The Godfather: How much do you remember of the film trilogy?

'The Godfather', one of the best films in history, is more than 50 years old. Yet, many people know the movies as if they were made yesterday. Let's see how many of these fun facts about the movie, the filming process, and its production you can recall!

Francis Ford Coppola wanted the movie to be called 'Mario Puzo's The Godfather' to bring attention to the author of the original novel. As we know, in the end, it would just be titled 'The Godfather'.

George Lucas was in charge of the scene where a series of photos explains the fight between the Mafia families. That's how Lucas thanked Coppola for financing his movie 'American Graffiti' (1973).

George Lucas requested that his name didn't appear in the final credits. What not many people know is that the crime photos of that scene represent real Mafia murders.

The relationship between Coppola and Paramount was always tense. The production company wanted to fire the director a couple of times during filming for different reasons.

Here are some of the reasons the production team didn't want Coppola to continue: Filming lasted longer than what was scheduled (77 days instead of 62), there were excessive expenses, the director wanted to film in Sicily, and Paramount wasn't sure about some of the casting choices.

One of the examples of excessive expenses is the scene of Vito Corleone's funeral where they used 20 limousines, 150 extras, and thousands of dollars in flowers.

Otto Preminger, François Truffaut, Fred Zinnemann, and Peter Bogdanovich were some of the directors considered for the movie. If Preminger had accepted the job, Frank Sinatra (in the picture) would have been chosen as Vito Corleone.

Paramount had three conditions for Marlon Brando: He wouldn't get paid until the end of filming, he would pay for his own unnecessary expenses, and he had to do a screen test.

Brandon was not expected to have memorized the script, instead, they would show him cue cards off-camera so he could read his lines.

Urban myth or reality? It is said that through the actor Al Lettieri (who played Sollozo), Marlon Brandon was able to meet and have dinner with some members of the Mafia. Al Lettieri presumably had family connections with one of the New York families.

Brandon's characteristic husky whispering voice for the character was inspired by the Mafia member Frank Costello who the actor had seen on TV 20 years before.

Marlon Brandon's script was auctioned in New York after his passing for a total of 12,800 dollars. It was the most valuable original script of a movie ever.

Orson Welles offered himself for the role of Vito Corleone, but Coppola already had Marlon Brandon in mind.

Marlon Brandon sent Sacheen Littlefeather to pick up his Oscar. In the name of the actor, she turned down the award and gave a speech against the abuse and extermination of the Native American population in the U.S.

Al Pacino also refused to come to the Oscars for his nomination for Supporting Actor. He thought the category was wrong and that he was the real protagonist of the movie.

As the true protagonist of 'The Godfather II', Al Pacino was compensated with 600,000 dollars and 10% of the movie's total revenue.

Strikingly, Al Pacino wasn't the production's favorite casting choice until they saw him in the film 'The Panic in Needle Park' (1971).

Coppola had to use his connections to free Al Pacino from his commitment to the film 'The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight' which could have prevented him from being in 'The Godfather'.

That same role was offered to Robert De Niro, but he also turned it down in order to play the young Vito Corleone in 'The Godfather II.' It would earn him his first Oscar.

Did you know about this candidate to play the role of Michael Corleone? Instead of Al Pacino, it could have been the young Jack Nicholson (standing right in the picture).

The actor turned down the role for two reasons: First, he thought that the role should be played by someone with Italian roots, and second, his character didn't have many scenes with Marlon Brandon, whom the actor deeply admired.

James Caan was considered for some of the protagonist roles, but he ended up playing the tempestuous Sonny Corleone.

The scene where Sonny breaks the FBI photographer's camera was improvised by James Caan. The panic on the face of the actor who plays the photographer is entirely real.

Another candidate for the role of Sonny Corleone was Anthony Perkins.

Lenny Montana, who played Luca Brasi, was so nervous to be working with Marlon Brandon that in their first scene together, he forgot some of his lines. His mistakes and mumblings were actually used by Coppola in the film.

Coppola loved the charm and natural sound of Montana's mistakes. He left them in the final cut of the movie, as well as footage of the actor practicing his speech.

The singers Frankie Avalon (in the picture) and Vic Damone were the two options to play the role of Johnny Fontane.

Coppola chose Vic Damone (in the picture), but the role would finally be played by Al Martino who (according to legend) would have used the Mafia's influence to get it.

The character interpreted by Al Martino (picture) sings a song in the movie titled 'I Have But One Heart.' That was Vic Damone's first hit.

Nino Rota won the Golden Globe, the BAFTA, and the Grammy for Best Soundtrack. However, he wasn't even nominated for an Oscar. What happened?

The Academy withdrew the nomination when they found out that the composer had already used part of the music in the film 'Fortunela' (1958).

And what did the Mafia say about the movie? According to insiders, Mafia families loved the film. They started to copy the lines, expressions, and clothes of the protagonists. As The New York Times said at the fiftieth anniversary of the film: "With 'The Godfather,' Art Imitated Mafia Life. And Vice Versa."