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Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall, left) and Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) in a still from The Godfather.

Classic American films: The Godfather - the best lines from 1972 mafia saga real gangsters have quoted ever since

  • The quintessential gangster film was full of great acting and classic one liners
  • Here’s a selection of lines from Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Robert Duvall and James Caan

In this regular feature series on some of the most talked-about films, we examine the legacy of classics, re-evaluate modern blockbusters, and revisit some of the most memorable lines in film. We continue this week with the best quotes from 1972 classic The Godfather .

1. Don Corleone (Marlon Brando): “I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse.”

2. Peter Clemenza (Richard S. Castellano): “Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.”

Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) tells Kay Adams (Diane Keaton) about his family.

3. Michael Corleone (Al Pacino): “My father assured him that either his brains or his signature would be on the contract.”

4. Don Corleone: “Some day, and that day may never come, I will call upon you to do a service for me. But until that day, accept this justice as a gift on my daughter’s wedding day.”

5. Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall): “Mr Corleone never asks a second favour once he’s refused the first, understood?”

Luca Brasi (Lenny Montana) is murdered in a still from The Godfather.

6. Clemenza: “It’s a Sicilian message. It means Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes.”

7. Michael Corleone: “Fredo, you’re my older brother, and I love you. But don’t ever take sides with anyone against the family again. Ever.”

Michael, Tessio (Abe Vigoda) and Sonny Corleone (James Caan) in a still from the film.

8. Sonny Corleone (James Caan): “Hey, listen, I want somebody good – and I mean very good – to plant that gun. I don’t want my brother coming out of that toilet with just his d*** in his hands, all right?”

Jack Woltz (John Marley, (right) shows his prize stallion to Tom Hagen (left), prior to the infamous ‘head in the bed’ scene.

9. Jack Woltz (John Marley): “Now you listen to me, you smooth-talking son-of-a-bitch, let me lay it on the line for you and your boss, whoever he is! Johnny Fontane will never get that movie! I don’t care how many dago guinea wop greaseball goombahs come out of the woodwork!”

10. Tessio (Abe Vigoda): “Tell Mike it was only business. I always liked him.”

Sonny talks to Tom Hagen.

11. Sonny Corleone: “What do you think this is – the army, where you shoot ’em a mile away? You’ve gotta get up close like this and – bada-BING! – you blow their brains all over your nice Ivy League suit.”

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