re: How was Al Pacino not the lead actor in The Godfather?

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he was mentioned in almost every sentence, and certainly in every scene, even those in which he was not present.

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but the story is about Michael's transformation from "Nice college boy that doesn't want to get mixed up in the family business" to ruthless mafia Don that ultimatly put "the family" ahead of his family. He is the protagonist of the story.

Putting Brando in the lead actor category is fine, justifable for the reasons you said, leaving Pacino out is what was stupid.