Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Harrison Ford, Morgan Freeman, Spike Lee, Diane Lane and more sang the praises of Francis Ford Coppola at the 50th AFI Lifetime Achievement Award tribute event Saturday night at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.
Spielberg called Coppola “peerless” while Lucas said, “You’re our hero, Francis, the first university student to make it in the industry.” Son Roman Coppola was also on hand, as was Gia Coppola, while Sofia Coppola shared a pre-taped video interview with her father.
Throughout the emotional evening, Coppola was celebrated as a true Hollywood outsider who made the system work for him and someone who launched dozens of careers, as with the cast of his 1983 film “The Outsiders.” Here are some of the highlights from the ceremony:
Steven Spielberg moved Coppola to tears
In his moving tribute to his longtime friend, Spielberg had his fellow filmmaker visibly tearing up when he proclaimed that “The Godfather” is “the greatest American film ever made.”
Spielberg went on to say that Coppola led the way for not only his coterie of celebrated ’70s filmmakers but for a “generation of storytellers.”
“When we’re young, it’s our parents we want to make proud, and then it’s our friends, and then it’s our colleagues, and finally, it’s our peers. But you, sir, are peerless,” said Spielberg. “You have taken what came before and redefined the canon of American film.”
Coppola once threw his four Oscars out the window
“Megalopolis” star Adam Driver ticked off a long list of ways that the maverick director had carved his own path in Hollywood, including “running a studio that wound up bankrupting him, hiring Marlon Brando, defending Al Pacino, and breaking all four of his Oscars by throwing them out a window.”
Robert De Niro thanked Coppola for not casting him in “The Godfather”
The actor, who won Best Supporting Actor for “The Godfather Part II,” quipped, “Thank you for not casting me in ‘The Godfather.’ It was the best job I never got. It meant I was available for the ‘Godfather Part II.’ Francis, you changed my career. You changed my life. We’re all here tonight because we love you.”
Sofia and Roman Coppola wrote a weekly gossip column on the set of “One From The Heart”
“I have the best memories of being 10,” during the making of “One From the Heart,” Sofia Coppola said in the video interview with her father. He recalled her and her brother rollerskating around the studio and distributing a newspaper called “The Big Bad News.” “The bad news is that you had a gossip column,” said her father. “And the gossip in it was all true.”
Sofia added that every Friday there would be a party on the Las Vegas set: “I just thought that’s how adults did it.”
Diane Lane sang “To Sir, With Love”
The actress, who starred in four of Coppola’s films — “The Outsiders,” “Rumble Fish,” “The Cotton Club” and “Jack” — recalled how the director would cook pasta from his trailer for the entire “Outsiders” cast. “It was a family and he was our papa,” she beamed before singing the first few lines from the 1967 Sidney Poitier film “To Sir, With Love.” “As Lulu said, ‘How do you thank who has taken you from crayons to perfume? It isn’t easy, but I’ll try.’ Francis, thank you, sir. With love.”
Al Pacino was cut off by a clip from “The Simpsons”
The actor began his introduction by thanking the director for insisting that he be cast as Michael Corleone: “Francis just fought for us. He fought for his film and his vision.” He was ready to say more, but his mic had already been cut off to show clips from movies and TV shows inspired by “The Godfather,” including a “Simpsons” clip with “Don Homer.”
Spike Lee still has his ticket stub for “Apocalypse Now”
The “Do the Right Thing” director recalled that he was “first in line” when “Apocalypse Now” opened in 1979. “I still have my ticket stub. And that f–ked me up,” he said with a laugh. Before the show began, Lee was seen having a lengthy discussion with “A Minecraft Movie” star Jack Black.
Lucas offered to buy back “American Graffiti” from an unhappy studio executive
Ron Howard, who co-starred in George Lucas’ “American Graffiti,” shared an anecdote about a studio executive who wasn’t happy with the first screening of the film, which Coppola was producing. “After all, they backed this film for the princely sum of, wait for it, $700,000. The studio executive said to Francis and George, ‘You should be embarrassed of this movie. It’s too long. We hate the way it looks. It seems unprofessional.’”
Howard continued, “Francis, with unblinking authority, pulled out a checkbook and said, ‘All right, listen, if you don’t want the picture, I’ll buy it back from you right now. I’ll buy it back from you today.’ Well, never mind that he didn’t have the money. It worked, and the film went on to take in well over $100 million.”
The tribute, which raised more than $2.5 million to support AFI’s education programs, will premiere on TNT on June 18 at 10:00 pm ET/PT.
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