Steven Spielberg has named the No. 1 movie ever created here in the US—and it's not Jaws, ET, Schindler's List, Raiders of the Lost Ark, or any of his other award-winning flicks. At a star-filled American Film Institute event on Saturday in Los Angeles honoring fellow filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, Spielberg called 1972's The Godfather "the greatest American film ever made," per the Hollywood Reporter. "You have taken what came before and redefined the canon of American film, and in so doing, you've inspired a generation of storytellers who want to make you proud of their work, proud of our work," Spielberg said while presenting Coppola with the 50th AFI Life Achievement Award, per Variety. "I always want to make you proud of my work."
THR notes that Coppola "covered his face with his hands" as Spielberg piled on the praise. The laudations didn't end there, with George Lucas also emerging to pay tribute. "You're our hero, Francis," Lucas said. "Thank you for creating an era of filmmakers who loved the movies." The Independent notes that Spielberg, Coppola, and Lucas became a power trio of sorts after having met at a film fest screening of one of Lucas' films in the late '60s. The following decade, Spielberg would go on to release Jaws, Coppola The Godfather and its first sequel, and Lucas his Star Wars.
Robert De Niro and Al Pacino also spoke in Coppola's honor, as did Harrison Ford and Lucas. As for Coppola, when it was his turn at the podium at the Dolby Theatre, he simply said, per THR: "I am and will always be nothing more than one of you." ScreenRant notes it's not the first time that Spielberg has gushed over The Godfather: In the DVD restoration of the film, the director said he was "pulverized" upon seeing the movie for the first time and that it was so good he wanted to quit filmmaking. "There was no reason to continue directing because I would never achieve that level of confidence in the ability to tell a story such as the one I had just experienced," he noted. "So, in a way, it shattered my confidence." (More Steven Spielberg stories.)
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