The Godfather

Francis Ford Coppola directs and co-writes this epic crime drama based on the novel by Mario Puzo. In late 1940s New York, Mafia 'Godfather' Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) gathers his three sons around him for daughter Connie (Talia Shire)'s wedding; the hot-headed Sonny (James Caan), ineffectual Fredo (John Cazale) and war hero Michael (Al Pacino), who chooses to distance himself from the family 'business'. When Vito is shot and wounded for refusing to sanction a rival family's heroin sales on his territory, Sonny temporarily takes over and embarks on bloody gang warfare.

This results in him being killed in an ambush, and Michael finds himself nominated to succeed the ailing Vito. The film won three Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor for Brando and Best Adapted Screenplay, and was followed by two sequels.