3 more questions:
1) I don’t believe Appollonia as a Sicilian girl would have her armpits shaved.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underarm_hair#History_of_underarm_hair_removal
(Unless it's true what Calo said: She tries to "make a good American wife"

2) The officer at the tollbooth must have been killed too. Look at the bullet holes. Have I missed something?

3) Why does Michael open the window before he makes love to Appollonia? Is that an old Sicilian tradition to let the neighbors hear the love making noises?

Re: Appollonia's armpits, open windows, dead officer.

Appolonia didn't bathe and didn't open her windows. Thus the dead officer.

Because her armpits stunk and he wanted to get some fresh air to get the smell out of the room.

One's personal grooming is up to one.

He was not an officer; he was a toll booth attendant and the vehicle would have shielded the booth

What neighbors? He lived on an estate. Maybe he should have turned on the non-existant air-conditioning. Why not open a window on what was probably a warm night.

The Barzini soldiers were already at the booth when Sonny was riding past. They either paid off the toll booth attendant or dressed up one of their own soldiers in disguise.

Danito, my kraut friend ;), all legitimate questions, despite what these pessanovantes have written here.
1. Hairy armpits? maybe. Without researching the history of women shaving their armpits, perhaps she was told by the old ladies that it was an American custom, so it was best that she shaved.
2. The tollbooth guy could have been hit, or maybe there was a door on the other side and he bolted through it. The bullet holes and damage were an artistic/directorial effect. Most of it done to create an image of total destruction and brutality. After Sonny has been killed, the scene is panned by the camera. Take notice, the windshield of the car is intact; the same windshield that was previously shot out by machine guns.
3. Like our esteemed board members have pointed out, they were on a big estate - we assume. It's hot, and I don't think there was a crowd below the window. My wife (Italian) told me that Italian tradition calls for the bride to hang the sheets of her bridal bed out the window to prove she was a virgin.

This is true MC. Our friends, who were born in Italy, have told us the same thing.

I'm quite certain that the toll booth attendant was apart of the plot. He crouches down in his booth moments BEFORE the gunmen appear--a sure sign that he knew something was coming.

The original thread post referred to the man in the toll booth as an officer. My response was that he was an attendant, not an officer. That he was part of the plot is not in doubt. He could have been a plant or he could have been bribed.

Beautiful young Italian women, as late as 1984, still had hairy armpits. I know first hand from my Marine Corps days. I like it.

Good question... Michael has this thing for going up to windows before he gets in bed with his wife...he did the same thing in Tahoe when Kay noticed the drapes were open.

How could it have escaped us! Michael had the reverse-voyeur fetish. He liked to be watched. So in Tahoe, it was Michael who opened the drapes and Kay's question, "Michael, why are the drapes open?" was just part of the little game they played....they'd done it before.

Every time we watch the scene of Santino being killed, my mother always comments on the tollbooth attendant getting whacked in the process.. So it amuses me this question was brought up.

I always questioned how he could articulate his muscle movement sufficiently to be able to exit his vehicle. That is a stretch.

I assume they got hit, but why did they bther to shut the doors and duck? Did they really think theese goons would spare them?

Perhaps a Barzini associate was disguised as the toll booth attendant.

The attendant had to be in on the plot and very well could have been a Barzini associate or be bribed. Again, Sonny's car shielded the attendant from any bullets.

Again, you can see the bullets in the toll booth. So back to my initial question: Are these bullet holes a film mistake or is the bribed guy dead?

Appollonia was ahead of her time. She also had a great Brazilian.

The bullet holes were in the toll booth, but not in the area shielded by Sonny's car.

And I thought Micheal was Italian?