Perhaps if she had been told her downward spiral could have been prevented. Connie's rant to Michael at the end of Godfather I over the death of her husband always made me feel a so ashamed for her. Carlo was so dispicable. Beating her while she was pregnant. If you don't care for yourself....think about your unborn child. Perhaps it was the times, being Catholic, till death do us part.

You would have thought she lost a loving and faithful husband the way she carried on after his death. "MICHAEL I hated you -- for so many years. I think I did things to myself -- to hurt myself -- so you'd know -- .that I could hurt you. Over Carlo, that piece of crap.

Tell her Michael. Tell her what role he played in Sonny's death and maybe you wouldn't have to say to her "You travel around the world with men who don't care for you and treat you like a whore".


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Okay -- What's the matter with you? What am I gonna do -- I'm gonna make that baby an orphan before he's born or what? Huh? Hmmm?

Sorry, I should have previewed my post. The title
should have been WHY WASN'T CONNIE TOLD OF CARLO'S INVOLVEMENT IN SONNY'S DEATH.

Ok, I found out how to edit my post.

Had Michael told Connie about Carlo's treachery, he would have officially implicated himself in Carlo's murder, thus turning Connie into a potential witness against himself. However slight that chance, it's one he didn't choose to take. More likely, he wanted Connie herself to come to the conclusion that her husband deserved to die.

Acording to the film, Carlo was approached by the Barzini people and told to stage this fight with Connie in the knowledge that an incensed Sonny would come charging over and then they could whack him. Its a bit far fetched isn't it? Asking a man to virtually kill his wife and unborn child.

Turnbull sums it up perfectly in his above post. I would also like to add that there is absolutely no way an Italian Mafioso from that era would EVER share any family business with a woman, especially someone unstable like Connie. In thier minds woman and children were week and were allowed to make mistakes, not men of thier stature.


Don Cardi

I know it makes for a good story, but why would Connie call Sonny after Carlo beat her, unless she wanted Sonny to pummel Carlo? In that case she couldn't have cared too much for Carlo's fate. Young Connie was not a woman of logic and sense like her later years when she immersed her self in the plot to save the family.

Excellent point, MC! Connie didn't call the Mall after the first beating--Sonny happened to visit her and saw the damage. But she knew that Sonny flew off in a rage and beat up Carlo. So: what did she think would happen after she called the Mall the second time? Maybe she wasn't thinking when she made the call. But, if she had given some contemplation later, she might have come to the conclusion that her call to the Mall the second time made her complicit in Sonny's death and thus Carlo's death.

Perhaps because this time, as we saw...Carlo really beat Connie to a pulp, whacking her repeatedly in the bathroom with that belt of his. Perhaps Carlo went out and left her lying there bleeding and in pain...and she just couldn't get up.

Being that Sonny was the one who knew about the first beating and her two other brothers were elsewhere and of little help...he was the only one she would think to turn to for any kind of help.

Incidentally, in the scene at the mall it isn't indicated that Connie actually ASKED for Sonny. She was talking hysterically to mama, who couldn't understand her & handed the phone to Sonny. So (unless again the novel provides greater detail) perhaps Connie just called the mall for anyone at all to come & help her out.

I'll agree with one thing...the fate of Carlo was probably the last thing on her mind when she made that call.

Apple

Good point, Apple On Ya. Connie may have been hysterically screaming for Mama not to let Sonny know what happened.

A bit off topic here, but having Carlo killed was the least despicable thing Michael ever did.

Here Carlo is, this white trash on a free ride from the Corleones. To make things worse, he disrespects Connie in public and beats her. Also he cheats on her. And then the son of a bitch goes and hands Sonny over on a silver platter! He killed Michaels brother.

If I were in Michael's position, I would have killed the son of a bitch too! The way he waited so long was maybe a little cruel and unusual, but it had to be done. What we he supposed to do?

Both Turnbull, & Marycas made good points in their respective posts.

AppleOnYa makes a very good point here as well. Watching the movie there's no way to say for certain that Connie had asked for Sonny to get involved. Maybe when Sonny rushed off, after hearing what happened, viewers just naturally assume Connie asked for Sonny to get involved.