 According to Francis Ford Coppola (qv) in his Cigar Aficionado  interview, he had a meeting at his home in 1969 with producers  Albert S. Ruddy (qv) and Gray Frederickson (qv) to discuss  _Conversation, The (1974)_ (qv). He had sent the script to  Marlon Brando (qv) who called him during the meeting to politely  turn it down. Right before the meeting, Coppola took note of a  newspaper advertisement for an upcoming novel titled "The Godfather"  by Mario Puzo (qv). Just a few months later, all five people would  meet to discuss a film version of the novel.