TERRY GROSS, BYLINE: Well, tell the story the way it was told to you. MARIO PUZO: You know, like, the rug-stealing scene and the keeping of the guns from the police - you know, that kind of stuff - that happened in the family. He told Terry that many of the stories in the novel came from his childhood. Terry Gross spoke with him three years earlier. The book sold about 21 million copies and inspired countless mob-related novels, movies and TV shows, including HBO's 'The Sopranos.' Mario Puzo died in 1999 at age 78. I mean, we're not murderers, in spite of what this undertaker says.īIANCULLI: That's from the 1972 film 'The Godfather,' based on the novel by Mario Puzo. I want reliable people, people that aren't going to be carried away. But until that day, accept this justice as a gift on my daughter's wedding day.ĬORSITTO: (As Bonasera) Grazie, Godfather.īRANDO: (As Don Vito Corleone) Give this to Clemenza.

Someday - and that day may never come - I'll call upon you to do a service for me. And then they would fear you.ĬORSITTO: (As Bonasera) Be my friend, Godfather.īRANDO: (As Don Vito Corleone) Good. And if, by chance, an honest man like yourself should make enemies, then they would become my enemies. How much shall I pay you?īRANDO: (As Don Vito Corleone) Bonasera, Bonasera, what have I ever done to make you treat me so disrespectfully? If you'd come to me in friendship, then the scum that ruined your daughter would be suffering this very day. Your daughter is still alive.ĬORSITTO: (As Bonasera) Make them suffer, then, as she suffers. Instead, you come into my house on the day my daughter is to be married, and you ask me to do murder for money.ĬORSITTO: (As Bonasera) I ask you for justice.īRANDO: (As Don Vito Corleone) That is not justice. You don't even think to call me Godfather. But now you come to me and you say, Don Corleone, give me justice. Police protected you, and there were courts of law. You had a good trade, made a good living. SALVATORE CORSITTO: (As Bonasera) I didn't want to get into trouble.īRANDO: (As Don Vito Corleone) I understand. You never wanted my friendship, and you were afraid to be in my debt. I can't remember the last time that you invited me to your house for a cup of coffee, even though my wife is godmother to your only child. MARLON BRANDO: (As Don Vito Corleone) We've known each other many years, but this is the first time you ever came to me for counsel or for help. This is from the opening scene of the first one. Coppola and Puzo co-wrote the screenplays for all three 'Godfather' films. This week marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of Mario Puzo's 'The Godfather.' A new edition has just been released with an introduction by Francis Ford Coppola. I'm David Bianculli, editor of the website TV Worth Watching, sitting in for Terry Gross.

The Family by Mario Puzo