In the scene with Mike going to the meeting, why was Johnny Ola sitting in the back with Mike? He's Roth's man, what was he doing with Mike, plus why was he in the back with Mike, instead of upfront where Busetta?

Maybe just a simple case of escorting him there.Making sure he will arrive on time etc...

I don't agree with that, but with that said, how come he was able to sit next to Mike, wouldn't it have been better for Mike's bodyguard to sit next to Mike?

Yeah...the seating arrangements don't make sense.But i don't think theres that much to that scene. I could be wrong though.

I agree. It just didn't sit right with me either. Assuming the cake cutting scene location was different then the gold telephone location and they had to take a cab to get there, maybe Johnny Ola was short on cash and bummed a ride from Mike, but then it brings up the question as "how did Roth get to the meeting". Of course if Roth had to take his wife, I would imagine they got 2 cabs since there wouldn't have been enough room for Roths wife's fluffy dresses she likes to wear.

The meeting with the President most likely took place in the Batista's presidential palace. The meeting with Roth on the balcony probably took place in Roth's hotel.

Mike needed a guide around Havana and Ola was that guide.

Sounds reasonable enough, but did Mike really need a guide to go from the palace to the hotel? How did Roth get to the hotel? Shouldn't Johnny have been with him?

I think Roth would have wanted Ola to keep an eye on Michael's movements, and to report on if/when/where the money Michael was supposed to be bringing arrived. Michael would have allowed Ola to do this because he wanted Roth to think he still trusted him and because he wanted Roth to know that the money had still not arrived. Once Michael arrived in Cuba he was relatively safe from being assasinated by Roth until after the investor meeting was done and the deal was in place, because killing Michael before that would have made all the other investors very, very nervous.

Sounds like a completely legitimate explanation.

Another reason is that Mike wanted Roth "relaxed...confident that our deal is still good." What better way than to treat Johnny Ola as a guide, close comrade, even as a big brother. "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer."

Speaking of the the pivotal character in GF II, Johnny "snappy dresser" Ola. Would it be somewhat of a fair assestment to say that, besides being Roth's "Sicilian Messengerboy", was he also Roth's "Fredo", but instead of sending him to the airport, he sent him to the train station? Not to mention that Ola, like Fredo, Ola knew all the hot spots, especially in Cuba!

That's an interesting parallel, Johnny.

Johnny Ola never struck me as being too bright.

I suspected it when he first appeared on the screen, wearing a topcoat and fedora at Lake Tahoe. In fact, I think overall Fredo was smarter then him, or at least Freod said he was schmart, and Fredo was more aggressive, or at least tried to be.

Yeah, I agree. It's kind of funny that he's supposedly based on Vincent "Jimmy Blue Eyes" Alo, who was supposedly pretty sharp and very tough.

There's no mystery to me. Roth was a regular visitor to Cuba. It seems to me that the meeting was held on the balcony of Roth's hotel/casino which was probably one of the ones that he said would be turned over to others after his death. He would have had a regular suite there.

You really don't think that Michael, the most powerful Don in America, is simply going to grab a taxi at the airport like any tourist. Ola was his escort and guide since Ola knew his way around Cuba physically and politically.

Hold on there. Thats my point and question. Since I think we agree that the meeting of the businessmen with the gold phone, was at a different location, and that Mike was on his way to the balcony meeting, was Ola with him? Why didn't he travel with Roth? Keep in mind Mike never really spent a lot of time or did any sightseeing when he was on business trips.

There are some things that just can't be answered because they are elected by the director and screenwriters. If Roth traveled with Mike, then the scene where Mike comments on the rebels as he did could not take place.

I fully agree, but my question still remains, why did Ola travel with Mike? Why wasn't he with Roth?

Once again, he probably met Mike upon his arrival in Cuba and acted as his escort. It makes perfect sense.

That's correct. Just as Michael would "send Fredo off to pick someone up at the airport," so would Roth send Ola. He certainly wouldn't be picking him up himself.

Makes sense to me, plus I don't think Roth travelled with anyone. Which brings up the question where was Roth's wife when he was shot at the airport?

She was fixing him a tuna sandwich.

Or she was still putting on all those petticoats.

or picking up her bingo supplies.

Maybe fucking Michael.