Movie: The Godfather
The Godfather is full of memorable scenes, like the dramatic shooting at the Italian Restaurant. It was a shocking scene, but there is another one that is even more dramatic and a lot more controversial. Yes, I’m referring to the horse head in the bed scene, of course.
Virtually everyone has seen The Godfather so there is no need to describe the scene or the events that led up to this unsavory mess in movie producer Jack Woltz’s bed, ruining his silk sheets. Needless to say, Don Corleone made him an offer that he had better not refuse. As shocking as the offer was, it was also equally brilliant, because Woltz now realized that the Godfather would do anything, including severing HIS head, to get the desired result.
As you might imagine, the horse head created a lot of controversy and questions. Was the head from a real horse? If so, how did they get away with this outrage? This film was obviously made before the American Humane Society’s “Guidelines for the Safe Use of Animals in Filmed Media” came into force. Yes, it was a real head from a real horse. Coppola got the head from a slaughter-house, a horse that was about to become pet food. The horse was going to leave this earth anyway, so no blood was on Francis Ford’s hands, as it was all in Jack Woltz’s bed.