The Brando Oscar refusal and Sacheen Littlefeather at the Podium
The Brando Oscar refusal took place on March 27, 1973, after his performance as Don Vito Corleone in The Godfather won the award. He declined through Littlefeather, rather than appearing in person. When his name was announced, Sacheen Littlefeather came to the podium and brushed aside the statuette offered by Roger Moore and Liv Ullmann. Her brief speech drew on a lengthy statement by Brando. She said the primary reason for declining was the treatment of American Indians in film and television. Brando never accepted the Oscar for The Godfather and rarely discussed it in later years.
The award followed a film that also won best picture and screenplay based on material from another medium. James Caan, Robert Duvall, and Al Pacino each received supporting-actor nominations. Other nominations recognized direction, costume design, editing, and sound. The Brando Oscar refusal was one of two awards controversies surrounding the movie. Nino Rota initially received an original dramatic score nomination, but it was withdrawn when portions of the music were found to have appeared in his earlier score for Fortunella. The Academy's music branch voted again, replacing Rota with John Addison for Sleuth. The award went to the composers of Limelight.
Before the Brando Oscar refusal, the actor's casting had attracted public attention. He was the first publicly announced cast member, in January 1971, roughly two months before principal photography. Laurence Olivier, George C. Scott, and Ernest Borgnine were also considered for Don Vito. Brando's schedule required all his scenes to be completed between April and May. Despite initial apprehension about his reputation for difficulties on set, he became a model team player, playing pranks that lightened the mood. His trouble memorizing dialogue required hidden cue cards for each scene.
The character's appearance demanded another kind of preparation. Brando inserted tissues in his cheeks to create Don Vito's distinctive look, adding mannerisms and changes in the accent and pitch of his voice. The filmmakers shielded him from public and press scrutiny during production because interest in seeing him in character was high. Puzo denied that Don Vito had a single specific model. The film began with the character Bonasera speaking in Don Vito's study, while its final images showed Kay watching a door close as Michael's lieutenant addressed him as Don Corleone. The opening title identified the work as Mario Puzo's The Godfather.
Coppola faced a separate struggle over Al Pacino as Michael Corleone. Pacino's earlier commitment to The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight threatened his participation when a court prohibited him from working on The Godfather during the overlapping schedules. The dispute was settled out of court. Robert De Niro took over Pacino's part in the other film. Studio executives also worried about Pacino's performance as Michael. Coppola later said the restaurant scene, in which Michael kills Sollozzo and McCluskey, persuaded them that he suited the role. Those production difficulties preceded the nominations that would accompany the Brando Oscar refusal.
The movie's setting brought another negotiation. Paramount initially resisted shooting in New York, and Kansas City was mentioned as a possibility with the story shifted to the seventies. Coppola prevailed before principal photography, retaining the novel's period and filming primarily in New York. Interiors used Filmways Studios in the Bronx and the Paramount lot in Los Angeles. The Corleone compound occupied a quiet residential side street on Staten Island. The Woltz estate was filmed at the former Marion Davies-William Randolph Hearst estate in Beverly Hills. Sicilian scenes took ten days in and around a small village, and additional work occurred in Las Vegas.
The adaptation shortened Puzo's novel by dropping much of the characters' day-to-day lives and reducing or removing minor characters. Don Vito's early life largely waited for The Godfather Part II. Johnny Fontane and Tom Hagen had more extensive backgrounds in the book. Coppola prepared a large working notebook by mounting the novel's pages and adding lengthy notes in the margins. He later said he often consulted that notebook during production instead of the screenplay he co-wrote with Puzo. The book's wedding sequence became an outdoor shoot requiring seven hundred extras and four days of work.
Post-production delayed the planned Christmas release. The world premiere took place in New York in March 1972 as a benefit for The Boys Club of New York. The film opened at five theaters in the New York area the next day, followed by two Los Angeles theaters later that month. Strong demand produced long lines, and many theater owners kept the picture running around the clock. Louis Malle was in charge of French dubbing, with performers to be paid twice the normal dubbing rate because of the film's importance.
- The Godfather (1972): American Film Institute Catalog — catalog.afi.com
- Why Brando sent Sacheen Littlefeather: Smithsonian Magazine — www.smithsonianmag.com
- The Godfather: Wikipedia — en.wikipedia.org