Tourists Come Looking for Mafioso’s Roots : Corleone, Italy, Can’t Shake ‘Godfather’ Image

When warm weather covers Sicily’s ancient hills in flowers, busloads of Americans converge on Corleone seeking the Godfather. They have no more success than Italian police.

As it turns out, the Corleone family now dominates the Sicilian Mafia, a loose confederation of maybe 30 groups. But the fictional Don Vito Corleone (played by Marlon Brando in the movie “The Godfather”) does not come from this little agricultural town.

Most American branches of the Sicilian Mafia emigrated from Agrigento, an ancient port now choked with new construction from illegal money sent home.

Corleone is so poor that its 300-year-old town hall, damaged 20 years ago in an earthquake, is in danger of collapse. There is plenty of Mafia money, but it is seldom flaunted.

Among most of the 11,100 inhabitants of Corleone and its surrounding fields, the word Mafia produces a nervous chuckle or a silent stare.

No, they will tell you, they do not know if patriarchs Salvatore Riina and Bernardo Provenzano are hiding in the well-charted hills.

At town hall, however, Vice Mayor Cosmo Di Carlo rejects the idea that his town is especially touched by the Sicily-wide phenomenon.

“We have a long anti-Mafia tradition,” he said, producing a folder that mentioned a crusading mayor murdered in 1918. When his visitor noted it did not specify who killed him, Di Carlo replied, “Sir, this is a tourist brochure.”

Deserved or not, Corleone has gotten used to the nickname some Italians have given it: Tombstone.

“We had a Japanese TV crew here,” Di Carlo said. “I explained carefully how all this Godfather business was Hollywood fantasy. When I finished, they said, ‘Yes, we understand. Now show us the Godfather’s house.’ ”