The Godfather I and II

2. Best and Co.

New York, NY

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Best and Co., the location for the scene where Michael and Kay are Christmas shopping, was the first scene shot for the picture. The store Best and Co. was actually out of business, but they reopened their doors for the film. Best and Co. is now the Olympic Tower Associates in New York City. An interesting fact about the filming of this scene is that snowfall was needed to capture the essence of winter, but it was a beautiful evening, so Coppola had a snow machine brought in. The film crew used wind machines and plastic snow to create the winter backdrop. Coppola was adamant about ensuring that this scene had a winter appeal because he wanted the winter to indicate the passing of time since the wedding, which was approximately three months. Coppola also wanted to use the snow to contrast the violent scenes that were to come. To make the scene appear as if it were happening in 1945, they changed the window displays to show 1945 prices and used extras as soldiers, sailors, Women's Army Corps, and Christmas shoppers. They also reconstructed the street signs and streetlights to emulate the 1945 time period.