After six episodes, The Offer, a tv show about the filming of The Godfather, has finally seen the cameras beginning to roll on the iconic film. Of course, as we’ve seen in the first five episodes of the Paramount Plus series, the antics that go on behind the scenes are just as entertaining as the final result, and episode 6, “A Stand Up Guy,” doesn’t disappoint.
The Offer’s latest episode picks up after the surprise news conference Joe Colombo (Giovanni Ribisi) gave to Al Ruddy (Miles Teller), during which Ruddy was dismissed just as filming was about to begin. This makes production even more difficult. In addition, Gulf + Western decides whether to sell Paramount. What, however, actually occurred, and what was made for the show?
Was Al Ruddy Fired From The Godfather?
The Fiction
Al Ruddy has spent his entire time as The Godfather’s producer walking on a tightrope. He first had to deal with the mafia’s desire to stop the film from being released, but he was ultimately able to create an alliance with Joe Colombo, the mob leader.
Then he got into a heated argument about casting, particularly for Al Pacino, with Robert Evans. He is in danger of being booted from the film because of all of this, but he persisted. Up until the press meeting with Colombo, where it explicitly implied that a deal was done between Gulf + Western and the Italian American Civil Rights League.
The straw that finally breaks the camel’s back is this. Ruddy was fired by a frustrated Charlie Bluhdorn. However, after learning of Ruddy’s firing, Colombo pulls the unions and stops work to express his support for the producer. Following that, Francis Ford Coppola begs Bluhdorn to save Ruddy, claiming that his absence would stop them from finishing the film. In the end, Ruddy was hired back for the film.
The Fact
Yes. Following the press conference in Colombo, Ruddy was fired as a result of negative feedback. And a decline in the value of Gulf + Western’s stock. Although the series did add some dramatic flair. In Mark Seal’s Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli, Ruddy is cited as saying, “Just like in the show, Ruddy not sorry for what he did “What happens to Gulf + Western shares doesn’t interest me. Making my movie is something I’m interested in.”
The scene of Al Pacino and Diane Keaton strolling down a New York sidewalk after finishing their holiday shopping was accurately estimated by the show. The rest of the situation, however, actually happened less dramatically.
According to Mark Seal, Bluhdorn terminated the project. After dismissing Ruddy and ordering Coppola and Evans to find a new producer. Ruddy was defended by Coppola, who maintained that he was the only person who could keep the movie moving.
However, there is no evidence that Colombo interfered with the production in any way after firing Ruddy. It seems that Bluhdorn’s threat to kill Ruddy if he spoke to the media once more was also true. “One more sentence to the press and I will personally throttle you to death,” Bluhdorn quoted by Seal as saying.
