Italian-American leadership in Hollywood films: Images and realities

Abstract

This study examines Italian-American immigrant leaders through the stereotyped portrayal of Italian-American leaders in film. The most influential film for representing Italian-American leadership is Francis Ford Coppola’s film The Godfather. We first review the emergence of Italian immigrant leadership in the United States and then briefly summarize typical patterns in the cinematic portrayal of Italian-Americans, followed by an in-depth examination of The Godfather’s depiction of pragmatic and ethical leadership issues against the background of Italian-American history, drawing connections to theories and conceptualizations of leadership.