The Godfather (1972) Screenplay Formatting Analysis

The Godfather (1972), written by Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola, is generally considered the best movie ever. Since this is more than likely the most analyzed film of all time and as I do not feel I can add much to the conversation, my analysis focuses on formatting and is very short.

Two things worth noting about the script: The first is the use of parenthetical. Here’s a good example toward the end of the script (page 120, when Michael is questioning Carlo):

Get him a drink

(to Carlo, as Michael shifts in his chair)

Come on. Don’t be afraid. Carlo. Come on, you think I’d make my sister a widow? I’m godfather to your son, Carlo.

(after Neri hands Carlo a glass of wine)

Go ahead, drink it…drink

(after Carlo dinks)

No Carlo you’re out of the Family business, that’s your punishment. You’re finished. I’m putting you on a plane to Vegas

(to Tom, as he reaches out his hand)

Tom?

(after Tom hands Michael a plane ticket, which he hands to Carlo)

I want… (The quote goes on).

In 2023, the general advice is to put anything longer than an occasional short note to an actor/actress on how to deliver a line, in a separate action line. So, if I re-wrote this scene, it would read something like this:

Get him a drink

Michael shifts in his chair.

MICHAEL

(to Carlo)

Come on. Don’t be afraid. Carlo. Come on, you think I’d make my sister a widow? I’m godfather to your son, Carlo.

Neri hands Carlo a glass of wine.

MICHAEL

Go ahead, drink it…drink

Michael waits for Carlo to drink.

Michael

No Carlo you’re out of the Family business, that’s your punishment. You’re finished. I’m putting you on a plane to Vegas

Tom reaches out his hand.

Michael

Tom?

Tom hands Michael a plane ticket, which he hands to Carlo

Disregarding the bad formatting of this site, which style reads faster? I would say it’s the first example. Something to ponder.

The second is the use of author voice. Worth mentioning is that The Godfather script was not a spec script, but regardless, we don’t see any italicized text to represent a person’s thoughts, or underlined or bolded text to emphasize a certain point, like we do these days. Even though there are a few confusing spots, the script reads very well. And each character’s intentions are pretty obvious. Besides the fact that it’s a great script, I think a large part of that is due to the fact that the characters and their specific roles are well developed.

Buonanotte.