Scene from The Godfather

So, I'm still stuck here in this swanky hotel. It's much more difficult than you might imagine.

For instance, earlier today I was forced to choose between eating the milk chocolate or the dark chocolate the maid left in a crystal serving dish next to our bowl of fresh fruit and three complimentary newspapers (The NY Times, the Wall Street Journal, and sadly, USA Today). I was quite perplexed on which one I should consume.

So I dumped the whole bowl into the 17th century French desk drawer in the hopes that the maid will re-up on the chocolate. Problem solved.

Earlier today I was talking to one of the hotel staff about the history of the place, and while he wouldn't admit to any good ghost stories ("The entire staff is aware of the disturbances on the fifth floor") he did mention that several memorable scenes from "The Godfather (1972)" were filmed here.

Of course! I thought there was something familiar about that stairwell/elevator landing. That's where Clemenza did his part to help Michael Corleone extract his revenge on the other families for their treachery.

Here's a frame from the scene, where Clemenza pulls the shotgun out of the flower box and kicks his victim back into the elevator just as the doors opened.

This is a photo I took today of one of the stairwells. There are some slight differences, either from set dressing for the movie or renovations that may have occurred over the last 30-some odd years.

Oh yeah, you probably shouldn't ever fuck with Clemenza. He don't take no shit from nobody.

Other scenes from the hotel were Moe Green getting shot in the eye while getting a massage, and the guy who got locked in the revolving door and was shot by the guy with the mustache. We walked through that very same revolving door tonight, and we're very glad to report that nothing of the sort happened to us.

Here's a Youtube video with some of The Godfather's greatest "hits", including the three I've described above. Plus a bunch more. And some mayhem for good measure.