The Godfather

 “The Godfather” By Mario Puzo
 
141
Hagen never made excuses for his actions. He could not. It was part of his job to ad as 
a lightning rod for resentments which people were too awed to feel toward the Don 
himseif though he had earned them. 
“Your Godfather sent me out here to give you a hand on some things,” Hagen said. “I 
wanted to get it out of the way before Christmas.” 
Johnny Fontane shrugged. “The picture is finished. The director was a square guy and 
treated me right. My scenes are too important to be left on the cutting-room floor just for 
Woltz to pay me off. He can’t ruin a ten-million-dollar picture. So now everything 
depends on how good people think I am in the movie.” 
Hagen said cautiously, “Is winning this Academy Award so terribly important to an 
actor’s career, or is it just the usual publicity crap that really doesn’t mean anything one 
way or the other?” He paused and added hastily, “Except of course the glory, everybody 
likes glory.” 
Johnny Fontane grinned at him. “Except my Godfather. And you. No, Tom, it’s not a lot 
of crap. An Academy Award can make an actor for ten years. He can get his pick of 
roles. The public goes to see him. It’s not everything, but for an actor it’s the most 
important thing in the business. I’m counting on winning it. Not because I’m such a great 
actor but because I’m known primarily as a singer and the part is foolproof. And I’m 
pretty good too, no kidding.” 
Tom Hagen shrugged and said, “Your Godfather tells me that the way things stand now, 
you don’t have a chance of winning the award.” 
Johnny Fontane was angry. “What the hell are you talking about? The picture hasn’t 
even been cut yet, much less shown. And the Don isn’t even in the movie business. 
Why the hell did you fly the three thousand miles just to tell me that shit?” He was so 
shaken he was almost in tears. 
Hagen said worriedly, “Johnny, I don’t know a damn thing about all this movie stuff. 
Remember, I’m just a messenger boy for the Don. But we have discussed this whole 
business of yours many times. He worries about you, about your future. He feels you 
still need his help and he wants to settle your problem once and for all. That’s why I’m 
here now, to get things rolling. But you have to start growing up, Johnny. You have to 
stop thinking about yourself as a singer or an actor. You’ve got to start thinking about 
yourself as a prime mover, as a guy with muscle.” 
Johnny Fontane laughed and filled his glass. “If I don’t win that Oscar I’ll have as much 

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