Along with his contemporaries like Martin Sorcese, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola brought his own vision, completely different from anything before, of how to make film. The Young Turk directors, as they came to be known, infused their own personalities into the films — for Spielberg it was childhood whimsy; for Coppola it was psychological darkness.

On this day, March 15, in 1972 “The Godfather” premiered in New York city. It would come to Los Angeles a week later.

Coppola’s work, based on author Mario Puzo’s epic novel of the Corleone crime family, earned the Oscar for Best Picture that year, and Best Actor for Marlon Brando, who played Don Vito Corleone.