Analysis of the Daly marker

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Here is the Daly marker shown from the back. This is the approximate angle from which the marker is seen in the film. It is here, also, where things get a little perplexing.

If you recall which way this marker faces in "The Godfather" you might say "That can't be the right Daly marker. It's facing the wrong way."

This is true. In the film the name "Daly" on this marker faces west. Today the name faces east, toward the mausoleums and more in the direction of the BQE/Kosciuszko Bridge.

With all other evidence indicating that this was the location of the Daly marker seen in "The Godfather" I conclude that the tombstone was knocked over, completely or in part, at some time during the 30+ years between the filming of this scene and the day these pictures were taken. This sort of vandalism is common at all cemeteries, and any visit to Calvary or most large cemeteries will include sightings of toppled tombstones.

When the Calvary Cemetery groundskeepers discovered this toppled marker and re-assembled it I think they simply put the top part on backwards.

Looking at side-by-side photos and comparing the details of the marker today and the marker seen in the film, there appear to be chips at a couple of places on the cross today, evidence (perhaps) that this marker took a tumble.

Things change slowly at cemeteries but they do change. While it faces a different direction today, I have no doubt that this is the same Daly marker from the funeral scene of "The Godfather." Everything else adds up: the position of the mausoleums, the BQE/Kosciuszko, even the dot at the end of the name Daly on the tombstone.

Analysis of the Daly marker

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More about the Daly marker

I got an e-mail from a site visitor named Jack who commented on this photo, and I wanted to share part of our correspondence as I thought it might be of interest. Jack wrote:

"One comment on your analysis of the Daly gravestone: It would seem, as you said, that only the top half of the monument was moved, as the lower structure with the engraved message still faces the same way. However, it seems to me that the orientation is more appropriate now, since the message on the lower structure would appear below the family name engraving just above it. In the movie, the space below the name was blank, presumably with the message on the other side (where there would be no name above it). Perhaps the orientation in the movie is the one that's wrong!"

A portion of my response follows:

"You know I actually considered this possibility, but I went with my interpretation after some thought.

Here's why: There is actually another Daly marker near this one, and this other Daly tombstone is of a very similar style to the one shown on my web site.

In fact, the first time I went out to find this marker I did so without any screenshots or photos from the Godfather scene. I just went on memory from having watched the scene the night before. So when I saw a Daly marker in the general area where the scene had been filmed I figured that had to be it. I obviously did not realize that Daly is a very common name.

I got some photos of the wrong marker and discovered my mistake later when comparing my photos to the scene from the film.

When I went back to Calvary I found the correct Godfather Daly marker nearby, and I would say that the confusion was understandable considering the similarity of the tombstones.

The reason I tell you all this is that that Daly marker (the wrong one which, again, is of a very similar style to the one from the film) is such that the Daly name on top faces west, in the way the Daly marker in the film faces west. That seems to be a common feature of this style of tombstone, too: The name is writ large on the front *and* on the back of the marker, I assume for the sake of making the name more visible.

Today, if you look at the wide-angle view of the Godfather Daly tombstone, the Daly name is writ large twice on the front. That might pass unnoticed to most observers but I think it is stylistically redundant, and that having the name twice makes more sense if it is on the front and back. This also happens to be consistent with the style of other markers."