Vito, Fredo, Sonny...and Clark Kent? Happy Birthday to Mario Puzo

For years had heard about the brilliance and genius of The Godfather (1972). Yet my mind had always relegated it to the category of "Movies that old people and film snobs like."

However, one weekend, in the midst of a brutal sinus infection, somehow managed to gather enough energy to make a trip to a local video store to stock up on movies that could keep my mind occupied while the body was on shutdown.

Not thinking clearly because of nasal passages that felt like they were full of red fire ants, and wanting to get back to my bathrobe, blanket and couch as soon as possible, I grabbed the full Godfather trilogy.

By the end of the third film I was already wondering,"When the hell are they going to make a fourth!?!"

The three films were directed by Francis Ford Coppola and star such luminaries as Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Robert Duvall and James Caan. It's quite possible that in a few hundred years, people will see these films on the same level as we see the works of Shakespeare.

And we owe it all to the author Mario Puzo, who was born on this day, October 15, in 1920. He passed away in 1999, but he will live on for quite some time due to the massively complex and intricately detailed world of the Corleone family that arose from his imagination.

The Godfather Trilogy is replete with many a classic scene, but here's a taste to pique your curiosity if you haven't seen the films as of yet.

First, death scene, singular:

Second, death scene, plural:

And third, the Godfather Trilogy goes way beyond mere gun play and violence. Here's a sample of one of the more subtle moments displaying the true excellence of the acting and writing within the series.

Puzo's gift to the arts didn't stop with tales of 20th century mobsters though. He is also responsible for writing the script of what many deem the greatest superhero film ever set to celluloid, Superman: The Movie (1978).

So to close out, here's an original trailer for the film. You know. From the days before Superman killed bad guys.

Stephen Sumner is the science fiction columnist for Action A Go Go. His favorite sci-fi series include Firefly, Battlestar Galactica and Star Trek. He can be followed on Twitter at https://twitter.com/VierLights or on the Tumblr machine at http://vierlights.tumblr.com/.