Turnbull, I completely agree w/ you about the story of the Bocchicchios aid in getting Michael home. I found it truly fascinating.

However, being quite a detailed tale-within-a-tale...it really had no place in the film for it would've bogged down the story. Depicting it in the way it deserved would've eaten up at least 15 minutes of precious film-time, maybe more. The lack of even any deleted scenes dedicated to this story indicates it was never even considered as a part of the movie. And rightfully so.

Similarly Luca's, Neri's, and Lucy's 'background' ... for as FFC (and his budget) knew, film version of The Godfather had to be primarily about The Corleones, and could not have worked any other way.

Apple