This might be old hat to many of you; but it's a relatively new discovery to me, so I've been dying to post it. (If this thread doesn't get any replies, I'll know how really "old hat" it is .)

I found it fascinating to read a draft script for The Godfather Part II at the Internet Movie Script Database . It really highlighted some of the ideas FFC and MP were playing with before they came upon the final screenplay. Below are just a few of them. Do you think any of these things should have been left in, or do any of them change your theories about certain events in the movie?

SPOILER ALERT - DON'T READ THIS POST ANY FURTHER IF PREFER TO READ THE SCRIPT YOURSELF FIRST


















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• After the Tahoe shooting, Michael's speech to Tom isn't as open-ended about possible suspects as it is in the movie. He rules out Rocco and Al, and his words tend to incriminate Fredo more strongly: "stupid people are the most dangerous of all."
• Three murdered strangers, throats slit, are found on the property instead of two.
• Fredo thought that Roth was planning to kidnap Michael, not kill him.
• Notably, this script does not include a late-night phone call from Johnny Ola to Fredo.
• Kay "escapes" from the estate with the children while Tom is in charge and Michael is away. Tom tracks her down in New Hampshire, giving us a clue about when and where she obtained her abortion.
• We see some telling evidence about "what's wrong" with Anthony.
• We see more sinister dealings on the part of Roth, particularly the implied murder of one of Michael's money couriers.
• Michael and Fredo's celebrations in Havana with the U.S. politicians and businessmen are split over two nights. On the first night, Fredo gives himself away. On the next day, which is New Year's Eve, Michael tells Fredo about Roth's plan to assassinate him later that night after the palace reception, and that his plan to kill Roth first is underway.
• According to Tom, Pentangeli's survival was planned, not a fluke. Roth arranged for a police officer to enter the bar and "interrupt" the killing.
• Michael gives Kay more details about Pentangeli and his brother, and why Frankie changed his testimony.
• Rocco does not volunteer to kill Hyman Roth.
• Big Spoiler: Ending Alteration (see below)

Ending: As in the movie, the same closing murders take place. After that, the drama resumes 10 or 11 years later. Connie is living on the estate, taking care of Michael. Anthony, now 18, visits his father. Then Michael has his flashback about the old days, which includes a heart-to-heart talk with his father Vito with Michael vowing, "I won't be a man like you." This dissolves to a shot of Michael and his 18-year-old son going for a walk.

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... Well, I for one thought that Rocco was involved in the attempt on Michael's life because he seemed most likely to be the one to kill the gunmen. Now I'm not so sure. The fact that the movie changed the number of killers from 3 to 2 tells me that the 3rd gunman killed the other two. (But how did that 3rd gunman know that the hit had failed? Oh well... that's a different thread all together .)

Cristina, you will not hold it against me if I post a link, will ya? Great thread anyway.
How About This Ending For GFII

As to Kay's elopement, it was good at it's own place in the end of novel. Now, some 10 years later, the scene is absolutely senseless.
GF2 is full of logical holes even as it is, with all those details it would be even more so. There are too many things that do not correlate with the characters.

Rather than comment on all of them, I'll just say that while some would be useful in tying up loose ends (and thus depriving us of most of the material for threads on these boards), none of them were essential and nearly all would have lengthened the films without materially improving them.

I assume that this is the same alternate version that has been kicking around here for years.

If so, another scene which was omitted from the final version features Connie and Merle being unceremoniously ejected form their cabin on the Queen Mary after their check bounced, presumably because Michael froze her bank account.

Yes, plawrence, this must be the one. I've read posts where members have mentioned an "early draft" of the GF2 script, which indicated that Fredo thought the Tahoe plot was going to be a kidnapping. I never knew this draft was on the internet though, until I happened upon the imsdb.com web site by chance.

In fact, the omissions I posted above just scratched the surface. The scene of Connie and Merle being relegated to a 3rd class cabin on the Queen after Michael closes Connie's bank account is indeed in that draft as well. Prior to that, Connie and Merle had left for Las Vegas on the night of Anthony's party, and were married at a "24-hour" wedding chapel by a J.P. So now I know it's less likely that Connie opened Michael's drapes that night .

Also, Geary became indebted to the Corleone family not via a dead prostitute but by the Corleones taking it upon themselves to pay his gambling debts -- and then some. We also see Tom's relationship with Sonny's widow, Sandra, in whom he confides his worries about Michael seeming to need his help less and less.

JustMe, you have a memory like a hard drive . Is there anything that's been discussed on these boards that you can't find a link for? I noticed in your link that the GF2 ending discussed there has the exact same dialogue as the script on the imsdb web site. So I guess that site is reliable; it contains the real script (albeit a draft).

So plawrence, when you say the alternate version has been kicking around for years, do you mean it's been online for a few years? JustMe's link is from 2004; but in it, when Don Cardi posts that he was "going over some old GF scripts," he didn't provide a link. Did he mean he was actually reading a printed script?

And JustMe (and others), there's some sweet dialogue in that alternative GF2 ending that your link refers to. You probably remember it, but I'll post it again:

When 18-year-old Anthony visits his father, Michael tells him, "You've grown so tall... You're much taller than me," to which Anthony replies, "I was taller than you when I was fourteen." That makes me smile whenever I read it.

P.S. The ending in the film with Michael sitting alone with his flashbacks is much better though. Much sadder and more poignant.

It's been on line since at least the Spring of '02 when I first read it, and linked to many here times, probably since at least two years ago.

That script that you're referring to was the second draft (dated 9/24/73). Obviously there were changes made to that script (by the third and final shooting script). This "Second Draft" is the one most commonly available for sale.

There's a great anachronism in it - on page 95 (section 151) there's a reference to a courier taking skimmed money from the casinos to banks in Geneva. The courier is taking a flight going through Kennedy Airport, which wasn't so named until after JFK was killed (it had been Idlewild Airport before).

I'd love to get the original First Draft.

Well, what do know. I read that part where the courier is telling Tom and Al, "... last trip, I had an hour layover at Kennedy," and the mistake never dawned on me.

So, besides the final script that Geoff put on his godfather web site, this 2nd draft is the only one available online (that we know of)? I checked out a few other sites that have scripts (I was looking for another movie, but I thought I'd look up GF2 while I was visiting), but this same version is the one that keeps cropping up.

You mean webmaster Geoff doesn't have the first draft (or 3rd or 4th or 5th...) in his collection???

Before I joined this board, I had spent some time browsing and reading past threads. So THAT'S how you people knew that Frankie had two children in Sicily under the care of his brother. And THAT'S how you knew that Michael cut off Connie's money while she and Merle were on their cruise. Before I knew about an early script, I was wondering where you got all this "inside information."

... I may be slow, but I'm catching on .

P.S. But I didn't recall seeing a link to the script, though. I suppose I didn't browse back far enough.

... and I also forgot to note something else about the GF2 draft script: in it, Bussetta speaks!

Bussetta, Michael's mysterious body guard, is given one line of dialogue. Speaking of Roth, Michael asks him, "How sick do you think the old man is?" Bussetta replies, "He'll live longer than me." (And he was right .)

As curious as I am to hear what Bussetta's voice sounds like (even if the exchange was all in Italian), I think the film did right to keep him silent; it made him more sinister that way. Heck, when first watching the film, I didn't even know if Michael should trust him.

I'm reading this script now and I'm amazed at all the extra bits that were conceived but not included in the final version.

I thought that the method of turning Geary around was less effective than the film, but there are many bits that I think should have been kept.

The Courier scene, The 'Ross and Courier' scene, Michael giving Tom specific instructions before heading off, or when Michael goes to key west and gets on a boat to cuba. All very good.

I can't believe they left out the scene where The Rossato Brothers and Pentangeli meeting before Michael comes to visit. This scene really explains the Pentangeli-Rossato conflict, much more so than hearing Frank rant "They recruit spicks, they recruit ******s"! In the movie, as we all know, the audience are first introduced (visually) to the Rossato Brothers in Frankies garotting scene.time when It just gives the story more continuity which I think is a benifit.

If some of these scenes had been filmed, they could make a massive 5-hour version of the film. O Madonne!

That's the problem...very few people would've gone to the theaters and sat through a 5 hour film...even 'The Godfather Part II'. You have to keep the interest of an audience, and while it's easy for us GF fans to decided what should or should not have been included from a draft script, FFC and Puzo had to make some real decisions while putting the real thing together.

Personally, having made the only sequel in history to ever win a Best Picture Oscar...they did a pretty good job.

As with The Godfather, FFC just had to cut out certain scenes and dialogue for time and sake of the story. It's all a part of making movies.

Apple

Yes, I realise that a 5-hour version of the film would not be viable for cinematic release. What I meant was that it could have been saved for video, DVD or TV release, had it been shot. "The Godfather saga" could have been a bit longer, for example. Extra long versions of the LOTR films and JFK have been released DVD, for example.

True, but remember this was 1973-74 and the technology of dvd/vcr that we enjoy today was probably not a consideration in the making of GFII.

Even the 'mini-series' which began I believe with 'Rich Man, Poor Man' didn't come around until a year or two after the making of GFII - so I'm not sure FFC even anticipated that.

Even so, unlike many, many films made over the years, we are lucky to have had a 'GODFATHER SAGA', created strictly for television using discarded scenes from both movies.

As for what was in a draft script and never even filmed...well, like I say FFC/Puzo apparently knew what they were doing.

Apple

Lord of the Rings; Return of the King also won in 2003, so that statement is no longer true.

Oh, yeah...I forgot about that!

Well, what we can still say is that GF and GFII is the only instance in Academy history where both the original AND sequel have won for Best Picture.

Not to mention Brando & DeNiro the only two actors to win Oscars for playing the same character.

Just thought I'd throw that in....even though it's no news to anyone here!!

Apple

There are plenty of scenes that can be left out or inserted in but I thought the final version turned out pretty well so I doubt we must have these other little tidbits.

Now with the technology of DVD we can have plenty of extra scenes, and that's enough to satisfy me. I agree -- nobody would like to see a 5-hour film, even though it is The Godfather: Part II so FCC made a wise choice to leave things out.

As for the ending, I found the final ending where we see in the film much more tragic. But I think if the ending from the 2nd draft? of the script was the "final" one we saw on film (Anthony meeting Michael) the third film would be very different. I know there wasn't supposed to be a third film, but FCC would still need to make something for financial reasons in 1989-1990, haha. I would say the 3rd film could of had been better if we were left with the ending of the 2nd draft -- but that's just my theory.

What a great set of drafts. I love the early scenes in GF I such as Connie provocatively putting her hand under Carlo's shirt, and Paulie using the expression "Holy Toledo" when eyeing the silk purse.

I am really sorry they left out all that back story about Anthony. Had it been in there it would have given the Mike Kay break up more power, and it would also have demonstrated Mike's coldness by separating this troubled child from his mother. It would also have given Anthony's role in GFIII more.

I agree. I know it was kept down time-wise because people just don't want to watch a 5 hour movie, but I wish some of those scenes were filmed. Especially in the day of DVD's they would have been able to edit them back in and make a super long indepth Godfather movie. I'd watch it.