'The Offer': Who's Joseph Colombo? The man who declared war against making of 'The Godfather'
With the first three episodes streaming on Paramount Plus on Thursday, April 28, ‘The Offer’ tells the story of how Mario Puzo's bestseller came to the big screen under the leadership of producer Albert S Ruddy, studio head Robert Evans, and director Francis Ford Coppola.
Widely regarded as one of the best movies of all time, Coppola’s film ‘The Godfather’ almost never made it to theatres. There were many issues ranging from casting, off-screen arguments, and mainly the mafia. The mafia boss Joseph Colombo declared war on the picture and did his best to shut down production.
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Who was Joseph Colombo ?
Joseph Colombo, the head of the Italian-American Civil Rights League demanded that Paramount Pictures shelve 'The Godfather'. He was tired of seeing Italians portrayed as vicious thugs on big screens and expressed his anger at the portrayal of Italian stereotypes. Mobsters started tailing producer Al Ruddy, and then smashed every window in his sports car. They even left him a note, warning him to stop the film or something very bad would happen. Paramount executive Robert Evans received an alarming phone call telling him to get out of town, or someone would break his face and hurt his child. Mob-controlled unions refused to let Coppola shoot in certain neighborhoods and Paramount’s New York offices even had to be evacuated after someone phoned in a bomb threat twice.
Eventually, Paramount decided to call a meeting with the gangsters. Al Ruddy met up with Joseph Colombo at the Park Sheraton Hotel, and the two discussed what to do about ‘The Godfather’. Surprisingly, Colombo only had one demand. Filming could continue if the word “Mafia” was erased from the script. They both came to an agreement and Colombo embraced the production with open arms.
In 'The Offer', Giovanni Ribisi plays the mafia boss
In ‘The Offer’, Joseph Colombo, played by Giovanni Ribisi, lingers as a threatening presence from the start of the episode. As soon as he learns about the development of ‘The Godfather’ as a movie, he stages a rally across New York where he asserts that the movie was a conspiracy against hardworking Italian people. He calls ‘The Godfather’ a book of lies and labels the author Mario Puzo as a ‘traitor’. On Joseph’s instructions, Ruddy’s car is fired with warning shots. Robert Evans finds a dead rat in his bed and this horrifies him.
Later in the episode, Al Ruddy meets up with Joseph and together they come to an agreement. Ruddy decides to delete the word ‘mafia’ from the script and Joseph is in favor of this decision. He gives Ruddy the green light to continue shooting the film.
Episodes 1, 2 and 3 of 'The Offer' are available to stream in Paramount plus.