The Godfather

Revealing mistake: When Sonny is punching Carlo under the spraying fire hydrant, he misses an audible punch by at least six inches. (01:43:30)

Factual error: In the scene when Michael visits his father in the hospital in 1945 there's a NYC Fire Dept. sign on the wall with the name of the Commissioner, Robert O. Lowery, who was commissioner from 1966 to 1973.

Ray Palermo

The Godfather mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Sonny is shot at the toll booth the front windshield is torn apart by bullets yet when the bodyguards arrive thirty seconds later, the windshield is intact. (01:53:20)

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: Look again, the broken windows you are seeing are from the side windows, the windscreen was shot out entirely.

The screenshot shows the windscreen is intact after being shot out.

Ssiscool

The Godfather mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Luca Brasi is practicing his speech he is wearing a square faced watch. When he gives his speech to the godfather he's wearing a round faced watch.

Bill Early

Revealing mistake: At the Godfather's funeral, as Al Pacino stands up, you can see a reflection of his mother over on the right of the screen. It's clear in the widescreen video. The same happens when he sits down again. (02:28:25)

The Godfather mistake picture

Continuity mistake: After Michael shoots Sollozzo in the head, he turns to McCluskey and shoots him in the throat and then in the head. But in the long shot, before he shoots McCluskey in the head, you already can see the hole in the forehead. (01:25:15)

The Godfather mistake picture

Revealing mistake: When Moe Greene is shot through his right eye, the eyeglass is cracked, but has no hole where the bullet penetrated the glass. (02:33:50)

Factual error: In the scene where all the heads of families meet shortly after Sonny's death, there is an exterior shot of a large grey-brick building with an American flag hanging from it. If you look carefully, the flag is a current flag with 50 stars, with alternating rows of indented stars. But, the scene is takes place circa late 1940's when there were only 48 states and all the rows of stars were even. (By the way, the flag inside the meeting room is the correct one.) (02:01:05)

Revealing mistake: When Vito Corleone is walking Johnny Fontane out of his office, he opens the door and you can see an extra walk by and stop, look at the camera and actors, and back up out of the shot. (Mentioned on the commentary). (00:24:30)

BillyBlake

Continuity mistake: When Tom Hagen is meeting with Jack Woltz, the server fills Tom's wine glass twice within a split second. (00:29:20)

The Godfather mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When they're all having a meal in Sicily, watch behind Appollonia. Two people, one in red, one in white, walk past in the same direction twice - once in a wide shot, and once in a close-up of Appollonia. (01:40:35)

The Godfather mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Michael and Kay are eating lasagna during the wedding, Kay is smoking a cigarette. But depending on the shot, that cigarette disappears from her hand, then reappears. (00:13:25)

Other mistake: After Sonny is shot on the causeway, there are a very large number of bullet exit holes visible on the sides of the tollbooths, which could only have been made if the gunmen shot through the walls (not the windows) of the buildings from the inside. This is common in movies. In real life, bullet entry holes in wood appear as small black dots, not the more dramatic-looking splintered gashes made on the other side of the wood as the bullet exits. (01:52:40)

The Godfather mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Marlon Brando is gunned down at the fruit stand, he drops the bag of fruit he just bought. However, when he's collapsing against the car, the bag of fruit is now on the hood of the car. (00:43:05)

The Godfather mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Diane Keaton and Al Pacino have dinner, he gets up, puts on his coat and sits down again. Now watch Diane Keaton's glass: When the camera's on Al Pacino she's holding the stem, but when the camera's on her she's holding the body of the glass. Another mistake is that at the end of the scene the amount of wine in her glass suddenly doubles. (00:58:00)

The Godfather mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Clemenza knocks at the door Sonny gets a gun from a drawer and puts it in his belt. When he pushes Clemenza the gun disappears, but it's back a moment later. As the shot where the gun disappears is uncut the gun must have slipped down his pants. (00:46:20)

NancyFelix

Audio problem: When Carlo gets strangled in the car and kicks the windshield the sound of breaking glass can be heard before it actually happens. (02:41:05)

NancyFelix

Continuity mistake: When Tessio delivers the bulletproof vest and the fish, Sonny's hands are in one position (one below, one on top of the parcel), a fraction of a second later they are in a very different position (both on top, unwrapping). The parcel is half open while Tessio is carrying it but fully closed when he puts it on Sonny's lap. (00:52:55)

don_corleone

Revealing mistake: When Michael and Fredo arrive at the Las Vegas hotel, the actor playing Fredo is replaced by a double who doesn't resemble him even remotely. (02:13:15)

NancyFelix

Michael: My father is no different than any powerful man, any man with power, like a president or senator.
Kay Adams: Do you know how naive you sound, Michael? Presidents and senators don't have men killed.
Michael: Oh. Who's being naive, Kay?

More quotes from The Godfather

Trivia: Marlon Brando won a Best Actor Oscar for his role as Vito Corleone. Robert DeNiro, who played the role via flashbacks in Part II, won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar. They remain the only two actors to win Oscars for playing the same character. Heath Ledger and Joaquin Phoenix both won for playing the Joker, but not really the same character, given the very different films and portrayals.

More trivia for The Godfather

Question: Two people kiss Michael's ring in the final scene. Clemenza is one, who is the other?

Answer: First, Clemenza kisses Michael's ring, then Rocco Lampone. Al Neri is the one who closes the door, but he is not shown kissing the ring.

raywest

More questions & answers from The Godfather

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.