Gustave Ferdinand Niebaum (born Gustaf Ferdinand Nybom ; 31 August 1842 – 5 August 1908) was a Finnish-American sea captain and winemaker .
172-678: Niebaum acquired his maritime schooling in Helsinki , Finland . By the end of 1860s, he had become one of the world's leading fur traders. Among his many known accomplishments, Niebaum founded the Alaskan Commercial Company in San Francisco , California . He also prepared some of the first official maps of the coastline of Alaska . As the Consul of Russia in the United States in 1867 (at
344-689: A Bronx restaurant; after retrieving a handgun planted in the bathroom by Clemenza, he shoots both men dead. Despite a clampdown by the authorities for the killing of a police captain, the Five Families erupt in open warfare. Michael takes refuge in Sicily and Fredo , Vito's second son, is sheltered by Moe Greene in Las Vegas. In Sicily, Michael meets and marries a local woman, Apollonia . Sonny publicly attacks and threatens Carlo for physically abusing Connie. When he abuses her again, Sonny speeds to their home but
516-413: A Marine who has thus far stayed out of the family business, introduces his girlfriend, Kay Adams , to his family at the reception. Johnny Fontane, a popular singer and Vito's godson , seeks Vito's help in securing a movie role. Vito sends his consigliere , Tom Hagen , to persuade studio president Jack Woltz to offer Johnny the part. Woltz refuses Hagen's request at first, but soon complies after finding
688-509: A "softer, more romantic" feel than the New York scenes. One of the film's most shocking moments involved an actual severed horse's head. The filming location for this scene is contested, as some sources indicate it was filmed at the Beverly Estate , while others indicate it was filmed at Sands Point Preserve on Long Island. Coppola received some criticism for the scene, although the head
860-427: A "tableau format" of filming to make it seem like a painting. He made use of shadows and low light levels throughout the film to show psychological developments. Willis and Coppola agreed to interplay light and dark scenes throughout the film. Willis underexposed the film in order to create a "yellow tone". The scenes in Sicily were shot to display the countryside and "display a more romantic land," giving these scenes
1032-641: A 113-meter-tall hotel and a 24-story residential tower have been approved. 121- and 93-meter-tall office buildings are planned to be built in Ruoholahti . Well over 200 high-rise buildings will be built in Helsinki in the 2020s. Well-known statues and monuments strongly embedded in the cityscape of Helsinki include the Keisarinnankivi ("Stone of the Empress", 1835), the statue of Russian Emperor Alexander II (1894),
1204-572: A 16-year-old Gustaf first came to Alaska on a voyage aboard a ship owned by the Russian-American Company. During this period both Alaska and Finland were regions under Russian control. On his return he studied for his Master's exam in Helsinki and was soon back in Alaska working as a helmsman. He later advanced to the rank of captain. Alaska came under American control in October 1867 and Nybom formed
1376-601: A director of Italian ancestry who would work for a low sum and budget after the poor performance of his latest film The Rain People . Coppola initially turned down the job because he found Puzo's novel sleazy and sensationalist, describing it as "pretty cheap stuff". At the time Coppola's studio, American Zoetrope , owed over $ 400,000 to Warner Bros. for budget overruns with the film THX 1138 and when coupled with his poor financial standing, along with advice from friends and family, Coppola reversed his initial decision and took
1548-614: A fine winery in France, but his California-born wife objected to long ocean voyages and preferred Napa instead. A number of Niebaum's colleagues and employees from the Alaska Commercial Company also joined him in creating Napa County wineries of their own - Benson at Far Niente and later on John Parrott's son Tiburcio. (John Parrott was the financier behind the Alaska Commercial Company). Niebaum's employee Hamden McIntyre
1720-497: A landscape of small villages. Some of the old villages from the 1240s in the area of present-day Helsinki, such as Koskela and Töölö , are now Helsinki districts, as are the rest of the 27 medieval villages. The area gradually became part of the Kingdom of Sweden and Christianity. Kuninkaantie , or the "King's Road", ran through the area and two interesting medieval buildings were built here: Vartiokylä hillfort [ fi ] in
1892-475: A letter to Brando in which he stated Brando was the "only actor who can play the Godfather". Despite Puzo's wishes, the executives at Paramount were against having Brando, partly because of the poor performance of his recent films and also his short temper. Brando was hesitant about getting back into acting, but his secretary Alice Marchak persuaded him to audition. Coppola favored Brando or Laurence Olivier for
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#17328510756982064-406: A literary scout for the company contacted then Paramount Vice President of Production Peter Bart about Puzo's unfinished sixty-page manuscript titled Mafia . Bart believed the work was "much beyond a Mafia story" and offered Puzo a $ 12,500 option for the work, with an option for $ 80,000 if the finished work were to be made into a film. Despite Puzo's agent telling him to turn down the offer, Puzo
2236-544: A low quality grape, which he inherited on the property, was replaced with Sauvignon Blanc purchased in San Jose. Later when he brought back cuttings from Europe, he planted Pinot Noir, Grenache, Carignan, Tannat, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot, and Malbec as well as the white wine grapes White Riesling, Semillon, Chenin Blanc, Burger and Chalosse. Extreme care was taken during the winemaking process to remove stems and leaves from
2408-581: A more solid naval defence in front of the city. Little came of these plans, however, as Helsinki remained a small town plagued by poverty, war and disease. The plague of 1710 killed most of Helsinki's population. After the Russians captured Helsinki in May 1713 during the Great Northern War , the retreating Swedish administration set fire to parts of the city. Despite this, the city's population grew to 3,000 by
2580-606: A new company with five partners, the Hansen, Nybom & Co, and they became wealthy seal-skin traders. They sold Alaskan seal skins in San Francisco and made California their new home. In time, after many years of trading and building his wealth, Gustaf Nybom eventually changed his name to the German form of Gustave Niebaum. It is believed that he did so to fit in with his many partners who were German Jews. Some of his German partners had seen
2752-399: A percentage of the film's profits, to work on the screenplay for the film. Working from the book, Coppola wanted to have the themes of culture, character, power, and family at the forefront of the film, whereas Puzo wanted to retain aspects from his novel and his initial draft of 150 pages was finished on August 10, 1970. After Coppola was hired as director, both Puzo and Coppola worked on
2924-461: A really good movie squeezed from a bestseller. The decision to shoot everything in period decor (the middle and late 1940s) was crucial; if they'd tried to save money by bring everything up to date, as they'd originally planned, the movie simply wouldn't have worked. But it's uncannily successful as a period piece, filled with sleek, bulging limousines and postwar fedoras. Coppola and his cinematographer, Gordon Willis, also do some interesting things with
3096-486: A three-week break before heading overseas to film in Sicily. Following the crew's departure for Sicily, Paramount announced that the release date would be moved to early 1972. Cinematographer Gordon Willis initially turned down the opportunity to film The Godfather because the production seemed "chaotic" to him. After Willis later accepted the offer, he and Coppola agreed to not use any modern filming devices, helicopters, or zoom lenses. Willis and Coppola chose to use
3268-515: A total area of 95,480 acres (38,640 ha). Of the total area, 48,190 acres (19,500 ha) are water areas and 47,290 acres (19,140 ha) are land areas. The city also has seven nature reserves in Espoo , Sipoo , Hanko and Ingå . The largest nature reserve is the Vanhankaupunginselkä , with an area of 30,600 acres (12,400 ha). The city's first nature reserve, Tiiraluoto of Lauttasaari,
3440-564: A train") and frowned upon by locals. Helsset is the Northern Sami name for Helsinki. After the end of the Ice Age and the retreat of the ice sheet, the first settlers arrived in the Helsinki area around 5000 BC. Their presence has been documented by archaeologists in Vantaa , Pitäjänmäki and Kaarela . Permanent settlements did not appear until the beginning of the 1st millennium AD, during
3612-413: Is 80 kilometres (50 mi) north of Tallinn, Estonia , 400 kilometres (250 mi) east of Stockholm, Sweden , and 300 kilometres (190 mi) west of Saint Petersburg, Russia . Helsinki has significant historical connections with these three cities. Together with the cities of Espoo , Vantaa and Kauniainen —and surrounding commuter towns, including the neighbouring municipality of Sipoo to
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#17328510756983784-489: Is a 1972 American epic gangster film directed by Francis Ford Coppola , who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo , based on Puzo's best-selling 1969 novel . The film stars an ensemble cast including Marlon Brando , Al Pacino , James Caan , Richard Castellano , Robert Duvall , Sterling Hayden , John Marley , Richard Conte and Diane Keaton . It is the first installment in The Godfather trilogy , chronicling
3956-456: Is ambushed and murdered by gangsters at a highway toll booth. Apollonia is killed shortly thereafter by a car bomb intended for Michael. Devastated by Sonny's death and tired of war, Vito sets a meeting with the Five Families. He assures them that he will withdraw his opposition to their narcotics business and forgo avenging Sonny's murder. His safety guaranteed, Michael returns home to enter
4128-506: Is around 19 to 22 °C (66 to 72 °F). Due to the sea effect, especially on hot summer days, daytime temperatures are slightly cooler and nighttime temperatures higher than further inland. The highest temperature recorded in the city was 33.2 °C (91.8 °F) on 28 July 2019 at the Kaisaniemi weather station, breaking the previous record of 33.1 °C (91.6 °F) set in July 1945 at
4300-413: Is based on Mario Puzo 's The Godfather , which remained on The New York Times Best Seller list for 67 weeks and sold over nine million copies in two years. Published in 1969, it became the best selling published work in history for several years. Burt Lancaster and Danny Thomas both expressed interest adapting the book. Paramount Pictures originally found out about Puzo's novel in 1967 when
4472-626: Is chosen in the nationally held municipal elections , which are held every four years. Helsinki's city council consists of eighty-five members. Following the most recent municipal elections in 2017, the three largest parties are the National Coalition Party (25), the Green League (21), and the Social Democratic Party (12). The Mayor of Helsinki is Juhana Vartiainen . The city of Helsinki has 683,669 inhabitants, making it
4644-521: Is classified as a major port city, and in 2017 it was rated the world's busiest passenger port. According to a theory put forward in the 1630s, at the time of Swedish colonisation of the Finnish coast, colonists from Hälsingland in central Sweden arrived at what is now the Vantaa River and called it Helsingå ('Helsinge River'), giving rise to the names of the village and church of Helsinge in
4816-420: Is comparatively high in certain parts of downtown Helsinki, reaching 16,494 inhabitants per square kilometre (42,720/sq mi) in the district of Kallio , overall Helsinki's population density is 3,147 per square kilometre. Outside the city centre, much of Helsinki consists of post-war suburbs separated by patches of forest. A narrow, 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) long Helsinki Central Park , which stretches from
4988-484: Is derived. Official Finnish government documents and Finnish language newspapers have used the name Helsinki since 1819, when the Senate of Finland moved to the city from Turku , the former capital of Finland. Decrees issued in Helsinki were dated with Helsinki as the place of issue. This is how the form Helsinki came to be used in written Finnish. When Finland became a Grand Duchy of Finland, an autonomous state under
5160-541: Is divided into three major areas: Helsinki Downtown ( Finnish : Helsingin kantakaupunki , Swedish : Helsingfors innerstad ), North Helsinki ( Finnish : Pohjois-Helsinki , Swedish : Norra Helsingfors ) and East Helsinki ( Finnish : Itä-Helsinki , Swedish : Östra Helsingfors ). Of these, Helsinki Downtown means the undefined core area of capital, as opposed to suburbs . The designations business center and city center usually refer to Kluuvi , Kamppi and Punavuori . Other subdivisional centers outside
5332-496: Is in the room. Kay asks Michael if he ordered Carlo's death and is relieved when he denies responsibility. As she leaves, capos enter the office and pay reverence to Michael as "Don Corleone". Other actors playing smaller roles in the Sicilian sequence are Simonetta Stefanelli as Apollonia Vitelli-Corleone , Angelo Infanti as Fabrizio, Corrado Gaipa as Don Tommasino, Franco Citti as Calò and Saro Urzì as Vitelli. The film
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5504-401: Is not a "wartime consigliere". Michael travels to Las Vegas to buy out Greene's stake in the family's casinos and is dismayed to see that Fredo is more loyal to Greene than to his own family. In 1955, Vito dies of a heart attack while playing with Michael's son Anthony . At Vito's funeral, Tessio asks Michael to meet with Barzini, signaling his betrayal. The meeting is set for the same day as
5676-565: Is popular melodrama, but it expresses a new tragic realism." Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times praised the casting by Coppola and Ruddy: "As the Irish cop, for example, they simply slide in Sterling Hayden and let the character go about his business." He wrote that "Coppola has found a style and a visual look for all this material so that The Godfather becomes something of a rarity:
5848-407: Is presented as immensely rich and powerful, no scenes depict prostitution, gambling, loan sharking or other forms of racketeering. George De Stefano argues that the setting of a criminal counterculture allows for unapologetic gender stereotyping (such as when Vito tells a weepy Johnny Fontane to "act like a man") and is an important part of the film's appeal. Remarking on the fortieth anniversary of
6020-588: Is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential films ever made , as well as a landmark of the gangster genre. It was selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry of the Library of Congress in 1990, being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and is ranked the second-greatest film in American cinema (behind Citizen Kane ) by the American Film Institute . It
6192-744: Is the Sederholm House [ fr ] (1757) at the intersection of Senate Square and the Katariinankatu street. Suomenlinna also has buildings completed in the 18th century, including the Kuninkaanportti on the Kustaanmiekka Island [ fr ] (1753–1754). The oldest church in Helsinki is the Östersundom church, built in 1754. Helsinki is also home to numerous Art Nouveau -influenced ( Jugend in Finnish) buildings belonging to
6364-599: Is the capital and most populous city in Finland . It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About 684,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.26 million in the capital region and 1.6 million in the metropolitan area . As the most populous urban area in Finland, it is the country's most significant centre for politics, education, finance, culture, and research. Helsinki
6536-532: Is the largest such area in Finland, with a land area of 669.31 square kilometres (258.42 sq mi) and approximately 1.36 million inhabitants. Helsinki has a cold hemiboreal humid continental climate ( Köppen : Dfb , Trewartha Dcbo ). Due to the moderating influence of the Baltic Sea and the North Atlantic Current (see also Extratropical cyclone ), winter temperatures are higher than
6708-465: Is the most densely populated area of Finland . The Capital Region spreads over a land area of 770 square kilometres (300 sq mi) and has a population density of 1,619 per sg km. With over 20 percent of the country's population in just 0.2 percent of its surface area, the area's housing density is high by Finnish standards. The Helsinki metropolitan area or the Greater Helsinki consists of
6880-512: Is well above the national average). Helsinki hosted the 1952 Summer Olympics , the first CSCE / OSCE Summit in 1975, the first World Athletics Championships in 1983, the 52nd Eurovision Song Contest in 2007 and it was the 2012 World Design Capital . Helsinki has one of the highest standards of urban living in the world. In 2011, the British magazine Monocle ranked Helsinki as the world's most liveable city in its livable cities index . In
7052-577: The Battle at Herdaler was a battle between the Norse Viking leader Olav Haraldsson (later King Olaf II of Norway , also known as Saint Olaf) and local Finns at Herdaler (now Ingå ), not far from Helsinga, around 1007–8. The Saga of Olaf Haraldson tells how Olav raided the coasts of Finland and was almost killed in battle. He ran away in fear and after that the Vikings did not raid the coasts of Finland. Later
Gustave Niebaum - Misplaced Pages Continue
7224-458: The Corleone family under patriarch Vito Corleone (Brando) from 1945 to 1955. It focuses on the transformation of his youngest son, Michael Corleone (Pacino), from reluctant family outsider to ruthless mafia boss . Paramount Pictures obtained the rights to the novel for $ 80,000, before it gained popularity. Studio executives had trouble finding a director; the first few candidates turned down
7396-554: The Economist Intelligence Unit's 2016 livability survey, Helsinki ranked ninth out of 140 cities. In July 2021, the American magazine Time named Helsinki one of the world's greatest places, a city that "can grow into a burgeoning cultural nest in the future" and is already known as an environmental pioneer. In an international Cities of Choice survey conducted in 2021 by the Boston Consulting Group and
7568-784: The House of Nobility in Kruununhaka and the Catholic St. Henry's Cathedral . In addition to other cities in Northern Europe that were not under the Soviet Union , such as Stockholm , Sweden, Helsinki's neoclassical buildings gained also popularity as a backdrop for scenes intended to depict the Soviet Union in numerous Hollywood movies during the Cold War era, when filming within the actual USSR
7740-692: The Ilmala weather station. The lowest temperature recorded in the city was −34.3 °C (−29.7 °F) on 10 January 1987, although an unofficial low of −35 °C (−31 °F) was recorded in December 1876. Helsinki Airport (in Vantaa, 17 km north of Helsinki city centre) recorded a maximum temperature of 33.7 °C (92.7 °F) on 29 July 2010 and a minimum of −35.9 °C (−33 °F) on 9 January 1987. Precipitation comes from frontal passages and thunderstorms. Thunderstorms are most common in summer. Helsinki
7912-506: The Iron Age , when the area was inhabited by the Tavastians . They used the area for fishing and hunting, but due to the lack of archaeological finds it is difficult to say how extensive their settlements were. Pollen analysis has shown that there were agricultural settlements in the area in the 10th century, and surviving historical records from the 14th century describe Tavastian settlements in
8084-510: The Loew's State Theatre on March 14, 1972, and was widely released in the United States on March 24, 1972. It was the highest-grossing film of 1972 , and was for a time the highest-grossing film ever made , earning between $ 250 and $ 291 million at the box office. The film was acclaimed by critics and audiences, who praised its performances—particularly those of Brando and Pacino—direction, screenplay, story, cinematography, editing, score and portrayal of
8256-498: The Senate Square and Helsinki Cathedral are located. During the second half of the 17th century, Helsinki, as a wooden city, suffered from regular fires , and by the beginning of the 18th century the population had fallen below 1,700. For a long time Helsinki was mainly a small administrative town for the governors of Nyland and Tavastehus County , but its importance began to grow in the 18th century when plans were made to build
8428-524: The bourgeoisie of Porvoo , Raseborg , Rauma and Ulvila to move there. The shallowness of the bay made it impossible to build a harbour, and the king allowed the settlers to leave the unfortunate location. In 1640, Count Per Brahe the Younger , together with some descendants of the original settlers, moved the centre of the city to the Vironniemi peninsula by the sea, today's Kruununhaka district, where
8600-548: The highest net earner . Profits were so high for The Godfather that earnings for Gulf & Western Industries, Inc. , which owned Paramount, jumped from 77 cents per share to $ 3.30 a share for the year, according to a Los Angeles Times article, dated December 13, 1972. Re-released eight more times since 1997, it has grossed between $ 250 million and $ 291 million in worldwide box office receipts, and adjusted for ticket price inflation in North America, ranks among
8772-464: The 1300s. This theory is questionable, as dialect research suggests that the settlers came from Uppland and the surrounding areas. Others have suggested that the name derives from the Swedish word helsing , an archaic form of the word hals (' neck '), which refers to the narrowest part of a river, the rapids . Other Scandinavian towns in similar geographical locations were given similar names at
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#17328510756988944-635: The 1380s and the Church of St. Lawrence in 1455. In the Middle Ages, several thousand people lived in Helsinki's keep . There was a lot of trade across the Baltic Sea . The shipping route to the coast, and especially to Reval , meant that by the end of the Middle Ages the Helsinki region had become an important trading centre for wealthy peasants , priests and nobles in Finland, after Vyborg and Pohja . Furs , wood , tar , fish and animals were exported from Helsinki, and salt and grain were brought to
9116-530: The 1810s, when it replaced Turku as the capital of the Grand Duchy of Finland , which later became the sovereign Republic of Finland . The city continued its growth from that time on, with an exception during the Finnish Civil War . From the end of World War II up until the 1970s there was a massive exodus of people from the countryside to the cities of Finland, in particular Helsinki. Between 1944 and 1969
9288-504: The 1930s included the 18-story "Kino" palace, a 17-story apartment building, and a 30-story Stockmann building were proposed but only the 70-meter-tall 14-story Hotel Torni was built. (Hotel Torni was the tallest high-rise in Finland until 1976, when the 83-meter-tall Neste headquarters were completed in Espoo; Helsinki had rejected the tower. ) Twin 30-story buildings were proposed in Pasila in
9460-586: The 1940 Helsinki Olympic Games; the games were initially cancelled due to the Second World War , but the venues fulfilled their purpose in the 1952 Olympic Games . Many of them are listed by DoCoMoMo as significant examples of modern architecture. The Olympic Stadium and Helsinki-Malmi Airport are also catalogued by the Finnish Heritage Agency as cultural-historical environments of national significance. When Finland became heavily urbanized in
9632-479: The 1960s and 1970s, the district of Pihlajamäki , for example, was built in Helsinki for new residents, where for the first time in Finland, precast concrete was used on a large scale. Pikku Huopalahti , built in the 1980s and 1990s, has tried to get rid of a one-size-fits-all grid pattern, which means that its look is very organic and its streets are not repeated in the same way. Itäkeskus in Eastern Helsinki
9804-446: The 1967 British-American espionage thriller Billion Dollar Brain , starring Michael Caine . The city has large amounts of underground areas such as shelters and tunnels, many used daily as swimming pool, church, water management, entertainment etc. Helsinki also features several buildings by Finnish architect Alvar Aalto , recognized as one of the pioneers of architectural functionalism . However, some of his works, such as
9976-520: The 1970s but were rejected. In 1990 a planned 104-meter-tall tower for the Kone company was also cancelled. Highrise construction only started in the beginning of the 21st century, when the city decided to allow the construction of skyscrapers. Highrises were first built in Kalasatama , a primarily-residential district built on a former container port . As of 2024, four residential towers have been completed:
10148-492: The 1970s, which occurred late compared to the rest of Europe, tripled the population of the metropolitan area, and the Helsinki Metro subway system was built. Known as the "Daughter of the Baltic" or the "Pearl of the Baltic", Helsinki is located at the tip of a peninsula and on 315 islands. The city centre is located on a southern peninsula, Helsinginniemi ("Cape of Helsinki"), which is rarely referred to by its actual name, Vironniemi ("Cape of Estonia"). Population density
10320-452: The 35-story, 282-apartment, 134-metre-tall (440 ft) Majakka in 2019 (which is the tallest building in Finland ); the 32-story, 124-meter Loisto in 2021; the 31-story, 120-meter Lumo One in 2022; and the 24-story, 98-meter Visio in 2023. The 26-story, 111-meter-tall office building Horisontti is to be completed in 2025, and three further towers are to be built in the complex. Tall residential towers have also been built in
10492-443: The BCG Henderson Institute, Helsinki was ranked the third-best city in the world to live in, with London and New York City coming in first and second. In the Condé Nast Traveler magazine's 2023 Readers' Choice Awards, Helsinki was ranked the 4th-friendliest city in Europe. Helsinki, along with Rovaniemi in Lapland , is also one of Finland's most important tourist cities. Due to the large number of sea passengers, Helsinki
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#173285107569810664-495: The Godfather." The Godfather was nominated for seven awards at the 30th Golden Globe Awards : Best Picture – Drama , James Caan for Best Supporting Actor , Al Pacino and Marlon Brando for Best Actor – Drama , Best Score , Best Director , and Best Screenplay . When the winners were announced on January 28, 1973, the film had won the categories for: Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Actor – Drama (Brando), Best Original Score, and Best Picture – Drama. Rota's score
10836-400: The Kansallisromantiikka ( romantic nationalism ) trend, designed in the early 20th century and strongly influenced by Kalevala , which was a common theme of the era. Helsinki's Art Nouveau style is also featured in central residential districts, such as Katajanokka and Ullanlinna . An important architect of the Finnish Art Nouveau style was Eliel Saarinen , whose architectural masterpiece
11008-464: The Niebaum-Coppola label. In 1995 Coppola purchased the remaining acreage and chateau style winery which were part of the original Niebaum estate. In 2006 the winery was renamed Rubicon Estate Winery . In 2011, Coppola purchased the name Inglenook and reunited the winery, the vineyards and the brand name. In 2007, Gustave Niebaum was posthumously inducted into the Culinary Institute of America's Vintner's Hall of Fame. Helsinki Helsinki
11180-421: The Nordic countries, after Stockholm and Copenhagen. Helsinki Airport , in the neighbouring city of Vantaa, serves the city with frequent flights to numerous destinations in Europe, North America, and Asia. Helsinki is a bilingual municipality with Finnish and Swedish as its official languages. The population consists of 75% Finnish speakers, 5% Swedish speakers, and 20% speakers of other languages (which
11352-407: The Sveaborg fortress during the war, and about a quarter of the city was destroyed in a fire in 1808. Emperor Alexander I of Russia moved the capital of Finland from Turku to Helsinki on 8 April 1812 to reduce Swedish influence in Finland and bring the capital closer to St Petersburg . After the Great Fire of Turku in 1827, the Royal Academy of Turku , the only university in the country at
11524-461: The Tattaglias on an espionage mission. Brasi is garroted to death during the initial meeting. Later, enforcers gun down Vito and coerce Hagen into a meeting. With Vito's first-born Sonny now in command, Sollozzo pressures Hagen to persuade Sonny to accept the narcotics deal. Vito survives the shooting and is visited in the hospital by Michael, who finds him unprotected after NYPD officers on Sollozzo's payroll clear out Vito's guards. Michael thwarts
11696-575: The US and Canada during its initial release, increasing its earnings to $ 85.7 million through a reissue in 1973, and including a limited re-release in 1997, it ultimately earned an equivalent exhibition gross of $ 135 million, with a production cost of $ 6.5 million. It displaced Gone with the Wind to claim the record as the top rentals earner, a position it would retain until the release of Jaws in 1975. The film repeated its native success overseas, earning in total an unprecedented $ 142 million in worldwide theatrical rentals, to become
11868-615: The United States , the film had grossed $ 101 million, the fastest film to reach that milestone. Some news articles at the time proclaimed it was the first film to gross $ 100 million in North America, but such accounts are erroneous; this record belongs to The Sound of Music , released in 1965. It remained at number one in the US for another five weeks to bring its total to 23 consecutive weeks at number one before being unseated by Butterflies Are Free for one week before becoming number one for another three weeks. The film eventually earned $ 81.5 million in theatrical rentals in
12040-416: The actors, and screen tests. The Godfather DVD Collection was released on October 9, 2001, in a package that contained all three films—each with a commentary track by Coppola—and a bonus disc containing The Godfather Family: A Look Inside . The DVD also held a Corleone family tree, a "Godfather" timeline, and footage of the Academy Award acceptance speeches. During the film's original theatrical release,
12212-400: The area was settled by Christians from Sweden. They came mainly from the Swedish coastal regions of Norrland and Hälsingland , and their migration intensified around 1100. The Swedes permanently colonised the Helsinki region's coastline in the late 13th century, after the successful 'crusade' to Finland that led to the defeat of the Tavastians. In the Middle Ages, the Helsinki area was
12384-558: The area. Christianity does not gain a significant foothold in Finland before the 11th century. After that, a number of crosses and other objects related to Christianity can be found in archaeological material. According to the traditional view, the Kingdom of Sweden made three crusades to Finland, thanks to which the region was incorporated into both Christianity and the Swedish Empire. Recent research has shown that these expeditions, to
12556-492: The attempt on his father's life but is beaten by corrupt police captain Mark McCluskey. After the attempted hit at the hospital, Sonny retaliates with a hit on Bruno Tattaglia. Sollozzo and McCluskey request to meet with Michael and settle the dispute. Michael feigns interest and agrees to meet, but hatches a plan with Sonny and Corleone capo Clemenza to kill them and go into hiding. Michael meets Sollozzo and McCluskey at
12728-599: The baptism of Connie's baby. While Michael stands at the altar as the child's godfather, Corleone hitmen murder the dons of the Five Families, in addition to Greene for not selling his hotel and Tessio for betraying Michael. Michael extracts Carlo's confession for his involvement in Sonny's murder. He assures Carlo that he is being exiled, not murdered. However, Clemenza strangles Carlo in a car moments after his confession. Connie confronts Michael about his involvement in Carlo's death while Kay
12900-484: The baptism scene. The world premiere for The Godfather took place at Loews's State Theatre in New York City on Tuesday, March 14, 1972, almost three months after the planned release date of Christmas Day in 1971, with profits from the premiere donated to The Boys Club of New York. Before the film premiered, the film had already made $ 15 million from advance rentals from over 400 theaters. The following day,
13072-469: The beginning of the 19th century. The construction of the naval fortress of Sveaborg ( Viapori in Finnish, now also called Suomenlinna ) in the 18th century helped to improve Helsinki's status. However, it wasn't until Russia defeated Sweden in the Finnish War and annexed Finland as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland in 1809 that the city began to develop into a substantial city. The Russians besieged
13244-459: The character of Michael Corleone too focused on revenge. In addition, Sarris stated that Richard Castellano , Robert Duvall , and James Caan were good in their respective roles. Pauline Kael of The New Yorker wrote that Coppola "has stayed very close to the book's greased-lightning sensationalism and yet has made a movie with the spaciousness and strength that popular novels such as Dickens ' used to have." She concluded that " The Godfather
13416-463: The cities of the capital region and ten surrounding municipalities: Hyvinkää , Järvenpää , Kerava , Kirkkonummi , Nurmijärvi , Sipoo , Tuusula , Pornainen , Mäntsälä and Vihti . The Metropolitan Area covers 3,697 square kilometres (1,427 sq mi) and has a population of about 1.6 million, or about a fourth of the total population of Finland. The metropolitan area has a high concentration of employment: approximately 750,000 jobs. Despite
13588-431: The city centre to Helsinki's northern border, is an important recreational area for residents. The City of Helsinki has about 11,000 boat moorings and over 14,000 hectares (35,000 acres; 54 square miles) of marine fishing waters adjacent to the capital region. About 60 species of fish are found in this area, and recreational fishing is popular. Helsinki's main islands include Seurasaari , Lauttasaari and Korkeasaari –
13760-442: The color photography. The early scenes have a reddish-brown tint, slightly overexposed and feeling like nothing so much as a 1946 newspaper rotogravure supplement." Ebert named The Godfather the best film of 1972. The Chicago Tribune ' s Gene Siskel gave the film four out of four, commenting that it was "very good". Desson Howe of The Washington Post called the film a "jewel" and wrote that Coppola deserves most of
13932-481: The credit for the film. Writing for The New York Times , Vincent Canby felt that Coppola had created one of the "most brutal and moving chronicles of American life" and went on to say that it "transcends its immediate milieu and genre". Director Stanley Kubrick thought the film had the best cast ever and could be the best movie ever made. Director Steven Spielberg listed it among his favorite films. Stanley Kauffmann of The New Republic wrote negatively of
14104-409: The decisions he had made. Coppola was aware that Evans had asked Elia Kazan to take over directing the film because he feared that Coppola was too inexperienced to cope with the increased size of the production. Coppola was also convinced that the film editor, Aram Avakian , and the assistant director, Steve Kestner, were conspiring to get him fired. Avakian complained to Evans that he could not edit
14276-473: The downtown area include Malmi ( Swedish : Malm ), located in the northeastern part of city, and Itäkeskus ( Swedish : Östra centrum ), in the eastern part of city. Carl Ludvig Engel , appointed to plan a new city centre on his own, designed several neoclassical buildings in Helsinki. The focal point of Engel's city plan was the Senate Square . It is surrounded by the Government Palace (to
14448-448: The east —Helsinki forms a metropolitan area . This area is often considered Finland's only metropolis and is the world's northernmost metropolitan area with over one million inhabitants. Additionally, it is the northernmost capital of an EU member state . Helsinki is the third-largest municipality in the Nordic countries, after Stockholm and Oslo . Its urban area is the third-largest in
14620-457: The east), the main building of Helsinki University (to the west), and (to the north) the large Helsinki Cathedral , which was finished in 1852, twelve years after Engel's death. Helsinki's epithet , "The White City of the North", derives from this construction era. Most of Helsinki's older buildings were built after the 1808 fire; before that time, the oldest surviving building in the center of Helsinki
14792-482: The eastern district of Vuosaari : the 87-meter, 26-story Cirrus was completed in 2006, the 24-story, 85-meter-tall Hyperion was completed in 2023 and the 33-story, 288-apartment, 120-meter-tall Atlas is due to be completed in late 2024. Skyscrapers have also be planned in the Pasila area, with a handful of over-100-meter-tall towers in various stages of planning or early construction as of 2024. In Jätkäsaari ,
14964-449: The enterprise. After Prohibition, operation of Niebaum's vineyards and winery passed on to his great nephew John Daniels Jr., whom Bundschu had mentored, in 1939, following the death of Suzanne Niebaum, Gustave's widow, in 1938. The Daniel era lasted through 1964 when the winery was, tragically, sold to corporate interests. Francis Ford Coppola in 1975 with proceeds from The Godfather . Coppola released his first vintage in 1977 under
15136-463: The extent that there were even three of them, were not the crusades that had been imagined. Later, the conquest of Finland was justified in terms of "civilisation" and "christianisation", and the myth of the Crusades was developed. It is more likely that it was a multidimensional combination of economic, cultural and political power ambitions. The early settlements were raided by Vikings until 1008, and
15308-442: The failure of The Brotherhood , other recent films that were produced or co-produced by Paramount had greatly exceeded their budgets: Darling Lili , Paint Your Wagon , and Waterloo . The budget for the film was originally $ 2.5 million but as the book grew in popularity Coppola argued for and ultimately received a larger budget. Paramount executives wanted the movie to be set in contemporary Kansas City and shot in
15480-543: The family business and marry Kay. Kay gives birth to two children in the early 1950s. With his father nearing the end of his life and Fredo not suited to lead, Michael assumes the position of head of the Corleone family. Vito reveals to Michael that it was Don Barzini who ordered the hit on Sonny and warns him that Barzini would try to kill him at a meeting organized by a traitorous Corleone capo . With Vito's support, Michael relegates Hagen to managing operations in Las Vegas as he
15652-463: The film "ethnic to the core". Paramount's latest mafia movie, The Brotherhood , had done very poorly at the box office; Evans believed that the reason for its failure was its almost complete lack of cast members or creative personnel of Italian descent (the director Martin Ritt and star Kirk Douglas were not Italian). Sergio Leone was Paramount's first choice to direct the film. Leone turned down
15824-462: The film aired on Saturday, November 16, 1974, and the second half two days later. The television airings attracted a large audience with an average Nielsen rating of 38.2 and audience share of 59% making it the eighth most-watched film on television, with the broadcast of the second half getting the third-best rating for a film on TV behind Airport and Love Story with a rating of 39.4 and 57% share. The broadcast helped generate anticipation for
15996-454: The film and took some parts from his 1958 Fortunella film score, in order to create an Italian feel and evoke the tragedy within the film. Paramount executive Evans found the score to be too "highbrow" and did not want to use it; however, it was used after Coppola managed to get Evans to agree. Coppola believed that Rota's musical piece gave the film even more of an Italian feel. Coppola's father, Carmine , created some additional music for
16168-404: The film emphasized stereotypes about Italian-Americans, and wanted all uses of the words " mafia " and " Cosa Nostra " to be removed from the script. The league also requested that all the money earned from the premiere be donated to the league's fund to build a new hospital. Coppola claimed that Puzo's screenplay only contained two instances of the word "mafia" being used, while "Cosa Nostra"
16340-448: The film in a contemporary review, claiming that Pacino "rattles around in a part too demanding for him", while also criticizing Brando's make-up and Rota's score. Previous mafia films had looked at the gangs from the perspective of an outraged outsider. In contrast, The Godfather presents the gangster's perspective of the Mafia as a response to corrupt society. Although the Corleone family
16512-743: The film opened in five theaters in New York (Loew's State I and II , Orpheum, Cine and Tower East). Next was the Imperial Theatre in Toronto on March 17 and then Los Angeles at two theaters on March 22. The Godfather was released on March 24, 1972, throughout the rest of the United States reaching 316 theaters five days later. The television rights were sold for a record $ 10 million to NBC for one showing over two nights. The theatrical version of The Godfather debuted on American network television on NBC with only minor edits. The first half of
16684-441: The film to a manageable length. In addition, producers and director were still including and removing different scenes from the end product, along with trimming certain sequences. In September, the first rough cut of the film was viewed. Many of the scenes removed from the film were centered around Sonny, which did not advance the plot. By November, Coppola and Ruddy finished the semi-final cut. Debates over personnel involved with
16856-437: The film to family members. He gave his sister, Talia Shire , the role of Connie Corleone. His daughter Sofia , then an infant, appeared as Michael Francis Rizzi, Connie's and Carlo's newborn son. Carmine Coppola , his father, appeared in the film as an extra playing a piano during a scene. Coppola's wife, mother, and two sons all appeared as extras in the picture. Several smaller roles, like Luca Brasi , were cast after
17028-433: The film true to Italian culture. The two remained in contact while they wrote their respective screenplays and made decisions on what to include and what to remove for the final version. A second draft was completed on March 1, 1971, and was 173 pages long. The final screenplay was finished on March 29, 1971, and wound up being 163 pages long, 40 pages over what Paramount had asked for. When filming, Coppola referred to
17200-459: The film's cinematographer Willis participating in the restoration. Work began in November 2006 by repairing the negatives so they could go through a digital scanner to produce high-resolution 4K files. If a negative were damaged and discolored, work was done digitally to restore it to its original look. After a year and a half of working on the restoration, the project was complete. Paramount called
17372-425: The film's release, film critic John Podhoretz praised The Godfather as "arguably the great American work of popular art" and "the summa of all great moviemaking before it". Two years before, Roger Ebert had written in his journal that it "comes closest to being a film everyone agrees ... is unquestionably great". Ebert added it to his canon of great movies, writing that "a strange thing happed as I watched
17544-494: The film, particularly the music played by the band during the opening wedding scene. Incidental music includes " C'è la luna mezzo mare ", Cherubino's aria, "Non so più cosa son", from Mozart 's Le Nozze di Figaro and "Brindisi", from Verdi ’s La traviata . There was a soundtrack released for the film in 1972 in vinyl form by Paramount Records , on CD in 1991 by Geffen Records , and digitally by Geffen on August 18, 2005. The album contains over 31 minutes of music that
17716-559: The film. The opening wedding scene was shot in a Staten Island neighborhood using almost 750 locals as extras. The house used as the Corleone household and the wedding location was at 110 Longfellow Avenue in the Todt Hill neighborhood of Staten Island. The wall around the Corleone compound was made from styrofoam . Scenes set in and around the Corleone olive oil business were filmed on Mott Street . After filming had ended on August 7, post-production efforts were focused on trimming
17888-528: The filming had started. Ruddy's casting choices would earn him more approval from the Italian-American Civil Rights League , with Anthony Colombo reported to have made Ruddy a league captain after the meeting where the film's bit players and extras were chosen. Before the filming began, the cast received a two-week period for rehearsal, which included a dinner where each actor and actress had to assume character for its duration. Filming
18060-412: The final editing remained even 25 years after the release of the film. The film was shown to Paramount staff and exhibitors in late December 1971 and January 1972. Coppola hired Italian composer Nino Rota to create the underscore for the film, including " Love Theme from The Godfather ". For the score, Rota was to relate to the situations and characters in the film. Rota synthesized new music for
18232-513: The finished product The Godfather: The Coppola Restoration and released it to the public on September 23, 2008, on both DVD and Blu-ray Disc . Dave Kehr of The New York Times believed the restoration brought back the "golden glow of their original theatrical screenings". As a whole, the restoration of the film was well received by critics and Coppola. The Godfather: The Coppola Restoration contains several new special features that play in high definition, (including additional scenes, behind
18404-470: The fortress. Helsinki was also the most important cattle-breeding area in Uusimaa. With the help of trade, Helsinki became one of the wealthiest cities in Finland and Uusimaa. Thanks to trade and travel, e.g. to Reval, people could speak several languages, at least helpfully. Depending on the situation, Finnish, Swedish, Latin or Low German could be heard in the Helsinki area. Written chronicles from 1417 mention
18576-856: The fountain sculpture Havis Amanda (1908), the Paavo Nurmi statue (1925), the Three Smiths Statue (1932), the Aleksis Kivi Memorial (1939), the Eino Leino Statue (1953), the Equestrian statue of Marshal Mannerheim (1960) and the Sibelius Monument (1967). As is the case with all Finnish municipalities , Helsinki's city council is the main decision-making organ in local politics, dealing with issues such as urban planning , schools, health care, and public transport . The council
18748-414: The glass-walled Sanomatalo (1999). There have been many plans to build highrise buildings in Helsinki since the 1920s when architect Eliel Saarinen proposed the 85-meter-tall Kalevalatalo in 1921, but few tall buildings were built until the 21st century. In 1924 Oiva Kallio won Etu-Töölö competition with his plan (several 14- to 16-story buildings). A 32-story city hall was also proposed. Other plans of
18920-663: The grapes, and he was the only Napa vintner of his time to bottle his wines on his estate (until he could no longer afford to). (Most wineries shipped their wine in bulk.) The result was that Inglenook wines became world-renowned, winning gold medals in the World's Fair of Paris in 1889 and maintaining their reputation for high quality through the decades into the 1919 Panama-Pacific International Exhibition in San Francisco where Inglenook wines won 19 gold medals, far surpassing any other California winery. Niebaum died in 1908, but his wife hired competent managers notably Carl Bundschu, to continue
19092-826: The headquarters of the paper company Stora Enso and the concert venue Finlandia Hall , have been subject to divided opinions from the citizens. Functionalist buildings in Helsinki by other architects include the Olympic Stadium , the Tennis Palace , the Rowing Stadium , the Swimming Stadium , the Velodrome , the Glass Palace , the Töölö Sports Hall , and Helsinki-Malmi Airport . The sports venues were built to serve
19264-412: The intensity of land use, the region also has large recreational areas and green spaces. The Helsinki metropolitan area is the world's northernmost urban area with a population of over one million people, and the northernmost EU capital city. The Helsinki urban area is an officially recognized urban area in Finland , defined by its population density. The area stretches throughout 11 municipalities, and
19436-513: The job. Coppola was officially announced as director of the film on September 28, 1970. Coppola agreed to receive $ 125,000 and six percent of the gross rentals. Coppola later found a deeper theme for the material and decided that the film should not be about organized crime but a family chronicle, a metaphor for capitalism in America. Before The Godfather was in production, Paramount had been going through an unsuccessful period. In addition to
19608-404: The latitude, the days around the winter solstice are 5 hours and 48 minutes long, with the sun very low (at noon the sun is just over 6 degrees in the sky), and the cloudy weather at this time of year exacerbates the darkness. Conversely, Helsinki enjoys long days in summer, with 18 hours and 57 minutes of daylight around the summer solstice . The average maximum temperature from June to August
19780-490: The latter is home to Finland's largest zoo, Korkeasaari Zoo . The former military islands of Vallisaari and Isosaari are now open to the public, but Santahamina is still in military use. The most historic and remarkable island is the fortress of Suomenlinna (Sveaborg). The island of Pihlajasaari is a popular summer resort, comparable to Fire Island in New York City . There are 60 nature reserves in Helsinki with
19952-427: The mafia. The Godfather launched the successful careers of Coppola, Pacino and other relative newcomers in the cast and crew. At the 45th Academy Awards , the film won Best Picture , Best Actor (Brando) and Best Adapted Screenplay (for Puzo and Coppola). In addition, the seven other Oscar nominations included Pacino, Caan and Duvall, all for Best Supporting Actor , and Coppola for Best Director . The Godfather
20124-409: The majority of workers were Finnish-speaking. The local Helsinki slang (or stadin slangi ) developed among Finnish children and young people from the 1890s as a mixed Finnish-Swedish language, with influences from German and Russian , and from the 1950s the slang began to become more Finnish. A landmark event was the 1952 Olympic Games , which were held in Helsinki. Finland's rapid urbanisation in
20296-481: The middle of the videos of the audition tapes as the Paramount executives watched them. The executives were impressed with Brando's efforts and allowed Coppola to cast Brando for the role if Brando accepted a lower salary and put up a bond to ensure he would not cause any delays in production. Brando earned $ 1.6 million from a net participation deal. From the start of production, Coppola wanted Robert Duvall to play
20468-427: The mob, in addition to the salary being too low. Ultimately, although Frank Sinatra threatened to bar him from Las Vegas if he took the role, the part of Johnny Fontane was given to Martino. Coppola cast Diane Keaton for the role of Kay Adams owing to her reputation for being eccentric . John Cazale was given the part of Fredo Corleone after Coppola saw him perform in an Off Broadway production. Gianni Russo
20640-466: The most populous municipality in Finland and the third in the Nordics . The Helsinki region is the largest urbanised area in Finland with 1,603,170 inhabitants. The city of Helsinki is home to 12% of Finland's population. 19.9% of the population has a foreign background, which is twice above the national average. However, it is lower than in the major Finnish cities of Espoo or Vantaa . At 53 percent of
20812-434: The movie transcend expectations, it established new benchmarks for American cinema." Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , has assigned the film a score of 100 out of 100 based on 16 critic reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". The Village Voice ' s Andrew Sarris believed Marlon Brando portrayed Vito Corleone well and that his character dominated each scene it appeared in, but felt Puzo and Coppola had
20984-462: The northern location would suggest, with an average of −4 °C (25 °F) in January and February. Winters in Helsinki are significantly warmer than in the north of Finland, and the snow season in the capital is much shorter due to its location in the extreme south of Finland and the urban heat island effect. Temperatures below −20 °C (−4 °F) occur only a few times a year. However, due to
21156-456: The notebook he had created over the final draft of the screenplay. Screenwriter Robert Towne did uncredited work on the script, particularly on the Pacino-Brando garden scene. Despite finishing the third draft, some scenes in the film were still not written yet and were written during production. The Italian-American Civil Rights League , led by mobster Joseph Colombo , maintained that
21328-400: The novel for the price of $ 80,000, with aims to have the film released on Christmas Day in 1971. On March 23, 1970, Albert S. Ruddy was officially announced as the film's producer, in part because studio executives were impressed with his interview and because he was known for bringing his films in under budget. Evans wanted the picture to be directed by an Italian American to make
21500-447: The option, in order to work on his own gangster film Once Upon a Time in America . Peter Bogdanovich was then approached but he also declined the offer because he was not interested in the mafia. In addition, Peter Yates , Richard Brooks , Arthur Penn , Franklin J. Schaffner , Costa-Gavras , and Otto Preminger were all offered the position and declined. Evans' chief assistant Peter Bart suggested Francis Ford Coppola , as
21672-411: The original negatives were worn down due to the reel being printed so much to meet demand. In addition, the duplicate negative was lost in Paramount archives. In 2006 Coppola contacted Steven Spielberg —whose studio DreamWorks had recently been bought out by Paramount—about restoring The Godfather . Robert A. Harris was hired to oversee the restoration of The Godfather and its two sequels, with
21844-413: The part of Tom Hagen. After screen testing several other actors, Coppola eventually got his wish and Duvall was awarded the part. Al Martino , a then famed singer in nightclubs, was notified of the character Johnny Fontane by a friend who read the novel and felt Martino represented the character of Johnny Fontane. Martino then contacted producer Albert S. Ruddy , who gave him the part. However, Martino
22016-458: The population of the city nearly doubled from 275,000 to 525,600. In the 1960s, the population growth of Helsinki began to decrease, mainly due to a lack of housing. Some residents began to move to the neighbouring cities of Espoo and Vantaa, resulting in increased population growth in both municipalities. Espoo's population increased ninefold in sixty years, from 22,874 people in 1950 to 244,353 in 2009. Vantaa saw an even more dramatic change in
22188-458: The population, women form a greater proportion of Helsinki residents than the national average of 51 percent. Helsinki's population density of 3,147 people per square kilometre makes Helsinki the most densely-populated city in Finland. The life expectancy for men and women is slightly below the national averages: 75.1 years for men as compared to 75.7 years, 81.7 years for women as compared to 82.5 years. Helsinki has experienced strong growth since
22360-411: The position before Coppola signed on to direct the film but disagreement followed over casting several characters, in particular Vito (Brando) and Michael (Pacino). Filming took place primarily in locations around New York City and Sicily , and it was completed ahead of schedule. The score was composed principally by Nino Rota , with additional pieces by Carmine Coppola . The Godfather premiered at
22532-563: The potential for planting wine grapes in the fertile Napa Valley and had done so since the 1860s. Gustave married a German-American woman in 1873. Niebaum and his wife purchased 450 acres on prime land in 1879 and began making their own wine. In 1879 Niebaum established Inglenook Winery in Rutherford , California, a small village in Napa Valley . Captain Niebaum had originally wanted to establish
22704-533: The railway and industrialisation were key factors in the city's growth. By the 1910s, Helsinki's population was already over 100,000, and despite the turbulence of Finnish history in the first half of the 20th century, Helsinki continued to grow steadily. This included the Finnish Civil War and the Winter War , both of which left their mark on the city. At the beginning of the 20th century, there were roughly equal numbers of Finnish and Swedish speakers in Helsinki;
22876-408: The restored version: Familiar as I am with Robert Duvall, when he first appeared on the screen I found myself thinking, 'There's Tom Hagen.' Coppola went to Italy to find Nino Rota , composer of many Fellini films, to score the picture. Hearing the sadness and nostalgia of the movie's main theme, I realized what the music was telling us: Things would have turned out better if only they had listened to
23048-490: The role of Michael as long as Caan played Sonny. Evans preferred Caan over Caridi because Caan was seven inches shorter than Caridi, which was much closer to Pacino's height. Despite agreeing to play Michael Corleone, Pacino was contracted to star in MGM's The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight , but the two studios agreed on a settlement and Pacino was signed by Paramount three weeks before shooting began. Robert De Niro originally
23220-463: The role, but Olivier's agent refused the role claiming Olivier was sick; however, Olivier went on to star in Sleuth later that year. Evans pushed for either Carlo Ponti or Ernest Borgnine to receive the part. Bluhdorn proposed Charles Bronson for the role. Others considered were George C. Scott , Richard Conte , Anthony Quinn and Orson Welles . Welles was Paramount's preferred choice for
23392-533: The role. After months of debate between Coppola and Paramount over Brando, the two finalists for the role were Borgnine and Brando; Paramount president Stanley Jaffe required Brando to perform a screen test. Coppola did not want to offend Brando and stated that he needed to test equipment in order to set up the screen test at Brando's California residence. For make-up, Brando stuck cotton balls in his cheeks, put shoe polish in his hair to darken it, and rolled his collar. Coppola placed Brando's audition tape in
23564-524: The rule of the Russian Empire , Helsinki was known as Gel'singfors ( Гельсингфорс ) in Russian, because the main and official language of Grand Duchy of Finland was Swedish. In Helsinki slang , the city is called Stadi (from the Swedish word stad , meaning 'city'). Abbreviated form Hesa is equally common, but its use is associated with people of rural origin ("junantuomat", lit. "brought by
23736-581: The same time span: from 14,976 in 1950 to 197,663 in 2009, a thirteenfold increase. These population changes prompted the municipalities of metropolitan area into more intense cooperation in areas such as public transportation – resulting in the foundation of HSL – and waste management. The increasing scarcity of housing and the higher costs of living in the capital region have pushed many daily commuters to find housing in formerly rural areas, and even further, to cities such as Lohja , Hämeenlinna , Lahti , and Porvoo . The Godfather The Godfather
23908-559: The scenes correctly because Coppola was not shooting enough footage. Evans was satisfied with the footage being sent to the West Coast—in which there was also the scene of Michael's double murder in the Bronx restaurant —and authorized Coppola to fire them both. Coppola later explained, "Like the godfather, I fired people as a preemptory strike. The people who were angling the most to have me fired, I had fired." Brando threatened to quit if Coppola
24080-425: The scenes footage, etc.). Paramount Pictures restored and remastered The Godfather , The Godfather Part II , and The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone (a re-edited cut of the third film) for a limited theatrical run and home media release on Blu-ray and 4K Blu-ray to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the premiere of The Godfather . The disc editions were released on March 22, 2022. The Godfather
24252-509: The screenplay, but separately. Puzo worked on his draft in Los Angeles, while Coppola wrote his version in San Francisco . Coppola created a book where he tore pages out of Puzo's book and pasted them into his book. There, he made notes about each of the book's fifty scenes, which related to major themes prevalent in the scene, whether the scene should be included in the film, along with ideas and concepts that could be used when filming to make
24424-450: The severed head of his prized stud horse in his bed. As Christmas approaches, drug baron Virgil "The Turk" Sollozzo asks Vito to invest in his narcotics business and for police protection. Vito declines, citing that involvement in narcotics would alienate his political connections. Suspicious of Sollozzo's partnership with the Tattaglia crime family, Vito sends his enforcer Luca Brasi to
24596-440: The story of the first two films in chronological order, again with additional scenes, but not redacted for broadcast sensibilities. The Godfather Trilogy was released in 1992, in which the films are fundamentally in chronological order. The Godfather Family: A Look Inside was a 73-minute documentary released in 1991. Directed by Jeff Warner, the film featured some behind the scenes content from all three films, interviews with
24768-553: The studio backlot in order to cut down on costs. Coppola objected and wanted to set the movie in the same time period as the novel, the 1940s and 1950s; Coppola's reasons included Michael Corleone's spell in the wartime Marine Corps, the emergence of corporate America, and America in the years after World War II. The novel was becoming increasingly successful and so Coppola's wishes were eventually granted. The studio heads subsequently let Coppola film on location in New York City and Sicily. Gulf+Western executive Charles Bluhdorn
24940-449: The time Finland was an autonomous Grand Duchy of Russia), Niebaum helped explore the territory and promoted ratification of the Alaska purchase . Born in Helsinki, Finland, as Gustaf Ferdinand Nybom to a Swedish-speaking family, as the younger of two sons. This spelling of his name is rendered in the original Swedish form. His father, a police officer, died when the boy was four years old. As
25112-566: The time, such as Helsingør in Denmark and Helsingborg in Sweden. When a town was founded in the village of Forsby (later Koskela ) in 1548, it was called Helsinge fors , 'Helsinge rapids'. The name refers to the Vanhankaupunginkoski [ fi ] rapids at the mouth of the river. The town was commonly known as Helsinge or Helsing , from which the modern Finnish name
25284-486: The time, was also moved to Helsinki and eventually became the modern University of Helsinki. The move consolidated the city's new role and helped set it on a path of continuous growth. This transformation is most evident in the city centre, which was rebuilt in the neoclassical style to resemble St. Petersburg, largely according to a plan by the German-born architect C. L. Engel . As elsewhere, technological advances such as
25456-508: The top 25 highest-grossing films . The Godfather has received overwhelming critical acclaim and is seen as one of the greatest and most influential films of all time , particularly of the gangster genre. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes , the film holds an approval rating of 97% based on 151 reviews, with an average rating of 9.4/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "One of Hollywood's greatest critical and commercial successes, The Godfather gets everything right; not only did
25628-481: The upcoming sequel. The next year, Coppola created The Godfather Saga expressly for American television in a release that combined The Godfather and The Godfather Part II with unused footage from those two films in a chronological telling that toned down the violent, sexual, and profane material for its NBC debut on November 18, 1977. In 1981, Paramount released the Godfather Epic boxed set, which also told
25800-504: The village of Koskela near the rapids at the mouth of the River Vantaa , where Helsinki was to be founded. Helsinki was founded by King Gustav I of Sweden on 12 June 1550 as a trading town called Helsingfors to rival the Hanseatic city of Reval (now Tallinn ) on the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland . To populate the new town at the mouth of the Vantaa River , the king ordered
25972-532: The week in New York and $ 115,000 in Toronto for a first week gross of $ 568,800, which made it number one at the U.S. box office for the week. In its first five days of national release, it grossed $ 6.8 million, taking its gross up to $ 7,397,164. A week later its gross had reached $ 17,291,705 with the one week gross of around $ 10 million being an industry record. It grossed another $ 8.7 million by April 9 to take its gross to $ 26,000,815. After 18 weeks at number one in
26144-556: Was Coppola's favorite for the role as he could picture him roaming the Sicilian countryside, and wanted an unknown actor who looked like an Italian-American. However, Paramount executives found Pacino to be too short to play Michael. Dustin Hoffman , Martin Sheen , Dean Stockwell , and James Caan also auditioned. Keaton read with both Caan and Sheen. Burt Reynolds was offered the role of Michael, but Brando threatened to quit if Reynolds
26316-502: Was a blockbuster , breaking many box office records to become the highest grossing film of 1972 . The film's opening day gross from five theaters was $ 57,829 with ticket prices increased from $ 3 to $ 3.50. Prices in New York increased further at the weekend to $ 4, and the number of showings increased from four times a day to seven times a day. The film grossed $ 61,615 in Toronto for the weekend and $ 240,780 in New York, for an opening weekend gross of $ 302,395. The film grossed $ 454,000 for
26488-411: Was desperate for money and accepted the deal. Paramount's Robert Evans relates that, when they met in early 1968, he offered Puzo the deal after the author confided in him that he urgently needed $ 10,000 to pay off gambling debts. In March 1967, Paramount announced that they backed Puzo's upcoming work in the hopes of making a film. In 1969, Paramount confirmed their intentions to make a film out of
26660-522: Was developing the film, with the first meeting being held on February 25, 1971. Ruddy would also hold numerous meetings with Anthony Colombo. These meetings led to Ruddy agreeing to base the film on individuals and assuring that it would not defame or stereotype Italians. It was even reported that Anthony Colombo eventually made Ruddy an honorary captain of the League. Puzo was first to show interest in having Marlon Brando portray Don Vito Corleone by sending
26832-481: Was established in 1948. Helsinki's official plant is the Norway maple and its official animal is the red squirrel . The Helsinki capital region ( Finnish : Pääkaupunkiseutu , Swedish : Huvudstadsregionen ) comprises four municipalities: Helsinki, Espoo , Vantaa , and Kauniainen . The Helsinki urban area is considered to be the only metropolis in Finland . It has a population of about 1.26 million, and
27004-431: Was fired. Paramount wanted The Godfather to appeal to a wide audience and threatened Coppola with a "violence coach" to make the film more exciting. Coppola added a few more violent scenes to keep the studio happy. The scene in which Connie smashes crockery after finding out Carlo has been cheating was added for this reason. On April 14, 1970, it was revealed that Puzo was hired by Paramount for $ 100,000, along with
27176-498: Was followed by sequels The Godfather Part II (1974) and The Godfather Part III (1990). Pauline Kael wrote that "If ever there was a great example of how the best popular movies come out of a merger of commerce and art, The Godfather is it." In 1945, the New York City Corleone family don , Vito Corleone , listens to requests during his daughter Connie 's wedding to Carlo Rizzi . Vito's youngest son Michael ,
27348-576: Was frustrated with Coppola over the number of screen tests he had performed without finding a person to play the various roles. Production quickly fell behind because of Coppola's indecisiveness and conflicts with Paramount, which led to costs being around $ 40,000 per day. With costs rising, Paramount had the Vice President, Jack Ballard, keep a close eye on production expenses. While filming, Coppola stated that he felt he could be fired at any point as he knew Paramount executives were not happy with many of
27520-480: Was given the part of Paulie Gatto. A spot in The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight opened up after Al Pacino quit the project in favor of The Godfather , which led De Niro to audition for the role and leave The Godfather after receiving the part. De Niro also cast for the role of Sonny Corleone. After De Niro quit, Johnny Martino was given the role of Gatto. Coppola gave several roles in
27692-491: Was given the role of Carlo Rizzi after he was asked to perform a screen test in which he acted out the fight between Rizzi and Connie. Nearing the start of filming on March 29, Michael Corleone had yet to be cast. Paramount executives wanted a popular actor, either Warren Beatty or Robert Redford . Producer Robert Evans wanted Ryan O'Neal to receive the role, owing in part to his recent success in Love Story . Pacino
27864-448: Was hired. Reynolds declined the role. Jack Nicholson was also offered the role, but declined it as he felt that an Italian-American actor should play the role. Caan was well received by the Paramount executives and was given the part of Michael initially, while the role of Sonny Corleone was awarded to Carmine Caridi . Coppola still pushed for Pacino to play Michael after the fact and Evans eventually conceded, allowing Pacino to have
28036-604: Was not an architect but he designed gravity flow wineries for Inglenook and Far Niente along with other wineries of the decade. From the beginning Inglenook was Niebaum's pride and joy and he worked hard to create quality wines, taking frequent trips to Europe to observe vineyards and winery practices (in Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Hungary and Italy), and then importing a wide variety of European vines and following high standards in winemaking. His wine library contained 600 books he collected on his travels. At first, Black Malvoisie,
28208-592: Was not possible. Some of them, including The Kremlin Letter (1970), Reds (1981), and Gorky Park (1983). was possible due to such Russian cities as Leningrad and Moscow also having similar neoclassical architecture. At the same time due to Cold War and Finnish relations with the USSR the government secretly instructed Finnish officials not to extend assistance to such film projects. There are some films where Helsinki has been represented on its own in films, most notably
28380-591: Was not used at all. They were removed and replaced with other terms, without compromising the story. The league eventually gave its support for the script. Earlier, the windows of producer Albert S. Ruddy 's car had been shot out with a note left on the dashboard which essentially said, "shut down the movie—or else." However, it was revealed in August 1971 that Ruddy personally met with Colombo family head Joseph Colombo, Columbo's son Anthony and about 1,500 delegates of Columbo's Italian-American Civil Rights League when he
28552-573: Was observed; approximately 90 percent was shot in New York City and its surrounding suburbs, using over 120 distinct locations. Several scenes were filmed at Filmways in East Harlem . The remaining portions were filmed in California, or in Sicily. The scenes set in Las Vegas were not shot on location because there were insufficient funds. Savoca and Forza d'Agrò were the Sicilian towns featured in
28724-537: Was obtained from a dog-food company from a horse that was to be killed regardless of the film. On June 22, the scene where Sonny is killed was shot on a runway at Mitchel Field in Uniondale, where three tollbooths were built, along with guard rails, and billboards to set the scene. Sonny's car was a 1941 Lincoln Continental with holes drilled in it to resemble bullet holes. The scene took three days to film and cost over $ 100,000. Coppola's request to film on location
28896-418: Was scheduled to begin on March 29, 1971, with the scene between Michael Corleone and Kay Adams as they leave Best & Co. in New York City after shopping for Christmas gifts. The weather on March 23 predicted snow flurries, which caused Ruddy to move the filming date forward; snow did not materialize and a snow machine was used. Principal filming in New York continued until July 2, 1971. Coppola asked for
29068-413: Was stripped of the part after Coppola became director and then awarded the role to singer Vic Damone . According to Martino, after being stripped of the role, he went to Russell Bufalino , his godfather and a crime boss, who then arranged for news articles to be published that claimed Coppola was unaware of Ruddy giving Martino the part. Damone eventually dropped the role because he did not want to provoke
29240-753: Was the Helsinki Central Station . Opposite the Bank of Finland building is the Renaissance Revivalish the House of the Estates (1891). The only visible public buildings of the Gothic Revival architecture in Helsinki are St. John's Church (1891) in Ullanlinna, which is the largest stone church in Finland, and its twin towers rise to 74 meters and have 2,600 seats. Other examples of neo-Gothic include
29412-450: Was the first regional center in the 1980s. Efforts have also been made to protect Helsinki in the late 20th century, and many old buildings have been renovated. Modern architecture is represented, for example, by the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma , which consists of two straight and curved-walled parts, though this style strongly divided the opinions from the citizens. Next to Kiasma is
29584-483: Was used in the film, most of which was composed by Rota, along with a song from Coppola and one by Johnny Farrow and Marty Symes . AllMusic gave the album five out of five, with editor Zach Curd saying it is a "dark, looming, and elegant soundtrack". An editor for Filmtracks believed that Rota was successful in relating the music to the film's core aspects. Bach 's Prelude and Fugue in D major, BWV 532 and Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582 are played during
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