The horse's head that appeared in an iconic scene in the film The Godfather was real.
The horse's head that appeared in an iconic scene in the film The Godfather was real.
Francis Ford Coppolaâ€™s 1972 crime dramaÂ The GodfatherÂ remains a hugely influential film decades after its release, and perhaps the one scene from that movie mostÂ often referenced in pop culture isÂ one in which producer Jack Woltz, who unwisely refused a request from the Corleone family to cast Johnny Fontane (Don Corleoneâ€™s godson) in his new film, awoke to find the severed head of his prize thoroughbred in his bed: Even thoseÂ who havenâ€™tÂ actually seen the famous film itself probably recognizeÂ The Godfather as the origin of the â€œhorse head sceneâ€ when they encounter references to it in other works of pop culture: The GodfatherÂ was shot about a decade beforeÂ the Screen Actors Guild adoptedÂ the American Humane Societyâ€™s â€œGuidelines for the Safe Use of Animals in Filmed Mediaâ€ [PDF], so itâ€™s reasonable to be concerned that at least one horseÂ was sacrificed for the film.Â Itâ€™s true that the horseâ€™s head in The Godfather was genuine, but untrue that the animal it came from was killed specifically for that scene: < The studio had encouraged Francis Ford Coppola to use a fake horse head, but he didnâ€™t like the mock-up. His scouts found a horse ready for slaughter at a dog-food plant in New Jersey. The art director picked one that looked like the horse in the film and said, â€œWhen that one is slaughtered, send us the head.â€ Coppola later remembered, â€œOne day, a crate with dry ice came with this horseâ€™s head in it.â€ > The authenticity of the horseâ€™s head was addressed by Coppola after the 2001 release ofÂ The Godfather DVD Collection, in which the filmmaker recalled that animal rights activists were troubled by the imagery: < Coppola also reports that he received heated letters from animal activists regarding the horseâ€™s head that is found in the bed of Hollywood producer Jack Woltz (John Marley). They thought the filmmakers had killed a horse for the scene. It was in fact a real head, Coppola says, but it came from a slaughterhouse where horses were being destroyed for dog food. He says a member of the production went to the company, chose a horse that resembled Woltzâ€™s prized thoroughbred and asked that when the time came, the head be sent to the filmmakers. Shortly thereafter, the company sent them a box with the head wrapped in ice. > And so one of the most memorable scenes in movie history was born. Another movieâ€™s animals were perhaps not so lucky. Â Pernicious, but unverified rumors about the 1970 motion picture Patton claim that mules were shot, clubbed to death, or poisoned during its filming â€” charges that 20th-Century Fox vehemently denied.
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