Personal observations on the passing of American film and TV actor James Caan, the face and strong irrepressible personality featured in some of the most popular and beloved films of all time.
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Before James Caan appeared as suave and irrepressible Sonny Corleone in the iconic Francis Ford Coppola film "The Godfather," with his famous slow-motion demise at the Jones Beach Causeway toll booth in Long Island, New York, murdered by assassins of the Barzini family, there was his winning and powerful portrayal in Brian's Song of the late Chicago Bears running back Brian Piccolo, #41, who had gone to high school in Fort Lauderdale at what is now St. Thomas Aquinas HS, and his very close and enduring friendship with star teammate and future pro Football Hall of Famer Gale Sayers, #40.
The Sunday before the film premiered on a Tuesday night as part of ABC-TV's powerful early 1970's ratings juggernaut "Movie of the Week," the film was the focus of a lot of favorable critical attention, not just in TV Guide, but also in every single major newspaper in the country.
That fact rang true when I saw glowing stories about the film in both the Miami Herald and the NY Post and NY Times, all of which I always bought on Sundays as a kid. No, I really did.
Every Sunday morning I'd set out from our home in North Miami Beach a few blocks south of the then- 163rd Street Shopping Center, and head east to the Newstand out-of-town newspapers and magazine store located on 163rd Street and 17th Avenue, pick up a Herald, a Post and a NY Times, then keep walking down 163rd Steet to just just past the nice Burger King and the Sub Center on NE 19th Avenue to the Bagel Fare, right next to then-Congressman William Lehman's district office. Where I'd get a bakers dozen of hot, fresh bagels for my family and start eating them out of the big brown paper bag on my way home, with a can of Dr. Pepper or Coca-Cola to cool them off in my mouth. It was heaven!
Having a well-regarded bagel and deli restaurant right next door was a tremendous benefit for a Congressman in a congressional district, the then FL-13, that was so heavily Jewish, back in the days before Turnberry Island and Williams Island and Aventura or Dr. Krop High School existed, and the focus of the district was NMB between the Cloverleaf Expressway and Haulover Beach.
In 1971, at age 10, while I went to every single Miami Dolphins home game at the Orange Bowl, I didn't have season tickets yet -that started in the Perfect 17-0 season in 1972- so I sometimes went to games by myself via the Orange Bowl Expresss buses that transported Dolphins fans from large shopping centers and sites all over Dade and Broward County down 1-95 or 836 to the stadium on Calle Ocho. In my case, from the gigantic Moderage Furniture parking lot west of the Cloverleaf Expressway, via my parents.
The next day, having read all the stories about the film that I could and having discussed them thoroughly with my friends at Fulford Elementary, who, like me had already declared to everyone in the their family in advance that they WOULD be watching the film.
After school I started preparing for that night's Dolphins Monday Night Football home game against the Chicago Bears team that Brian Piccolo had been a part of just two years before. There was a tremendous effort by ABC to promote the film that weekend and of course during the ballgame, as the film premiered the following night.
Well, it's an understatement to say that that film instantly made James Caan an icon to millions of kids across America, people who would remain fans of his for life as they grew older. A fact that he was always remarking on, because it was one of the never-ending realities of his personal and professional life.
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Above, Brian's Song 1971 film trailer for ABC-TV's 'Movie of the Week" starring James Caan, Billy Dee Williams, Jack Warden, and Bernie Casey. Original airdate: October 30, 1971
This film still packs a wallop!
My wife was pregnant with my dream child Scott. Francis called me and said he wanted my to play Willard. He said he’d get me a house in Manila with a maid and fly me to location in the jungle every day on a helicopter. I said, “Francis there’s two things I hate — heights and tsetse flies, so let’s not do this.” I couldn’t be away six months while my wife was pregnant. But I helped write a scene. The letter that Martin Sheen’s character writes to his wife, I helped with that. You didn’t care if the character lived or died without that. You had to make the audience care about Willard. https://variety.com/2022/film/news/godfather-robert-duvall-james-caan-talia-shire-making-of-1235211379/
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