Originally Posted By: 90caliber
 Originally Posted By: olivant
 Originally Posted By: 90caliber
 Originally Posted By: pizzaboy
Michael's "Turnbull is a good man" was merely sarcasm, in my opinion.


I think this is correct. According to the second draft of the screenplay, which I think can justifiably be appealed to here, Turnbull fed Tom a string of lies about Geary being squeamish about being bribed in a direct fashion (rather than through a "charitable donation to a cause Geary controls," as Tom puts it in the 2nd draft), so of course he and Michael were quite surprised when Geary came out swinging with his hefty demands. I'm actually inclined to think that Michael might have been under the impression that Geary's bribe money was to be a cut from the "magnificent contribution" to the university. The rest was for the purpose of polishing Michael's public image. (Notice that Geary, when speaking to the guests, doesn't say how much the check is for -- the amount of the donation to Sicily in GFIII is made explicit, and in general large donations to universities are announced, in press releases, etc., with the dollar amount specified.)


Well, he doesn't name the univesity either. That is a typical ploy by film makers who may choose not to mention an institution or it could have been that the producers couldn't get permission from one or more universities to use their name. In the same vein, sometimes film makers don't cite a a dollar amount for any number of reasons. For one, a dollar amount can become outdate (due to inflation) as time goes by.


All of that was an afterthought, so I put it in parentheses. What are your impressions of the rest of it?


Well, as I posted previously, I think that some money had already passed before the meeting between the Corleones and Geary. That would be a deposit by Mike on future favors he would request and pay for from Geary. Just as Vito had a senator in his pocket, Geary would be Mike's senator. But Geary's squeeze of Mike was probably a total surprise to everyone concerned, even Turnbull. As Geary said to Mike, "I thought we would talk alone." Sure, Mike and Geary knew about the technical problem with the license at the Tropigala and both expected some money to change hands to resolve the problem. But the "from all four hotels" comment by Geary made it clear that he was thinking outside the envelope and it was not anticipated by anyone.

"Generosity. That was my first mistake."
"Experience must be our only guide; reason may mislead us."
"Instagram is Twitter for people who can't read."