Set on an oceanliner, it was to star Marlon Brando as an American ambassador, and Sophia Loren as a beautiful stowaway found in his cabin.

It won three Academy Awards, including his second for Best Writing ( Adapted Screenplay ) ( with Puzo ), Best Picture and Best Actor ( for Brando ) and a nomination for Best Director and was instrumental in cementing his position as a prominent American film director.

There was disagreement between Paramount and Coppola on the issue of casting ; Coppola stuck to his plan of casting Marlon Brando as Vito Corleone, though Paramount wanted either Ernest Borgnine or Danny Thomas.

At one point, Coppola was told by the then-president of Paramount that " Marlon Brando will never appear in this motion picture ".

After pleading with the executives, Coppola was allowed to cast Brando only if he appeared in the film for much less salary than his previous films, perform a screen-test, and put up a bond saying that he would not cause a delay in the production ( as he had done on previous film sets ).

The production of the film was plagued by numerous problems, including typhoons, nervous breakdowns, the firing of Harvey Keitel, Martin Sheen's heart attack, extras from the Philippine military leaving in the middle of scenes to go fight rebels, and an unprepared Brando with a bloated appearance ( which Coppola attempted to hide by shooting him in the shadows ).

Marvin had a small but memorable role in The Wild One ( 1953 ) opposite Marlon Brando ( Marvin's gang in the film was called " The Beetles "), followed by Seminole ( 1953 ) and Gun Fury ( 1953 ).

Marlon Brando, Jr. ( April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004 ) was an American screen and stage actor.

Considered to be one of the most important actors in American cinema, Brando was one of only three professional actors, along with Charlie Chaplin and Marilyn Monroe, named by Time magazine as one of its 100 Persons of the Century in 1999.

" Brando was ranked by the American Film Institute as the fourth greatest screen legend among male movie stars.

Brando was also nominated for the Oscar for playing Emiliano Zapata in Viva Zapata!

Brando directed and starred in the cult western film One-Eyed Jacks that was released in 1961, after which he delivered a series of box office failures beginning with the non-success of the 1962 film adaptation of Mutiny on the Bounty.

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Brando was paid a record $ 3. 7 million ($ in today's funds ) plus 11. 75 % of the gross profits for 13 days work playing Jor-El in Superman, further adding to his mystique.

Marlon Brando was born in Omaha, Nebraska, to Marlon Brando, Sr., a pesticide and chemical feed manufacturer, and his wife, Dorothy Julia ( née Pennebaker ).

Brando was raised a Christian Scientist.

His paternal grandmother, Marie Holloway, abandoned her family when Marlon Brando, Sr., was five years old.

Marlon Brando, Sr., was a talented amateur photographer.

Dodie Brando acted and was a theater administrator.

However, Brando was closer to his maternal grandmother, Bessie Gahan Pennebaker Meyers, than to his mother.

Brando was a mimic from early childhood and developed an ability to absorb the mannerisms of people he played and display them dramatically while staying in character.

His sister Jocelyn Brando was the first to pursue an acting career, going to study at the American Academy of Dramatic Art.

Brando had been held back a year in school and was later expelled from Libertyville High School for riding his motorcycle through the corridors.

Brando was an avid student and proponent of Stella Adler, from whom he learned the techniques of the Stanislavski System.

He also had ambitions to work in film, like Elvis Presley and Eddie Cochran, and registered for acting classes with Lee Strasburg's Actors ' Studio, where the likes of Marlon Brando and James Dean had trained.

Coppola chose Brando over Ernest Borgnine on the basis of Brando's screen test, which also won over the Paramount leadership.

In 1953, Brando also starred in The Wild One riding his own Triumph Thunderbird 6T motorcycle, which caused consternation to Triumph's importers, as the subject matter was rowdy motorcycle gangs taking over a small town.

Brando also filmed scenes for the movie's sequel, Superman II, but after producers refused to pay him the same percentage he received for the first movie, he denied them permission to use the footage.

Brando also adopted Teriipia's daughters, Maimiti Brando ( born 1977 ) and Raiatua Brando ( born 1982 ).

Brando also adopted Petra Brando-Corval ( born 1972 ), the daughter of his assistant Caroline Barrett and novelist James Clavell.

His numerous grandchildren also include Michael Brando ( born 1988 ), son of Christian Brando, Prudence Brando and Shane Brando, children of Miko C. Brando, the three children of Teihotu Brando and the children of Michael Gilman, among others.

Brando also participated in the singer's two-day solo career 30th-anniversary celebration concerts in 2001, and starred in his 13-minute-long music video, " You Rock My World ," in the same year.

Brando also, along with Paul Newman, participated in the freedom rides.

" Brando was also a major donor to the Irgun, a Zionist political-paramilitary group.

Brando was also considered a sex symbol, one of the earliest in the film industry to achieve widespread attention due to his enigmatic and sexy persona and the reports of his dalliances and relationships with various major Hollywood celebrities.

He also wrote a screenplay from the novel The Authentic Death of Hendry Jones, a draft that evolved into the 1961 Marlon Brando film One-Eyed Jacks.

( 1952 ) which also starred Marlon Brando playing the role of Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata.

He played a drunken sailor in Kazan's " Truckline Cafe ," which also included a young Marlon Brando.

However, his first major stage success was his role as an awkward suitor of Jessica Tandy in " A Streetcar Named Desire ," which also helped make Brando a star on stage.

Marlon Brando was also offered the part, and Anthony Perkins and Montgomery Clift were briefly considered, before O ' Toole was cast.

Sacheen Littlefeather is a Native American activist who donned Apache dress and presented a speech on behalf of actor Marlon Brando, for his performance in The Godfather, when he boycotted the 45th Academy Awards ceremony on March 27, 1973, in protest of the treatment of Native Americans by the film industry.

Despite announcing his retirement from acting in 1980, Brando subsequently gave supporting performances in movies such as A Dry White Season ( for which he was again nominated for an Oscar in 1989 ), The Freshman in 1990 and Don Juan DeMarco in 1995.

However his supporting role as Zapata's brother won Quinn an Oscar while Brando lost the Oscar for Best Actor to Gary Cooper in High Noon.

After the war ended in 1945, he resumed his acting career, playing yet another small supporting role in the Maxwell Anderson play Truckline Cafe, with a then-unknown Marlon Brando.

Johnson played in supporting roles in Shane ( 1953 ) starring Alan Ladd, and One-Eyed Jacks ( 1961 ) starring Marlon Brando.

Over the next decade she played numerous guest and supporting roles in various television series, including Happy Days, The Eleventh Hour, The Fugitive and The Twilight Zone, before being cast in a featured role in The Chase ( 1966 ) with Marlon Brando, Jane Fonda and Robert Redford.