One of the things we celebrate about these films is the extraordinary quality of the acting, whether it be the reaffirmation of a great talent (Brando) or the emergence of new talent which went on to cinematic greatness (Pacino, Keaton, Shire, Cazaele, Caan, Duvall ...to name a few) but there is a kind of camp component to FFC's use of clearly second rate people in certain roles. I would put Al Martino in that category in GF I. He is a second tier lounge singer who gets to play the Frank Sinatra-esque Johnnie Fontaine, which when you think about it is kind of funny. In GF II you have Troy Donahue playing Merle (Merle was his real name) --- definitely a B-List guy, and then the best of them all in GFIII you have George Hamilton. I wonder if this was intentional by FFC or inadvertant. I cannot think of any of the great directors who could pull this off or who would even try...well maybe Kubrick, but thats it. Are there other such actors I am missing?

I liked that about The Godfather movies. I love it when a movie has no or very few big actors in a movie. I get sick of seeing the same faces. Don't get me wrong, I'll see a Pacino, De Niro, or Brando picture any day. But, I like to look at a movie and see some people that I never saw before, it gives a sense of realism. As long as the acting is good enough (which I have few complaints about in the trilogy), there won't be a problem.

I've never been able to figure out what goes through a director's or producer's mind when it comes to casting. Some people are made for certain parts like Brando for the role of Don Vito. But, I wasn't particularly excited about Pacino as Michael. But, I thought Caan was near perfect as Sonny. Nevertheless, Troy as Merle and Hamilton as Mike's lawyer - definitely bland choices. But, maybe they looked at a number of actors for those parts and noone else could accomodate the production schedule or agree to terms. By the way, Martino was something of a heartthrob in his heyday and he had the "je ne sais quoi" of personality, etc. that was characteristic of the post-war early Vegas period.

Don't recall his name, that guy who played Woltz was irritating.

That would be John Marley- Yeah he annoyed me too

'i've had em all over the world'' whatever mate

I think Marley was supposed to be annoying. In the uncut version it is clear that he is "doing " the child actress, and there was talk of blackmailing him with that. And that speech he made to Tom about how Johnny Fontaine made him look ridiculous and "a man in my position cannot afford to be made to look ridiculous" was....well...ridiculous.

Richard Castellano wasn't too famous (at least that is what I think)

Yeah, he wasn't that famous. And he still was fabulous as Clemenza!

Yes, he was great. I don't usually think about his performance, but now that I am, I remember that it was great.

Castellano was hilarious in some movie before GF playing the father of a rather mismatched couple about to get married. I forget the name of the picture.

I suppose we could also include Abe Vigoda.

does the guy who played willie cicci qualify? if so, he is the greatest b-list actor of all-time. between his roles in the godfather and rocky, he's got bit parts in two great oscar winning movies.

Absolutely he counts

Castellano was just coming off his success from "Lovers and Other Strangers" when "The Godfather" was filmed. Accordingly, he was the highest paid actor (salary-wise) in the film. ("Lovers and Other Strangers", mentioned by tomasso, above, is an absolutely hilarious showcase for Castellano).

John Marley (Jack Woltz) had gained a good deal of notoriety for his role in "Love Story" (one of the biggest box office draws of the early 70's). IMO he did a fantastic job of portraying the hated Jack Woltz.

Sterling Hayden (Capt. McCluskey) and Richard Conte (Barzini) were already somewhat well-known when they played their parts in "The Godfather".

Interestingly, SC both Castellano and Diane Keaton were in Lovers and Other Strangers.

I remember reading about Hayden and he seemed like a real jerk. He never spoke on the sets (not because he was in character, he just didn't want to be there), and he despised acting/actors. He saw the profession to be useless and simple.

Still, he did a pretty good job as McClusky so...
I can't complain.

The Godfather was actually his first film. The only other thing he was on before that was on the TV show DARK SHADOWS for a couple of episodes.