1. THE GODFATHER: PART II DIRECTED BY FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA 1974

2. Al Pacino Michael Corleone Robert Duvall Tom Hagen Diane Keaton Kay Adams Robert De NiroVito Corleone John CazaleFredo Corleone Talia ShireConnie Corleone Rizzi Lee StrasbergHymen Roth Michael V. GazzoFrankie Pentangell G. P. SpradlenSen. Pat Geary Richard BrightAl Neri Gaston MoschinPanucci Tom RosquiRocco Lampone Bruno KirbyYoung Clemenza Francesca De SapioYoung Mama Corleone

3. OSCARS Best Picture Best Director – Francis Ford Coppola Best Adapted Screenplay – Mario Puzo & Francis Ford Coppola Best Supporting Actor – Robert De Niro Best Musical Score Best Art Direction NOMINATIONS Best Actor – Al Pacino Best Supporting Actor – Michael V. Gazzo Best Supporting Actor – Lee Strasberg Best Supporting Actress – Talia Shire Best Costume Design

4. The Godfather Part II presents two parallel storylines. One involves Mafia chief Michael Corleone in 1958/1959 after the events of the first movie; the other is a series of flashbacks following his father, Vito Corleone from his youth in Sicily (1901) and from 1917 to 1925 to the founding of the Corleone family in New York.

5. FLASHBACK The film begins in 1901, in the town of Corleone in Sicily, at the funeral of young Vito's father, Antonio Andolini, who has been murdered for an insult to the local Mafia lord, Don Ciccio. During the procession, Vito's older brother is murdered because he swore revenge on the Don. Vito's mother goes to Ciccio to beg for mercy, but he refuses, knowing that nine year old Vito will seek revenge later in life. The mother takes Ciccio hostage at knifepoint, allowing her son to escape, and Ciccio's men kill her. They search the town for the boy, but he is aided in his escape by the townspeople. Vito finds his way by ship to New York, and at Ellis Island an immigration agent chooses Vito's hometown of Corleone as his surname, and he is registered as "Vito Corleone”.

6. In the late 1950s, in a scene similar to the opening of the first film, Michael Corleone, Godfather of the Corleone family, deals with various business and family problems during an elaborate party at his Lake Tahoe, Nevada compound to celebrate his son's First Communion. He meets with Nevada Senator Pat Geary, who despises the Corleones, to discuss the price of the gaming licenses for the hotel/casinos the Family is buying.

7. FLASHBACK The action then switches to 1917, where the adult Vito Corleone works in a New York grocery store with his friend Genco Abbandando. The neighborhood is controlled by a member of the "The Black Hand," Don Fanucci, who extorts protection payments from local businesses. One night, Vito's neighbor Clemenza asks him to hide a stash of guns for him, and later, to repay the favor, takes him to a fancy apartment where they commit their first felony together, stealing an elegant rug.

8. Michael meets Roth in Havana, Cuba, in late 1958, at the time when dictator Fulgencio Batista is soliciting American investment, and communist guerrillas are trying to bring down the government. At a birthday party for Roth, Michael mentions that there is a possibility that the rebels might win, making their business dealings in Cuba problematic.

9. Fredo arrives in Havana and meets Michael. Michael mentions Hyman Roth and Johnny Ola to him, but Fredo says he has never met them. Michael asks Roth who gave the order to have Frank Pentangeli killed. Roth avoids the question, instead speaking angrily of the murder of his old friend, Moe Greene, which Michael had orchestrated (as depicted at the end of the first film). Fredo twice denies knowing Johnny Ola and Roth but later, contradicts himself. Michael realizes that the traitor is his own brother, and dispatches his bodyguard to deal with Roth.

10. FLASHBACK In New York of 1917, Don Fanucci of the Black Hand is now aware of the partnership between Vito, Clemenza and Sal Tessio, and wants his share. Clemenza and Tessio agree to pay, but Vito is reluctant and asks his friends to leave everything in his hands so Fanucci will accept less and indeed, Vito manages to get Fanucci to take only one sixth of what he demanded (100 of 600 dollars). Immediately afterwards, during the neighborhood festa, Vito murders Fanucci. With Fanucci dead, Vito earns the respect of the neighborhood and begins to intercede in local disputes, operating out of the storefront of his Genco Pura Olive Oil Company (named after his friend Genco Abbandando).

11. In Washington, D.C., a Senate committee, of which Senator Geary is a member, is conducting an investigation into the Corleone family. They question disaffected "soldier" Willie Cicci, but he cannot implicate Michael, because he never received any direct orders from him. When Michael appears before the committee, Senator Geary makes a big show of supporting Italian-Americans and then excuses himself from the proceedings. Michael makes a statement challenging the committee to produce a witness to corroborate the charges against him. The hearing ends with the Chairman promising a witness who will do exactly that.

12. Frank Pentangeli, who did not die in the attack by the Rosato Brothers, has made a deal with the FBI, and will testify against Michael. At the hearing in which Pentangeli is to testify, Michael arrives accompanied by Pentangeli's brother, brought from Sicily, and whose presence causes Frank to recant his previous statements about Michael.

13. FLASHBACK While visiting Sicily, Vito is introduced to the elderly Don Ciccio as the man who imports their olive oil to America, and who wants his blessing. When Ciccio asks Vito who his father was, Vito says, "My father's name is Antonio Andolini, and this is for you!", cutting the old man's stomach open with a knife, avenging the death of his father, mother, and brother.

14. When Carmella Corleone, Vito's widow and the mother of his children, dies, the whole Corleone family is reunited. Michael still shuns Fredo, who is miserable, but relents when Connie implores him to. Michael and Fredo embrace, but at the same time Michael signals to his capo that Fredo's protection from harm, in effect while their mother lived, has now run out.

15. The Godfather Part II reaches its climax in a montage of assassinations and death, reminiscent of the end of The Godfather. As he arrives at an airport to be taken into custody, Hyman Roth is killed by Rocco Lampone disguised as a journalist, who himself is immediately shot dead. On the military base, Frank Pentangeli is found dead, having followed Hagen's instructions and committed suicide in his bathtub. Finally, Fredo is murdered by Al Neri while they are fishing on Lake Tahoe - while Fredo is saying a Hail Mary to help catch a fish.

16. FLASHBACK The second to last scene takes place in 1941, and the Corleone family is preparing a surprise birthday party for Vito, setting up the beginning of The Godfather. Sonny introduces Carlo Rizzi, Connie's future husband and betrayer of Sonny, to his family. They all talk about the recent attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese, and Michael shocks everybody by announcing that he has just enlisted in the United States Marines. Sonny ridicules Michael's choice, and Tom Hagen mentions how his father has great expectations for Michael. Fredo is the only one who supports his brother's decision. Sal Tessio comes in with the cake for the party, and when Vito arrives, all but Michael leave to greet him.

17. The final scene in the film is Michael sitting by himself at Lake Tahoe, in silent contemplation.

18. Certain filmic elements, such as the use of montage in The Godfather or of underexposure in the cinematography of The Godfather Part II, have proven highly influential in the decades since. It should also be pointed out that the Godfather films took part in the larger social discourse of their times. In 1972 and 1974, when the films were released, America was experiencing much turmoil and change. Coming on the heels of the turbulent 1960s, while the Vietnam War and the culture wars raged, the Godfather films took part in the New Left Critique, exposing the hypocrisy of institutions of power. The Godfather highlights police corruption and the questionable morality of politicians who send their citizens abroad to fight wars. Political corruption is a major theme of The Godfather Part II.

19. The true genius of the Godfather films is that they are historically and socially specific genre films and, at the same time, monumental epics exploring universal themes. Their depiction of the experiences of Sicilian- Americans in the twentieth century speaks to the experience of all American immigrant communities. As exciting and suspenseful as any Hollywood action flick, they are also dramas with as much pathos and emotional weight as any film can have. Today the Godfather films are classic reference points in American culture, but they startled audiences when they were released because they combined styles and genres in a completely new way. That the films look so familiar to us now is the ultimate proof of their tremendous influence.