Godfather

Gene D. Phillips offers a wide-ranging study of Francis Ford Coppola that weaves together a life story, the history of the studios he worked with, and critical assessment of his films. Phillips was granted access to a director known for guarding his privacy, and he drew on Coppola's own production diaries and screenplay drafts.

The book reaches back to Coppola's student films and his early forays into softcore pornography, then turns to later projects that drew less attention, including One from the Heart and Tucker: The Man and His Dream. Phillips also traces the troubled filming of Apocalypse Now, which ran for 238 days, and recounts how The Godfather nearly went ahead without Marlon Brando in the lead.