfatherbecame futile as the movie became the biggest hit in Hollywood upon release.
Frank Sinatra Failed To Threaten One Actor Away FromThe GodfatherRole
Frank Sinatrawas not a big fan of the epic film,The Godfather.The Manchurian Candidateactor had a big blowup withMario Puzo, while the latter was writing the screenplay for the film. He had talks withThe Godfatherproducer and even sent a letter to Puzo’s publisher via his lawyers, demanding to seeThe Godfathermanuscript.
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The actor’s prime issue was the character of Johnny Fontaine, a musician past his prime who turns to the Godfather to revive his film career. Sinatra believed that it was modeled after him. Interestingly, Mario Puzo’s research about the mob extended to the Las Vegas Sands Hotel, which was partly owned by Sinatra.
According to Mark Seal, the author ofLeave the Gun, Take the Cannoli, Sinatra“loomed over The Godfather production from afar.”While his blowup at Hollywood’s Chasen’s eatery was against Puzo and producer Albert S. Ruddy, he also tried other ways to intimidateThe Godfathercrew. He even allegedly interfered with the casting.
In an interview for Mark Seal’s book, singer Al Martino, who played Johnny Fontaine in the film, shared that he was warned against acting in the film. He was told that he would have to face serious consequences if he chose to act in the film. However, Martino was not the one to back down on such empty threats. He revealed that he got“hard-nosed”about it and didn’t pay any heed to the threats. Al Martino shared with Mark Seal:
“If you take the role, Sinatra will bar you from Las Vegas. I’m the last guy you could threaten. I got hard-nosed about it. I took the bull by the horns!”
Al Martino was not banned from Las Vegas and he revealed that he continued to play in Vegas. OnlyFrancis Ford Coppola‘s encounter with Frank Sinatra ended on a positive note, as Coppola revealed toUSA Todaythat he offered to produce the film and play the central Godfather character.
Frank Sinatra And Mario Puzo’s Big Blowup OnThe GodfatherScript
Frank Sinatra and Mario Puzo met at a Hollywood eatery while the latter was writing the script forThe Godfather. The encounter went south quickly and Sinatra allegedly snarled at Puzo,“Choke. Go ahead and choke.”This scene was featured in the Paramount+ seriesThe Offer, which detailed the making ofThe Godfather.
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The Paramount legal team earlier approached Puzo about the scene and the potential lawsuit from Sinatra, but Puzo assured that the scene was very minor in the film. Puzo wrote in his essay,The Making of the Godfather, that everything boiled over when he met Sinatra at Chasen’s. Producer Albert Ruddy was also present when Sinatra allegedly started to shout abuse at the author. Puzo wrote:
“What hurt was, here he was, a Northern Italian, threatening me, a Southern Italian, with physical violence. [It was] roughly equivalent to Einstein pulling a knife on Al Capone.”
Frank Sinatra couldn’t stop the massive success ofThe Godfather. Not only did it become the highest-grossing film at the time, but it also received several Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Actor forMarlon Brando, andBest Adapted Screenplay for Puzo and Coppola.The Godfatheris now available for streaming on Paramount+.
Hashim Asraff
Senior Writer
Articles Published :3018
Hashim Asraff is a Senior Entertainment Writer at FandomWire, with over 2,800 articles published on celebrity culture, comic book movies, and major TV franchises. With a background in Sociology and a keen interest in pop culture, Hashim brings a unique lens to breaking news stories, character deep-dives, film rankings, and fan-driven perspectives.His coverage often includes the MCU, DCU, hit network shows, and celebrity profiles, giving readers a rich blend of entertainment and analysis. A longtime fan of crime and investigative series, Hashim has watched thousands of episodes of NCIS, Criminal Minds, Law & Order: SVU, Bones, Blue Bloods, and The RookieA passionate storyteller and wordsmith, Hashim has also worked as a ghostwriter and managed multiple social media handles. He brought his writing expertise to FandomWire to also pursue his lifelong love for cinema and television.
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Frank sinatraMario Puzo
