Godfather, The Easter Egg - true Johnny Fontane story

During the wedding scene at the beginning of the movie, Johnny Fontane, who is a celebrity singer and actor, arrives with much fanfare. Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) is attending the wedding with his bride-to-be Kay (Diane Keaton). Kay is very surprised that Michael has never told her that her family knows Johnny. Michael explains that he is a family friend and his father once helped him with his career. Michael then tells a brief story about how Don Corleone got Johnny Fontane out of a bad contract. At the conclusion of the story, Michael says "That's a true story." This comment seems unnecessary in the course of the conversation, but it very likely has a second meaning.

When Mario Puzo wrote the Godfather, the comparison between Frank Sinatra and Johnny Fontane was obvious. The story line in the movie that involves Johnny is similar to rumours about how Frank Sinatra was cast in From Here to Eternity. However, those rumours are very unlikely to be true. What is true is that Frank Sinatra was once in a bad lifetime contract to Tommy Dorsey. Sinatra attempted to negotiate a buy-out from the contract at a cost of $ 60,000, but Dorsey refused. Sinatra did eventually get out of the contract reportedly with the help of his godfather, Willie Moretti. Moretti allegedly forced Dorsey at gunpoint to release Sinatra from the contract for one dollar. This is essentially the same story that Michael Corleone told about Johnny Fontane.