History Headscratchers / TheGodfather

*** Sonny's hot-headed and as even Vito admits probably wouldn't make a great Don, but he's tough and confident. He might not be an intellectual powerhouse or a great tactician, but he commands respect (even if mainly through fear of his temper), he's decisive, and he's not completely useless. He might not be the best to do the job, but he can do it if necessary (perhaps not as well as Vito, but he could do it). Fredo, on the other hand, comes off throughout the movies as awkward, weak-willed and inept. He mumbles and fumbles, he gives into his vices, he lets other people dominate and sway him (including, crucially, people from outside the family, like Moe Greene), he doesn't carry himself with confidence, he screws up a lot, and he's clearly just not cut out for the life of a high-level mobster. He doesn't command respect even from his own slutty wife), and this makes it easy for him to come off (or, at least, for other people to perceive him) as stupid.

*** Sonny's hot-headed and as even Vito admits probably wouldn't make a great Don, but he's tough and confident. He might not be an intellectual powerhouse or a great tactician, but he commands respect (even if mainly through fear of his temper), he's decisive, and he's not completely useless. He might not be the best to do the job, but he can do it if necessary (perhaps not as well as Vito, but he could do it). Fredo, on the other hand, comes off throughout the movies as awkward, weak-willed and inept. He mumbles and fumbles, he gives into his vices, he lets other people dominate and sway him (including, crucially, people from outside the family, like Moe Greene), he doesn't carry himself with confidence, he screws up a lot, and he's clearly just not cut out for the life of a high-level mobster. He doesn't command respect 9even from his own slutty wife), and this makes it easy for him to come off (or, at least, for other people to perceive him) as stupid.

*** This could be a case of heartwarming, earlier in the novel Sonny asks Michael to guess whether it was Paulie or Clemenza who betrayed their father and Michael remembers Clemenza as some kind of fun uncle. He might actually be relieved that it's Tessio.

* Why sent Rocco Lampone to kill Hyman Roth at the airport, where's it's crawling with guards and knowing he has a shitty leg due to his service in WWII? I mean, you see after he did it, he tried to escape on said shitty leg but the guards got to him and killed him anyway.

* Does Connie know it was Carlo, who conspired with Barzini to kill her brother Sonny?

*** How about when he was supposed to be protecting his father and not only let him get shot, but couldn't shoot back, and instead of going for help, sat on the pavement and cried? And apparently pissing off his Vegas cohorts enough that he got hit, despite the fact that he's a made man and the don's brother?
*** Sonny's hot-headed and as even Vito admits probably wouldn't make a great Don, but he's tough and confident. He might not be an intellectual powerhouse or a great tactician, but he commands respect (even if mainly through fear of his temper), he's decisive, and he's not completely useless. He might not be the best to do the job, but he can do it if necessary (perhaps not as well as Vito, but he could do it). Fredo, on the other hand, comes off throughout the movies as awkward, weak-willed and inept. He mumbles and fumbles, he gives into his vices, he lets other people dominate and sway him (including, crucially, people from outside the family, like Moe Greene), he doesn't carry himself with confidence, he screws up a lot, and he's clearly just not cut out for the life of a high-level mobster. He doesn't command respect, and the way he doesn't command respect makes it easy for him to come off (or, at least, for other people to refer to him) as stupid.

*** Luca Brasi is nothing but a brute, he maybe very street smart, but he would lack the smarts to be effective.

*** Making any deal presents an unacceptable risk because [=McCluskey=] is already dirty sellout, and there's nothing to stop [=McCluskey=] from pretending to accept a deal from Michael and then selling him out to Tattaglia or Barzini and arresting Michael the next day.

** When Michael returned from the toilet, he's basically tuning Solozzo out since he doesn't care what Sollozzo has to say, cause he already knows it's all lies and excuses that change nothing. Also, the way the scene is framed and the sound gets faded, Michael is essentially entering [[TranquilFury Tranquil Fury]] mode, remembering what Sollozzo did to his father & family and knowing he'll have to run away to Sicily after killing the bastard, while also trying not to show any it and risk giving his homicidal intentions away. He essentially psyching himself up and entering (Anti) HeroicSafeMode to pull the trigger; you could compare that to ''Film/KillBill's'' Beatrix Kiddo hearing ''Series/Ironside1967'' sirens when she's sees her targets.

** Maybe if that had happened, he might have eventually forgave him, or at least not thought it worth it to kill him. But since it happened so soon after when he was still dealing with everything else going on with Kay and Roth, he wasn’t so forgiving.

** When Michael returned from the toilet, he's basically tuning Solozzo out since he doesn't care what Sollozzo has to say, cause he already knows it's all lies and excuses that change nothing. Also, the way the scene is framed and the sound gets faded, Michael is essentially entering [[TranquilFury]] mode, remembering what Sollozzo did to his father & family and knowing he'll have to run away to Sicily after killing the bastard, while also trying not to show any it and risk giving his homicidal intentions away. He essentially psyching himself up and entering (Anti) HeroicSafeMode to pull the trigger; you could compare that to ''Film/KillBill's'' Beatrix Kiddo hearing ''Series/Ironside1967'' sirens when she's sees her targets.

** When Michael returned from the toilet, he's basically tuning Solozzo out since he doesn't care what Sollozzo has to say, cause he already knows it's all lies and excuses that change nothing. Also, the way the scene is framed and the sound gets faded, Michael is essentially entering Tranquil Fury mode, remembering what Sollozzo did to his father & family and knowing he'll have to run away to Sicily after killing the bastard, while also trying not to show any it and risk giving his homicidal intentions away. He essentially psyching himself up and entering (Anti) HeroicSafeMode to pull the trigger; you could compare that to ''Film/KillBill's'' Beatrix Kiddo hearing ''Series/Ironside1967'' sirens when she's sees her targets.

** He has a soft spot for his children, he admits a sentimental weakness and that he spoils them, more so with his baby girl. Connie was certainly smitten by Carlo and the Don wouldn't interfere in that. Carlo, invited to Don Corleone's 1941 birthday, was somewhat vetted by Sonny, who admittedly has not the best of judgements but is a judgement Carlo had already passed, and Connie would likely would have rebelled against Vito in the way he does with Michael later if her marriage was vetoed. It’s implied in the film and outright stated in the book that Vito doesn’t meddle in his children’s decisions (Michael is allowed to go war) even if he's displeased by them.

*** Pentangeli was fairly low ranking at the time.

** He has a soft spot for his children, he admits a sentimental weakness and that he spoils them, more so with his baby girl. Connie was certainly smitten by Carlo and the Don wouldn't interfere in that. Carlo, invited to Don Corleone's 1941 birthday, was somewhat vetted by Sonny, who admittedly has not the best of judgements but is a judgement Carlo had already passed, and Connie would likely would have rebelled against Vito in the way he does with Michael later if her marriage was vetoed. It’s implied in the film and outright stated in the book that Vito doesn’t meddle in his children’s romantic decisions, even if he's displeased by them.

* Why would Vito allow his daughter, Connie to marry Carlo Rizzi, when he was not impressed with the man's background and suspecting something in him from the start?

* Michael decides to wait until his mother dies before having Fredo killed. But what if his mother lived another 30 years or so and made it to over a hundred years old? Would he still have Fredo killed then or would he just let it slide at that point?

* Why would Vito allow his daughter, Connie to marry Carlo Rizzi, when he was not impressed with the man's background and suspecting something in him from the start?

* Why would Vito allow Carlo Rizzi to marry his daughter Connie, when he was not impressed with the man's background and suspecting something in him from the start?

** It was a combination of all the factors above, basically. You have to consider Michael's emotional state by that point. At that moment, Fredo had betrayed him and shown his resentment, his wife left him AFTER revealing she aborted their baby as a petty TakeThat against him, their mother just passed away, he was being accused before the supreme court by the FBI (who had Pentangeli as a witness) and he was having problems finishing a fugitive Hyman Roth off. Fredo tried to apologize and redeem himself when their mother passed, but Michael was already past his RageBreakingPoint and ready to go on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge against all his enemies... real or imagined. Killing Fredo was a DisproportionateRetribution snap decision among his other more grounded decisions, [[RevengeBeforeReason done more out of emotional spite than rational thought]] (and it inevitably haunts him and his family by the time of the third movie). Hell, he very nearly threatened to expel Tom Hagen from the family when Tom was just trying to discuss their options calmly.
*** Cunning as he is, Michael was not quite balanced by that point, and I think that shows in how he deals with every other threat in very heavyhanded ways: [[SuicideMission Rocco has to kill Roth out in the open inside an airport (which leads to his death),]] [[RefugeInAudacity he not-so-subtly threatens Pentangeli's family (IN FRONT OF THE SUPREME COURT AT THAT) to make him outrageously declare he was just going along with the FBI, and then has Tom basically tell Frank to kill himself to keep them safe,]] and has ''[[ImplacableMan Al Neri]]'' kill Fredo [[TheresNoKillLikeOverkill (the equivalent of using a tactical nuke to shoot a fish in a barrel).]]

** Basically? He was testing the waters, and by that I mean he wanted to get a sense of Sollozzo's intentions, intelligence, mindset and general inner-workings of his operation. While Luca Brasi is TheDreaded, it's likely few people realize just how [[UndyingLoyalty Undyingly Loyal]] he was to Vito (that would require intimate knowledge of his traumatic background, briefly described in the above topics), so someone mostly known and regarded as TheBrute deciding to betray (or at least just cheat a little) his patron because he thinks drug money is easy consequence-free cash, or even just wanting to make some casual easy money on-the-side, is more believable than, say, someone Clemenza or Tassio (at that point anyway) doing it. If Sollozzo [[SchmuckBait accepted Luca in]], Vito would know he's dumb and/or ill-informed, and not beyond cutting small deals and risk crossing Vito's decision on not selling drugs around his turf. Given the Tattaglia were known to be [[DirtyCoward Dirty Cowards]], Vito probably believed the worst that could happen was Sollozzo figuring it out and turning down Luca. But since Barzini is the one behind Tattaglia and Sollozzo, and all of them were already planning on killing Vito at that point, killing Luca Brasi (who Tom Hagen says would go on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge regardless of any deals they cut with Sonny) was in fact a smart move. Basically Vito DidntSeeThatComing because [[OutGambitted he didn't know about Barzini's involvement until after Sonny's death]] (some years after, at least). Plus, Luca Brasi is EXACTLY the kind of person you'd send in such a mission; he's a high-ranking member of Vito's inner circle (meaning a newcomer like Sollozzo would jump at the opportunity to have him as TheMole) and also TheBrute DeathSeeker, meaning that he's high enough in the food chain to tempt Sollozzo and seem believable but also low-enough that it wouldn't be immediately obvious and too good to be true; while his (unlikely at the time of planning) death would be regrettable (he's a feared, loyal and efficient enforcer, after all), it wouldn't be a crippling blow like losing Tom, Clemenza, Tassio or Sonny (who were Vito's CoDragons and [[TheConfidant confidants]] responsible for managing the family and operations), so he was a high-reward low-risk bet, and [[XanatosGambit any outcome of this deal (be it Sollozzo being tricked and accepting, refusing or outright killing Luca) would have told Vito much about what he could expect from Sollozzo.]]

* Why would Vito allow Carlo Rizzi to marry his daughter Connie, when he was not impressed in the man's Sicilian heritage and suspecting he was no good from the start?

** Basically? He was testing the waters, and by that I mean he wanted to get a sense of Sollozzo's intentions, intelligence, mindset and general inner-workings of his operation. While Luca Brasi is TheDreaded, it's likely few people realize just how [[UndyingLoyalty Undyingly Loyal]] he was to Vito (that would require intimate knowledge of his traumatic background, briefly described in the above topics), so someone mostly known and regarded as TheBrute deciding to betray (or at least just cheat a little) his patron because he thinks drug money is easy consequence-free cash, or even just wanting to make some casual easy money on-the-side, is more believable than, say, someone Clemenza or Tassio (at that point anyway) doing it. If Sollozzo [[SchmuckBait accepted Luca in]], Vito would know he's dumb and/or ill-informed, and not beyond cutting small deals and risk crossing Vito's decision on not selling drugs around his turf. Given the Tattaglia were known to be [[DirtyCoward Dirty Cowards]], Vito probably believed the worst that could happen was Sollozzo figuring it out and turning down Luca. But since Barzini is the one behind Tattaglia and Sollozzo, and all of them were already planning on killing Vito at that point, killing Luca Brasi (who Tom Hagen says would go on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge regardless of any deals they cut with Sonny) was in fact a smart move. Basically Vito DidntSeeThatComing because [[OutGambitted he didn't know about Barzini's involvement until after Sonny's death]] (some years after, at least). Plus, Luca Brasi is EXACTLY the kind of person you'd send in such a mission; he's a high-ranking member of Vito's inner circle (meaning a newcomer like Sollozzo would jump at the opportunity to have him as TheMole) and also TheBrute DeathSeeker, meaning that he's high enough in the food chain to tempt Sollozzo and seem believable but also low-enough that it wouldn't be immediately obvious and too good to be true; while his (unlikely at the time of planning) death would be regrettable (he's a feared, loyal and efficient enforcer, after all), it wouldn't be a crippling blow like losing Tom, Clemenza, Tassio or Sonny (who were Vito's CoDragons and [[TheConfidant confidants]] responsible for managing the family and operations), so he was a high-reward low-risk bet, and [[XanatosGambit any outcome of this deal (be it Sollozzo being tricked and accepting, refusing or outright killing Luca) would have told Vito much about what he could expect from Sollozzo.]]

** Basically? He was testing the waters, and by that I mean he wanted to get a sense of Sollozzo's intentions, intelligence, mindset and general inner-workings of his operation. While Luca Brasi is TheDreaded, it's likely few people realize just how [[UndyingLoyalty Undyingly Loyal]] he was to Vito (that would require intimate knowledge of his traumatic background, briefly described in the above topics), so someone mostly known and regarded as TheBrute deciding to betray (or at least just cheat a little) his patron because he thinks drug money is easy consequence-free cash, or even just wanting to make some casual easy money on-the-side, is more believable than, say, someone Clemenza or Tassio (at that point anyway) doing it. If Sollozzo [[SchmuckBait accepted Luca in]], Vito would know he's dumb and/or ill-informed, and not beyond cutting small deals and risk crossing Vito's decision on not selling drugs around his turf. Given the Tattaglia were known to be [[DirtyCoward Dirty Cowards]], Vito probably believed the worst that could happen was Sollozzo figuring it out and turning down Luca. But since Barzini is the BiggerBad behind Tattaglia and Sollozzo, and all of them were already planning on killing Vito at that point, killing Luca Brasi (who Tom Hagen says would go on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge regardless of any deals they cut with Sonny) was in fact a smart move. Basically Vito DidntSeeThatComing because [[OutGambitted he didn't know about Barzini's involvement until after Sonny's death]] (some years after, at least). Plus, Luca Brasi is EXACTLY the kind of person you'd send in such a mission; he's a high-ranking member of Vito's inner circle (meaning a newcomer like Sollozzo would jump at the opportunity to have him as TheMole) and also TheBrute DeathSeeker, meaning that he's high enough in the food chain to tempt Sollozzo and seem believable but also low-enough that it wouldn't be immediately obvious and too good to be true; while his (unlikely at the time of planning) death would be regrettable (he's a feared, loyal and efficient enforcer, after all), it wouldn't be a crippling blow like losing Tom, Clemenza, Tassio or Sonny (who were Vito's CoDragons and [[TheConfidant confidants]] responsible for managing the family and operations), so he was a high-reward low-risk bet, and [[XanatosGambit any outcome of this deal (be it Sollozzo being tricked and accepting, refusing or outright killing Luca) would have told Vito much about what he could expect from Sollozzo.]]

** Basically? He was testing the waters, and by that I mean he wanted to get a sense of Sollozzo's intentions, intelligence, mindset and general inner-workings of his operation. While Luca Brasi is TheDreaded, it's likely few people realize just how [[UndyingLoyalty Undyingly Loyal]] he was to Vito (that would require intimate knowledge of his traumatic background, briefly described in the above topics), so someone mostly known and regarded as TheBrute deciding to betray (or at least just cheat a little) his patron because he thinks drug money is easy consequence-free cash, or even just wanting to make some casual easy money on-the-side, is more believable than, say, someone Clemenza or Tassio (at that point anyway) doing it. If Sollozzo [[SchmuckBait accepted Luca in]], Vito would know he's dumb and/or ill-informed, and not beyond cutting small deals and risk crossing Vito's decision on not selling drugs around his turf. Given the Tattaglia were known to be [[DirtyCoward Dirty Cowards]], Vito probably believed the worst that could happen was Sollozzo figuring it out and turning down Luca. But since Barzini is the BiggerBad behind Tattaglia and Sollozzo, and all of them were already planning on killing Vito at that point, killing Luca Brasi (who Tom Hagen says would go on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge regardless of any deals they cut with Sonny) was in fact a smart move. Basically Vito DidntSeeThatComing because [[OutGambitted he didn't know about Barzini's involvement until after Sonny's death]] (some years after, at least). Plus, Luca Brasi is EXACTLY the kind of person you'd send in such a mission; he's a high-ranking member of Vito's inner circle (meaning a newcomer like Sollozzo would jump at the opportunity to have him as TheMole) and also TheBrute DeathSeeker, meaning that he's high enough in the food chain to tempt Sollozzo and seem believable but also low-enough that it wouldn't be immediately obvious and too good to be true; while his (unlikely at the time of planning) death would be regrettable (he's a feared, loyal and efficient enforcer, after all), it wouldn't be a crippling blow like losing Tom, Clemenza, Tassio or Sonny (who were Vito's CoDragons and [[TheConfidante confidants]] responsible for managing the family and operations), so he was a high-reward low-risk bet, and [[XanatosGambit any outcome of this deal (be it Sollozzo being tricked and accepting, refusing or outright killing Luca) would have told Vito much about what he could expect from Sollozzo.]]

** Basically? He was testing the waters, and by that I mean he wanted to get a sense of Sollozzo's intentions, intelligence and general inner-workings of his operation. While Luca Brasi is TheDreaded, it's likely few people realize just how [[UndyingLoyalty Undyingly Loyal]] he was to Vito (that would require intimiate knowledge of his traumatic background, briefly described in the above topics); so someone mostly regarded as TheBrute deciding to betray (or at least just cheat a little) his patron because he thinks drug money is easy consequence-free cash, or even just wanting to make some casual easy money on-the-side, is more believable than, say, someone Clemenza or Tassio (at that point anyway) doing it. If Sollozzo accepted Luca in, Vito would know he's dumb and/or ill-informed, or at least not beyond cutting small deals. Given the Tattaglia were known to be [[DirtyCoward Dirty Cowards]], Vito probably believed the worst that could happen was Sollozzo turning down Luca. But since Barzini is the BiggerBad behind Tattaglia and Sollozzo and all of them were already planning on killing Vito at that point, killing Luca Brasi (who Tom Hagen says would go on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge regardless of any deals they cut with Sonny) was in fact a smart move. Basically Vito DidntSeeThatComing because he didn't know about Barzini's involvement until after Sonny's death (some years after, at least). Plus, Luca Brasi is EXACTLY the kind of person you'd send in such a mission; he's a high-ranking member of Vito's inner circle (meaning a newcomer like Sollozzo would jump at the opportunity to have him as TheMole) and also TheBrute DeathSeeker, meaning that while his death would be regrettable (he's a feared, loyal and efficient enforcer, after all), it wouldn't be a crippling blow like losing Tom, Clemenza, Tassio or Sonny (who were Vito's CoDragons responsible for managing the family and operations), so he was a high-reward low-risk bet.

** Basically? He was testing the waters, and by that I mean he wanted to get a sense of Sollozzo's intentions, intelligence and general inner-workings of his operation. While Luca Brasi is TheDreaded, it's likely few people realize just how UndyinglyLoyal he was to Vito (that would require intimiate knowledge of his traumatic background, briefly described in the above topics); so someone mostly regarded as TheBrute deciding to betray (or at least just cheat a little) his patron because he thinks drug money is easy consequence-free cash, or even just wanting to make some casual easy money on-the-side, is more believable than, say, someone Clemenza or Tassio (at that point anyway) doing it. If Sollozzo accepted Luca in, Vito would know he's dumb and/or ill-informed, or at least not beyond cutting small deals. Given the Tattaglia were known to be DirtyCowards, Vito probably believed the worst that could happen was Sollozzo turning down Luca. But since Barzini is the BiggerBad behind Tattaglia and Sollozzo and all of them were already planning on killing Vito at that point, so killing Luca Brasi (who Tom Hagen says would go on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge regardless of any deals they cut with Sonny) was their safest bet. Basically Vito DidntSeeThatComing. Plus, Luca Brasi is EXACTLY the kind of person you'd send in such a mission; he's a high-ranking member of Vito's inner circle (meaning a newcomer like Sollozzo would jump at the opportunity to have him as TheMole) and also TheBrute DeathSeeker (meaning that while his death would be regrettable, it wouldn't be a cripppling blow like losing Tom, Clemenza or Sonny), so he was a high-reward low-risk bet.

* Why did Don Vito send Luca Brasi, his top enforcer on such a weak and shallow infiltration assignment that anyone with common sense would have seen right through? Did Vito actually expect them to believe that the fiercely loyal Luca Brasi was looking to defect? He sent Luca on what was basically a suicide mission. Was he TRYING to get Luca killed, or was Vito really just slipping with this poorly thought out plan? I don't think the plan would have worked no matter WHO he sent, but they could have at least tried it with someone more subtle and lesser known than Luca.

*** Cunning as he is, Michael was not quite balanced by that point, and I think that shows in how he deals with every other threat in very heavyhanded ways: [[SuicideMission Rocco has to kill Roth out in the open inside an airport (which leads to his death),]] [[RefugeInAudacity he not-so-subtly threatens Pentangeli's family (IN FRONT OF THE SUPREME COURT AT THAT) and then has Tom basically tell Frank to kill himself to keep them safe,]] and has ''[[ImplacableMan Al Neri]]'' kill Fredo [[TheresNoKillLikeOverkill (the equivalent of using a tactical nuke to shoot a fish in a barrel).]]