I agree that Sonny was loyal to his family.

In that case...I cannot help but wonder how Sonny would react to Fredo's betrayal of his own brother, his own Family.

The general agreement seems to be that Fredo would not have betrayed Sonny in the way he betrayed Michael...since it was rooted in jealousy at having been 'stepped over' by his younger brother.

However, if Fredo had it in him to turn traitor to Michael, at the mere dangling of a carrot of 'something in it for him'...then it should be considered that had Sonny lived, he may have eventually done it to him, too. Remember it was Sonny to sent Fredo off to Vegas after his bumbling of Vito's shooting. It was Sonny who got Fredo out of the way, and gave no indication that he would ever bring him back to take an active part in the business. There's no indication that Sonny would've treated Fredo any differently than Michael did, having him pick up people at airports and whatever else it was Fredo complained about. Even though Sonny was the OLDER brother...Fredo may have eventually succumbed to the same envy, the same jealousy that he held toward Michael. ("...I can handle things I'm smart - not like everyone says - not dumb, smart and I want respect!...")

And someone like Hyman Roth or Barzini just might have come along to capitalize on it.

So while we are all so confident that 'family guy' Sonny would NEVER have had Fredo killed...let's once again keep in mind that he didn't live long enough for 'traitor guy' Fredo to give him a reason to.

Apple