The Godfather: A Novel for Television (1977)
This was how I first watched
'The Godfather' films (or rather the
'The Godfather Trilogy: 1901-1980' version), edited into chronological order and extended in length. It was sometime in the early 90s, when my family borrowed the big black VHS boxset from the library. I don't think I've seen it since. The extended first movie is much like the longer version of
'Fellowship of the Ring', in that it's lovely to have more of a good thing but the original shorter version is just as good. The real reason to savour this version is for what it does with the second film. The young Vito prologue and
Robert De Niro scenes now begin the story and are extended so they form their own 1-1/4 hr movie. The attention to the tiniest details of character and place in these scenes mean they feel completely natural preceding the original film, so the Sicily sequences in that work just as well as callbacks to the prologue (instead of the other way around). It allows this material to be enjoyed as a complete story but it also means the 1950s GFII story is set free from being interrupted by it. Combined with a few extra scenes, this concentrated GFII flows so much better, is better paced and easier to follow (Michael's machinations wise) and feels equal in quality to the first film. It's still a meaty 2.5-hrs in length. Again, this is how I was introduced to these movies and why I've spent decades watching them again and again. I'd still recommend it today for new viewers to the saga.