Charlotte Armstrong (1905-1969)

Born Charlotte Armstrong on May 2, 1905, in Vulcan, Michigan, to Frank Armstrong, a mining engineer and inventor, and Clara Pascoe Armstrong. Graduated from Vulcan High School in 1921. Attended Ferry Hall junior college in Lake Forrest, Illinois, for one year, serving as editor-in-chief of student publication Ferry Tales. Attended University of Wisconsin–Madison for two years before transferring to Barnard College, where she received a bachelor’s degree. Took a job writing classified advertisements for The New York Times; later worked as a fashion reporter for the buyer’s guide Breath of the Avenue and as a clerk in a certified public accountant’s office. Published three poems in The New Yorker, 1928–29. Married Jack Lewi, an advertising executive, in 1928, and had a daughter and two sons.

Wrote the plays The Happiest Days (1939) and Ring Around Elizabeth (1941), both produced on Broadway. Published mystery novels Lay On, Mac Duff! (1942), The Case of the Weird Sisters (1943), and The Innocent Flower (1945). Turned to suspense with The Unsuspected (1945), whose sale to Hollywood enabled Armstrong and her family to move to California; the film version, directed by Michael Curtiz, came out in 1947. Published novels The Chocolate Cobweb (1948), Mischief (1951, filmed as Don’t Bother to Knock with Marilyn Monroe), The Black-Eyed Stranger (1952), Catch-as-Catch Can (1953), The Trouble in Thor (1953, as Jo Valentine), The Better to Eat You (1954), The Dream Walker (1955), and A Dram of Poison (1956), which won the Edgar Award for Best Novel. Published short story collection The Albatross (1957) and novels Incident at a Corner (1957), The Seventeen Widows of Sans Souci (1959), The Girl With A Secret (1959), and Something Blue (1959).

Wrote three teleplays for Alfred Hitchcock Presents (“Sybilla,” directed by Ida Lupino; “The Five Forty-Eight,” adapted from a John Cheever short story; and “Across the Threshold”) and an adaptation of Incident at a Corner for the television series Startime in 1959, with Hitchcock directing. Later novels were Then Came Two Women (1962), The One-Faced Girl (1963), The Mark of the Hand (1963), Who’s Been Sitting in My Chair? (1963), A Little Less Than Kind (1964), The Witch’s House (1964), The Turret Room (1965), Dream of Fair Woman (1966), Gift Shop (1967), The Balloon Man (1968), Lemon in the Basket (1968), Seven Seats to the Moon (1969), as well as the short story collection I See You (1966).

Died July 7, 1969, of cancer in Glendale, California. Her final novel The Protégé (1970) was published posthumously by Coward-McCann, publisher for all of her novels. (Source: Women Crime Writers)

Suggested Readings: The Unsuspected (1947); The Chocolate Cobweb (1948); Mischief (1950); Catch-as-Catch-Can (1953); The Dream Walker aka Alibi for Murder (1955); A Dram of Poison (1956); The Protégé (1970).

Charlotte Armstrong is of historical importance in the crime and mystery genre as one of the women writers–along with, for example, Margaret Milllar, Ursula Curtiss, Shelley Smith and Celia Fremlin–who moved away from the traditional tale of detection to the modern thriller, or psychological suspense novel, where the interest is in the why rather than the who or how, in what will happen rather than whodunit (Jeffrey Marks writes about some of these women authors, including Armstrong, in his Atomic Renaissance, while Rick Cypert has written a critical study of Armstrong, The Virtue of Suspense.)
After writing three detective novels between 1942 and 1945, Armstrong broke this mold with The Unsuspected (1946), a suspense tale much celebrated in its day, as was Mischief (1951), which followed five years later (both of these novels were quickly adapted into films). (Curtis Evans at The Passing Tramp)

Atomic Renaissance: Women Mystery Writers of the 1940s and 1950s (Delphi Books, 2003) by Jeffrey Marks

The Virtue Of Suspense: The Life and Works of Charlotte Armstrong (Susquehanna University Press, 2008) by Rick Cypert

Charlotte Armstrong website

The Mischaracterization of Charlotte Armstrong by Xavier Lechard

Charlotte Armstrong at Golden Age of Detection Wiki

To catch a murderous theater impresario, a young woman takes a deadly new role

The note discovered beside Rosaleen Wright’s hanged body is full of reasons justifying her suicide—but it lacks her trademark vitality and wit, and, most importantly, her signature. So the note alone is far from enough to convince her best friend Jane that Rosaleen was her own murderer, even if the police quickly accept the possibility as fact. Instead, Jane suspects Rosaleen’s boss, New York theater impresario Luther Grandison. To the world at large, he’s powerful and charismatic, but Rosaleen’s letters to Jane described a duplicitous, greedy man who would no doubt kill to protect his secrets. If Rosaleen stumbled upon one such secret, it could have led to an untimely demise—and Jane risks a similar end when she takes a job with Grandison’s company, tangling with one of Broadway’s deadliest actors in a desperate play for the truth.

A playwright before she turned to crime fiction, Charlotte Armstrong drew from her experience in the theater for her fourth novel, The Unsuspected. The book inspired the 1947 film of the same name.

The Unsuspected has been reviewed, among others, by Kate Jackson at Cross-Examining Crime, TracyK at Bitter Tea and Mystery, deadyesterday at Dead Yesterday, Aidan Brack at Mysteries Ahoy! and Martin Edwards at ‘Do You Write Under Your Own Name?’.

My Book Notes: Till Death Do Us Part, 1944 (Dr Gideon Fell #15) by John Dickson Carr

Esta entrada es bilingüe. Desplazarse hacia abajo para acceder a la versión en español

Penguin Books #950, 1953. Book Format: Paperback. 280 pages. ISBN: N/A. Originally published by Hamish Hamilton, London in 1944 and by Harper & Brothers, New York, 1944.

Inside Back Cover Blurb: The body was found in the study. presumably – as it sat, or slumped, directly in line with a neat round hole in the window – shot through the head. Moreover, Dick Markham has seen the shot fired over the garden wall a few moments before he broke into the room; but inside he discovered that there was, in fact, no bullet-wound – instead a hypodermic syringe, a strong smell of bitter almonds, windows and door locked from the inside, and, inexplicably, a box of drawing-pins split all over the floor. Suicide? Dr Fell,summoned to identify the body, found the little village of Six Ashes humming with gossip and rumours, all suggesting murder, and all pointing at Lesley Grant, the girl who had become engaged to Dick Markham two days before the tragedy occurred in Gallows Lane. It turns out to be one of the benevolent Dr Fell’s most difficult cases, and the story of its unravelling once more justifies J. B. Priestley’s comment that the author ‘ has a sense of the macabre which lifts him high above the average run of detective story writers’.

From the Introduction by Martin Edwards (The British Library, 2021): Till Death Do Us Part was  first published in 1944, but the events of the story take place before the beginning of the Second World War. The memorable first chapter carries a touch of nostalgia, as well as plentiful evidence of its American author’s love of England and the English way of life. Those opening pages also set the scene splendidly for one of the most tantalizing ‘impossible crime’ detective novels ever written by John Dickson Carr, the king of the locked room mystery. 

My Take: Coinciding with the recent launch of Till Death Do Us Part new edition by The British Library Publishing on 10 August 2021, I dusted off my book shelf an old and battered Penguin edition of this book and started to read it. Simultaneously, I downloaded the new edition on my Kindle to keep it in better conditions.

Dick Markham, a playwriter of psychological thrillers, has just got engaged to Lesley Grant in the hamlet of Six Ashes. He feels the happiest man on earth. On the way to a cricket match, they stop at the entrance to Lord Ashe’s park where a garden party has been set. The main attraction at the garden party is a fortune-teller and Miss Grant wants to visit him. She was told he’s very good. Few know that the fortune-teller really is Sir Harvey Gilman, the Home Office pathologist and crime expert, who has recently rented a house in Six Ashes for holidays. Lesley, unknowing his true identity, comes into the tent while Dick remains outside. The fortune-teller admits no more than one at a time. While he is waiting, Dick takes a rifle from a nearby attraction.  Suddenly, Lesley comes out in horror. In her agitation, she grabs Dick’s rifle and it goes off with such bad luck that Sir Harvey Gilman turns out wounded. Next, Dr Middlesworth and Major Price bring him home.  Everyone believe he’s been seriously injured, but the wound is only superficial. Although, this detail is kept hidden. At night, Sir Harvey wants to see Dick, without anyone’s knowledge, to tell him who Miss Lesley Grant really is. Her real name is Jordan and she is a poisoner. She had been married twice and had become engaged to a third man. All three of them died by an injection of prussic acid, in a locked room. She was the main suspect, though nothing could be prove against her and was never formally charged. All three cases were considered suicides. The next morning, Sir Harvey is found dead in a locked room, poisoned by an injection of prussic acid. Dr Gideon Fell is summoned to assist in the investigation, but what he says after seeing the corpse of Sir Harvey turns the case upside down.

Till Death Do Us Part is a really gratifying locked room mystery. What has surprised me the most is that, over time, this novel is rising in the ranking of John Dickson Carr’s mysteries and it is now considered among his best works. Regretfully, I haven’t read yet enough of Carr’s novels to support this, but from what some reviewers are saying, I wouldn’t be at all surprised that this could be true. The twists and turns of the plot work out very well, the reading is tremendously engaging, and the story is quite haunting. Besides even the smallest detail is precisely crafted. Ultimately a book that we shouldn’t miss and that, undoubtedly, deserves several re-readings. 

Till Death Do Us Part has been reviewed, among others, by Bev Hankins at My Raeder’s Block, Steve Barge at In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel, Jim Noy at The Invisible Event, Steve at Mystery File, Martin Edwards at ‘Do You Write Under Your Own Name?’, thegreencapsule at The Green Capsule, Dan at The Reader is Warned, Sergio Angelini at Tipping My Fedora, Kate Jackson at Cross-Examining Crime, deadyesterday at Dead Yesterday, TomCat at Beneath the Satins of Time, Curtis Evans at The Passing Tramp, Laurie Kelley at Bedford Bookshelf, and James Scott Byrnside.

(Source: Facsimile Dust Jackets LLC. Harper & Brothers (USA), 1944)

About the Author: John Dickson Carr was born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, in 1906. It Walks by Night, his first published detective novel, featuring the Frenchman Henri Bencolin, was published in 1930. Apart from Dr Fell, whose first appearance was in Hag’s Nook in 1933, Carr’s other series detectives (published under the nom de plume of Carter Dickson) were the barrister Sir Henry Merrivale, who debuted in The Plague Court Murders (1934). (Source: Goodreads)

The following list is not, nor is it intended to be, an exhaustive bibliography. It is just a selection of  Carr’s books I have read or l look forward to reading. Any further suggestion of books I should include is welcome

Henri Bencolin: It Walks By Night (1930); The Lost Gallows (1931); Castle Skull (1931); The Waxworks Murder aka The Corpse In The Waxworks (1932), and  The Door To Doom, And Other Detections (1980) a collection of short stories.

Dr Gideon Fell: Hag’s Nook (1933), The Mad Hatter Mystery (1933), The Eight of Swords (1934), The Blind Barber (1934), Death-Watch (1935), The Hollow Man aka The Three Coffins (1935), The Arabian Nights Murder (1936), To Wake the Dead (1938), The Crooked Hinge (1938), The Black Spectacles aka The Problem of the Green Capsule (1939), The Problem of the Wire Cage (1939), The Man Who Could Not Shudder (1940), The Case of the Constant Suicides (1941), Death Turns the Tables aka The Seat of the Scornful (1941), Till Death Do Us Part (1944), He Who Whispers (1946), The Sleeping Sphinx (1947), The Dead Man’s Knock (1958), In Spite of Thunder (1960), and The Man Who Explained Miracles (1963) a collection of short stories.

Sir Henry Merrivale (as Carter Dickson): The Plague Court Murders (1934), The White Priory Murders (1934), The Red Widow Murders (1935), The Unicorn Murders (1935), The Punch and Judy Murders aka The Magic Lantern Murders (1936), The Ten Teacups aka The Peacock Feather Murders (1937), The Judas Window aka The Crossbow Murder (1938), Death in Five Boxes (1938), The Reader is Warned (1939), And So To Murder (1940), Murder in The Submarine Zone aka  Nine And Death Makes Ten (1940), She Died a Lady (1943), He Wouldn’t Kill Patience (1944), The Curse of the Bronze Lamp aka Lord of the Sorcerers (1945), My Late Wives (1946), Night at the Mocking Widow (1950) and Merrivale, March and Murder (1991) a collection of short stories.

Historical Mysteries: The Bride of Newgate (1950), The Devil in Velvet (1951), Fire, Burn! (1957), Deadly Hall  (1971).

Other novels as John Dickson Carr: The Burning Court (1937); The Emperor’s Snuff-Box (1942); The Nine Wrong Answers (1952).

Further reading: Douglas G. Greene’s John Dickson Carr: The Man Who Explained Miracles (Otto Penzler Books/ Simon & Schuster, 1995). Biography & critical study of his works.

The British Library publicity page

John Dickson Carr – by Michael E. Grost

The Locked-Room Lectures : John Dickson Carr Vs Clayton Rawson

A Room with a Clue: John Dickson Carr’s Locked-Room Lecture Revisited by John Pugmire (pdf) The Reader Is Warned: this entire article is a gigantic SPOILER, with the solutions given to many pre-1935 locked room mysteries.

Hasta que la muerte nos separe, de John Dickson Carr

De la contraportada interior: El cuerpo fue encontrado en el estudio. presumiblemente, mientras se sentaba o se desplomaba, justo en línea con un pulcro agujero redondo en la ventana, de un tiro hacia la cabeza. Además, Dick Markham ha visto el tiro que habia sido disparado sobre el muro del jardín unos momentos antes de irrumpir en la habitación; pero en el interior descubrió que, de hecho, no había ninguna herida de bala, sino una jeringa hipodérmica, un fuerte olor a almendras amargas, ventanas y puertas cerradas por dentro e, inexplicablemente, una caja de chinchetas dispersas por toda la superficie del suelo. ¿Suicidio? El Dr. Fell, llamado para identificar el cuerpo, encontró el pequeño pueblo de Six Ashes lleno de chismes y rumores, todos sugiriendo un asesinato, y apuntando a Lesley Grant, la chica que se había comprometido con Dick Markham dos días antes de que ocurriera la tragedia en Gallows Lane. Resulta ser uno de los casos más difíciles del benevolente Dr. Fell, y la historia de su desenlace una vez más justifica el comentario de J. B. Priestley de que el autor “tiene un sentido de lo macabro que lo sitúa muy por encima del promedio de escritores de historias de detectives”.

De la Introducción de Martin Edwards: Hasta que la muerte nos separe se publicó por primera vez en 1944, pero los sucesos de la historia tienen lugar antes del comienzo de la Segunda Guerra Mundial. El memorable primer capítulo lleva un toque de nostalgia, así como abundantes pruebas del amor por Inglaterra y por el estilo de vida inglés de su autor estadounidense. Esas páginas iniciales también preparan el escenario espléndidamente para una de las novelas de detectives de “crímenes imposibles” más seductoras jamás escritas por John Dickson Carr, el rey del misterio del cuarto cerrado.

Mi opinión: Coincidiendo con el reciente lanzamiento de la nueva edición de Till Death Do Us Part por The British Library Publishing el 10 de agosto de 2021, desempolvé de mi estantería una vieja y maltratada edición de Penguin de este libro y comencé a leerlo. Simultáneamente, descargué la nueva edición en mi Kindle para mantenerla en mejores condiciones.

Dick Markham, un dramaturgo de thillers psicológicos, acaba de comprometerse con Lesley Grant en la aldea de Six Ashes. Se siente el hombre más feliz de la tierra. De camino a un partido de cricket, se detienen en la entrada del parque de Lord Ashe, donde se ha organizado una fiesta en el jardín. La atracción principal de la fiesta es un adivino y la señorita Grant quiere visitarlo. Le dijeron que es muy bueno. Pocos saben que el adivino es realmente Sir Harvey Gilman, el patólogo y experto en delitos del Ministerio del Interior, que recientemente ha alquilado una casa en Six Ashes para pasar las vacaciones. Lesley, sin saber su verdadera identidad, entra en la carpa mientras Dick permanece afuera. El adivino no admite más que de uno en uno. Mientras espera, Dick toma un rifle de una atracción cercana. De repente, Lesley sale horrorizada. En su agitación, agarra el rifle de Dick y se dispara con tan mala suerte que Sir Harvey Gilman resulta herido. A continuación, el Dr. Middlesworth y el Mayor Price lo llevan a casa. Todos creen que ha sido herido de gravedad, pero la herida es solo superficial. Aunque, este detalle se mantiene oculto. Por la noche, Sir Harvey quiere ver a Dick, sin que nadie lo sepa, para decirle quién es realmente la señorita Lesley Grant. Su verdadero nombre es Jordan y es una envenenadora. Se había casado dos veces y se había comprometido con un tercer hombre. Los tres murieron por una inyección de ácido prúsico, en una habitación cerrada. Ella era la principal sospechosa, aunque no se pudo probar nada en su contra y nunca fue acusada formalmente. Los tres casos se consideraron suicidios. A la mañana siguiente, Sir Harvey es encontrado muerto en una habitación cerrada, envenenado por una inyección de ácido prúsico. El Dr. Gideon Fell es convocado para ayudar en la investigación, pero lo que dice después de ver el cadáver de Sir Harvey da un vuelco al caso.

Hasta que la muerte nos separe es un misterio de cuarto cerrado realmente gratificante. Lo que más me ha sorprendido es que, con el tiempo, esta novela va ascendiendo en el ranking de los misterios de John Dickson Carr y ahora está considerada entre sus mejores obras. Lamentablemente, todavía no he leído suficientes novelas de Carr para respaldar esto, pero por lo que dicen algunos críticos, no me sorprendería en absoluto que esto pudiera ser cierto. Los giros y vueltas de la trama funcionan muy bien, la lectura es tremendamente atractiva y la historia es bastante inquietante. Además, hasta el más mínimo detalle está elaborado con precisión. En definitiva un libro que no debemos perdernos y que, sin duda, merece varias relecturas.

Acerca del autor: John Dickson Carr nació en Uniontown, Pensilvania, en 1906. It Walks by Night, su primera novela policíaca publicada, protagonizada por el francés Henri Bencolin, se publicó en 1930. Aparte del Dr. Fell, cuya primera aparición fue en Hag’s Nook en 1933, otra serie de detectives de Carr (publicada bajo el pseudónimo de Carter Dickson) fue el abogado Sir Henry Merrivale, quien debutó en The Plague Court Murders (1934). (Fuente: Goodreads)

La siguiente lista no es, ni pretende ser, una bibliografía exhaustiva. Es sólo una selección de los libros de Carr que he leído o espero leer. Cualquier sugerencia adicional de libros que deba incluir es bienvenida.

Henri Bencolin: It Walks By Night (1930); The Lost Gallows (1931); Castle Skull (1931); The Waxworks Murder aka The Corpse In The Waxworks (1932), y The Door To Doom, And Other Detections (1980) una colección de relatos.

Dr Gideon Fell: Hag’s Nook (1933), The Mad Hatter Mystery (1933), The Eight of Swords (1934), The Blind Barber (1934), Death-Watch (1935), The Hollow Man aka The Three Coffins (1935), The Arabian Nights Murder (1936), To Wake the Dead (1938), The Crooked Hinge (1938), The Black Spectacles aka The Problem of the Green Capsule (1939), The Problem of the Wire Cage (1939), The Man Who Could Not Shudder (1940), The Case of the Constant Suicides (1941), Death Turns the Tables aka The Seat of the Scornful (1941), Till Death Do Us Part (1944), He Who Whispers (1946), The Sleeping Sphinx (1947), The Dead Man’s Knock (1958), In Spite of Thunder (1960), y The Man Who Explained Miracles (1963) una colección de relatos.

Sir Henry Merrivale (as Carter Dickson): The Plague Court Murders (1934), The White Priory Murders (1934), The Red Widow Murders (1935), The Unicorn Murders (1935), The Punch and Judy Murders aka The Magic Lantern Murders (1936), The Ten Teacups aka The Peacock Feather Murders (1937), The Judas Window aka The Crossbow Murder (1938), Death in Five Boxes (1938), The Reader is Warned (1939), And So To Murder (1940), Murder in The Submarine Zone aka  Nine And Death Makes Ten (1940), She Died a Lady (1943), He Wouldn’t Kill Patience (1944), The Curse of the Bronze Lamp aka Lord of the Sorcerers (1945), My Late Wives (1946), Night at the Mocking Widow (1950) y Merrivale, March and Murder (1991) una colección de relatos.

Misterios históricos: The Devil in Velvet (1951)

Otras novelas como John Dickson Carr: The Burning Court (1937); The Emperor’s Snuff-Box (1942); The Nine Wrong Answers (1952).

Lectura recomendada: Douglas G. Greene’s John Dickson Carr: The Man Who Explained Miracles (Otto Penzler Books/ Simon & Schuster, 1995). Biografía y estudio crítico de sus obras.

My Film Notes: Mario Puzo’s The Godfather, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone (Part IV of a Trilogy)

Mario Puzo’s The Godfather, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone is a 2020 director’s cut of The Godfather Part III, the 1990 American crime film written by Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola, and directed by Coppola, which wrapped up the story of The Godfather saga. It completes the story of Michael Corleone, a Mafia kingpin who tries to legitimize his criminal empire. The original film stars Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire, and Andy Garcia, and features Eli Wallach, Joe Mantegna, George Hamilton, Bridget Fonda, and Sofia Coppola. It had a limited theatrical release in December 2020, followed by a home media release for digital platforms.

When originally released, despite getting mostly positive reviews, The Godfather Part III was deemed as an unfit continuation to the previous films which did not to live up to its predecessors. Both Coppola and Puzo initially planned to make the film an epilogue to the previous two rather than a direct continuation. The original title they had wanted for the third film was Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone, as the word ‘coda’ means epilogue, but Paramount Pictures rejected the title and insisted on calling the film The Godfather Part III.

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Part III, acknowledging that first film would reach its 50th anniversary in 2022 and his interest on making new versions of his films after turning eighty years old, Coppola approached Paramount Pictures head Jim Gianopulos and discussed the possibility of making a new, shorter cut more faithful to the original vision both he and Puzzo (who passed away in 1999) had in mind for the third film, along with the original title plus new shots and music, a request which Gianopulos granted.

The new cut of the film does not make many large changes. Both the beginning and ending scenes are changed, as well as some recut scenes in the middle. The most radical change is that the film does not end with the literal death of Michael Corleone, but instead his spiritual death as he sits alone in Sicily after the death of his daughter, consigned to a life of misery and regrets. The total runtime of the recut version is 158 minutes compared to the original’s 162 minutes. (Source: Fandom)

Further reading: How ‘The Godfather Coda’ Allows Francis Ford Coppola to Redefine His Biggest Disappointment.

My Film Notes: The Godfather Part III (1990) directed by Francis Ford Coppola [Updated 28/8/2021]

US / 162 min / Color / Paramount Pictures, Zoetrope Studios. Dir: Francis Ford Coppola. Pro: Francis Ford Coppola. Scr: Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola based on The Godfather by Mario Puzo. Cin: Gordon Willis. Mus: Carmine Coppola. Cast: Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire, Andy García, Eli Wallach, Joe Mantegna, Bridget Fonda, George Hamilton, Sofia Coppola. Synopsis: In this third film in the epic Corleone trilogy, Al Pacino reprises the role of powerful family leader Michael Corleone. Now in his 60’s, Michael is dominated by two passions: freeing his family from crime and finding a suitable successor. That successor could be fiery Vincent (Garcia) … but he may also be the spark that turns Michael’s hope of business legitimacy into an inferno of mob violence. [Paramount Pictures]. Release dates: 20 December 1990 (Beverly Hills, California) (premiere); 25 December 1990 (United States); 8 March 1991 (UK); 1 March 1991(Spain). Spanish title: El padrino: Parte III. IMDb Rating: 7.6/10.

The Godfather Part III is a 1990 American crime film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola from the screenplay co-written with Mario Puzo. The film stars Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire, and Andy García, Eli Wallach, Joe Mantegna, Bridget Fonda, George Hamilton, and Sofia Coppola. It is the third and final installment in The Godfather trilogy. A sequel to The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather Part II (1974), it concludes the story of Michael Corleone, the patriarch of the Corleone family, who attempts to legitimize his criminal empire. The film also includes fictionalized accounts of two real-life events: the 1978 death of Pope John Paul I and the Papal banking scandal of 1981–1982, both linked to Michael Corleone’s business affairs. (Wikipedia)

The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture. (Wikipedia)

The Godfather Part III at the American Film Institute Catalog

While not in the same league as the first two instalments in the series, The Godfather: Part III is not without its own merits.

In December 2020, Coppola completed a long-discussed new edit of The Godfather Part III, just in time for the film’s 30th anniversary. The project, with the title Mario Puzo’s The Godfather, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone, has a length of 158 minutes in comparison with the  original 162 minutes. The one impactful change is the new opening scene.I look forward to seeing the new version soon.

My Film Notes: The Godfather: Part II (1974) directed by Francis Ford Coppola

US / 200 min / Color / Paramount Pictures, The Coppola Company. Dir: Francis Ford Coppola. Pro: Francis Ford Coppola. Scr: Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola based on The Godfather by Mario Puzo. Cin: Gordon Willis. Mus: Nino Rota. Cast: Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, Robert De Niro, Talia Shire, Morgana King, John Cazale, Mariana Hill, Lee Strasberg. Synopsis: The Godfather: Part II juxtaposes two stories: that of Michael Corleone (played, as in The Godfather, by Al Pacino) in the years after he becomes head of the Corleone family business and that of his father, Vito Corleone, as a young man (portrayed by Robert De Niro). In the former storyline, set in the 1950s, Michael has moved the family and his base of operations to Nevada, seeking to expand his influence into Las Vegas and also into Havana. The other storyline shows Vito first as a child arriving in New York City in the early 1900s after his family in Sicily was killed by the local Mafia. As a young man, he is introduced into criminal activity by his friend Clemenza (Bruno Kirby), beginning with thievery. When a neighbourhood crime boss (Gastone Moschin) demands a cut of Vito’s profits, however, Vito murders him. Vito gains more power and respect while retaining his devotion to family. In the other narrative, Michael turns down a request from Frankie Pentangeli (Michael V. Gazzo) to approve a hit in New York City, because it would interfere with business with Jewish crime kingpin Hyman Roth (Lee Strasberg). Michael’s story then becomes one of betrayal, deceit, and paranoia. He is targeted by assassination attempts and government investigations. The part of the film dealing with Vito Corleone’s rise to become the don of his own crime family was adapted from the novel The Godfather, but Puzo and cowriter and director Francis Ford Coppola created the story of Michael’s journey into soullessness for the movie. (Source: Britannica). Release dates: 12 December 1974 (New York City, New York) (premiere); 18 December 1974 (United States); 15 May 1975 (UK); 13 October 1975 (Spain). Spanish title: El padrino: Parte II IMDb Rating: 9.0/10.

The Godfather Part II is a 1974 American epic crime film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola from the screenplay co-written with Mario Puzo, starring Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, Robert De Niro, Talia Shire, Morgana King, John Cazale, Mariana Hill, and Lee Strasberg. It is the second installment in The Godfather trilogy. Partially based on Puzo’s 1969 novel The Godfather, the film is both a sequel and a prequel to The Godfather, presenting parallel dramas: one picks up the 1958 story of Michael Corleone (Pacino), the new Don of the Corleone family, protecting the family business in the aftermath of an attempt on his life; the prequel covers the journey of his father, Vito Corleone (De Niro), from his Sicilian childhood to the founding of his family enterprise in New York City.(Wikipedia)

The film was nominated for eleven Academy Awards at the 47th Academy Awards and became the first sequel to win for Best Picture. Its six Oscar wins also included Best Director for Coppola, Best Supporting Actor for De Niro and Best Adapted Screenplay for Coppola and Puzo. Pacino won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor. (Wikipedia)

The Godfather Part II at the American Film Institute Catalog

The Godfather: Part II is a continuation of my previous post about my long-awaited project to see the three films of the trilogy one after another. This note was intended solely for my own records, but perhaps it may be of some interest to the readers of this blog. As good as the first instalment. The Godfather Part III coming soon.