and TB, I think that, although Vito was don and could do as he wished regardless, I believe he still wanted the opinions of others, as he was not a stubborn and one-sided man. Another reason for everyone to be there... introduction to Sol, a man that Vito got the feeling his family should probably know of, in the time to come. And also to give his family a lesson in humility, as he did not come to Sollozzo with a dominearing (sp?) swagger, that he had all the right to possess (although this was not his character). Afterall... who is this no name punk coming in attempting to completely morph the organized crime scene that had been run a certain way for so long?
I can't agree with you here, Frank. Vito got the opinions he wanted from Tom and Sonny after Tom got back from California. The purpose of the all-hands meeting was to show Sol that the family was unified with Vito in rejecting his offer. The last thing he would want would be any kind of discussion that might show Sollozzo to think he had allies in the Corleone family--unfortunatley, just what Sonny accomplished when he shot his mouth off.
And since Sol was "known as a top narcotics man," and since Vito regarded drugs as a mortal threat to his family, the last thing he'd want would be for members of his family to have any contact with Sol, even if the contacts had nothing to do with drugs.
oh, TB, I agree. I must not have explained my mind well enough... I didn't mean that they would be having "contact" with Sol; I was thinking more that Vito wanted the family to be familiar with what kind of character they would be "dealing with" in the future, not dealing with (if you get my drift).
BUT... on the flip-side, there would be no reason for Sol to believe that he had any allies in the Corleone family, had Vito come alone. He would automatically assume that the head of the family was the decision that the family was going with. now, in that case, he may have attempted to infiltrate and pull out a rebel (ie. Luca) but that would be EXTREMELY risky on his part.
And i also agree with Longneck, the decision to have everyone there was just for security and put up a strong showing.
