Word: colombos
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...sooner had Paramount announced plans to film Mario Puzo's novel about the powerful leader of a Mafia family than the protests began. The Italian-American Civil Rights League, a group headed by Joseph Colombo, the reputed don of one of New York City's five Mafia families, held a rally in Madison Square Garden, raising a $600,000 war chest to stop the production as a slur on Italian-Americans. Close to 100 letters of protest came in from Senators, Congressmen and New York State legislators. The Manhattan offices of Paramount's parent company, Gulf & Western...
Ruddy turned his attention to the growing pressure being exerted by the Italian-American Civil Rights League. Shopkeepers in New York City, where the film was now being shot, were making difficulties over the use of their premises for locations, unions were becoming restive, and Joseph Colombo was continuing his harassment by publicity. Coppola was stopped on the street by people asking, "How come you, an Italian, can make such a movie...
...never appeared in the script anyway and "Cosa Nostra" had been used only once. Also, he hired some people associated with the league, including a Las Vegas nightclub M.C., Gianni Russo, who got the role of the Godfather's treacherous son-in-law Carlo. Russo, a friend of Colombo's son Anthony, provided the cast with tips on how Mafiosi would act. He cheerfully observes that the Mob is "like the Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts. Everyone should have an organization...
Does it give an accurate portrayal of the Ma fia? Perhaps not. Many real-life Mafiosi were reportedly amused and somewhat flattered by their portraits in the book, despite the protestations of Colombo's now discredited league. They may well be equally amused and flattered by the movie...
...more immediate cause of Christian Democratic worries was the defection from the coalition of another party -the slightly left-of-center Republicans, who withdrew last month to protest inflationary government spending. When the Republicans pulled out, Premier Emilio Colombo resigned from office, and Italy since then has been without effective government. President Giovanni Leone asked Colombo to try to form a new one. When he finally admitted failure, Leone turned to yet another Christian Democrat, Giulio Andreotti, the party's floor leader in the Chamber of Deputies...