The Godfather is a crime novel by American author Mario Puzo. Originally published in 1969 by G. P. Putnam's Sons, the novel details the story of a fictional Mafia family in New York City (and Long Beach, New York), headed by Vito Corleone. Puzo's dedication for The Godfather is "For Anthony Cleri". The novel's epigraph is by the French author Honoré de Balzac: "Behind every great fortune there is a crime." The novel covers the years 1945 to 1955 and includes the back story of Vito Corleone from early childhood to adulthood.
Adaptations (5)
The Godfather has been adapted 5 times, across film, television film, and television series, from 1972 to 2017.
The Godfather1972 · film · 175 min · dir. Francis Ford Coppola · IMDb ↗Spanning the years 1945 to 1955, a chronicle of the fictional Italian-American Corleone crime family. When organized crime family patriarch, Vito Corleone barely survives an attempt on his life, his youngest son, Michael steps in to take care of the would-be killers, launching a campaign of bloody revenge.
The Godfather Part II1974 · film · 202 min · dir. Francis Ford Coppola · IMDb ↗In the continuing saga of the Corleone crime family, a young Vito Corleone grows up in Sicily and in 1910s New York. In the 1950s, Michael Corleone attempts to expand the family business into Las Vegas, Hollywood and Cuba.
The Godfather Saga1977 · television film · 434 min · IMDb ↗IMDb9.5A seven-hour chronological edit of The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, expanded with over an hour of restored scenes to trace the Corleone family’s rise from Vito’s youth in Sicily to Michael’s reign in 1950s America.
The Godfather Part III1990 · film · 162 min · dir. Francis Ford Coppola · IMDb ↗In the midst of trying to legitimize his business dealings in 1979 New York and Italy, aging mafia don, Michael Corleone seeks forgiveness for his sins while taking a young protege under his wing.
