Content Warning: The article below discusses animal cruelty and contains bloody images.
The Godfatheris one of the greatest and most celebrated films ever made. Directed in 1972 byFrancis Ford Coppola, andbased on a novel of the same name byMario Puzo,The Godfatherwas not only a critical success,winning three Oscars the next year, including Best Picture, but it alsomade an astounding $250 million at the worldwide box officeon just a $6 million budget.Marlon Brando’s Vito Corleone is one of the best and most copied film performances, with so many taking their shot at attempting to impersonate his voice and best lines. That success led to anequally belovedThe Godfather Part II(there’s not so much love forThe Godfather Part III), and while it’s a film that can be watched over and over again, its violence still remains unsettling. Another blood-soaked moment revolves around Jack Woltz (John Marley) waking up to find a decapitated horse head in his bed. It’s utterly terrifying for both him and the viewer, but the real life story behind the scenes takes the horror shown on screen to an entirely different level.
The Godfather
Don Vito Corleone, head of a mafia family, decides to hand over his empire to his youngest son, Michael. However, his decision unintentionally puts the lives of his loved ones in grave danger.
A Message Was Sent to Jack Woltz in the Form of a Horse Head
One ofThe Godfather’s many charactersis Hollywood producer Jack Woltz. He’s a sleazeball who abuses women, and when he lands the rights to make a movie based on a popular novel, one of his first acts is to declare that actor Johnny Fontane (Al Martino) won’t be cast.Woltz has never forgiven Fontane for stealing a woman from him, but now he can get his revenge by refusing to give him a part in what will be a big movie. Woltz says, “You don’t understand. Johnny Fontane never gets that movie. That part is perfect for him; it’ll make him a big star. And I’m gonna run him out of the business.” That’s not a nice thing to do, but it’s also a stupid thing to do, as Johnny Fontane is the godson of Vito Corleone. Desperate,Fontane goes to the Don and asks for a favor, wanting help in changing Woltz’s mindand getting the role for himself. Don Coreleone tells Fontane, “I want you to rest well, and in a month this Hollywood big shot is gonna give you what you want.” And just how is that going to happen? Well, because,as he says in one of film’s most famous lines, “I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse.”
At first,Vito sends Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall) to Woltz to get him to change his mind. When that doesn’t work, the Corleone’s try another tactic. Jack Woltz’s favorite hobby is his prized race horse, Khartoum, a Triple Crown winner that he spent $600,000 on. The morning after his conversation with Hagen, Woltz wakes up in his bed to find that he’s covered in blood which has pooled under the sheets by his feet.He throws back the covers to find the decapitated head of Khartoum staring at him. Jack screams in horror, and soon after, Johnny Fontane gets the part in the movie.
The horse head scene is perhaps the most shocking inThe Godfather. Violence against other humans is a common, even expected, part of their business, even going as far as harming those close to their opponents when killing them won’t suffice. For the Corleones to not just take out something that Jack Woltz cares so much about, but for it to be an animal,shows just how scary the family really is and the lengths they’ll go to. Not only that, but with Woltz sleeping in his bed inside his own house, where he should feel the most secure, only for someone to break in, and move the sheets above him without Jack waking – that level of chilling and disconcerting fright is usually reserved for horror movies.
Sadly, the scene is made more frightening for the viewer due to one very unfortunate decision.The reason why that horse head looks so real is because it is. Though it’s not the head of the horse who portrays Khartoum, that doesn’t make it any better.According to TIME, in a 2012 article forThe Godfather’s 40th anniversary,Paramount Pictures wanted Francis Ford Coppola to use a fake horse head.Coppola agreed and one was made, but the director thought it didn’t look real enough. Discouraged, he sent scouts to a New Jersey dog food plant where horses were being slaughtered. The art director sought out a horse that looked like Khartoum in the film, andas Coppola tells it in the DVD commentary, he told the operators of the plant, “When that one is slaughtered, send us the head. One day, a crate with dry ice came with this horse’s head in it.”
As disturbing as the scene itself is, it takes on a further macabre depth with the knowledge that John Marley, who played Jack Woltz,had no idea the horse head used would be real. The actor was allegedly still under the impression that the horse’s head in the scene would be a plastic prop, as it was initially intended to be. The lore aroundThe Godfather’s production and this iconic scene is extensive, with one account stating that the actor’s toe brushed against the severed head, leading to hisveryreal, blood-curdling screams. The result – one of the most memorable scenes in cinematic history.
With Coppola’s focus on authenticity inThe Godfather, and in this scene in particular, it is not surprising that he kept Marley in the dark to capture a genuine reaction. In fact,it is actually common practice for directors to keep actors in the dark in favor of a scene. For instance, the cast members' reactions toAlien’s chestburster scene were completely real as they were not told what would be coming out of Kane’s chest beforehand. However, in Marley’s case, things were extra gory as a real animal was decapitated and laid at his feet with no prior warning. To be fair, we’d be screaming too.
Thankfully, Hollywood Has Moved on From Any Forms of Animal Violence
That knowledge makes the infamous Jack Woltz scene even more impactful, but also harder to watch. It’s uncomfortable to think of an entire film crew working with the head of a once living animal. There used to be few rules protecting animals on film sets. It all came down to the conscience of the film and crew. For instance,there were scenes of actual animal killings inCannibal Holocaust, but that was an Italian film that fell outside of any conventions of Hollywood. American films also made their own mistakes with animals, even when it was deemed acceptable,such as the 1977William Shatnerhorror filmKingdom of the Spiders. Thousands of tarantulas were brought in and many were crushed on camera. You wouldn’t see that in a later similar film, 1990’sArachnophobia, where the final boss spider was an animatronic.
In 1980,the American Humane Society’s “Guidelines for the Safe Use of Animals in Film Media"was codified in the Producer-Screen Actors Guild Agreement. When you see “No Animals Were Harmed” in the end credits of a movie, this is where that came from.The use of a real horse head inThe Godfathershows the guerrilla film making that was popular during the 1970s. Films now might often have a hard time comparing to the creativity and storytelling of fifty years ago, but thankfully, this part of the movie business is long gone.
The Godfatheris currently available to stream on Peacock in the U.S.
