Gianni Russo on Threatening Marlon Brando at First "Godfather" Rehearsal (Part 10)

okay and you played Carlo Rizzi who was married to Don Corleone's daughter right and you were at one point you were abusive to the you know to the daughter and then Sonny went beat you up in the street and then later on you basically I'm trying to remember how it goes you set up Michael or something you were working with one of the enemy factions well yeah I was working I'm bar Z Nia approached me at my wedding because he said these people ain't gonna give you nothing if ever you want to join me and it was true because you know I wanted to do more business Sonny if the character was always telling me shut up we don't talk Vince the Taymor all that so then I figure okay so I was working with Barzini and buzzy undermined the whole family yeah that's why even a Brando when he found out we had the first rehearsal up at Patsy's another 19th Street I loved it because that was Fat Tony Salerno joint they ran the Genovese family out of that at all Imams day all the time so that's where the rehearsal was so I never had a Call Sheet before and they said be here and I loved you I said can't believe we're gonna go there so I'm all dressed to the nines I got a Brioni suit on I got a 65 Bentley with a Chinese chick chauffeur I go up to the neighborhood I get there early and I'm at the bar with Fat Tony Salerno Angelo cheesecake everybody and they say what are you doing here so I'm here for the rehearsal I mean I didn't do the rehearsal the Godfather's rented the room I see I'm playing call us kid either you came for you're not an actor I stopped playing Carlo then sure enough we get it to the room and everybody starts coming in and we're sitting around the room it's characters and before they bring Brando in they said now we're gonna bring Brando in have no eye contact with them and do not approach him okay so we do a rehearse for about 10 or 15 minutes they take a break and Brando comes over to me because everybody introduced themselves around the table he knew most of sterling Hayden rich guy everybody's dead so it comes to me says you're a big TV actor no he's you got a big movie coming up that's no he's well you're not on Broadway because I know everybody on Broadway is who just studied when I said study one what are you talking about with that he calls Coppola Roma he's Francis this guy's playing Carlo he said I know it because he had nodded order I was their gift this guy's playing cop and with this I'm listen to Brando telling him you should rethink this he's because I never broke down the script even I don't break down a script he says he marries my daughter he undermines my family he gets my son Sonny killed he gets my son Michael involved in the business which I never wanted this guy's got to be believable so now I said whoa a minim I don't put no protocol I said Francis Coppola let's go over there a minute and he walks away now the whole room goes slightly said who is this guy just the right thing you can't do that now the next sacrilege I put my arm on Brando they said don't look at him I'm touching them I want to walk him in the back room was I don't like to hear what I was gonna tell him so I walk him in the back room and I got on face to face with him I said listen I won't do respect mr. brownlow I don't want any problems with you but if you think you're gonna get me fired and embarrass me with all my friends I've told everybody I'm in this movie now listen to me clear if I get fired I'm gonna suck on your heart I'm gonna watch you bleed out you can't do this to me he stepped back he said that was brilliant that was good acting he thought I was acting I meant right and you actually said in your book that Marlowe hated doing that movie he said that he felt it brought out venom yeah it's crazy yeah yeah and ultimately in the movie Michael Corleone has you killed yep went through the windshield yep well you got you got strangled in black and then ya get them through the windshield thank God if that movie on us be 50 years in 2022 imagine 50 years and he just renewing everything I'm glad to goes up I'm still so involved I am I'm the brand ambassador for quarterly old family food products throughout the world it's a gift that never stops giving yeah and I guess in the movie during the the wedding scene you know Carlo and Connie's wedding all the guys the table were actually real mob guys they were yeah well the Colombo family there everybody was there in fact the crew went barzinis sitting near they're all good friends of mine they're real guys but they wanted that it's so funny because Nick Vella longer who wrote green book and won Best Screenplay and Best Picture he just optioned my book and he's doing a ten hour series and he wrote the pilot and the outline and when I met him he said I met you a long time ago I said how did you meet me and I knew his father was Tony lip cuz he worked for Costello at the Copacabana that's what green book was all about he and my father was at the wedding guys I know that he's always a little kid running around there in the wedding I was 12 years old I can't believe how there's world this is this guy now writing my life story as a screenplay and he was at my wedding in The Godfather that's crazy well uh you go and act in this movie but you're still affiliated with the mob and you're still doing runs these will be you know myates to me I'm I have every legitimate license in the world I don't casino licenses I'm a federal Coria recognized even by the Vatican I got three carry permits even in New York City so obviously I don't have any felons and I got gaming licenses but I'm not my family is my family so I care what my uncle didn't like people dead well in 1978 the Las Vegas Sun ran a story about a young 34 year old who was about to build a 54 million dollar Hotel and Casino that was me and it was you so you read that that's great great research I was out of a job so you actually built a casino or did that not happen no what happened was this I I borrowed 32 men on a napkin I made to deal with Korky Civello who was working with Frank Fitzsimmons he me I had a Hokkaido loans for Vegas and I bought this 23-acre parcel of land and I bought that early on with offshore corporation that I had I had great mentors show me how to do things and I bought that land at $1,600 an acre it's right 16 million an acre today it's still there vacant because Nevada is the only state you can buy vacant land as an investment pay no taxes on until you improve it Wow and my kids are saying to me today that why do you sell it first of all it's a mnemonic Oh corporation I was good friends with Grace Kelly and when she married Renny we're at the wedding and with Sinatra all of us went and I have a municipal over there so why would I want to sell any of this stuff it's untouchable and I'm just you know if I need money I'll sell it my grandfather told me that don't sell anything less you need the money and I know they don't money what I do wait so you still own all that land in Vegas I don't know a lot of land you okay and you know it's so funny they surrounded it I mean if you go if you zoom in right now on the corner of Colville and Harmon Harmon Avenue between Flamingo Road they surrounded the Hard Rock's on one side of me and Jim's on the inside this is the only piece or roll in

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Length: 8min 46sec (526 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 29 2020