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Re: How big is the Corleone Family at its height?
[Re: JackieAprile]
#906367
02/08/17 06:03 PM
02/08/17 06:03 PM
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Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 19,696 AZ
Turnbull
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Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 19,696
AZ
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In GF, when Michael returns to the Mall after McCluskey broke his jaw, Sonny says "...a hundred button men on the street..." looking for Solozzo. That had to have been only part of the Corleones' total strength. In II, Michael supposedly is "legitimate." But, at the Senate hearing, you see an FBI chart showing a substantial number of men, called "Buttons - Soldiers," under the Caporegimes. (See p. 218 of Harlan Lebo's "The Godfather Legacy" for details.)
Ntra la porta tua lu sangu � sparsu, E nun me mporta si ce muoru accisu... E s'iddu muoru e vaju mparadisu Si nun ce truovo a ttia, mancu ce trasu.
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Re: How big is the Corleone Family at its height?
[Re: JackieAprile]
#909468
03/26/17 12:16 PM
03/26/17 12:16 PM
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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 15,030 Texas
olivant
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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 15,030
Texas
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There are a bounty of insufficiencies in the novel and movie that are grist for our posting mill. The size of the Corleone family is one of them. We read and see the family with, principally, only two capos. Sonny has a regime, but after his death his regime personnel are distributed among Tessio's and Clemenza's regimes. So, we're back to two. That seems improbable. If, as Sonny states, the Corleone family can match the other families gun for gun, then he's talking about 1,000 men (I don't buy one Board members's argument that those 1,000 guns would include associates recruited just for that purpose). If the Corleone strength is that great, then only two capos would be an administrative nightmare for Tessio and Clemenza.
Last edited by olivant; 03/26/17 12:17 PM.
"Generosity. That was my first mistake." "Experience must be our only guide; reason may mislead us." "Instagram is Twitter for people who can't read."
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Re: How big is the Corleone Family at its height?
[Re: olivant]
#911073
04/20/17 07:56 PM
04/20/17 07:56 PM
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Joined: Jun 2016
Posts: 279
JackieAprile
OP
Capo
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OP
Capo
Joined: Jun 2016
Posts: 279
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There are a bounty of insufficiencies in the novel and movie that are grist for our posting mill. The size of the Corleone family is one of them. We read and see the family with, principally, only two capos. Sonny has a regime, but after his death his regime personnel are distributed among Tessio's and Clemenza's regimes. So, we're back to two. That seems improbable. If, as Sonny states, the Corleone family can match the other families gun for gun, then he's talking about 1,000 men (I don't buy one Board members's argument that those 1,000 guns would include associates recruited just for that purpose). If the Corleone strength is that great, then only two capos would be an administrative nightmare for Tessio and Clemenza. Yeah, two Capos with 500 guys each would mean they'd have literally no fuckin free time. I get the sense that Tessio and Clemenza were given very long leashes even before Vito retired. Think of it like the Holy Roman Empire in a sense. Whatever Vito said was LAW. Vito says no drugs - no drugs. Vito says Carlo or someone can't join the family - they're out. Vito wants someone dead - they're dead. But...Tessio and Clemenza could do what they wanted outside of that rubric and as long as they're kicking up money. So basically you might have guys like Frankie basically being the equivalent of a Capo with a crew of guys reporting to Clemenza, but having the official rank of Soldier. Also, Fredo is said to have his own people in GF II. Which makes that three official "crews". I think the Godfather family was divided something like: BOSS Underboss (a floating position that depended mainly on who was more influential at the moment - Sonny was basically acting Underboss before Vito was shot it seems) Consigliere Capos (Sonny, Tessio, Clemenza, Fredo; later Rocco, Al and Frankie) Sub Capos (Frankie, Al Neri; later Willie Cicci) Soldiers/Buttons (Willie Cicci, Al, Rocco, etc) Associates (anyone who owed the Don a favor/Judges/Politicians/hired thugs) Basically a massive layer of insulation between THE DON, and the lowest level guys. I mean, Willie Cicci alludes to never having really interacted with Michael as a Button, and yet he was a made guy, a soldier. As Willie put it "The family had a lotta buffas"
Last edited by JackieAprile; 04/20/17 07:57 PM.
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