Previously, in Episode 8th of “The Offer,” we saw Joseph Colombo getting shot at in his own political rally. It was a major setback for producer Al Ruddy, as he was heavily dependent upon the mafia leader. It was shown in the series that Joe Gallo had orchestrated the whole event and the other mafia families were well aware of it. Carlo Gambino and others thought that Colombo had taken more than he could chew. They accepted Gallo into their clan, who promised to be transparent this time and respect the command of the senior leaders. But giving Gallo a free hand had other consequences. He started threatening Ruddy, as he wanted to extort money in return for letting them make their movie. Ruddy tried to tell him that Colombo never took a single penny, but Gallo couldn’t be reasoned with. Coppola wanted to go to Sicily and shoot some scenes there, but Ruddy didn’t have the funds to do so. Whatever money was left, he thought of giving it to Gallo and saving his life. Amidst all this chaos, Ruddy needed his trusted ally to help him sort things out, but Bob Evans was not in a mental state to do so. Ali MacGraw had left him, and Evans couldn’t handle it. Though Caesar murdered Joe Gallo while the latter was celebrating his birthday (as shown in “The Offer” series), Ruddy knew that Evans’ absence was going to be an issue for him eventually.
Is Ruddy Able To Organize A Premier For The Mafia?
In the 9th episode of “The Offer,” titled “It’s Who We Are,” Ruddy and Coppola reach Sicily with their cast and crew. Once again, they had to deal with the Italian mafia, as they owned the cafe they were going to use as a set. “The Godfather” team shifted to a new venue, and surprisingly, they didn’t have to compromise as everybody liked it way too much. The rawness, the untapped beauty of Sicily, brought a breath of fresh air, and, more importantly, Francis was satisfied with the end result. While in Sicily, Bettye got to know that Bob was still missing from the scene and Charlie Bluhdorn was losing out on his patience. Ruddy and Bettye flew back to the United States the very next day to mitigate any more damage, as Charlie had decided to make Barry in charge, as he had no hope that Bob would ever return from his hiatus. Al Ruddy had taken a halt in New York before reaching Los Angeles for some unknown reason. Barry, who had taken over Bob’s office, questions Ruddy about this impromptu halt in New York, but the latter doesn’t disclose anything. Members of the Colombo family, and especially Caesar, had been persistently asking Ruddy about the premiere of “The Godfather,” as they all wanted to attend it. Ruddy knew that it wasn’t possible as the studio would never allow it. But he had to find a way because he didn’t know how to say no to them. So instead of Los Angeles, Ruddy went to New York, made all the arrangements, and asked Bettye to get the film reels. They didn’t tell anyone and quietly flew to New York in a private jet. Ruddy was scared, as everybody from the mafia world had come to watch the movie, but he had given his word to Caesar and couldn’t back out now. The film starts, and the epic score composed by Nino Rota brings about a sense of grandeur. For those 2 hours and 55 minutes, nobody moved, nobody spoke, as all the eyes were mesmerized, awestruck and glued to the silver screen. They had never seen anything like that. “The Godfather” was not an action thriller; it was something so majestic that couldn’t be expressed in words. The audience gave it a standing ovation, and Caesar said that it was probably the best film he had seen in his lifetime. As soon as the show got over, Ruddy asked Bettye to quickly get the reels, and they rushed back to LA.
‘The Offer’ Episode 9: Ending Explained- Did Barry Lapidus Replace Bob Evans?
If filmmaking was just a money-making business, then what does not fit the formula must never be tried, as it would result in a failure. But filmmaking is no transaction; it is an experience that has the power to transport you to a different world. Time and again, history has been privy to such mad individuals who dared to break the norms and create something so spectacular that was beyond the imagination of any rational thinking man. Barry Lapidus wanted “The Godfather” to follow the proven formula that had brought Paramount immense financial success in the past. In the 9th episode of “The Offer,” we witness a coup where Barry took over Bob’s office in his absence and started rejecting scripts that he found to be not worthy according to his sensibilities. He didn’t want to give a green signal to films like Chinatown and Save the Tiger, as he didn’t think that they would be a commercial success. His instincts were developed from his shallow perspective. There was no denying that he was a great sales and marketing guy and had an in-depth knowledge of the market, but he didn’t understand cinema-like Bob did. Also, his actions were stemming from a place where he wanted to undermine the choices made by Bob, as he didn’t like him at all. Charlie was a bit biased towards Bob, which led to him getting the upper hand in the rivalry shared by him and Lapidus. Now, in his absence, Barry wanted to turn things around. Barry wanted to cut the running time of “The Godfather” by at least 30 minutes, as the film was a bit too long and sluggish for his liking. Also, he wanted a kind of poster for the film, which Coppola and Ruddy vehemently disapproved of. Coppola wanted the cover of the novel written by Mario Puzo to be the poster of their film, but Barry was of the opinion that it was a very ambiguous and abstract depiction. Barry did not give them an option, and Coppola had to make edits and reduce the running time. It felt as if life had been sucked out of the ace director and he was feeling demoralized beyond any measure.
Bob had shut himself down in his fortress, and no matter how hard he tried, he had lost the motivation to do anything in life. Charlie wanted Evans back, but he couldn’t let a drug addict make important decisions. It seemed like all the hard work that the cast and crew had put in would go to waste, and “The Godfather” would be another mediocre film, where people would come, and get entertained, and the film wouldn’t leave any impact on them.
When Coppola and Ruddy were having a heated argument with Barry about the final poster of the film, they heard a familiar voice that they had been waiting to hear for quite some time now. Bob Evans had decided to wake up from his slumber and return to where he belonged, i.e., the films. Bob convinced Charlie to trust Coppola when he said that he wanted to go with the unabridged version of the film and to let him make the cover of the novel itself as the poster for the film. The return of Bob Evans meant that there were two people contesting for the same position. Charlie has a conversation with Barry and leaves the decision up to him. Barry was good at what he did, but he never had the imaginativeness and instincts that Bob did. Barry takes a magnanimous approach and decides to step down, as he knew that he couldn’t do what Bob could. It surprised Charlie, as he never expected Lapidus to act with such maturity and professionalism. Charlie tells Bob that he liked watching historical movies as it allowed the creators to rewrite history the way they wanted, and now Bob had the same opportunity. Bob Evans grabbed the opportunity with both hands and developed immense respect for the dignified and altruistic act of his colleague, and now maybe his friend, Barry Lapidus.
See More: ‘The Offer’ Episode 8: Recap And Ending, Explained – What Happened To Joe Gallo?
