Originally posted by Sicilian Babe:
I think all the ones that have been mentioned are great. But I also love the scene with Signor Roberto, where DeNiro just waits silently for the landlord to change the monthly rent, THEN offers his hand. Or when he plays dumb with Clemenza, first when he swears that he didn't look inside the "package" that Clemenza threw him, and again when he pretends not to know that they're stealing the rug.
I'm with you 100 percent on that scene, SB! It's a masterful piece of subtle acting--the waiting, the patient look, then the quick rise to shake hands. It's also a critical scene: it really shows young Vito being Don-like for the first time.
It's too bad that the scene that immediately followed it--young Clemenza introducing young Hyman Roth--was cut out. In that scene, Clemenza, who had been the bossy one before and had been ordering Vito around--now doffs his hat in the presence of Don Corleone and insists that Roth show the boss the proper respect.
