And I forgot to mention one other scene from Godfather I. It's known for its shock value, but in my opinion it started out quite eerily. It's the scene where Jack Woltz wakes to find the horse's head in his bed.

I felt a sense of foreboding from the start of that scene because of two elements: (1) the camera lingering over Woltz's estate, capturing the crystalline stillness of dawn, and (2) the music playing over the proceedings: one of the Godfather themes began playing soberly and slowly; but by the time we're in Woltz's bedroom, it's risen to a higher-pitched, almost hysterical waltz. It perfectly parallels Woltz's mounting horror.

Before I sat down to watch the film, I had heard so much about that scene and remembered it from the book. I have to hand it to Coppola that, even though I knew it was coming, he still had me biting my nails from the sheer anticipation of how he would interpret and present it.