Godfather, Part II was a great film, for many reasons. DeNiro, Gazzo, Pacino, Strassberg...

...but the real icing in this movie, for me, is Duvall. Somehow, I think GII would not have been the same movie if Duvall didn't reprise his role as Tom Hagen. I think the main reason is because Tom represents the "old ways," and is the one real "good guy" in the whole family business. By good guy, I mean a guy with a heart.

You had so many new characters in GII that, whenever Tom Hagen appeared in a scene, it was like, "hey, its Tom!" Its like I'm Senator Geary in the whorehouse, when he looks up and sees Tom there. Geary feels relief: "Hagen, that you?" As do I.

Tom's face is a calm, familiar one in a sea of turmoil. Tom's prescence is monumental to the film, and frankly Coppola was out of his mind to not meet Duvall's asking price for GIII in 1990. How much better would GIII have been if Duvall was there?

But it will be boring if all the characters remain the same. Vito and Micheal changed in their old, so the story of GF is more interesting. And new power began to take over. Maybe it will be a bad idea to keep Duvall in GF3.

It's never a bad idea to have Robert Duvall in any movie--he's one of the greatest screen actors in history.
Richard Castellano was unforgettable as Clemenza in GF. Paramount didn't want to pay his price for being in GFII, but FFC and Puzo recouped brilliantly by creating Frankie Pentangeli and getting Michael V. Gazzo to play him--unforgettably. Paramount didn't want to pay Duvall's price for GFIII. So FFC and Puzo wrote him out and replaced him with George Hamilton--totally forgettably.

Nope, it has nothing really to do with money. Mr. Castellano apparently went psycho and wanted his girlfriend to write his script lines for the Clemenza character. ???? WTF. A crazy person!

Here is a relevant quote from p. 217 of Harlan Lebo's "The Godfather Legacy," the definitive book on the Trilogy:

"Richard Castellano, who played Peter Clemenza in The Godfather, demanded too much money. So Clemenza inexplicably 'dies' just before the 1959 sequence of the film [GFII] begin."

Here there be controversary. In Francis Ford Coppola's making-of documentary on the Godfather Trilogy DVD set, he mentions what I said about someone else writing "Clemenza's speech." Coppola beseeched Richard and said, "c'mon, how can someone else possibly write for your character when Puzo and I are writing the screenplay for the movie?" Richard would have none of it, thus he was written out.

I think there's an element of truth to both stories - maybe Harlan Lebo was being somewhat diplomatic and took journalistic licence, but you have it straight from FFC in the commentary. Maybe the truth is a combination of both.

Back on topic, can't agree more with the sentiments regarding Mr Duvall. As great as his performance in GF1 was, I believe he completely captures the heart and soul of that character in the second film. In particular, I love the way he and Michael P. Gazzo played the 'gladiator' scene.

I've always heard that there were TWO reasons why Castellano didn't appear in Part II: the money AND script approval.

I don't think FFC would readily admit that money was the deciding factor in not hiring Castellano again. FFC basically let Brando slide as well and although he never admitted it (on the DVD commentary or elsewhere) he childishly left both Castellano's and Brando's pictures off the Family Crime Chart used in Part II.

I wonder SC, had FFC put the pictures of Brando and Castellano on that chart, would they have been entitled to some monies for his using their images in the movie?

I agree SC. FFC is famous for holding grudges under those circumstances. Don't forget, when Paramount finally signed Coppola on in 1989, Pacino's asking price was much more than the eventual 5 million that he received. Coppola's immediate reaction was threatening to open the film with the funeral of Michael Corleone. Very childish. In GF 2 it worked out for the best, Pentangeli stole the movie. In GF 3, it came back to bite him in the ass. I still get nauseous at seeing George Hamilton in anything as a result of it.

FCC, playing it cheap. Well, whatever - we have GII, despite the absences of Brando and Castellano.

Which causes me to wonder...all of Santino's lines in GII were written for Brando's brief cameo. When Brando signed off, the lines went to James Caan. If Brando had been there, Caan would merely have been silent, except when grabbing Michael and calling him "stupid." I guess Caan was very glad that Brando wasn't there, cause Caan got to hog the entire scene.

Castellano must have went off the deep end - you didn't hear from him much after GI in 1972. If he did movies (and I'm sure someone will peek at IMDB), they were not in the same caliber as GI.

Duvall/Hamilton. Hmm...FFC, by that time, had lost his talents anyway. After GII, Francis's films were lackluster anyway. Which explains how George Hamilton won the role in III.

Keep in mind that the major reason that FFC decided to do GFIII was because his wine business was taking a beating financially and he needed the money. That is probably why he was being so chincey with the contracts. He probably tried minimizing the costs in order to maximize his profits.

FFC had to be really desperate to cast George Hamilton.

Sounds like sour grapes to me.

You are a sick person.

The story of Ardell Sheridan and Castellano's dialog has been told so many times that it's probably true. You can understand why FFC told that story instead of the money angle--he'd like us to believe crass old Paramount cheaped out on Castellano, when in fact he had considerable responsibility for bringing the film in on or around budget.
But money talks--especially in Hollywood. If Castellano'd gotten his price, he would have been in GFII--with or (probably) without his girlfriend's scriptwriting help.

The irony is that, when GF was cast, Duvall, Caan and Pacino had yet to star in a blockbuster film, and Brando's reputation and career were in tatters. Castellano was the only bank-able star at that time, and he got the highest salary. But the tremendous success of GF made it a franchise. That "franchise" enabled FFC to have the luxury of deciding that only Pacino and Keaton (and of course, his sister) were necessary to keep the franchise going and credible. So, when the stars that he made through the earlier film(s) demanded too much, he wrote them out of the sequel(s).