James Caan led mooning contests on ‘Godfather’ set with Brando, Duvall

As serious as James Caan and the rest of “The Godfather” cast were about bringing to life the film’s operatic story of murder, mafia and the dark side of the American dream, Caan became known for his wicked sense of humor, helping his co-stars keep things jovial during production with pranks that veered into the ribald.

Caan, who died Thursday at age 82, talked about some of those pranks in an interview with the New York Post in March, marking the 50th anniversary of the classic gangster epic centered on the fictional Corleone crime family. Other stars also have spoken about how the production became particularly famous for a mooning contest, that involved Caan, Marlon Brando and Robert Duvall.

The contest, which would spark H.R. investigations today, apparently started when Duvall, who played Corleone family consigliere, Tom Hagen, and Caan, who starred as the eldest son, Sonny Corleone, were driving away from a pre-production cast and crew dinner, Entertainment Weekly reported.

Duvall dared Caan to stick his butt out the car window and moon Brando, who was sitting in a car across the way, EW said. Time magazine reported that Caan and Duvall then developed a habit of mooning Brando at odd times during filming.

Brando, who starred in the title role, managed to upstage his younger co-stars by dropping his own trousers while cameras were being set up for the film’s famous opening scene, when the crime boss welcomes hundreds of family, friends and associates to celebrate the wedding of his daughter.

Duvall confirmed the gist of these reports in an interview with EW in March. The actor, 91, laughed and said, “Yeah, we did all that stuff,” before demurring, “I can’t tell you all the stories because my wife will hit me over the head with a frying pan if I do.”

Duvall also said that the jovial atmosphere on the set was largely fueled by Caan and Brando. “Jimmy’s a lot of fun and he’d tell a joke and it would take Brando three seconds to catch on,” Duvall told EW. “He loved Jimmy. Jimmy was funny the whole time, but he was not in ‘Godfather II.’ So, ‘The Godfather’ was a bit more fun.”

Caan told the New York Post that keeping things light during a production, which was rumored to be troubled, was one way of making a great movie.

“One of the things that made ‘The Godfather’ successful, besides brilliant directing and writing and wonderful actors … was that everyone really enjoyed making it, and that comes off on the screen,” Caan said.  “And I think the audience can tell that we were having a good time doing what we were doing up there.”

Aside from Brando, Caan, Duvall, Al Pacino, John Cazale, Talia Shire and others in the cast were mostly little known actors who had mostly worked in theater or had parts in movies and TV. They were all up-and-coming but awed by working with the legendary Brando, who is credited with revolutionizing the art of film acting in 1950s films such as “Streetcar Named Desire” and “On the Waterfront,” for which he won his first Oscar.

Brando, who’d win his second Oscar for “The Godfather,” had gained a reputation for being difficult to work with, but the actor, then in his late 40s and trying to resurrect a stalled career, was happy to put his young male co-stars at ease.

“Marlon was great,” Caan said of Brando to the New York Post. “He had a great sense of humor.”

Caan also was known for his own ability “to make people smile,” said New York Post columnist Michael Starr in a tribute published Thursday. He wrote about how the actor always insisted on being called “Jimmy.”

“In ‘real life’ Jimmy cursed a blue streak, didn’t suffer fools gladly and offered his blunt opinions about a variety of subjects,” Starr wrote in a tribute to Caan Thursday. “But that only made him more likable in my mind. He was true to his convictions, but they were accentuated with a wry sense of humor. He was an instant hero in the strange world of professional celebrity, which has a tendency (and I’m being kind here) to turn high-profile performers into self-involved blowhards. Not Jimmy.”