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The Godfather · The Art of Costume Podcast

• 0:05
  Hello and welcome to the Art Costume Podcast.
• 0:07
  I'm Elizabeth Joy Glass. And most people call me the
• 0:11
  Godfather, but you all can call me Spencer Williams.
• 0:16
  I don't know if you could pull off being the godfather,
• 0:18
  Spencer. I like to think that could be
• 0:20
  like the Godfather of like costume design podcasting.
• 0:25
  Yeah, OK. I guess we'll go with that.
• 0:29
  Hey costume nerds, welcome to our Godfather themed episode.
• 0:34
  I'm so excited. Our episode on The Godfather.
• 0:37
  Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Episode on the Godfather, a
• 0:40
  little Godfather Godfather theme.
• 0:43
  That's going to be a hard word to say 100 times on this
• 0:46
  podcast. Before we get started, should we
• 0:49
  talk about the new Art of Costume podcast?
• 0:52
  Mascot. Yeah.
• 0:53
  Veto Cat Leone. This is my new cat Veto Cat
• 0:57
  Leone. He is going to be a fuss for
• 0:59
  this episode, but I have a feeling he might be sticking
• 1:02
  around for future Dart of Costume podcast episodes.
• 1:05
  Since we can't have a real living mask.
• 1:09
  No, our studio overlord has forbade it.
• 1:12
  Yeah, so here actually. Can I hold it?
• 1:15
  Yeah. I'm.
• 1:15
  I'm missing a Owen. Yeah, there you.
• 1:17
  Go Hey, costume nerds. Yeah, so today's episode is
• 1:23
  about The Godfather, and I've been wanting to do this episode
• 1:27
  for a hot movie. You have.
• 1:28
  You have. I went into like a mobster hole
• 1:33
  last year and I haven't came out of it.
• 1:36
  I've been watching Sopranos every day, watching The
• 1:39
  Godfather, Scarface. So we're doing a little mobster
• 1:43
  March, which I'm excited. Our March really goes through
• 1:46
  it. We it.
• 1:47
  Does. Catherine Martin March.
• 1:49
  We had Sci-fi March. Now it's mobster March.
• 1:54
  Lots going on. Well, shall we get into it?
• 1:58
  Let's. Get into it.
• 1:59
  Very excited for this one. Do you want to give our viewers
• 2:03
  a little summary first? I sure will.
• 2:06
  The Godfather is the first film in a trilogy spanning the years
• 2:10
  1945 to 1955. A chronicle of the fictional
• 2:15
  Italian American Corleone crime family.
• 2:18
  When organized crime family patriarch Vito Corleone barely
• 2:21
  survives an attempt on his life, his youngest son Michael steps
• 2:25
  in to take care of the would be killers, launching a campaign of
• 2:30
  bloody revenge. And that is The Godfather and
• 2:33
  which was directed, of course, by Francis Ford.
• 2:35
  Coppola yes. If you haven't seen it, go go
• 2:39
  watch it. I was this was my first time
• 2:41
  seeing it. Surprised how much I did like
• 2:44
  it. Get ready for a long movie
• 2:46
  though. This this movie is like how old
• 2:51
  is this movie? Like 60 years old at this point.
• 2:55
  50 more than 50 now. Yeah, so it's it's back in the
• 2:59
  day when films were like 3 hours long.
• 3:01
  Yeah, Elizabeth sat down in my living room to watch it with me.
• 3:05
  And then I accidentally pressed pause and showed the runtime,
• 3:08
  and she's like, whoa. And I was like, hey, I'm saying
• 3:11
  we got start now. I'm just glad I made a
• 3:13
  sustenance before we started. Oh yes, Elizabeth did make us a
• 3:17
  beautiful pasta dinner and we had some bread and probably some
• 3:21
  red wine. I don't really remember a.
• 3:23
  Little more than, yeah, a lot of red wine.
• 3:26
  That's why she enjoyed the movie so much.
• 3:28
  Why don't we meet the costume designer?
• 3:31
  Absolutely. Let's meet costume designer Anna
• 3:34
  Hill Johnstone. You will know her work from On
• 3:37
  the Waterfront, East of Eden, Baby Doll, The Taking of Pelham,
• 3:43
  123, Dog Day, Afternoon and Ragtime, for which she got an
• 3:49
  Oscar nomination. She also received an Oscar
• 3:53
  nomination for The Godfather and A AFTA Award nomination for The
• 3:58
  Godfather. Quite the lady in her time.
• 4:02
  Yeah, I mean, she has a very iconic career.
• 4:06
  I believe she also went on to win a career achievement with
• 4:08
  the Costume Designers Guild later on.
• 4:11
  Unfortunately, Anna Hill Johnstone has passed away, but
• 4:14
  her legacy lives on in The Godfather.
• 4:16
  I mean, her work is incredible, and I feel like it's kind of
• 4:21
  underappreciated because it was in a time where costume design
• 4:25
  really wasn't anyone on anyone's top of mind.
• 4:28
  Not very little, as we'll soon find out in the Behind the
• 4:32
  Costume facts. But her work really is iconic.
• 4:37
  I really feel like it showed the world what real classic like
• 4:42
  men's wear, men's suiting could. Be.
• 4:45
  And it's kind of like this is the inspiration for any sort of
• 4:50
  mobster film that went on forward, going from Goodfellas
• 4:54
  to Scarface or the entire Sopranos series.
• 4:57
  They all kind of has Harkins back to The Godfather.
• 5:01
  Absolutely. Well, let's take a little break.
• 5:05
  And when we come back, we're going to kick things off with a
• 5:09
  little Italian wedding, which, you know, Elizabeth loves a
• 5:12
  wedding. I do love a wedding.
• 5:14
  Good fun, good fun. Hi, I'm Dan who does all the
• 5:22
  magic behind the scenes. I wanted to say thank you and if
• 5:25
  you want to support the show even farther, go to
• 5:28
  tpublic.com/user slash The Art of Costume, where you can buy a
• 5:34
  couple variations of our logo on T-shirts, mugs and stickers.
• 5:40
  Also, be sure to leave a like comment and subscribe.
• 5:43
  And if you're an audio listener, leave us a Five Star review and
• 5:46
  Apple podcast. Now back to the show.
• 5:54
  Spencer, Are you ready to podcast on the day of Vito
• 5:59
  Corleone Lee's daughter's wedding?
• 6:04
  That's really. Good.
• 6:05
  Thank you. Thank.
• 6:06
  You well, let's get into it. This wedding was so much fun,
• 6:09
  and I love that the film starts with this really fun, colorful
• 6:13
  wedding because it kind of sets the tone of like, oh, this might
• 6:16
  be like a fun kind of campy, you know, story where it's full of
• 6:21
  joy, which it's not at all, no. But if it starts out that way,
• 6:26
  it's absolutely is beautiful. Like there's color, there's fun,
• 6:30
  like you really like, don't get a sense that like anything
• 6:34
  sinister is going on, it's just this big family celebrating.
• 6:40
  Actually, it's almost like nothing since there really is
• 6:42
  going on because, like, he's the the Don Corleone is just like,
• 6:46
  so respected and like, like, he's at the top of his career,
• 6:52
  which I think is what the film is setting up, that like, people
• 6:54
  are just able to come and party and he's having office hours
• 6:58
  during the wedding, which he doesn't appreciate.
• 7:02
  We don't have a lot of facts for this episode, but we do have
• 7:05
  some. Yeah.
• 7:06
  For example, per the Academy, the wedding scene took four days
• 7:11
  to shoot and employed at least 350 extras, which might not seem
• 7:16
  a lot to some of you if this is your first time listening to the
• 7:18
  podcast, but. That's a lot.
• 7:20
  That's. Quite a bit.
• 7:21
  That's a lot of work for Anna. That's a lot of work for Anna
• 7:24
  and her team because they they had to find a costume for
• 7:27
  everyone of those 350 extras and they all had to be correct for
• 7:32
  the period. Yeah.
• 7:34
  Oh yeah. And they have to still kind of
• 7:36
  give like that Italian American joy, you know, too.
• 7:39
  So I think that they really captured it.
• 7:42
  What did you think of the pink wedding dresses?
• 7:45
  Or bridal party dresses, I should say.
• 7:47
  I thought it was so good. I thought it was like it was so
• 7:53
  like girlish and innocent, which is what I liked because
• 7:56
  everything else that's going on is not innocent in the
• 8:00
  slightest, but it was. And I like that there's like a
• 8:04
  lot of pink in this scene because it's just like, oh,
• 8:08
  everything's good here. Like nothing bad at all.
• 8:12
  And it's like, no, there's some shit going on in the house, like
• 8:18
  some shit's about to go down, but don't worry about it right
• 8:21
  now. Yeah, Anna Hill Johnstone really
• 8:23
  uses color pretty, pretty well as like a tool to tell a story
• 8:28
  here. So I mean, this is the most
• 8:30
  color you're gonna see at all, you know?
• 8:34
  Through. The Russell film except through
• 8:36
  like little pops of like orange and red.
• 8:40
  So let's talk about some of our two first characters.
• 8:42
  Of course we have Diane Kean, who plays Kay Adams Elizabeth.
• 8:46
  I don't think you knew to us Diane Kean, until a couple
• 8:49
  minutes in I. Did you told me and I was like,
• 8:51
  what? Cause I I this is probably like
• 8:54
  the earliest film of hers I've ever seen.
• 8:57
  So it goes back. Yeah, I was not she.
• 9:00
  I mean, she doesn't look like herself now, obviously.
• 9:02
  So it didn't click right away. I think her character's so much
• 9:06
  fun. And actually, Francis Ford
• 9:08
  Coppola in a quote on, you know, some unrecognized journal,
• 9:11
  essentially said that Diane Keaton was casted because she
• 9:15
  was so eccentric and kind of weird in a way, which really
• 9:18
  landed to Kate Adams because she sticks out like a sore thumb and
• 9:22
  like. Absolutely does she absolutely
• 9:25
  does. Like even in this scene I'm like
• 9:28
  OK girl. Like I mean she looks so cute.
• 9:31
  Like let's she's adorable. She was in any other movie,
• 9:34
  you'd be like, oh. Yeah, yeah.
• 9:36
  But it's like with the hat and just like because she's very
• 9:40
  clearly like not quite in New York socialite, but definitely
• 9:45
  like almost in that sphere. I felt like from some of the
• 9:49
  other stuff, things she says through the film, things she
• 9:53
  wears. And so like, she's very trendy,
• 9:56
  but it like doesn't quite fit with everyone else.
• 10:00
  And the red or it's like a red orangey color.
• 10:04
  Just like she sticks out so much from everyone else who's in
• 10:07
  these like, pinks and pastels. And she's just like, yeah, I'm,
• 10:12
  I'm, I'm the different 1 here. She has she's like doing polka
• 10:16
  dots. She does definitely hasn't like
• 10:18
  blended into the mob wife mentality, which which is really
• 10:22
  being defined in this movie. I would say by Anna Hill
• 10:25
  Johnstone. But yeah, she definitely sticks
• 10:29
  out. The sun hat does give teacher
• 10:32
  vibes as well. It just feels like she's
• 10:34
  inappropriately dressed but she still looks cute.
• 10:36
  Oh yeah, I mean, I think she's appropriately dressed for a
• 10:39
  wedding, just not maybe the sweat.
• 10:43
  Some other people though, that we need to talk about are of
• 10:46
  course the Corleone family. We have James Caan as Sunny,
• 10:51
  Marlon Brando as Don Vito Corleone.
• 10:54
  Al Pacino has Michael Corleone and John Kazali as Frito.
• 11:00
  They this is a good looking family, I'm not going to lie.
• 11:03
  Like they dress well, they look good.
• 11:06
  The middle. Brother has some questionable
• 11:08
  choices later in the film, but overall sharp looking family.
• 11:14
  Yeah, sharp looking family and I definitely like have been living
• 11:17
  this lifestyle. But what is so interesting to me
• 11:20
  about Michael, played by Al Pacino, is he is very much not a
• 11:25
  part of family in a way. He just got back from World War
• 11:28
  Two. He also is a Ivy League graduate
• 11:33
  at this point. So he has a little bit more of a
• 11:35
  educated look to him. And he's just, you know, he's
• 11:39
  not part of family because Vito doesn't want him to.
• 11:43
  Well, let's talk about the man of the hour, the Godfather
• 11:46
  himself, the Don, played by Marlon Brando.
• 11:51
  This is I've I feel like I've grown up with the Godfather even
• 11:55
  though I really haven't seen it till the past couple years.
• 11:58
  But everyone that knows this image of him in his office.
• 12:02
  Oh yeah. The red rose and the on a lapel,
• 12:05
  the bow tie. The man whispering into his ear.
• 12:09
  Yeah, it's just like that is, I mean, it's peak cinema is just
• 12:13
  one of the most known cats. I'm sorry, Cat Leone.
• 12:17
  There's also a cat in his in his lap, but it's just one of my
• 12:26
  favorite looks. It's just so beautiful and
• 12:28
  classic so. Polished.
• 12:31
  So polished and he just looks like the man too, you know?
• 12:34
  But he doesn't look like scary or villainous either.
• 12:40
  Though you know, he's definitely the person in charge and who's
• 12:43
  going to get things done. But he's not frightening right
• 12:48
  away. Right.
• 12:49
  He's still a family man at heart.
• 12:52
  He's he's himself as a businessman, you know.
• 12:54
  Oh yeah, that. Just has a crime Lord, which is
• 12:56
  kind of like the push and pull is like he doesn't want to get
• 12:59
  into drugs and. Stuff like that.
• 13:02
  You know, but there's two other films.
• 13:05
  So one thing that I would love to point out, which is just so
• 13:10
  much fun to me is obviously the the jowls and done.
• 13:16
  Marlon Bryna wanted to make Don Corleone look like a bulldog, so
• 13:21
  he stuffed his cheeks of cotton wool for the audition.
• 13:25
  But for actual filming, per the Academy of Motion Pictures, he
• 13:28
  wore a mouthpiece made by a dentist.
• 13:30
  The dental plumper was designed by legendary makeup artist Dick
• 13:34
  Smith and made by a New York dentist named Henry Dork.
• 13:37
  And we have some pictures actually of the mouthpiece and
• 13:41
  that. Looks really uncomfortable.
• 13:43
  It looks really uncomfortable. I've actually seen this
• 13:46
  mouthpiece before. It was at the Akami Museum, and
• 13:50
  I got up close to it. Yeah, I don't.
• 13:52
  I kind of want one honestly, if you know, if it was on Amazon I
• 13:56
  would have got it for the podcast.
• 13:57
  You absolutely would have. Yeah.
• 13:59
  Yeah, you would have. But the commitment and also like
• 14:03
  looking at the aging of Marlon Brano because he is not as old
• 14:07
  as Godfather actually is. No, because he's like what, in
• 14:11
  his 40s and they make him like 80 something. 80 but I mean
• 14:16
  everyone aged differently in the 70s.
• 14:18
  He's in the 70's. The Godfather could be like 35
• 14:22
  for all you know. But I was watching some YouTube
• 14:26
  video last night. I just got into a rabbit hole of
• 14:29
  like how they did the aging look and he did this thing where I've
• 14:32
  never thought of where they essentially stretched back his
• 14:35
  skin and then they would like paint in the wrinkles a little
• 14:38
  bit. So they're using like his
• 14:40
  natural face, just just. Altering it?
• 14:43
  That's wild. Oh man.
• 14:46
  Because like. It's not like, because we're
• 14:49
  looking at like the before and after pictures side to side and
• 14:53
  it's wild 'cause it's like they really don't do that much.
• 14:56
  But what they do it it's such a transformation.
• 15:00
  Yeah, it's so subtle, but so like, it looks like a different
• 15:05
  person. Subtle.
• 15:08
  There's another character we have to talk about.
• 15:10
  We might not have a lot behind the costume facts, but we do
• 15:12
  have some behind the cat facts. The cat held by Marlon Brando in
• 15:17
  the opening scene was a stray that Coppola found at Film Way
• 15:21
  Studios in Harlem, New York City.
• 15:23
  And this is kind of like the lore.
• 15:25
  It purred so loudly during the scene that dialogue had to be
• 15:29
  rerecorded. They couldn't understand a word
• 15:32
  Brando was saying in fear they would have to use subtitles,
• 15:35
  said Francis Ford Coppola. Such a happy cat.
• 15:41
  The cat was like, I'm being held, I'm being petted.
• 15:44
  Yeah, Marlon Brando clearly loves that cat.
• 15:47
  Marlon Brando's holding the cat. And also Marlon Brando was like
• 15:50
  a big animal lover, too. Oh, so I'm there was no qualms
• 15:54
  about this. He was like, yeah, re record the
• 15:56
  theme. Lived a lush life after this
• 15:59
  movie. It sure did.
• 16:01
  Oh, man, I kind of want a cat now.
• 16:03
  Well, we have one. What am I saying?
• 16:05
  Yeah. We have Cat Leone.
• 16:07
  I wish we could get like a close up view just.
• 16:09
  I know the cat. The world's best Kitty.
• 16:19
  All right, let's get into some costume storylines.
• 16:22
  Yes. So Al Pacino plays Michael
• 16:25
  Corleone as we were talking about, and as we talked about,
• 16:30
  he starts off as like the good boy of the family.
• 16:33
  He's such an academic boy with his corduroy jacket.
• 16:36
  This. Corduroy jacket.
• 16:37
  Oh, which is so good. Brown.
• 16:40
  They do it. Works.
• 16:41
  It works. But he's like the golden
• 16:44
  retriever of the family. But then his father gets shot,
• 16:48
  which is very tragic. Yes.
• 16:49
  And suddenly he's just, I don't know what it is, but he's just
• 16:52
  itching to get a part of the action.
• 16:55
  Yeah, I think he's just like, well.
• 16:57
  His dad got shot. I just said that but.
• 16:59
  Yeah, Like, I think he's upset that his dad got shot.
• 17:03
  And I think he just doesn't like how everything's being handled.
• 17:07
  And I'm like, I don't know, like, maybe it's like some of
• 17:11
  his trauma from the war, but he's like, OK, we got to take
• 17:13
  these people out. Just like right off the bat he's
• 17:16
  like, no, I have to murder this person.
• 17:18
  Yeah, and I just, he sees like his family talking and kind of
• 17:22
  excluding him because that is the father's wishes and he's
• 17:26
  just had it. So you see him like that first
• 17:28
  thing where he's like Christmas shopping with Kay.
• 17:31
  Oh, he's so. Happy, so happy and just evolves
• 17:34
  into like slowly just gain a little bit more less Ivy League
• 17:38
  and a little bit more tailored. Oh, yeah, This is like this
• 17:42
  thing we've been talking about a lot over the past years, like
• 17:44
  the character transition from, like, you know, the golden
• 17:48
  retriever to Anakin Skywalker, Darth Vader, Like this,
• 17:54
  literally, this is the story. That's really what happens
• 17:57
  because he's out with Kay Christmas shopping.
• 18:00
  He's got this big brown coat on. It's like he has like a lot of
• 18:03
  like brown and like orangey red colors.
• 18:07
  Then his dad gets shot. He's still in the brown, still
• 18:11
  like comfy corduroy. I actually want that jacket,
• 18:15
  corduroy jacket. And then like after that scene,
• 18:20
  he switches to like more traditional suits, still kind of
• 18:24
  the brown tone, but they progressively get dark to this
• 18:27
  like dark grey when he murders the people in the restaurant.
• 18:32
  Oh man, that scene is crazy by the way.
• 18:34
  It's that is a wild scene. When do you feel like you like
• 18:38
  were on board with this movie? Was there a certain moment or
• 18:41
  scene where you were like, all right, Like I'm, I'm into this.
• 18:44
  It was a little later on. Oh, OK, she was still sussing it
• 18:47
  out. Yeah, the horse in the bed
• 18:50
  didn't do it for you. I think I was still a little bit
• 18:53
  thrown off by how long this movie was at this.
• 18:55
  Point like a chapter or something.
• 18:57
  This 50 year old plus movie, let's talk about some of the
• 19:04
  other side characters. Also, we have James Caan as
• 19:07
  Sunny and Robert Duvall as Tom Hagen.
• 19:11
  These were two of my favorite characters.
• 19:13
  I mean, Sonny was unhinged, but I appreciated like because he's
• 19:19
  full in. He's like expecting to be the
• 19:22
  next Godfather. Like, that's definitely like the
• 19:25
  role his father was trying to mold him to, whether or not he
• 19:31
  was fit for it, which is I think one of the reasons Michael steps
• 19:34
  up is 'cause he's like, my brother's too unhinged to be
• 19:39
  doing this, but I like his, like his dark blue aesthetic, like,
• 19:46
  'cause Godfather is like full, like black, really dark Grays.
• 19:50
  And he's like, he's like, I'm younger.
• 19:51
  I'm, I'm like, yeah, he's like a little more hip than his father
• 19:55
  is. And he has these beautiful blue
• 19:58
  suits and ties. He.
• 19:59
  Also looks a little bit more disheveled too, like his His
• 20:02
  clothes are like maybe just thrown on a little bit.
• 20:05
  His tie could be tightened a little bit.
• 20:07
  Keeps. Having to go beat up his
• 20:08
  brother-in-law. That guy's so bad.
• 20:15
  Another interesting fact I learned one of the most
• 20:18
  expensive films in cinema to this point was actually Sonny
• 20:22
  getting shot and killed and also was known as probably the most
• 20:26
  violent scene in cinema ever recorded.
• 20:30
  OK. I'm going to be like, no, but
• 20:34
  I'm like, that's because I watched name of the row.
• 20:37
  Yeah, well up into nineteen 1970, something I want to say
• 20:43
  and just it's kind of a costume fact that James Caan wore 127
• 20:47
  blood filled explosive squibs to simulate bullets hitting him in
• 20:53
  the car and had over 200 pre drilled holes in the car as well
• 20:57
  too. So can.
• 20:59
  You imagine the amount of shirts she had to have for him.
• 21:02
  I just don't even know how they pulled us off honestly.
• 21:05
  I mean the squibs just burst. 127 of them.
• 21:10
  Was he walking around? No, I think that was.
• 21:13
  I think that was probably over multiple shots.
• 21:16
  That's true, but we'll see. But I just yeah, that technology
• 21:22
  is crazy. I'm.
• 21:23
  Trying to think because he got shot a.
• 21:25
  Lot he sure. Did he probably?
• 21:28
  I mean I can't imagine they did this scene too many times.
• 21:30
  He probably had like 40 on him at a time.
• 21:34
  I think the total cost is like $100,000 for.
• 21:37
  That scene. For that scene.
• 21:39
  That's wild it. Definitely was a one and a lot
• 21:41
  of zeros, yeah. And it was more than ten.
• 21:47
  Yeah, I've said this a lot to my dad, but one of my dreams is
• 21:52
  like, to be casted as an extra in either a mobster film or a
• 21:56
  zombie film where you could die in like, I want to get, you
• 21:59
  know, ripped apart by a zombie or like, get choked out in a mob
• 22:04
  scene, like sit in the front, you know, passenger seat of a
• 22:07
  car. Do.
• 22:08
  The thing we know not to do? Yeah.
• 22:09
  And then someone gets you from the back just so it would be so
• 22:13
  fun. That actually might be fun.
• 22:15
  Casting directors if you're looking for someone to just get
• 22:18
  absolutely wrecked on screen. This guy right here.
• 22:21
  This guy. I'd love to see you torn apart
• 22:23
  by zombies. I think that'd be fun, yeah.
• 22:25
  I mean, that's. Living out your Walking Dead
• 22:27
  dreams. I seriously would love that.
• 22:29
  You would. It could be really messy where
• 22:31
  they're like, you know, a crowd anyways, right?
• 22:39
  So the Don Corleone is is wrecked in a in a hospital.
• 22:46
  Clinging on to life. And Michael has made some
• 22:50
  mistakes as well because he now emptied out that restaurant, so
• 22:53
  he's shipped off to Sicily. So let's check in on Kay and see
• 22:57
  how she's handling things. She's not handling things well.
• 23:00
  Not well. Rightfully so.
• 23:03
  Like if your boyfriend is up and disappears, I'd be asking
• 23:06
  questions too. Well, just looking at the
• 23:09
  transition of her costumes up until this point, you know,
• 23:12
  she's very kind of like luxed up, very spurs wintery.
• 23:18
  But you just kind of see like her hold on to this color all
• 23:22
  the way through too. Like she's wearing the bright
• 23:25
  oranges, deep Reds, but just looking so out of place up to.
• 23:30
  Yeah, that moment where she arrives to the home of the
• 23:33
  family where she's trying to get in contact with Michael.
• 23:36
  She's like, right hands. Yeah.
• 23:39
  Looking like Paddington Bear. Literally, it's like, honestly,
• 23:44
  it's very, very cute and like the family lawyers just like
• 23:48
  honey, go home. You don't want any part in this.
• 23:53
  No, you don't know what's happening and that's OK, but you
• 23:58
  got to go. You have a rare opportunity in a
• 24:00
  mobster film to just leave with no consequences.
• 24:04
  Yes. Yes, I wish she took him up on
• 24:07
  that. Right.
• 24:09
  And you have to see film two and three also too.
• 24:12
  I know. Kay's hairline is very
• 24:14
  interesting, by the way. Yeah.
• 24:16
  And her hair like, constantly changes.
• 24:18
  I mean, I will say I feel like Kay is a little more like 60s
• 24:26
  opposed to the 40s, but I think that's the whole, like, just
• 24:31
  wanting your audience to connect with a character.
• 24:34
  And like, this is the early 70s. A lot of those 60s styles would
• 24:38
  still be popular. So I think that's more of what
• 24:41
  that is. But it's just like one more
• 24:44
  thing that sets her apart. Yeah.
• 24:46
  She just does a laundry list of things, just making things
• 24:49
  difficult for OK, do you want to go on a little vacation to
• 24:53
  Sicily? Absolutely.
• 24:54
  Please, someone take me to Sicily.
• 24:56
  Please. Michael really has a lot of good
• 24:59
  things going for him in this film, honestly.
• 25:01
  I mean, well, I. Think it's.
• 25:05
  He did do some murdering, he did.
• 25:07
  Some murdering. I mean, if everything had gone
• 25:10
  well in Sicily, things would be different.
• 25:12
  Right. Yeah.
• 25:13
  So let's talk about this trip to Italy, which I believe was
• 25:16
  actually filmed in Italy, if I'm not wrong.
• 25:19
  Yeah, one little behind the costume fact that I so loved
• 25:23
  those woolen flat caps that Michael and his bodyguards wear.
• 25:30
  Coincidentally known to the locals, this hat is known as a
• 25:33
  Coppola and is the likely evolution of the Sicilian word
• 25:38
  cupula, meaning head, or might be Coppola.
• 25:41
  I don't speak Italian, but. Clearly I love, I love the
• 25:48
  scenes in Sicily because it's such like it's so bright
• 25:51
  compared to New York. Yeah, it's like a whole
• 25:53
  different film. It's a.
• 25:55
  Whole different film. And I'm like, I almost like won
• 25:59
  a movie just of just of Michael in Sicily that whole that whole
• 26:03
  time he was running from the law.
• 26:06
  Yeah, it's, it's really fun and just, I don't know, like
• 26:09
  Michael's kind of glowing, actually.
• 26:11
  Yeah, You're like, oh, I feel sad that Michael got shipped off
• 26:14
  to Italy. And then it looks in on him.
• 26:16
  You're like, oh, no, he's having a great time.
• 26:20
  But anyways, yeah, Michael just looks really happy with his cap,
• 26:23
  the Coppola cap. Yeah, his bodyguards.
• 26:26
  But then he sees this beautiful woman, which you just have to
• 26:30
  know like where the smooth movies going from this way
• 26:33
  forward. This is where it got me with
• 26:36
  Apollonia. Simonetta Stefanelli as
• 26:40
  Apollonia. Beautiful, gorgeous.
• 26:44
  Also like a typical like to me, like a 70s model also, you know.
• 26:51
  And she is like pure wife material.
• 26:55
  She's like, she's going to know and it's not going to faze her
• 26:58
  at the end of the day when she figures out what his family's up
• 27:02
  to. Yeah, you could see her, like,
• 27:04
  going back to New York with, like, the big fur coats and the
• 27:09
  fur hat. And, you know, you just.
• 27:11
  Yeah, you're right. Mob wife material used to get
• 27:13
  there the whole time. This is actually a moment where
• 27:16
  you look to me and you're like, oh, is this the part where his
• 27:19
  wife dies? And I was like, wait, what?
• 27:22
  Because I've never seen this movie before.
• 27:24
  No. But I do watch TV shows about
• 27:27
  film history, and this part wasn't one of them.
• 27:30
  Yeah, yeah. And I was like, no.
• 27:34
  You and I was like so confused. I'm like, I guess that must
• 27:36
  happen in like the second movie then and I.
• 27:39
  Was like, well I don't know, there's 3 movies.
• 27:43
  Yeah, but they have a beautiful wedding.
• 27:46
  Gorgeous wedding and she looks so good.
• 27:50
  Like I love her wedding dress her the veil is just like so of
• 27:57
  the time, so of the time. But her dress is gorgeous and
• 28:03
  she's just like yes, I'm marrying my like American man
• 28:07
  who suddenly can't fully speak Italian.
• 28:11
  I was very confused by that but I love her like her little like
• 28:15
  mini me brides who are her flower girls?
• 28:19
  Well, I feel like Michael just had stage fright, you know, like
• 28:22
  where you're like, Oh yeah, I could speak some Spanish and
• 28:24
  then you meet someone who speaks Spanish.
• 28:26
  You're like, just kidding it. Don't write it.
• 28:27
  You know what like that trash? That trash.
• 28:30
  That's what Michael Oh, and he's really enjoying, like the
• 28:35
  potential of being a mob boss in Italy, too, having these
• 28:39
  bodyguards. He's like, you know what?
• 28:40
  Maybe I do like this. Yeah, a little.
• 28:43
  Does he know that doesn't work out for him in the end?
• 28:46
  And Apollonia does meet Elizabeth's prediction that she
• 28:51
  gets turned to two of several pieces, which is very sad,
• 28:55
  honestly. I liked.
• 28:56
  Her. Yeah, she was sweet.
• 28:57
  She was so ready to go to America, too.
• 28:59
  She's like, I'm gonna drive this car.
• 29:01
  They had like one Zoom meeting and they were ready to go.
• 29:04
  Yeah, let's do this. Yeah.
• 29:09
  Well, back in America, Don Vito Corleone is finally feeling
• 29:13
  better. He's like, oh, my gosh, what's
• 29:16
  been going on? And then he finds out that his
• 29:17
  son Sonny is no longer with him. And he takes that very
• 29:21
  personally. So he calls together the the
• 29:24
  crime families of New York City and it.
• 29:27
  There's this iconic scene with just all of them talking around
• 29:30
  the table. And I just feel like this is
• 29:32
  like one of the moments that Marlon Brando clinched the Oscar
• 29:35
  win also, too, just the way he's, you know, I swear on my
• 29:39
  children and so on and so forth. Like, I won't seek vengeance.
• 29:43
  I don't know. I just it's one of my favorite
• 29:45
  scenes. It's so good and they all like,
• 29:48
  they're just like all dressed like respectable members of the
• 29:51
  community. That's literally what it looks
• 29:53
  like. It looks like a meeting of all
• 29:55
  the most respected members of a community, but it's literally
• 30:00
  all the mob bosses. And the thing about Vito is he's
• 30:03
  not overly flashy ever in the film, which which is like
• 30:08
  different compared to like Michael and Sonny, which shows
• 30:11
  like the immaturity in them there that like his costumes
• 30:14
  very like put together suit tie, not flashy colours.
• 30:18
  But he always wears a black though, or something close to
• 30:22
  black or grey, which is kind of like you're known as like only
• 30:27
  the mob boss is really allowed to wear black.
• 30:30
  And that's just like a detail and mob culture, I guess.
• 30:35
  I don't know. So he really leans into that.
• 30:40
  All right, So Michael goes back to America and he's like, well,
• 30:43
  I need a wife. And he picks up Kay.
• 30:45
  And I think the scene is very interesting when you see her at
• 30:48
  the elementary school because no color.
• 30:52
  No color. I think she's like him
• 30:55
  disappearing without saying anything.
• 30:57
  I think kind of like brought her down to earth because I'm like,
• 31:00
  OK, you clearly met in college and like, I don't know, maybe
• 31:04
  you have had like a romance while he was like in the Army.
• 31:09
  And I think she like, really romanticized their relationship
• 31:13
  and the world and the one he just disappeared.
• 31:15
  I think it did like, make her a little more realistic.
• 31:19
  And he's in the states for a year before he ever reaches out
• 31:22
  to her, which like, for me, honestly, I would have been
• 31:25
  like, bye bye. Bye.
• 31:28
  Like, we didn't have to pick up our relationship again right
• 31:32
  away, but you could have been like, hey, girl, I'm back like.
• 31:36
  Yeah, but you see her like she's void of color.
• 31:39
  It's like, it's almost like Michael took the color out of
• 31:41
  her world for her. And what's interesting too, is
• 31:45
  that the kids that she's walking have like orange hats.
• 31:48
  So it's almost like it's just like she's been drained of all
• 31:53
  for colour and joy and she's trying to like, it's still
• 31:56
  there. She sees it in the kids.
• 31:57
  You know, it's really subtle storytelling through to
• 32:00
  costumes, which, you know, not many people were doing it like
• 32:03
  Anna Hill Johnstone at this time.
• 32:04
  So she really set a precursor. Yeah.
• 32:08
  It's really interesting. But also Michael looks like a
• 32:11
  whole different Michael. I mean, he's full, like, stripes
• 32:15
  wearing black because he is now. His father is retired.
• 32:19
  Yeah, and wearing the hat, it's he's doing the whole thing.
• 32:25
  He just went like, like he went to the costume store and was
• 32:28
  like, where is Mom, boss? Because that's what I'm doing.
• 32:32
  Oh man, I love retired Vito Corleone.
• 32:36
  He's just like, so at peace, like I wish I could be that at
• 32:42
  peace in my day today. I thought you would like this
• 32:45
  character. Yeah, this character arc of him
• 32:47
  just sitting around drinking wine, wine, hanging out the
• 32:49
  grandbaby. Eating bread and cheese, that's
• 32:52
  like all he's and taking care of his garden, yeah, that's like
• 32:55
  all he's doing. And I think he's like really
• 32:56
  happy he. Is and he's not wearing the suit
• 32:59
  so much. He's like still buttoned up.
• 33:01
  You know, he has the tailored pants, the very tailored shirt.
• 33:05
  But yeah, not wearing a suit jacket or tie anymore.
• 33:09
  I love his hair. I think Marlon Brando cardigans.
• 33:12
  They're so sweet. He's.
• 33:15
  Just like I'm in grandpa mode, don't bother me.
• 33:17
  He's like I've had a hard life and now I finally get to enjoy
• 33:22
  the grandbabies. I love the scene with him and I
• 33:26
  believe his grandson when they're I.
• 33:28
  Think it's Michael's son, right? I think so, I don't recall but
• 33:33
  just has the hat the kind of like the unbund collar on his
• 33:37
  shirt. No shoes, just.
• 33:40
  Relaxing, just chilling. I mean, this is this is what we
• 33:44
  want, honestly, Roof until he passes away in the scene, which
• 33:48
  is very sad. I actually think that's a very
• 33:50
  devastating scene. It is, but it's also like he's
• 33:55
  like so happy in the moment that he dies.
• 33:58
  That's true. Like this is what he wanted.
• 34:00
  He wanted to have like a big family, to be playing with his
• 34:04
  grandkids in the yard and to just like, be relaxed and at
• 34:08
  peace. And that's literally the moment
• 34:11
  he has right before he dies, right?
• 34:13
  Chasing around his grandson with the orange in his mouth, Which
• 34:16
  orange is like such a big like call back in this film
• 34:19
  Throughout, you're wearing orange too.
• 34:21
  I am. It was an accident, but I'm
• 34:23
  happy. How is Vito Cat Leone doing?
• 34:27
  He's doing great. He is fascinated by everything.
• 34:30
  Should we put a little bow tie on him for the next episode?
• 34:34
  All right. We also got to talk about some
• 34:38
  other siblings that we haven't talked about as much.
• 34:40
  We have Talia Shar as Connie and John Kazali as Frito.
• 34:47
  So John Kazali gets shipped off to Vegas after that embarrassing
• 34:52
  moment where he watched his dad get shot and he just kind of sat
• 34:54
  there. He.
• 34:55
  Did nothing. Yeah, he.
• 34:56
  Did nothing and he moves to Vegas becomes like an absolute
• 35:00
  tool bag of such like period Vegas look and honestly, I I
• 35:05
  love his look. I love, you know, I love a
• 35:08
  little Ascot moment in a tailored suit.
• 35:14
  OK, Spencer, you do you. But he he looks like a jerk
• 35:19
  though. Yes.
• 35:20
  Oh, yeah, it's definitely I'm a jerk.
• 35:23
  He I also feel like he's trying to with like the color.
• 35:25
  He's kind of like distancing himself from the family.
• 35:28
  He definitely doesn't belong. Yeah, and he's like trying to,
• 35:31
  like, be the boss in his own way.
• 35:33
  And it's just like Alfredo. It's not happening.
• 35:37
  Yeah, Connie. Connie had some looks.
• 35:40
  Connie had some. I do love her housewife look.
• 35:44
  Yeah, like very chic. Still carrying that pink theme.
• 35:48
  Yeah, unfortunate circumstances that we see this cute ensemble.
• 35:54
  And finally, let's just talk about Michael once more.
• 35:58
  When we get to the end of the film, he's full on wearing
• 36:02
  black, wearing the three piece suit.
• 36:04
  The deepest greys possible. Deepest greys in blacks if the
• 36:08
  red tie. He's really evolved and it
• 36:13
  somehow like really seamlessly transitions into his godfather
• 36:18
  Tulik, which is very, very black and almost kind of goth, like a
• 36:22
  little bit. And they're different costume
• 36:23
  designers. The second one was designed by
• 36:26
  Theodora van Runkel. It's just it like works so
• 36:30
  seamlessly. Like it's like they, I mean,
• 36:32
  there was a book, so they all know kind of the direction of
• 36:35
  his story, but just work so perfectly.
• 36:38
  Yeah, and Anna sets up a really good look book in this first
• 36:43
  film. Like I think it would be hard to
• 36:46
  not follow what she did. Right.
• 36:49
  Looks so good. And then we have a funeral.
• 36:52
  I love a funeral scene. I know they're so dark, but just
• 36:55
  as everyone looks. Everyone looks great.
• 36:57
  Michael sits in such a way, he just, I don't know what it is,
• 37:01
  but he's like perfect at sitting.
• 37:03
  He always looks pissed. He always looks pissed.
• 37:08
  And then, of course, we have the, the, Oh my gosh, what do
• 37:12
  you call that? It's not a baptism, is it?
• 37:14
  It is a baptism A. Baptism when they're.
• 37:17
  Catholic, yeah, and. Then he becomes the actual
• 37:19
  godfather. OK I love that scene too but
• 37:24
  also like seeing Kay is so funny to me too.
• 37:27
  She's just like really struggling with her own self
• 37:31
  identity. I think so, yeah.
• 37:33
  And Michael looks like The Godfather, which kind of takes
• 37:37
  us to this final scene where Kay's just really lost herself,
• 37:42
  honestly. I she definitely, she's starting
• 37:46
  to realize she didn't know what she got herself into.
• 37:50
  The scene, the film kind of just closes on that moment where the
• 37:54
  door closes and kind of fades to black and Kay just kind of like
• 37:57
  disappears and it's like, you know, she's kind of been reduced
• 38:01
  to nothing. So I don't know.
• 38:03
  That's like some really incredible storytelling and
• 38:05
  costume design storytelling, which sets it up for the second
• 38:10
  and third film, which is like also tragic in many ways too.
• 38:14
  So that brings us to the end of The Godfather.
• 38:18
  Yeah, I'm so excited. I haven't wanted to do this for
• 38:22
  a while. Can I hold the cat for a second?
• 38:25
  Thank you. I feel like I need a cat for the
• 38:28
  Stitch rating. OK, that's fair.
• 38:31
  Where you at? Or maybe we could.
• 38:33
  There you go. There you go, Elizabeth.
• 38:36
  Are you ready to give a stitch rating on The Godfather?
• 38:39
  I think I am. All right.
• 38:41
  I think see this is very hard. It's hard to rate older films.
• 38:46
  Exactly because it's like people wanted something so different,
• 38:50
  like the whole process was completely different.
• 38:55
  I I'm gonna give it a four. The acting was incredible.
• 38:59
  It looked incredible. The story was just a little too
• 39:03
  hard to follow that I mean the. Names.
• 39:07
  It's like Game of Thrones. But people, I feel like Game of
• 39:12
  Thrones, lots of characters, they all have like their
• 39:15
  specific places that they are and are easier to keep track of.
• 39:19
  Everyone's in the room at the same time.
• 39:21
  In this movie, Elizabeth's already not great with names.
• 39:25
  I This is a real Tour de France. I'm so awful, it's sad.
• 39:30
  I'm so awful with names. So like the time, like for me
• 39:35
  story wise, the timeline was just a little bit off.
• 39:37
  There were there are parts that I'm like, I want to know more,
• 39:40
  like I want to know more about every buddy.
• 39:43
  I want to like, you know, know more about Michael and
• 39:47
  Apollonia's relationship. How long were they married?
• 39:52
  For about two days. Two days.
• 39:56
  I feel like if someone were to adapt, I want to read the book
• 40:00
  now. Like I do too actually.
• 40:02
  Because I'm like, if someone adapted the Godfather book
• 40:05
  today, it would absolutely be like a miniseries because
• 40:08
  there's so much there. Oh, totally.
• 40:11
  And they did an incredible job. And I mean, I don't think anyone
• 40:14
  was going to make that into a miniseries in the 70s.
• 40:17
  That's actually a good idea, though.
• 40:19
  You should pitch that to somebody paramount.
• 40:22
  Hit me up, anybody, any anyone, let me know.
• 40:29
  So yeah, there I think it's perfect for what it is, but
• 40:33
  there it could be improved, I think.
• 40:36
  And that could just be like my modern sensibilities or it
• 40:41
  couldn't. So a solid 4.
• 40:43
  I get it. Hey, that's that's good enough.
• 40:45
  Well, I'm personally going to give this film A5.
• 40:48
  I knew that. I knew that.
• 40:50
  Just because like the lasting impact of The Godfather, I feel
• 40:54
  like it kind of changed the face of some.
• 40:57
  It's like one of those like, you know, bookmarks and history of
• 41:00
  like film of just like what it's done, the performances that it,
• 41:05
  you know, Marlon Brando, Al Pacino.
• 41:08
  It's just, to me, I just feel like it's great all around.
• 41:11
  I do understand that it is difficult at times for me, even
• 41:16
  like at the end scene when they start whacking everybody during
• 41:19
  the, you know, baptism that's happening at the same time.
• 41:22
  I'm like, I don't remember half these people.
• 41:23
  Yeah. Yeah.
• 41:25
  But I'm sure they had it coming. Absolutely.
• 41:29
  But it's I just think like visually, like there's such
• 41:33
  incredible scenes from like that first scene when he's at his
• 41:36
  desk. The costumes are great.
• 41:38
  Marlon Brano has just such an energy that's just undeniable.
• 41:43
  So and there's a cute little Kitty there's.
• 41:46
  A cute little Kitty. I think it's a solid 5.
• 41:50
  Yeah, yeah. I wouldn't feel right giving it
• 41:53
  anything else. I feel fine giving it a four,
• 41:56
  but. She's good.
• 42:00
  And with that, Are you ready to play your favorite game?
• 42:03
  I think I am all. Right.
• 42:06
  Hit it, Daniel. The one costume to rule them
• 42:11
  all. I think that my one costume to
• 42:18
  rule them all is, of course, Don Vita Corleone's godfather look
• 42:23
  that he's wearing to his daughter's wedding.
• 42:26
  It's just so simple and classic. And it's just like that costume
• 42:31
  and everyone thinks about this is like, you know, similar to
• 42:33
  Cher's clueless look, the yellow Plaid, that this is the Don's
• 42:38
  version of the yellow Plaid. It's just so iconic.
• 42:41
  I love it. It's classic.
• 42:42
  It says a lot about him as a character that he's a family
• 42:45
  man, very respectable and put together at all times.
• 42:49
  But there's also like a sinister element to it also that it's
• 42:53
  hard for you, like put your finger on at the time, the Rose
• 42:58
  on the lapel, the bow tie. It's it's everything.
• 43:01
  And plus he pairs of a cute little cat.
• 43:03
  So I mean, I've, I've recognized this look since I remember for
• 43:08
  some reason, like people in like elementary and high school,
• 43:10
  everyone had like a like a Vito Corleone Godfather shirt.
• 43:15
  And I'm like, you guys are not going to be in the mob, but you
• 43:18
  know, in the high desert. But everyone want to be in the
• 43:21
  mob for some reason. But yeah, so that's my one
• 43:25
  costume. Rule them all.
• 43:27
  I like it, I like it. It's definitely the most iconic
• 43:30
  look probably from this movie. MY1 costume to rule them all is
• 43:37
  a costume that's been living rent free in my brain since we
• 43:40
  watched. Oh yeah.
• 43:43
  Which is Apollonian's wedding dress.
• 43:44
  Oh. Yeah, I should have saw that
• 43:46
  coming. Like I don't like, it's just
• 43:50
  like them, them walking to the church, like, just like the look
• 43:55
  of the two of them, everyone around them.
• 43:58
  It just like it's such, it's such a look and like a beautiful
• 44:03
  scene and it's it's so unique. Yeah.
• 44:07
  And I was just, I I've just been thinking about it.
• 44:09
  Yeah, just been thinking about it.
• 44:11
  The entire film looks like a black and white photo that was
• 44:14
  like brought to life like that was like colorized too.
• 44:17
  That scene in particular, this is Sicilian scenes.
• 44:20
  You're like, oh this was definitely I could see this has
• 44:22
  like a black white photo that pull out of my grandparents.
• 44:25
  Yeah. Garage or something?
• 44:26
  She definitely like because my parent, my grandparents all got
• 44:30
  married in like the late 50s, but they all had that like full
• 44:35
  lace, full sleeves, big skirt, like wedding gown.
• 44:39
  So it's just she's just like so on trend for the time and it's
• 44:44
  just perfect. That's beautiful.
• 44:46
  Perfect. If any of our Sicilian podcast
• 44:51
  listeners are listening to this, I'm looking to bring Elizabeth
• 44:55
  out for a Sicilian wedding. I think she would know.
• 44:58
  Let me know. Send us a e-mail at
• 45:01
  theartofcostume@gmail.com. I could put that up for you.
• 45:07
  Well, that brings us to the end of The Godfather.
• 45:09
  It's just so much fun. I hope you've all been watching
• 45:13
  on YouTube also so you could see our cute little new Our Costume
• 45:17
  podcast mascot. It's been fun doing this in
• 45:22
  person in our new set, so come check it out youtube.com.
• 45:25
  Slash at the Art of Costume. You could also still follow us
• 45:30
  on Instagram at the art of costume pod at TikTok.
• 45:32
  We're back on TikTok at the art of costume and we have a cool
• 45:36
  Discord. So that link is in the show
• 45:38
  notes. So you could join us and chat,
• 45:40
  talk about costumes. We talk, we I usually give
• 45:43
  people a little clue on what's coming up next if they want to
• 45:46
  prepare and send us questions. So if you're not part of the art
• 45:51
  of Costume organized alleged crime family, this one's a great
• 45:55
  place to start. It absolutely is and you can get
• 46:00
  some some favors from the family if you leave us a five star text
• 46:05
  review on Apple Podcast. Nice.
• 46:09
  This is not rehearsed. People she came up with that
• 46:15
  came up with that. Speaking of organized crime,
• 46:20
  Elizabeth, we have one more episode in our mobster March and
• 46:24
  this is a choice coming from your brain.
• 46:28
  I feel like you still don't believe in me on this choice.
• 46:31
  I It's not what I imagined, but do you know what?
• 46:36
  You don't often lead us astray. So.
• 46:39
  Thank you, thank you. And we are totally flipping the
• 46:44
  page on Mafia. We're going towards a totally
• 46:47
  different kind of mobster and we're going to be watching ATV
• 46:53
  series this next week. We will be watching Kiki
• 46:58
  Blinders. Yeah, very excited.
• 47:02
  I know Killian Murphy is a part of it and he's the main
• 47:05
  character. Yeah.
• 47:06
  And he's, I don't know if he won Emmys, but it's supposed to be a
• 47:09
  really good performance, so. It's an excellent performance.
• 47:12
  I'm excited. Some of your favorite people are
• 47:14
  in there. Do people get whacked in this
• 47:16
  one? Yeah.
• 47:17
  OK, good. I love a good whacking.
• 47:19
  You're a crime family. OK, good.
• 47:22
  As long as there's whacking and nice costumes, I'm probably
• 47:25
  going to be into it. 20s. Oh, there you go.
• 47:28
  So we're, you know, stepping it back a little bit.
• 47:30
  Yeah, finishing Sopranos this weekend, and then I'll be
• 47:34
  switching over to Peaky Blinders.
• 47:37
  I hope you all enjoyed this episode, and I hope you'll join
• 47:40
  us for our next edition of our Mobster March.
• 47:45
  Until then, bye.