Who is Don Corleone? Based on Mario Puzo’s novel of the same name and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, The Godfather presents a trilogy of films that tells the story of the Italian American crime family Corleone. Founder and Don of the Corleone, Vito Andolini Corleone is an orphaned Sicilian immigrant who built an empire within the highly organized Italian American mafia. Vito is known as a kind and generous man, called Godfather or Don Corleone by his subordinates. The first film of The Godfather trilogy released on March 24, 1972, and was re-released on February 24, 2022, to celebrate its 50th anniversary! Exploring the Don Corleone statue: Admired, respected, and feared at times, the patriarchal leader of a Sicilian-American family presents himself impeccably at his daughter's wedding, dressed in a tuxedo with a red rose on his lapel, holding and petting his cat while listening to requests for favors from allies in his office.