Film

The Godfather Walking Tour
New York

From the Corleone compound on Staten Island to the streets of Little Italy and the corridors of Midtown — trace the locations that made Francis Ford Coppola's masterpiece feel like the most real thing ever put on film.

8 stops · Multi-borough

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Every Stop Has a Story

The Corleone Compound

The real homeowners stayed in the house during the 1971 shoot, watching from the windows as hundreds of extras trampled their lawn to film Connie's wedding.

The Barzini Hit

The actor who shoots Barzini on the courthouse steps was a real former NYPD officer, and his genuine experience handling a service revolver gave the scene an unplanned layer of realism.

Genco Pura Olive Oil

Marlon Brando improvised the detail of buying oranges just before Vito is shot here, a small choice that became a recurring omen of death throughout the entire trilogy.

The Baptism Cathedral

A young Sofia Coppola makes her first appearance in the family saga here, cast as the infant being baptized while her father directed the intercut assassination sequence around her.

The Corleone Funeral

The funeral motorcade filmed here was so convincing, 20 limousines and 150 extras strong, that local residents actually called the police to ask which city official had died.

Luca Brasi's Walk

Lenny Montana, the real-life mob enforcer playing Luca Brasi, was so genuinely intimidated by Marlon Brando that he fumbled his lines, and Coppola liked it enough to keep the stammer in the final cut.

Michael and Kay's Date

This scene of Michael and Kay walking past the neon lights was actually filmed during a sweltering New York summer, with truckloads of fake snow brought in to fake a December 1945 winter.

The Elevator Hit

The fake blood used in the elevator assassination montage was so thick and sticky it reportedly jammed the hotel's actual elevator mechanisms between takes.

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