Restored 'Godfather' movies to return to big screen

The first two 'Godfather' movies have been restored and are returning to the big screen.

Cleaned-up 35mm versions of the mafia epics - directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Marlon Brando, Al Pacino and Robert De Niro - will be screened at September's Gotham Film Forum in New York before hitting movie theatres across the US.

The work has been carried out by Robert A. Harris, under the direction of Coppola and original cinematographer Gordon Willis.

Harris - who also worked on a 'Lawrence of Arabia' restoration - claims his job was made tougher because high demand for prints of the movies had left the original negative in poor condition.

He told Daily Variety: "(It was) the worst I've ever seen in a picture from the modern era."

The first two Godfathers are among the most successful and critically acclaimed movies ever made.