Francis Ford Coppola

Francis Ford Coppola (born April 7, 1939 in Detroit, Michigan) is an Italian American film director, screenwriter, vintner, magazine publisher, and hotelier, most renowned for directing the highly regarded Godfather trilogy.

Career: 1960 to 1978

Coppola studied theatre at Hofstra University prior to studying film at UCLA and while there, he made numerous short films, including some soft core porn films. In the early 1960s, he started his professional career making low-budget films with Roger Corman and writing screenplays. His first notable motion picture was made for Corman, the low-budget Dementia 13 (which is available on video).

Related Topics:
Hofstra University - UCLA - Roger Corman - Dementia 13

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After graduating to mainstream motion pictures with You're a Big Boy Now, Coppola was offered the reins of the movie version of the Broadway musical Finian's Rainbow, starring Petula Clark, in her first American film, and veteran Fred Astaire. Producer Jack Warner was nonplussed by Coppola's shaggy-haired, bearded, "hippie" appearance and generally left him to his own devices. He took his cast to the Napa Valley for much of the outdoor shooting, but these scenes were in sharp contrast to those obviously filmed on a Hollywood soundstage, resulting in a disjointed look to the film. Dealing with outdated material at a time when the popularity of film musicals was already on the downslide, Coppola's end result was only semi-successful, but his work with Clark no doubt contributed to her Golden Globe Best Actress nomination.

Related Topics:
You're a Big Boy Now - Broadway - Finian's Rainbow - Petula Clark - Fred Astaire - Jack Warner - Napa Valley - Golden Globe

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In 1971, Coppola won an Academy Award for his screenplay for Patton. However, his name as a filmmaker was made as the co-writer and director of The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather Part II (1974), which both won the Academy Award for Best Picture — the latter being the first sequel to do so.

Related Topics:
Academy Award - Patton - The Godfather - 1972 - The Godfather Part II - 1974 - Academy Award for Best Picture

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In between The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, Coppola directed The Conversation, a story of a paranoid wiretapping and surveillance expert (played by Gene Hackman) who finds himself caught up in a possible murder plot. The Conversation was released to theaters in 1974 and was also nominated for Best Picture, resulting in Coppola being the second of three directors in Hollywood history to have two films released in the same year nominated for Best Picture and competing for the same prize at the Academy Awards. (The first director to achieve this acclaim was Alfred Hitchcock, with Foreign Correspondent and Rebecca. Rebecca went on to win the 1941 Best Picture Oscar. In 2001, Steven Soderbergh's films Erin Brockovich and Traffic were both nominated for Best Picture Oscars.) While The Godfather Part II won the Oscar, The Conversation won the 1974 Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

Related Topics:
The Conversation - Gene Hackman - Alfred Hitchcock - Foreign Correspondent - Rebecca - 1941 - Best Picture Oscar - Steven Soderbergh - Erin Brockovich - Traffic - Palme d'Or - Cannes Film Festival

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During this period he also wrote the screenplay for the critically and commercially unsuccessful 1974 adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby (starring Mia Farrow and Robert Redford), and produced George Lucas's breakthrough film, American Graffiti.

Related Topics:
1974 - Adaptation - F. Scott Fitzgerald - Novel - The Great Gatsby - Mia Farrow - Robert Redford - George Lucas - American Graffiti

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