Usually just a lurker...but thought of something that Im sure all the veterans of the board can answer. And maybe its been brought up before, but watching the GF again recently, I realized that all the deaths are shown, none implied.
Except for Tessio. We realize whats going to happen, but why do you think it was decided not to show the actual way he was killed? The only thing I could think of was that Tessio came across as somewhat as a sympathetic person, and it was better left for the imaganation, and played better the way it was shown. But Fredo was also played as sympathetic (somewhat) but of course his demise was shown. Any thoughts? And how do you think he was taken out?

Welcome to the boards, Jeff. I agree with you. I believe that Tessio was well-liked and so they portrayed his death off-screen. And if you think about it, you really DON'T see Fredo's death. You see him in the boat, and then you see Michael, and then hear the shot.

I think you're right about Tessio. He was a traitor but unlike, say, Carlo or Moe Green, we didn't see him overtly doing violence or disrespecting Michael. So, I'm guessing, FFC believed that it would be somewhat jarring to show his actual, violent death on screen. Besides, there was plenty enough death in that scene.
Some people here have guessed that Tessio was "taken for a ride" and shot, quick and neat, in some deserted place, probably dumped there. Garroting would have been too prolonged and painful for him--note that even at the end, Cicci treats him with respect: "Excuse me, Sal...."

Bruno's death was not shown

The drama of the scene, in which Tessio asks Tom if he could get him off the hook and tom turning him down is poignant. Tessio being escorted away also has a dramatic wallop that hits harder than any explicit scene of his death could.

Good point TB. Garroting is a bit less respectful than being executed by a gun. I imagine he took two shots to the head, got a pair of cement boots and slept with the fishes in the East River.

Exactly. His being led away to his death was most poignant. But perhaps even more poignant was the follow up scene of Tom looking out the window as Tessio is led away. Both scenes evoke a measure of sadness in the viewer as they witness the passing of Vito's Roman Empire to the expediency of Michael's corporate organization.

I much prefer it that way, too. In one of the books I read (Lebo's??), it claims that the scene was shot two different ways: a closeup shot of Neri executing Fredo, which Richard Bright wanted Coppola to use, and the long shot which was ultimately used. Still, if the print does exist, I'd like to see it one day.

PB, if we could make a catalog of all the scenes that Lebo and other mention that were shot but not used, and if we could retrieve the film from Paramount's vaults...

I'd start with the scene (shown in a couple of stills in Lebo's book) of Michael, in gangster mufti, gunning down Fabrizio.

I like that you don't see it, but I love the timing...Fredo is in the middle of the Hail Mary, and if you recite the words when his voice cuts off, it goes "Now, and at the hour of our death. Amen." BANG. I do this whenever I watch GFII.

You and a million other Catholic Godfather fanatics.

Did Tessio really think Tom could get him off the hook for old times' sake? And if so doesn't that disprove the "Tessio was always smarter" concept?

When you know you're going to your grave, intelligence goes out the window.

..and shit comes out your ass.

You know, we never did see Tessio die. Hmm. Just like Adriana.

He didn't. He knew he was caught, and was getting what he had coming. He also knew it was 'only business' just like what he had planned for Michael.

But he has absolutely nothing to lose at that point...and when you know you are literally moments from death...you may as well come up with even a half-hearted plea for mercy, no matter how useless.

Tessio caught on immediately, and in the end took it like a man. Thereby NOT disproving the 'Tessio was always smarter" concept.

Apple

I think the most chilling part of that scene is how, aside from the removal of Sal's gun, everyone walks to the car in such a normal, calm tone...like the death of a long-time capo in the family was such a run of the mill thing.

Of course, another chilling component is the alacrity with which Tom participates in the murder. While the street thugs of the Corleone family could be expected to behave so nonchalantly, one might expect better of a well-educated person such as Tom.

Tom may have felt differently, but it was the wrong time for him to show sentiment or feeling--it might make him appear "weak" at a time when the family's and the entire NY Mafia's structure were in flux.

IMO Tom rarely showed emotion. When Woltz flipped out on him at dinner, he replied with a nonchalant "thank you for a pleasant evening". When Soluzzo had him and said he'd killed Don Vito, Tom barely flinched.

I think he was well versed in keeping his emotions in check and to himself.