See Coppola’s restored ‘The Godfather’ on Feb. 25th
Above: Marlon Brando won a Best Actor Oscar for "The Godfather," which celebrates its 50th anniversary with a special Feb. 25th screening at AMC Theaters. (Photo/Paramount Pictures)
In any critic’s list of the greatest films ever made, Francis Ford Coppola’s 1972 adaptation of Mario Puzo's novel “The Godfather” has to rank high.
The American Film Institute ranks it third (behind “Citizen Kane” and “Casablanca”). One compilation of critical data from Metacritic ranks it one higher (behind “Citizen Kane”).
The British Film Institute wasn’t nearly as impressed, ranking it 21st (No. 1 was Alfred Hitchcock’s “Vertigo”). But, hey, those Brits, right?
Anyway, in appreciation of the 50th anniversary of Coppola’s masterpiece, which was held on March 24th, 1972, AMC Theatres will be holding a special screening of “The Godfather” at 7 p.m. on Feb. 25th.
Coppola reportedly worked for three years restoring the original print of all three films of his trilogy, which includes “The Godfather: Part II” and a new director’s cut of “The Godfather: Part III." The anniversary screening will be shown in AMC’s Dolby Cinema houses.
According to Boxoffice magazine, Coppola oversaw a 4,000-hour process that entailed working with more than 300 cartons of film to pick out the best resolution from all three films and repairing all worn frames. An additional 1,000 hours went to color correction, plus the effort to restore the original soundtracks of the first two films.
“We felt privileged to restore these films and a little in awe every day we worked on them,” said Andrea Kalas, senior vice president, Paramount Archives. “We were able to witness first-hand how the brilliant cinematography, score, production design, costume design, editing, performances, and, of course, screenwriting and direction became famously more than the sum of their parts. It was our commitment to honor all of the filmmakers’ exceptional work.”
Advance tickets are now on sale. This is an offer you just can't refuse.