In 1945, in New York, the Corleones were one of the 5 mafia families. Don Vito Corleone, `godfather' of this family, marries his daughter to a bookmaker. Sollozzo, `godfather' of the Tattaglia family, offers Don Vito an association in drug trafficking, but he refuses. Sonny, one of his sons, is in favor of it. In order to deal with Sonny, Sollozzo tries to have Don Vito killed, but he escapes.