Rare Behind the Scenes Photos From the Godfather Trilogy

Here are 17 rare shots of Marlon Brando, Al Pacino and Francis Ford Coppola in production on one of film history’s greatest trilogies.

In the director’s chair: Francis Ford Coppola oversees a script readthrough for The Godfather Part III (1990).

The crew films a street assassination stunt, with John Cazale as Fredo Corleone, the weak link in the Corleone family, watching helplessly from the curb.

Brando and Coppola on the streets of New York. The actor and director would reteam in 1979 for the war epic Apocalypse Now.

Coppola on the ornate bed used in the famous scene in which movie producer Jack Woltz awakes to find a bloody horse’s head lying next to him.

Coppola and Brando with Al Pacino as Michael Corleone, who finds himself drawn inexorably into his father’s murky life of organised crime.

Pacino and Brando on location.

Marlon Brando gets made up as Mafia family patriarch Don Corleone in The Godfather (1972), while director Francis Ford Coppola waits in the background.

Shooting the religious parade during the Feast of San Gennaro in Little Italy. In The Godfather Part II, the procession is the backdrop for the young Vito Corleone’s (Robert De Niro) assassination of local kingpin Don Fanucci (Gastone Moschin).

Coppola in production on a 1950s street scene for The Godfather Part II.

Coppola and Pacino feel the cold of Lake Tahoe, Nevada, where Michael Corleone keeps a lakeside compound.

Following the massive critical and commercial success of the first film, The Godfather Part II followed in 1974. Here’s Francis Ford Coppola examining a scene frame by frame.

Al Pacino, Andy Garcia and Francis Ford Coppola on location for The Godfather Part III (1990).

Costume designer Milena Canonero preps the wedding outfit for Michael Corleone’s daughter Mary, played in the third Godfather film by Sofia Coppola.

Coppola with Andy Garcia, who plays Vincent Mancini, the illegitimate son of Sonny Corleone.

Joe Mantegna (left) as the fated Joey Zasa, sharing a convivial moment with his director between shots.

In a position of power: Coppola with Al Pacino as the ageing Michael Corleone.

Cinematographer Gordon Willis frames a shot. Willis shot all three part of the Godfather trilogy, finally receiving an overdue Oscar nomination for his work on the final part. He lost to Dean Semler for Dances with Wolves.

(via BFI)