The Offer: how the world’s greatest movie was almost never made

It’s been 50 years since the 1972 movie The Godfather was released, with its golden milestone recently making headlines, and a proliferation of online articles presenting us with some never-before-seen tidbits, such as the fact that Sylvester Stallone was rejected as an extra in the wedding scene.

The Godfather is widely regarded as one of the greatest movies of all time, winning awards and raking in between $250 and $291 million at the box office. Those kinds of figures have long been surpassed but it was the highest-grossing film of 1972, and overall, for quite some time. Despite its success, it wasn’t an easy movie to make, and was plagued by writing, casting, and budget woes – and that’s aside from the suits who had to be won over at every turn, threatening to pull the plug as they remained unconvinced about the piece of cinematic art in the making.

Ten-part limited series The Offer, streaming on Showmax, tells a fairly accurate true story of what went on behind the scenes to get across the finish line.

Real-life characters portrayed include Al Ruddy (producer), Bob Evans (senior vice president at Paramount Pictures), Francis Ford Coppola (director and co-writer), Mario Puzo (author of the book, and co-writer), Marlon Brando (Don Vito Corleone), Al Pacino (Michael Corleone), Charlie Bludhorn (crazy Austrian and head of Gulf & Western, which owned Paramount), Joe Colombo (mobster), and Frank Sinatra (Chairman of the Board, who apparently hated the book, and tried to stop the movie because he was convinced the Johnny Fontaine character was based on him, a suspicion that Puzo fought at every turn).

But perhaps our favourite real-life character is Bettye McCartt, Ruddy’s more-than-a-secretary, played by British actress Juno Temple (Ted Lasso). In the series, Bettye is a scene-stealer, and adorably so. She breaks the mould of how secretaries – and women – were perceived by a patriarchal society in the early 1970s, and is uncowed by men in powerful positions. She is a strong character who reminds us of the John Wayne quote: “Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.” Bettye is loyal as … and according to The Offer, she played an integral part in the making of The Godfather.

The real Bettye McCartt went on to become a successful agent, representing Tom Selleck, Anthony Quinn and George Clooney. She passed away in 2013 at the age of 81.

Our favourite Bettye moments in The Offer

Episode 3: It’s the first time we see Bettye and Charlie (Burn Gorman) interact – on the phone. “I knew a Betty once. She had long legs. Do you have long legs?” he asks her, adding that she should use them to run off and find Ruddy.

“My long legs are very busy right now, Mr Bludhorn,” she replies.

“Busy! Listen, cupcake, I’m the CEO of this whole fucking company!” he yells indignantly. “Yes sir, Mr Bludhorn,” she replies. “You are a very important man. I’ll tell Al you called.” And she hangs up on him.

Later, when they meet face to face, Charlie is obviously immediately smitten with her. Not only because she is beautiful but because she’s not afraid to stand up to him and say whatever she wants. They have drinks together a few times over the next two episodes, and a dinner where she is as unimpressed with the caviar he orders as she is with his blustering, ruthless corporate personality.

Episode 6: At the end of episode 5, Ruddy is ambushed at a rally by Joe Colombo (played by Giovanni Ribisi, and another standout character in the series) and ends up on the front page of all the newspapers shaking hands with Colombo. The takeaway is that Gulf & Western is in bed with the mafia, and Charlie is Not Happy.

He fires Ruddy on the spot, leaving the filming of the Godfather in turmoil. Bettye and Ruddy trade not-so-friendly words, but she also decides to go, on her own, to see Colombo at his “social club”. There, she tells him what happened, and this could be the end of the Godfather.

“Listen, you got some stones coming in here,” he says to her. “All my life I ain’t ever seen a broad inside,” he chuckles.

In conversation on set with Mario Puzo (Patrick Gallo) a little later, he says she is kooky in the head and he can’t believe she went to see Joe Colombo. “That’s some loyalty you’ve got for Ruddy,” he says. “I didn’t do it for him. I did it for me. I’m so sick of living a life that’s determined by everyone else’s choices,” she says, which sums her up in a sentence.

In the aftermath of Ruddy’s firing and rehiring, Bettye tells Charlie over drinks that he made a lot of people nervous. “Do I make you nervous?” he asks, although he already knows the answer: “Me? Of course not,” she smiles, and he gives a rare and small laugh.

Episode 8: On 28 June 1971 – and this is a true story – Colombo was shot at an Italian-American Civil Rights League rally by someone working for rival mobster Joe Gallo (Joseph Russo). This was the day after Ruddy had dinner at Colombo’s house and we saw a genuine friendship emerging between them.

These scenes played out at the end of episode 7. In episode 8, Gallo and a couple of his employees attack Ruddy in his hotel room, strong-arming him for money Gallo thought Colombo was getting out of the movie (he wasn’t).

Bettye is the only one Ruddy tells about this, and she’d previously comforted him about Colombo’s shooting, saying he should have called her. These are scenes that show just how important Bettye is in the overall picture.

Episode 9: Let’s finish with one of the light-hearted moments. It’s the wrap party for the New York City filming, while going to Sicily hangs in the balance; there’s only enough money left in the budget to either do that, or pay off Gallo.

Uptight Barry Lapidus (Colin Hanks playing a character who is thoroughly unlikable but he has one redeeming instance in this long episode), who doesn’t drink and doesn’t smoke, is at the open bar, of which Bettye has been making good use. She makes a phallic pun on his name, which she finds hilarious. Ruddy smiles tolerantly, but Charlie in the background is grinning from ear to ear.

The Offer is a must-watch for anyone interested in movies, movie-making, film trivia, classic movies, and New York and Hollywood in the early 1970s. It’s worth noting that the book, published in 1969, is of a much lower calibre than the movie, but this didn’t stop it from being a bestseller. Director Francis Ford Coppola initially turned down the job because he considered the novel sleazy and sensationalist, describing it as “pretty cheap stuff”.

Perhaps making cinema gold from it is the true miracle.