I just posted this in another thread, but I know who opened the drapes.

It was ANTHONY. He is the only person we know for sure who had access to the bedroom before the shooting because he put that drawing on Mikes pillow. Perhaps Fredo suggested that while he was in there he open the drapes to "surprise" his dad.

This explains why Anthony was so screwed up as a kid.

I think it was the ghost of Tessio, seeking revenge.

That is a good theory, dontomasso, and one I had not considered.

I think there is a good chance this could be right!

Nice theory, DT. But logically, why would Fredo want to involve Anthony in the simple matter of opening the drapes--something Fredo would have done easily and without being seen? As a family member, he'd have complete run of the house. If he involved Anthony, he'd have had an "accomplice" who could easily have ratted him out. After the shooting, we seen him, frightened to death and being clutched by Connie. It'd be natural for him to blurt out, "Why did Uncle Fredo tell me to open the drapes?"
"Ghost of Tessio"--now, there's a title for another film in the GF series!

Merle opened the drapes. It was also Merle who killed the would-be assasins.

He was really pissed that Michael wouldn't give Connie the cash they needed for passage on 'The Queen'.

During a visit to the bathroom, he bumped into Johnny Ola who said there would be something in it for him if he helped out a little.

Note that we do not see Merle again for the remainder of the film. He probably got his own passage to 'The Queen'...courtesy of Hyman Roth.

Apple

I think you are on to something Apple.

I think that Deanna was somehow involved with Merle and she was the distraction at the party (all drunk and dancing) so that Merle could slip in and open the drapes.

See, Mama Corleone knew there was something about Merle and Deanna.

As for Fredo getting Anthony to help...it's a good theory, and I could see Fredo being stupid enough to use an accomplice...but I got my eye on the Apple theory

Sounds like something out of the "Saw" meets "The Godfather" script that Christopher was working on in The Sopranos.

I think "Cleaver" was the title... those one word titles are catchy!

I have a feeling that Don T is pulling our collective chains here.

YA THINK....???

Don't forget thought that in the boathouse, Fredo tells Mike that he didn't know it was going to be a hit. He's refering to the post-communion celebration hit, so isn't he confessing that it was he who opened the drapes?

Moi? Pulling someone's chain?

Come to think of it you'd have to pull a chain to open the drapes... or at least a "chain-thing" kind of like the bathroom at Louis in the Bronx....coincidence?? A chain thing in BOTH movies? Is it time for another thread?

All he's 'confessing' to is conspiring with Johnny Ola and Hyman Roth AGAINST his brother.

He never explains exactly what he did to help, and apparently Michael doesn't have a need to find out.

That aside...if he didn't know it was going to be 'a hit' then what possible reason would they have for requiring him to open the bedroom drapes?

Could they have said to him...don't ask why, don't worry about what we're gonna do...don't go thinking it's a hit just because you will in effect be leaving your brother out in open view you silly guy...just open the drapes. Trust me, that'd be a BIG help and there will be something in it for you afterwards.

Whatever Fredo did, it was not open the drapes.

Apple

the first time when i heard kay said that i was thinking about it and i thought there were some kind of drapes on the outside of the window but then i just gave up on that theory

I thought when he said, "He didn't know it was going to be a hit" he was talking about the original movie...and was upset that he was passed over for the leading role in the sequel.

I assumed that was an outtake.
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Why didn't the guards on the property take note that the drapes were open? - they had probably been open for some time.

Maybe Kay opened the drapes? What if during the interval between the culprit opening the drapes and the attempt, Kay had gotten out of bed and closed the drapes?

I bet it was somebody from the 6th family who opened the drapes.

Who opened the drapes in Sony's car on the turnpike?

I know I'm rushing home and hanging some drapes.

Guns don't kill people, opening drapes kills people

lol

Unless Ola said to Fredo:

Look, we're in on a big deal casino deal with your brother and he's being a little tough on the negotiations.

So we're planning to kidnap him and hold him hostage - kinda like what Sollozzo did to Tom Hagen in the first movie - until we can convince him that our terms are better than the ones he's proposing.

Then, after we do, we're gonna let him go.

Believe me, Fredo, our terms [i]are better, so it will be good for your family. Plus, there will be something in it for you if you just help us out a little bit.

Just open the drapes in his bedroom so the kidnappers can see when Michael is in there, and leave the rest to us.[/i]

Whatever else Fredo may have done to aid Ola and Roth, he was almost certainly the one who opened the drapes.

I don't think Fredo would have agreed to or aided in a kidnapping, even HE wasn't that dumb. For one thing, I think he knew his 'kid' brother well enough to know that a kidnapping was the LAST thing that would get Michael to agree to anything Roth proposed. It would only anger him more.

Obviously Fredo helped in some way, but as he himself admitted, he was pretty much kept in the dark.

I don't think Fredo opened the drapes.

I don't think he killed the gunment either (sniveling coward that he was)...but that's another thread. .

Apple

Unless Ola said to Fredo:

Look, we're in on a big deal casino deal with your brother and he's being a little tough on the negotiations.

Just open the drapes in his bedroom so the kidnappers can see when Michael is in there, and leave the rest to us.

Whatever else Fredo may have done to aid Ola and Roth, he was almost certainly the one who opened the drapes. [/QB][/QUOTE]

[/QB][/QUOTE]


Yeah, but Fredo was so stupid, he would have to be told what time to open them, to do it when no one was around, which drapes to open, how far to open them, etc. Could he be trusted on this?

What I dont get is that Kay was already in bed when Mike came into the room and she made some comment about the drapes being opened. What made Ola so sure SHE would not have closed them on her own?

Maybe someone did tell Anthony to open the drapes so his dad could see the drawing better. A terrified 8 year old would probably not even rmember opening them, or if he realized the consequences of what he did he would have supressed it, so cain pulling and all Anthony is as much a suspect as anyone.

Yes, these were definitely the type of people who would involve innocent children in a murderous plot.



But even if that theory were feasible and somebody DID tell little Anthony to open the drapes....the question of WHO remains unanswered.

Apple

One of the reasons Fredo was "passed over" was his stupidity. Early on, Vito sent him out to blow up a car--and he burned his lips on the tailpipe.

One of the reasons Fredo was "passed over" was his stupidity. Early on, Vito sent him out to blow up a car--and he burned his lips on the tailpipe. [/QB][/QUOTE]


OUCH

Kay opened the drapes. She was having a fling with one of the security force and wanted to give him a cheap thrill to watch her undress. She threw Michael off by asking, "why are the drapes opened?" Coincidence would have it that at the same time there were hired assasins walking by. Too bad they were not fast enough on the trigger.

To answer Apple (the Ann Coulter of the Board), Fredo was told that Mike was being tough on the negotiations. So, Fredo concluded that they just wanted to scare Mike, not kill him. Therefore, Fredo could rationalize opening the drapes. Makes sense, doesn't it!

Again...Fredo, stupid as he was, would probably have known his brother well enough to know that you can't 'scare' Michael Corleone.

There had to have been some other way he helped Roth. But exactly how is never, ever defined. Therefore it's a hole in the story, always HAS been a hole in the story, and always WILL be a hole in the story.

Unlike whether Fredo knew when he was about to die...which he did not.

And speaking of Ann (you brought it up, I didn't) Coulter...I bought the book tonight.

Not that she needed MY help, since due to the publicity it's alread #1 on NY Times Best Seller list.

Apple

I guess we have to finally decide how stupid Fredo was. He's too stupid to figure out that he's being used by Roth, but he's so incisive that he can descern that Mike can't be scared. I don't buy it.

By the way, Ann Coulter is the daughter Vito always wanted.

Not at all.

He knew perfectly well he was being 'used' by Roth. He was happy to comply though...because there was 'something in it for him'.

What he was too stupid to figure out was that there was nothing in it for him, and that he was aiding not in 'negotiations'...but in a murder plot toward his brother and subsequent takeover of his Family.

Ann..er..Apple

Is it possible that Fredo thought that the murder of his brother was a possible consequence of his involvement with Roth, but was willing to pay that price for what he perceived as his own advancement?

This would make him as evil as he was stupid.

Moreover, I always found it curious that he knew that the senator pursuing Michael belonged to Roth, but Michael (so late in the game) had no idea and appeared thunderstruck upon hearing the news.

How would Fredo get acquire this information and why would he be entrusted with it?

Thunderstruck?

While he seemed to need a moment to absorb that one bit of useful info provided by Fredo...Michael did not at all appear to be 'thunderstruck' at the Questadt belonging to Roth thing.

Only time Michael was anything close to thunderstruck, what at the Superman show when Fredo unwittingly all but confessed to being the traitor.

Apple

Fredo was stupid. He wasn't evil.

I don't see that he'd knowingly cooperate with Roth if the murder of Michael was even a possibility. I think he's telling the truth when he says he didn't know it was going to be a hit.

Apple