THE Godfather was released 40 years ago today. Here are 10 ways the epic tale of an American crime family changed our lives.

1. "I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse." The Godfather is full of quotable lines, although many are rarely quoted correctly. This one is said by "Don" Vito Corleone to his singer godson, Johnny Fontane, who has been knocked back for a role in a movie by an angry Hollywood producer. It's funny and menacing at the same time, and has been used by wannabe gangsters the world over. Which leads us to...

2. Horse's head. Everyone has a favourite Godfather moment, but this one is still tops. The Don's right-hand man, Tom Hagen, asks producer Jack Woltz nicely to hire Fontane but Woltz sends him packing. We cut to Woltz waking in his giant bed. The music, soft and slow at first, grows louder and quicker as Woltz realises the bed is soaked with blood. He throws back the sheets to see the severed head of his prized racehorse. Cue much screaming and a rehired Johnny Fontane. The scene was inspired by the mob's involvement in ending a contract dispute Frank Sinatra had with his agent in the ‘40s. It has been parodied countless times, but The Simpsons did it best.

3. Never stop to play a highway toll. You might end up like this:

4. Cotton balls have many uses. To make his Don Corleone more imposing when auditioning for the role, Marlon Brando stuffed his cheeks with cotton wool. He said he wanted the Don to look like a bulldog. He wore a special mouthpiece during filming to get the same effect but cotton balls in the mouth have been the staple of Brando impersonators down the years.

5. Mob rule. Interest in the Mafia exploded on the back of The Godfather and its sequels. Pretty much everything we know about organised crime in America comes from the Godfather trilogy. Even the Mafia took lessons from the film. And without The Godfather, there would be no Goodfellas, no Sopranos and probably no dodgy restaurants with unimaginative Godfather puns in their name.

6. Call me Al. The Godfather made stars out of its cast, most of whom were unknowns when it came out. It also got Marlon Brando out of movie star jail, where he'd been languishing throughout much of the ‘60s (although he went straight back after less than stellar turns in Superman, Christopher Columbus: The Discovery and The Island of Dr Moreau). The film's stand-out actor is Al Pacino. Pacino wasn't the studio's choice for Michael Corleone - they wanted Robert Redford or Ryan O'Neal - but director Francis Ford Coppola wanted an unknown Italian-American and championed Pacino. The Godfather's success made Pacino the hottest actor of the ‘70s, although he never won an Oscar for the role. So no Godfather, and no "leettle friend", no "Attica!", no "Whoo-ah".

Here's Silvio from The Sopranos doing his best Pacino impression:

7. Family knows best. The Godfather's second most quoted line is usually changed to "Never take sides against the family again" but the actual line, said by Michael Corleone to his brother Fredo, is "You're my older brother, and I love you. But don't ever take sides with anyone against the family again. Ever." It sums up the "us against them" theme of the Godfather and hints at the menace the family is capable of, even against its own. The second film, The Godfather: Part II, takes this to its natural conclusion and sees Michael kill Fredo. If somebody calls you Fredo, and they're over 40, they don't think you're a hobbit - they think you're weak, and they probably want to bump you off.

8. Sleep with the fishes. The Godfather took the language of America's underworld and brought it into mainstream culture. Most people now know that to "sleep with the fishes", means death. Even the term Godfather has taken on a sinister edge thanks to the movie. If asked to be a godfather who can resist doing a Marlon Brando impression?

9. Blockbuster. Before Jaws, before Star Wars, the film that broke records at the box office was The Godfather. It made millions for its director and much, much more for the studio that financed it and spawned two sequels - one of which is a contender for the best film ever made. It's reassuring to know that mainstream cinema audiences were once interested in serious dramas.

10. We need a montage. The climax to the Godfather, where Michael takes his revenge on his enemies, is film-making at its best. Scenes of bloodshed and violence are intercut with the christening of Michael's god-children. It has been often imitated in films and TV shows - think Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, The Wire, Sons of Anarchy, and Dexter - but never equalled or surpassed.