The Godfather quiz
A hundred questions
Regular readers will have discerned a repeat reference in some of my contributions to Substack of late: The Godfather. With the recent death of one of the trilogy’s stars, I’d like to present a very difficult quiz for you about the three films. Most but not all the answers are to be gleaned from watching the films. Or asking AI, if that’s how quizzes are done these days.
I have likened modern government to gangster warfare in the past, but The Godfather presents the same dilemma to the viewer as modern government presents to observers of politics: do you love them, or do you hate them? In the course of watching the three films, these are questions that will run through your mind constantly.
Some of the questions below are grouped together because they deal with a particular aspect, but otherwise they number from 1 to 100. They are all from my own general knowledge or from observations I’ve made whilst watching the movies, and are not the product of scraping some other website or book.
The aim of the quiz (which was embarked upon shortly before the recent sad news about Diane Keaton) is to have a bit of nerdy fun but, more than that, to concentrate minds on what the mafia is, and what morality is, and what criminality is; what distinguishes the justified acts of government from the unjustified acts of criminals, if indeed any distinction exists. There is, I believe, a danger in assuming that everything that the mafia characters in the film do is by definition wrong, given the ultimate aim of their acts, and that everything the authorities do is right, given the ultimate aim of their acts.
Just to take one controversial for instance: the heads of the mob families meet in Part 1 to discuss narcotics. The Godfather is against narcotics, and thinks that they will see the demise of the mafia. The others are less sceptical, but agree on one principle: that narcotics will not be a free-for-all; it will be controlled and steps will be taken to avoid narcotics being dealt to minors. At one point in Part 2, one boss says he cannot guarantee that narcotics will not be dealt to minors. But he can guarantee that he will kill anyone he finds out is doing that. Well, that is the guarantee that government gives, albeit the penalty is generally less severe, because it does that for cigarettes, pornography, sex and alcohol, as well as narcotics. It allows their distribution in a controlled manner, and if it discovers anyone who contravenes these control laws, it steps in and issues penalties. In some countries it does indeed even kill the miscreant. If the quiz incites you to go off and watch the entire trilogy again (just short of ten hours’ entertainment), try to bear in mind the whole time this one question: does the Godfather ever lie? Then, when you’re done, ask yourself: does the government ever lie? And if government and mafia never lie, what means does each of them deploy to avoid lying?
The answers will be posted in two weeks’ time. The people scoring the three highest numbers of points will be entitled to a free lifetime subscription to this blog, or, if they already have one, to a gift subscription that they can give to the victim of their choice (a bit like sending them a fish wrapped in brown paper).
If you wish to take part in the competitive element of the quiz, send your answers please by direct message. You will need to place trust in me to be fair with the marking and, if you do that, I will respect you, justice will be done, and no harm will come to you or your families. Promesso. And: please remember to read the questions carefully.
Buona fortuna.
Graham Vincent’s “The Godfather” quiz
1. In the film trilogy of The Godfather, how many actors in total play the characters who, at some point or another, head up the Corleone family: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6?
What is/are the name(s) of that/those actor(s)? (You may only give as many answers as correspond to the answer to question 1, and, if there is more than one, they must be in chronological order according to the events portrayed in the films.)
2. No. 1 is …………………………….
3. No. 2 is ……………………………./non-existent
4. No. 3 is ……………………………./non-existent
5. No. 4 is ……………………………./non-existent
6. No. 5 is ……………………………./non-existent
7. No. 6 is ……………………………./non-existent
What is/are the name(s) of the character(s) played by that/these actor(s)? (You may only give as many answers as correspond to the answer to question 1, and the answers must correspond to the respective answers to questions 2-7)
8. No. 1 is …………………………….
9. No. 2 is ……………………………./non-existent
10. No. 3 is ……………………………./non-existent
11. No. 4 is ……………………………./non-existent
12. No. 5 is ……………………………./non-existent
13. No. 6 is ……………………………./non-existent
Two characters referred to in questions 8-13 are known by two names in the trilogy.
14. Who is one of those characters?
15. What is his other name?
16. How does he acquire his other name?
17. Who is the other one?
18. What is his other name?
19. How does he acquire his other name?
20. At the start of the second scene in Part 1, an aeroplane lands in Los Angeles, and we see a pan shot across a part of that city. What is the name of the church that is prominent during that establishing shot?
21. In the same pan shot as referred to in question 20, what is the name (at the time at which the film is set) of the building that the camera pans onto from above?
Each of the three films starts with a ceremony.
22. Part 1 starts with a/an ………………………..
23. Whose?
24. Part 2 starts with a/an ………………………..
25. Whose?
26. Part 3 starts with a/an ………………………..
27. Whose?
28. What is the title of the song often referred to as “Love Theme from The Godfather”? (You may give the Italian or English title).
How many deaths are depicted in each part of the trilogy?
29. In Part 1?
30. In Part 2?
31. In Part 3?
Name the characters who are depicted dead (by name or description).
32. In Part 1:
33. In Part 2:
34. In Part 3:
Name the characters in each part whose deaths are not depicted but are referred to or implied.
35. In Part 1:
36. In Part 2:
37. In Part 3:
38. Name the one character who comes back to life (trick question).
39. At the end of Part 1, Kay asks her husband whether his sister is right to accuse him of killing his brother-in-law, her husband. He tells Kay not to ask about his business and then relents, and allows her to ask this one question. So she asks, “Is it true?” What does he say as his response?
40. What sweetmeat features in Parts 1 and 3?
41. One of the principal characters in the trilogy underwent an immersion experience in preparation for their role. Who was the fellow actor who arranged it?
42. Which opera is performed at the end of the trilogy?
43. Who composed the music to that opera?
44. What children’s song is sung at the beginning of Part 3?
In what years were the three films released?
45. Part 1:
46. Part 2:
47. Part 3:
48. What island stands in for the island of Cuba in Part 2?
49. Who is the character who finds the head of his horse Khartoum in his bed?
50. What prop is used in the film to represent the horse’s head?
51. One of the characters approaches a greengrocer for the same kind of produce in both The Godfather and The Godfather Part 2.
(a) What produce is that?
(b) Who is the character?
52. How is the association referred to in question 51 reprised in Part 3?
Two characters in the trilogy are actual godsons to the Godfather.
53. One is ………………..
54. The other is ………………..
55. Which real-life singer plays one of the characters referred to in questions 53/54?
56. Which relative of the director of The Godfather plays the other character referred to in questions 53/54?
57. In Part 3, which real-life singer does the Godfather refer to whilst bantering with the character referred to in question 55?
58. In Part 3, to what does the Godfather compare friendship and money?
59. In Part 3, the characters Mary Corleone and Connie Corleone are niece and aunt. What is the true-life relationship between the two actresses who play these roles?
60. In Part 3, which star of The Onion Field plays the son of the former Corleone family lawyer?
61. In Part 2, for what cocktail does Fredo ask the Godfather to tell him the local name in Cuba?
62. What is the first sentence spoken in the trilogy?
63. Who speaks it?
In both Parts 1 and 3, family photographs are taken.
64. In Part 1, the photo is postponed, because one person is missing. Who is that person?
65. In Part 3, the photo is delayed in order to include someone. Who is that person?
One of the actors who plays an enforcer for the Godfather in Part 1 had also been a mafia enforcer in real life.
66. What is the actor’s name?
67. What’s the name of the character he plays?
68. In Part 1, Kay accuses her former betrothed of naivety, by asserting that senators and presidents don’t have men killed. How does her former betrothed respond to that?
69. In Part 1, at the meeting of the family heads, the Godfather issues a thinly veiled threat concerning the eventuality of harm befalling his youngest son. Of the various forms of harm he mentions, which one, we are informed, has already happened to him whilst he was in Sicily?
70. In Part 1, where does Peter Clemenza tell the Godfather’s youngest son “they should have stopped Hitler”?
71. In Part 3, Kay tells the Godfather “I don’t hate you.” What does she add to qualify that statement?
72. What does Kay say to the same man in Part 3 to reconcile the two seemingly contradictory statements referenced in question 71?
73. Who is the Sicilian to whom the Godfather’s son is sent in Part 1 and to whom he returns as the Godfather in Part 3?
74. When the Godfather’s son sees the girl he will marry in Sicily, what does his bodyguard say to him in a bid to dissuade him from pursuing her?
75. In Part 1, why does Hagen say he cannot accept a note from Kay intended for her betrothed?
76. What highly offensive term is used at various points in the trilogy to refer to a person of Italian birth or descent?
77. What business manoeuvre repeatedly gets deployed by the Corleones as a means to persuade others to do business with them?
78. In Part 1, Sonny (Santino) is killed at a highway tollbooth. How do the assassins know he’ll be there?
79. In Part 1, one of the Corleone bodyguards in Sicily turns out to be a traitor. What is his name?
80. What is the name of the other, faithful, bodyguard, who reappears in Part 3?
81. What Italian term is used in the trilogy to mean a “big shot”?
82. Which character is in the garden with the Godfather in Part 1 at the moment of his death?
83. When the Godfather dies at the end of the trilogy, what creature is with him?
84. At the beginning of Part 1, what question does the Godfather put to the man requesting the favour?
85. In the whole trilogy, one car is blown up with a bomb. What make is it?
86. What make of car is the Don driven around in who is the Godfather’s friend in Sicily?
87. What make of car is Sonny driving when he is murdered?
88. What is Kay’s occupation?
89. Who wrote the book The Godfather and collaborated on the film screenplays?
90. In Part 1 and by implication throughout the trilogy, the rationale for the existence of the mafia is stated as being to secure what for the ordinary people, in return for what? (Two words required.)
91. The trilogy at one point figures a play on words on the expression cosa nostra. What is it?
92. What railway station features in Part 3?
93. In Part 3, the Godfather’s son becomes a singer, but what profession had his father wanted him to enter?
94. In Part 2, what do we see the Godfather stealing as an accomplice to another man?
95. How is his involvement in that theft presented to him by that other man?
96. In Part 1, who does the Godfather fall in love with in Sicily?
97. In Part 1, who does the Godfather fall in love with in the United States?
98. Why is the Godfather quarantined upon arriving in the USA in Part 2?
99. Whose relationship does the Godfather forbid in Part 3?
100. Who is poisoned in Part 3?
I love quizzes, but I only read the book once and saw part one, Sorry, I am not impressed by the mafia, no crime in general so here goes: 1. Marlon Brando 2. James Caan, 3. Dianne Keaton 4. Al Pacino 5. Robert Duvall 6. Abe Vigoda 7. Sonny played by James Caan. 8 Vito Corleone 9 Santino (Sonny) Corleone 10. Katherine (Kay) Adams Corleone 11. Michael Corleone 12. Thomas (Tom) Hagen 13. Salvatore (Sal) Tessio. For the rest? I don't remember 1972 (I was 39) was 53 years ago. I never re-read the book or saw the film again. I did admire Marlon Brando, The only things I strongly remember are Sonny being killed at the interstate toll booth and the nastiness of killing a beautiful horse just to warn some imbecile.
Now if you were to quiz me on trump slime I could answer (easily) 100 Questions LOL