Originally posted by Turnbull:
But if the scene had been included, it would represent a very sharp break for Michael the Don: doing a murder with his own hands, exposing himself and his family to ruin, completely out of character.
True, but it would have added a sense of Mike following in Vito's footsteps. Remember, Vito killed Don Ciccio and two of his henchmen with his own hands. The fact that Mike (as well as Vito) murdered with his own hands showed that this act of revenge was, in fact, personal, and not business.
Continued from Turnbull's post:
It would have required a lot of script-work that perhaps Puzo and FFC wanted to avoid.
True. Maybe thats why the producers also deleted the scenes of (young) Vito killing Ciccio's henchmen.
