The Godfather Saga is a 1977 American television miniseries that combines The Godfather and The Godfather Part II into one film. It originally aired on NBC over four consecutive nights (one three-hour segment and three two-hour segments) in November 1977. The Godfather Saga is also known as The Godfather: The Complete Novel for Television, The Godfather: A Novel for Television, The Godfather Novella, The Godfather: The Epic 1901-1959, The Godfather 1901–1959: The Complete Epic, and The Godfather Epic (on HBO). The television version was the basis for a shorter, 1981 video release known as The Godfather 1902–1959: The Complete Epic. In 1990 a new release known as The Godfather: The Epic 1901-1959 added additional scenes and reincorporated much of the footage from The Godfather: The Complete Novel for Television. Following the release of The Godfather Part III in 1990, a third unified version was released to video in 1992 entitled The Godfather Trilogy: 1901–1980.
Film structure
Francis Ford Coppola asked his editor Barry Malkin to make a seven-hour version for television; Coppola reportedly did this project to raise money for Apocalypse Now, which was severely over-budget at the time. The resulting film was in chronological order. The Godfather Part II had cut back and forth between scenes in the early 1900s and the late 1950s, and was therefore both a prequel and a sequel to The Godfather. Malkin also toned down the violence, sex, and language for a television audience.
The television film incorporated additional footage not included in the original films, including Don Fanucci being attacked by street thugs, Vito Corleone's first encounter with Hyman Roth, Vito killing two of the mafiosi who worked for Don Ciccio and were instrumental in his family's death, Michael Corleone's reunion with his father after his return from Sicily, Sonny Corleone's taking charge of the family after his father is severely wounded, and Michael's vengeance upon Fabrizio for killing Apollonia. The previously deleted scenes totaled almost 75 minutes.
Hal Erickson summarized the results as follows, "While this rearrangement was reasonably coherent, the rhythm and pacing of the original theatrical versions of the two films was severely damaged. The inclusion of scenes previously removed from the theatrical prints also stretched out what was already an overlong project. Even allowing for the achievement of pulling off this gargantuan editing assignment, The Godfather Saga is a lumpy affair which seems to stop and start at irregular intervals and never truly picks up momentum."
Nielsen ratings
According to the entry in Les Brown's Encyclopedia of Television, the Nielsen ratings for the special were supposedly not as high as expected, possibly because both films had already aired (albeit separately) on NBC in previous years.
Censored scenes
Both the 1977 The Godfather: The Complete Novel for Television and the 2012 The Godfather: A Novel for Television have had multiple scenes edited to remove violence and nudity.
The Godfather censored scenes
The following scenes are listed chronologically. The scene when Woltz sees the dead horse in his bed. The scene when Luca Brasi is killed. The scene when Sonny beats up Carlo in the street. The scene when Michael kisses Apollonia after their wedding. The scene when Sonny is killed. The scene when Moe Greene is killed. The scene when Willi Cicci kills Don Cuneo. The scene when Neri kills Don Barzini. The scene when Clemenza kills Carlo.
The Godfather Part II censored scenes
The following scenes are listed chronologically. The scene when baby Fredo is treated for pneumonia. The scene when Vito kills Fanucci. The scene when Vito kills Don Ciccio. The scene when the Rosato brothers try to kill Pentangeli. The scene when Geary pulls the covers off the murdered prostitute. The scene when the Cuban policeman kills Bussetta.
The Godfather 1902–1959: The Complete Epic
The Godfather 1902–1959: The Complete Epic is a reduced, 386-minute version of The Godfather Saga (434 minutes) that was released to video in 1981. Unlike the Saga, which was presented in four segments (each with opening and closing credits), the Epic is presented as a single segment. Lucia Bozzola wrote of this version, "With the freedom of home video, The Complete Epic reinstated the violence that had been edited for television; free of commercial breaks, the narrative drive of Part I was mostly restored, but the impact of Part II was still muted by the separation of Vito's rise from Michael's descent."