Originally posted by MaryCas:
If Michael Corleone could see there was trouble with the rebels and the risk of investing was growing daily, why couldn't Hyman Roth - the savvy businessman - see the same threats. Or was Hyman going to take the $2 mil and run?, knowing eventually he was going to knock off MC?
I think Roth foresaw the trouble with the rebels, and I think he planned to take the $2 million and run as you suggest.
Remember Mike's comment to Fredo about how he would be attending the New Year's Eve party at the presidential palace and then be assassinated. Mike knew what was coming, or at least what was supposed to come.
What thwarted Roth's plan (besides Mike's knowledge of it), and what no one (except possibly Mike) anticipated, was the
speed of the rebel takeover.
Obviously, as they were busy partying instead of heading for the hills, they didn't expect it to happen
that night.
