Can anyone tell me if Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, (especially those two) or any of the other actors or actresses who were required to speak Italian in the GF movies actually knew the language or had to be taught to speak it? Who were the actors or actresses who spoke Italian fluently? Did Francis or Talia speak Italian?

I read where Carlo (Gianni Russo) played one of the Italian mobsters in the movie "Out For Justice" (a Steven Seagall movie)

~~ Lolly

I heard somewhere that the reason Michael barely speaks any Italian in the movie is because he had a hard time learning it at all.

I know for a fact that Robert DeNiro went to Sicily for quite some time before Godfather II was made and learned the language to perfection. His mastery of the language really shows in the movie, adding the authenticity that contributed to the greatness of Godfather II. I am not too sure about the other actors, though.

Yes he did have a part in that movie. He also had a part as an Italian Mob boss in a TV series called "Wiseguy" with Ken Wahl. He actually was pretty good in it too. He settled in Las Vegas for quite some time and owned a restaurant called " Gianni Russo's State Street."

Here is a link regarding my knowing of Gianni Russo's Las Vegas Restaurant :
http://www.thegodfathertrilogy.net/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=004642#000000


Don Cardi

Too bad it's not still there. I try go to Vegas at least once a year, I would have loved to check it out, had I known. Where was it located? On the strip??


TIS

No TIS, actually it was way off the strip. I remember the cab driver taking all these turns and roads to get us there. It was a very long time ago ( 1983 to be exact, when we went to Hawaii on our honeymoon and stopped in Las Vegas on the way back )but I think that it was about a 15/20 minute drive from the strip! I remember thinking to myself "What is this guy gonna take us out to the desert and rob us!" Yes, I know, another Don Cardi cab "experience" . But actually the cab driver was nice enough to come back, pick us up, and take us to our hotel when we were finished at the restaurant! It was a really fantastic place and now looking back, it was probably ahead of it's time in what was, at the time, an underdeveloped outskirts of the strip.


Don Cardi

Yeah, come to think of it, Al Pacino didn't speak that much Italian in either movie. (I don't really consider GFIII much in my thinking about the Godfather story....sorry if I offend anyone! ) But, DeNiro--what an actor!!! What a man!!! I fell in love with him in GFII. I thought he was soooooo darn sexy in that! My dad looked somewhat like him--he wore his hair just like DeNiro in the movie. Anyway, what a superb actor! Can anyone tell me all of the actors that won Oscars for either GFI, GFII, or GFIII.

I loved DeNiro in Goodfellas, too, although his character was waaaay too sinister for me. At least as Vito Corleone, you knew that Vito's motives were strictly to care for his family and close friends. Back in those days, too, people were dirt poor. If a man like Vito lost his job in a little grocery store in those days, he really had to worry about his family starving! And, he would do whatever it took to prevent that. I remember my grandfather telling me stories about him growing up in the Little Italy in Chicago. He told me that he practically lived on the streets when he was a boy because he would sell papers on the corner for pennies. Wow...I can really relate to Vito's indignation when he asked Clemenza about if Fannucci was Italian and Clemenza saying he was, and then Vito asking him why, then, did he hassle other Italians? (Oh, maybe it wasn't Clemenza--maybe it was that other guy--I think he was the grocer's son!) And his only answer was that Fannucci was "the Black Hand". They were a group of the old "greaseballs" from the Old Country who acted like the mob of today.

Now, the Black Hand is gone and the mafioso is still alive, but very hidden.

Gee, did I just babble all that just now??? I must be tired...

~~ Lolly

If I remember correctly, Pacino knew very little (if any)Italian. Michael's character was easily accepted not knowing much Italian.

As far as DeNiro, when you think about it, he really had to learn it (at least to a point) in order to play his role convincingly. Young Vito came right from Sicily, speaking only Italian. I don't think there was any way around having the character not speak at least some Italian in the film.

Although I don't speak Italian, I'm told that Deniro does a pretty good job. I know some of his facial expressions and mannerisms seemed right on target too.

TIS

I never knew that Russo had a role in out for justice I love that movie I saw some of it today.

I confirm that DeNiro's Italian was excellent, TIS. I was astonished when I realized that he was actually acting in Italian (or Sicilian or a mix )!!!!! What a genius! And what a pity that he's wasting his talent in such unimportant movies now.

Yeah, Ginno Russo played the Italian mobster that was standing at the entrance of the bar where "Gino" goes in to talk with the Don. He says to Gino, "I see you still wearing your hair like a girl." I don't know what his name was in the movie, but that was he. I don't think he bears any resemblence to Carlo Rizzi, but that is according to the IMDb website. He played in another "B" movie too--I don't remember if it was another Seagal movie or not. But, if you check him out on imdb (www.imdb.com) you'll see the movies he was in.

~~ Lolly