The Mother of all Publicity Campaigns

By 1972, “The Godfather” had become the movie of the moment—and that’s before it even hit theaters. Leading up to the film’s nationwide release that March, critics and made men alike clamored to get an early look, motivated in part by the tactful publicity strategy devised by Paramount’s Marilyn Stewart. To promote the film, she ensured that no photographs of Marlon Brando’s highly anticipated "transformation" into Don Vito Corleone leaked to the public. To see the Don, you’d have to buy a ticket. That’s not to say that audiences needed much convincing. In the wake of the movie’s New York City premiere—to which Robert Evans arrived with Ali MacGraw on one arm, and Henry Kissinger on the other—“The Godfather” was an immediate critical success, vindicating the strain Francis Ford Coppola endured to achieve his vision. On Episode Nine, Mark and Nathan reflect on "The Godfather"’s debut, and how its acclaim altered the lives of, among others, Coppola and Evans. In some ways, for the worse.

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