The story of the Godfather can't be told without involving producer Robert Evans. I recently read his autobiography "The Kid Stays in the Picture". Fun read. He tells the story of how Coppola never forgave him for stealing his thunder on the Godfather. It's now a film as well:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1bQ6MTzWsM

Robert Evans was on coke when he organized this P.S.A.

The film "The Kid Stays in the Picture" gives fascinating background on how Robert Evans convinced Mia Farrow to stay on the film even though Frank Sinatra wanted her to pull out and work on another project. She came to him crying that she didn't want to leave Frank, who was threatening divorce if she refused to pull out, Evans sat her down and showed her a early cut of Rosemary's Baby. Needless to say she stayed on, and Frank Sinatra served her divorce papers on the set.

One of my all time favorite horror films.

Watch "The Kid Stays In The Picture" to see Robert Evans, the producer Hoffman is parodying.

That's because it was produced by Robert Evans who went really against the grain of Hollywood productions, you can see how he sold to the studio execs, The Love Story and The Godfather in this sift right here.

This address to the studio owners of Paramount was pivotal for the young producer Robert Evans, as future backing for Paramount films and projects hinged on this. While narcissistic and bold it was effective in conveying what Evans envisioned for Paramount in 1971, it payed off with large box office sales and Robert Evans went on to produce Rosemary's Baby, Love Story, The Godfather and Chinatown.

This film was released for the first time in the 2002 movie adaptation of The Kid Stays in the Picture, an autobiography penned by Robert Evans. The motion picture adaptation of the same book was directed by Nanette Burstein and Brett Morgen.

The movie chronicles Evans' rise from childhood to radio star to film star to production chief of Paramount Pictures to independent producer, his marriage to Ali MacGraw and his downfall including his 1980 Cocaine bust and implication in the murder of Roy Radin, aka "The Cotton Club Murder" and his banishment from Paramount Pictures, and his return to the studio in the early 1990s.

A wonderful film for anyone interested in the real behind the scenes of Hollywood. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0303353/

The film version, released in 2002, utilizes Evans' narration interspersed with film footage from films such as The Sun Also Rises, Rosemary's Baby, Chinatown, and The Godfather, along with interviews and photographs from Evans' life, to tell the story from his discovery by Norma Shearer for Man of a Thousand Faces, to his return to Paramount Pictures.

- More @ <ahref="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kid_Stays_in_the_Picture">Wikipedia