Goodfellas
Prior to 1990 , the ecumenical consensus in the film buff residential district was that Francis Ford Coppola’sThe Godfathercould never be pass as the great mobster movie ever made . That was before Martin Scorsese came along with his tight - paced biopic of Henry Hill starring Ray Liotta and Robert De Niro . Now , the query of which crime syndicate motion picture is the best isa public debate that will probably never be resolve .
With its unconventional narrative structure , virtuously ambiguous antihero , and soundtrack featuring more oldies belt down bang thanGuardians of the Galaxy , Goodfellasarrived as a breath of brisk air . Here are 10 Behind - The - Scenes Facts AboutGoodfellas .
Most of the F-bombs were improvised
Goodfellasis a celebrated for a number of reasons , and one of them is that it hasone of the highest F - bomb reckoning in film history . The F - word and its derivatives are uttered a wondrous total of 321 time throughoutGoodfellas ’ 146 - minute runtime , and about half of them are verbalize by Joe Pesci . When Pesci shew the film to his female parent , she said that she liked it , but enquire if he had to curse quite so much . In the script , there are only around 70 F - bombs . The quietus that made it into the terminal cut – around 80 % of all the film ’s F - turkey – were include in improvised lines of negotiation .
Al Pacino was the first choice for Jimmy Conway
Martin Scorsese originally offered the part of Jimmy Conway – the character that was finally play bythe managing director ’s go - to guy Robert De Niro – to Al Pacino . However , Pacino wrench down the persona due to fear that he would be typecast as a gangster . The logic of this is sound in possibility , although Pacino did terminate up playing a cartoonish caricature of a mobster called Big Boy Caprice in theDick Tracymovie that was released in the same year asGoodfellas . If anything , that part was a self - cognizant jab at such a typecasting . The actor has accommodate that he regrets this conclusion .
The long tracking shot in the Copa took seven takes to get right
The long trailing shot in the Copa – the slam that inspired legion of student film producer to put long tracking shots in their cinema , without suffer the thematic understanding to employ the guesswork that Martin Scorsese and his cinematographer Michael Ballhaus had – train seven take to get right .
One of the take was ruined when Henny Youngman , the comic playing the Copa in the scene , forgot his lines , which is unusual , consider he was one of the greatest one - liner comics who ever live . The shooter achieved on the seventh take has go on to become one of the most iconic ever filmed , so it was deserving it .
Paul Sorvino almost pulled out of the film before shooting began
Paul Sorvino land the use of Paulie Cicero with no problem , but beforeGoodfellaswent into product , the doer became trepid that he would n’t be capable to show the character ’s cold - hearted personality . He even call his agent , three days before the movie was due to begin take , and postulate if he could get him out of his commitment to the project . Sorvino ’s broker told him to take a day to think about it , then decide if he require to take out out . That Nox , the actor frighten off himself in the mirror with a facial construction and realized that with this look , he could play Paulie , and he remained on board the movie .
Jimmy’s watches and pinky rings match his outfits
Robert De Niro’sGoodfellascharacter Jimmy Conway is always wear a watch on his articulatio radiocarpea and a ringing on his pinky finger , but count on the turnout , these watches and pinky rings are unlike . The wardrobe section meticulously shopped around and picked out a different ticker and a different pinky ring to match each of Jimmy ’s outfits in the film . It ’s a shame that the costume designers of movies do n’t get the recognition that their workplace deserves . The dry thing is that when a movie ’s wardrobe works , it blend in seamlessly into the characters and the production pattern , so it ’s much unnoticeable .
Real mobsters were hired as extras
According to Nicholas Pileggi , whose bookWiseguysformed the base of the screenplay that he co - pen with Martin Scorsese , some real - liveliness mobsters were brought on to appear as extras in sure aspect . This was done to give a sense of legitimacy to these scene , since no actor will ever look more convincingly like a mobster than an genuine mobster . When these guys were wreak on card , they were require to give their Social Security numbers to Warner Bros. , so they provided the studio apartment with fake ones . To this Clarence Shepard Day Jr. , it ’s unclear how they managed to collect their paychecks after shooting .
The rule precluding Henry and Jimmy from becoming “made” has since been changed
InGoodfellas , one of Henry Hill ’s voiceover narrations notes that neither he nor his friend Jimmy Conway could ever become “ made , ” because they ’re not 100 % Italian . This rule was changed in 2000 ( 10 years afterGoodfellaswas released ) by the Commission , the collective governing consistence constitute of New York City ’s five major offence families . Now , human race can become made if only their Father of the Church is of Italian descent and their surname is Italian . Ironically , despite this change , Henry and Jimmy could still never be made . Henry ’s father is depicted as Irish in the film , and Jimmy ’s surname Conway is n’t an Italian name .
Robert De Niro called Henry Hill several times a day to discuss his character
The life of Henry Hill , the basis ofGoodfellas , was chronicled in the documentaryThe Real Goodfella , which aired on TV in the UK . In the docudrama , Hill spill a little minute about the dramatisation of his biography , and he claims that whileGoodfellaswas shooting , Robert De Niro would call him up seven to eight times a twenty-four hour period to talk about his eccentric . He would ask about fiddling details , like how the tangible - life mobster his character was free-base on would decant ketchup onto his food , or hold a cigarette . This is a testament to De Niro ’s committedness to the function .
Test audiences hatedGoodfellas
While Martin Scorsese was grueling at work onGoodfellasas a then - fading Hollywood front , the studio began to care about its excessive use of profanity and graphic fierceness . When the film was presented to test audiences , it have the worst response in the studio ’s history . Scorsese said that the reply from test consultation was so damaging that it was idiotic .
Still , the studio apartment settle to free the flick with no revision , which are usually made to address trial audiences ’ concerns , and surprisingly , it received unanimous acclamation from critics andrevitalized Scorsese ’s career , keeping him work steadily for the next three decades .
The “How am I funny?” scene was inspired by a true story
One ofGoodfellas ’ most iconic minute arrives near the beginning when Henry Hill tell Tommy DeVito that he ’s a funny guy and the atmosphere suddenly turns tense as Tommy head Henry ’s compliment . on the face of it , this is based on a existent anecdote that Joe Pesci land to Martin Scorsese ’s attention . When Pesci was working in a eatery as a young man , he tell a gangster he was function that he was a funny cat , and the mobster was furious . Scorsese liked this and include it in the film , although he did n’t put it in the playscript so that the background worker would have a actual response to Pesci ’s fundamental interaction with Ray Liotta .
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