Super Johnny World

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Scorsese dropped by the set when Coppola was shooting the funeral of the Don. He recalls, “Francis just sat down on one of the tombstones in the graveyard and started crying.” Things came to a head with Willis one day when Pacino took a wrong (unrehearsed) turn off  a corridor in the Corleone house and blundered into darkness, a portion of the set that had not been lit. Francis wanted to know why not, why his actors couldn’t have to freedom to go wherever they wanted.

Willis said, “Okay, but I’ll have to relight, it’ll take a while.” Coppola shouted, “I want to shoot now.” Willis stalked off set, went to his trailer, and refused to come out. Francis, looking for the camera operator, Michael Chapman, bellowed, “I want somebody to operate right away.” Chapman ran into the bathroom and locked the door. Realizing he couldn’t get any of Willis’ crew to lift a finger, Coppola screamed, “Why don’t they let me make my movie?” and marched up into his office. Finding the door open, he slammed it closed, and then proceeded to pound his way through it with his feet and fists. The blows sounded like gunshots, and Fred Gallo, the AD, thought, Ohmigod, he’s shot himself.

In this case, the old cliche turned out to be true. The tension between Coppola and Willis proved creative. Coppola relied on his DP to frame the shots. Coppola’s strengths were writing dialogue, storytelling, and working with actors, not visual composition. Willis achieved a unique look—rich earth colors, buttery yellows and browns—that would go down in cinematic history.

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