Why Francis Ford Coppola Was Nearly Fired During The Godfather's Production

"They hated the fact that I decided to set it in New York and they fought it."
At the time, New York had a reputation for being, in Coppola's words, "inhospitable" and "expensive" to film productions. Add to this the cost of shooting "The Godfather" as a period picture, and it gave Paramount reason to balk at the New York idea. They wanted him to film in St. Louis instead.