No Guido: Novello Played It Straight For `Godfather' Role

HOLLYWOOD - Those who've seen Father Guido Sarducci do his sardonic act on nightclub stages and shows like ``Saturday Night Live'' may be surprised when they check him out in ``Godfather III,'' opening nationally on Christmas Day.

For the good father - or his alter-ego, actor Don Novello - plays it completely straight in the newest Corleone family epic.

Novello said he didn't even make wisecracks during the six months he spent on the movie's sets in Italy and New York, playing Al Pacino's confidante and publicist.

That wasn't easy, confides Novello.

``I don't see things the way other people do,'' he says. ``My ideas jump straight from A to Z without going through the whole alphabet. Maybe it's because I'm lysdexic or dyslexic or something. Sometimes I see things backward.''

Long before he tried his hand at serious acting in movies like ``Tucker'' and ``New York Stories,'' Novello was cracking up TV and nightclub audiences and book buyers with his sideways point of view.

In addition to the Sarducci character, who ``covered'' Pope John Paul II's 1979 U.S. tour for Rolling Stone magazine, Novello also created the character Lazlo Toth, who has corresponded with the rich and famous and infamous for about 20 years.

One volume of ``The Lazlo Letters'' (Workman, $4.95) is now in its 12th printing.

``I just started out writing letters to people,'' Novello says. ``At first they were simple, things like congratulations. But it kind of grew and I let them get crazier. I thought the answers would be different if the letters were crazy. But it turns out it makes no difference how crazy they are.''

Lazlo, a right-wing superpatriot, has corresponded with folks like former Presidents Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter, Generalissimo Francisco Franco, Lawrence Welk, John Sununu and Margaret Thatcher.

But his funniest exchanges are with large companies.

``I tried to get Anheuser-Busch to make a Bush beer right after George Bush was elected president,'' he says of one exchange that will be part of Lazlo's next collection. ``I thought they could make a kinder, gentler beer. And I suggested using one cent per can to pay off the national deficit. They took it seriously and sent me a form saying they couldn't consider any idea without a signed release.''

The Sarducci routine, in which the priest has sometimes posed as the gossip columnist and rock music critic for a Vatican newspaper, also started casually.

``It was a way to get attention for my writing,'' says Novello. ``But it took off. I did it once on a local comedy show on a small UHF TV station in San Francisco and then ABC's old `Comedy News' show called. So the second time I did the routine, it was for national TV. I had never even done stand-up in a nightclub before.''

But Sarducci caught on. And neither the church nor its adherents has ever objected strongly.

``Catholics usually react well to the father,'' says Novello. ``I actually do a lot of Catholic benefits.''

One Catholic who didn't react well was the late Cardinal John Cody of Chicago. ``I did my `Vatican Enquirer' number on a Sunday-morning show during the pope's tour and the priest who ran the show was fired, sent back to his parish,'' Novello recalls. ``Maybe the reason was that I called Cody `a wolf in shepherd's clothing.' ''

There was also the time Novello, clad in Sarducci garb complete with priestly collar, pink sunglasses and cowboy boots, was arrested and detained seven hours at the Vatican for impersonating a priest, a violation of local rules.

In some ways, Novello concedes, he and the goofy Sarducci are the same. ``He's not celibate and I'm not either,'' Novello deadpans. ``So I guess we have a lot in common. We also have the same hat size and shoe size.''

Will Novello leave Sarducci behind if his acting career takes off with the premiere of ``Godfather III?''

Probably not. But he's hoping his latest acting gig leads to many others. ``I'd sure like it to go somewhere,'' he says. ``I'd love to do many more movies.''