As you can see I am a Sonny fan, I love all the GF characters but other than his infedelity I love everything about Sonny. But so many times people say he was a bad Don(even his father said it) mainly because of his temper. But in other parts of the movie and many parts in the novel Santino is praised for his cunning and abililty to strategize. So is Sonny actually overrated or underrated as a Don?

-Sonny

Good question. I think Sonny is neither, though. I've never heard a mention of him being a horrific don, but then again I've also never heard a mention of him being the greatest don ever.

To answer your question literally: I don't think Sonny was overrated or underrrated in either the film or the novel because his role in the family was subordinate to his father until Vito was disabled. What you saw was what you got. Sonny certainly had personal force and was (according to the novel) a "genius" at "urban guerilla warfare." While he had tactical value during wars, he lacked strategic focus and reflective temperament. I think the novel and film portrayed him as he was, so that's why I believe he was neither under- nor over-rated.

When, finally, Sonny was Acting Don, the results of his Donship were indeterminate--he didn't end the Great War of 1946 either by diplomacy or force. It's not clear that either Vito or Michael would have been any more successful. As Clemenza said, "Dese t'ings gotta happen every ten years or so...bad blood [etc.]."

Vito compliments Tom as Consigliere, but says that Sonny was a bad Don. As others have opined, Sonny was basically a fighter who was a temporary fix in Vito's place. That he let his emotions govern his actions that led to his death should be a salient indication of his deficiency as a Don.

Sonny was a good fighter and genral of war(I guess lol) but consider the other things a Don needs Sonny was not cool enough he had a temper the size of a watermelon he wasn't too worried about buisness "Buisness will have to suffer". Sure in short term Sonny was good but long term the family wouldn't have done well because of Sonny.

True...he 'ended' it by losing that famous temper, falling into a trap set by his own brother-in-law, and being shot to smithereens. Prior to that, business was neither coming in nor going out. While no one can know how either Vito or Michael would've acted under similar circumstances, all Sonny did was nurture a stalemate. One that could only be jarred with his own demise.

In short...he's NOT underrated, he WAS a bad Don.

Apple

Agreed.

Hell...even Don Vito said Sonny was a bad Don.

I highly doubt Vito or Mike would have acted so rashly and abruptly after learning Carlo had beaten Connie again. They would have sensed it was a set-up. This is the reason Tom feels so horrible after the fact (in the book). Tom knew that Genco would have smelled a set-up...and so he felt incompetent as a consigliere.

But with that said...I'd say that Sonny's demise was a culmination of his temper...and Tom's not being a war-time consigliere.

I'll go along with that. Sonny, as well as Michael & Vito years later ... are all compelled to lament that Tom is absolutely NOT a wartime consigliere (WC).

Which does NOT in any way alter the fact that Santino was a bad Don. Could a WC have foreseen the trap and prevented Sonny's death on the Causeway? Probably. But the stalemate alone foretold the way Santino Corleone would have eventually run his Family into the ground.

Apple

The proof of Sonny's stupidity, and his letting his temper get the better of him was that in a calmer moment, he made sure that Michael had bodyguards taking him into New York when he went to see Kay (btw what happened to those body guards when he went to the hospital?).

I always felt that Tom was blamed for Sonny's death without merit. When Sonny rushed out of the house after Connie's phone call, Tom tried to stop him. He chased after him, sent bodyguards after him, yet he was blamed for Sonny spinning out of control. I always thought that was a bit unfair.

I agree Babe. Having a "relative" as Consigliere compromises the way the others in the family view you especially if they are "part of the family." I'm not sure that Sonny really perceived Tom as someone who's advice he should take seriously. On the other hand, Tom may have been somewhat reluctant to press his points and strategy with Sonny or even Vito (witness the Sollozzo fiasco).

Sonny was aggressive. That was his value. Mafia killers are a dime a dozen. Its survivors are the ones with brains or the ones that subvert their emotions to good sense.

I don't really recall either in the film or book ANYONE blaming Tom for Sonny's death. Other than Tom himself, that is...and completely with merit.

While he did all he could in the immediate moments leading to the hit, Tom's fault is strictly long term. The passage in the novel goes over this wonderfully. He did not anticipate what a 'wartime consigliere' might have surely seen coming. Under the guidance of someone similar to Genco...Sonny would probably not have even been allowed to leave the house.

I also remember reading that Don Vito never mentions it to Tom, never lays blame on him for Sonny's death. Nothing is ever mentioned. However, it's there...and Tom knows it's there and he has to live with that.

He didn't set the trap, he didn't pull the trigger. He wasn't even to blame '... for Sonny spinning out of control...'. But in the world of the Corleone Empire, he was indeed at least partially responsible for Sonny's death on the Causeway.

Apple

To Apple's point: The novel flat-out says that, after finding out about Sonny's murder, Tom "knew now that he was no wartime consigliere...old Genco would have smelled a rat." True, he couldn't have stopped Sonny on the causeway and did dispatch men to follow him. But Tom, a lawyer and not a Sicilian, saw things too rationally. Seemingly it didn't occur to him that Carlo would burn for revenge after Sonny publicly humiliated and beat him. Rationally, Carlo should have recognized that he'd never get away with it. But rationality had nothing to do with it. As Vito said (in the novel): "Vengeance is a dish that's best eaten cold."

Vito told Sonny to stay out of their business(Connie and Carlo)... so NO Vito would not have fallen for that trap. As far as Tom "smelling a trap" I dunno... its a little much to put on Tom.

He was muscle ... with family connections.

Santino tried to do the same things Michael did - but unsuccessfully.

Michael wiped out Taggalia and the "rest of the Five Families." That was also Santino's intention ("There ain't gonna be no stalemate! I'm going to end it by killing that old bastard!) as he said to Tom after leaving Vito's sick bed ("I didn't mean that - Ma made dinner, its Sunday-").

Santino was strong, and he could have been a Don as successful as Michael if only he could control his emotions. Alas, that was Santino's downfall - both as a Don, and as a Person.

Put another way, Michael did everything Santino wanted to do, but the difference was he did it without passion. The first time Michael steps up is when Tom is trying to talk Sonny into making some kind of deal with Sollozzo (Tom is constantly telling his "brothers" to make compromises). Tom is not receptive to this but agrees to listen when Michael interrupts and says they are going to kill pop, thets the key for them....after which he volunteers to kill Sollozzo and McCluskey. Tom immediately tells Mike that you just dont go off shooting police captains, and Michael cooly tells Tom that a news story about a dishonest cop getting what he had coming would take away the stigma of his murder, and he goes on to tell Tom that there are news people on the payroll (for someone not interested in the family business, Mike had a lot of information). I dont think SOnny would have thought it through, and I dont think he would have had the patience Mike showed in getting revenge, as witnesses by his thoughtless rush to protect Connie from Carlo.

Yeah, it all comes down to control of one's emotions and intelligence. That's true in anything. I teach my students about presence of mind - always realizing the potential consequences of your words and actions.

Yes, a Don is someone who knows when to keep calm and when to boil with anger.