Dramatic license aside, how was there such a gulf between Vito and Tom over Carlo's future during the wedding scene? Tom seems to think Carlo is to get something important, and Vito says "never," and goes on to warn Tom to never discuss the family business with him.

Seems like they could have conveyed this better. Obviously Tom and Vito, and maybe even Sonny would have had this conversation well in advance of the wedding.

Is it possible Vito checked Carlo out without telling anyone bu using one of the capos or Luca?

I think it was a stupid decision to keep Carlo out of the family. They should have just sent Carlo to Las Vegas with Fredo. Sonny would have been alive. Michael would have returned. The rival dons would have been killed. Sonny would have become don with Michael as consigliere and in charge of the legal end of the family. Kay wouldn't have gotten a "miscarriage" and everyone (except for Sandra) would have lived happily ever after.

The way I see it, Vito was a devoted family man. I doubt he wanted his only daughter (and future grandchildren) to live in Nevada. He probably wanted her nearby and see her for Sunday dinners, if not more often. Most parents would have felt the same way, but Vito had the power to make it happen.

If Vito cared so much about his daughter he should have given Carlo a better job. Vito was indrectly responsible for their troublesome marriage. Carlo treated Connie like shit because he was frustrated about being an outsider and humiliated by given a job as a bookie. Vito didn't have to make him his underboss or anything even close, but he should have given him a decent job. It would've been perfect to send him to Vegas as Fredo's right-hand man. Afterall, what better ways to protect your daughter during a mob war than to send her somewhere safe. He could have joined them later on and retire.

Getting back to dc's original point: I don't believe Tom thought Carlo was going to get something big in the family. He asked Vito: "What about your son in law? Do we give him anything important?"

Vito's reply, "give him a living," may have been because Vito didn't approve of Carlo but wasn't going to impose his will on his only daughter. So, he may have worked it out in his mind, "OK, Connie, Carlo is your choice for a husband. But it's my choice what he does in my family.

I know that there's nothing in the film that directly shows Vito disapproving of Carlo. I'm inferring this from the vehemence with which Vito answered Tom's question giving Carlo something important: "NEVER!...Never discuss the family business with him."

TB, you're right. In the novel, of course, Vito's message to Tom about Carlo is almost vehement and much more emphatic than in the novel.

Hmm... I dunno about that.

It seems to me that Vito having provided a job for Carlo at all is ample evidence that he cared about his daughter - despite it having been customary to do so. If he had any concerns about Carlo's indiscipline, stupidity or lack of loyalty, those concerns were well borne out by Carlo's subsequent recklessness and cruelty toward his own wife - something that must have been pure anathema in Vito's eyes.

Any hopes that Carlo might have had to prove himself worthy of promotion in the family business were forever dashed, just as soon as it became known that he had been beating Connie. Any ambitious young mobster with even a particle of street smarts would have known that the way to get ahead is to stay cool and play the game - not to take out his frustrations on the Don's daughter.

Carlo was an idiot and a punk. He never even had a clue how lucky we really was, just to have what he had. In my opinion, it was only a matter of time before he ran afoul of the family - one way or the other. It was inevitable.

In Godfather III or in II (I don't know which one for sure) It shows that Carlo was introduced to Connie through Sonny, (remember the scene where Michael and Sonny get in a fight before the Godfather's birthday about Michael joining the military and fighting for his country.) This is probably why Sonny went nuts whenever Carlo beat on Connie. She wouldn't have ever talked to him unless Sonny wouldn't have brought him over the house. As far as Carlo simply being a bookie, what other occupation would you guys have given him? There was no huge money from Drugs, as that trade didn't become huge in the states till after the Vietnam War, the Turk was going to be one of the first to import Opium from the Mediterranean (the deal he felt Sonny was so hot for. If they would have sent Carlo to Vegas with Fredo then Connie wouldn't be close to her mother with the kids, plus Carlo didn't get really frustrated and start beating on Connie till after the Godfather was shot... which almost leads me to believe the Turk and Barzini may have already approached him before trying to assassinate the godfather, like they did Paulie... maybe saying something along the lines of how the godfather was holding back the progress of the family and screwing Carlo out of income, after putting that idea in his head they would be making Carlo want to do things on his own outside his family.

Also if Connie was threatening to stab Carlo over a girlfriend, I doubt she would jump for joy over the idea of moving out to vegas to have her husband run a bunch of brothels and nightclubs full of show girls... loll

Also, godfather didn't have many associates beside Tesio and Fat Clemenza, and Tom, Sonny was a little involved but that's about it.