Think along the same lines of Vito's killing of Fanucci...
After that, everybody knew who Vito was in the neighborhoods and eventually NYC. He was well on his way to his future empire.

In Sicily, Vito kills the powerful Corleonesi Don Ciccio thus cementing his reputation, power and station. The last people to see Ciccio and his bandits alive were olive oil importers from America. Right next to Ciccio's body is a Genco can. So, his muderer isn't known or even suspected?

Fabrizio acted like the "Corleone" name was Smith or Jones when translating. Wouldn't the entire island of Sicily know the name of the man who killed Ciccio years ago?

Why did it take so long for Fabrizio to come to the United States after he sold out Michael and killed Appolonia?

I know he was sponsored by Barzini but why? Why wouldn't Barzini just kill Fabrizio after Appolonia was killed?

Simply put, he botched the assasination attempt of Michael... why reward him and bring him to America?

In the Godfather Epic, Vito never refers to Santino as "Sonny".

He calls him Santino every time.

Did he botch it, or was it just bad luck?

Toemaytoe, toemahtoe. He failed - period. Why didn't Barzini just kill him instead of sponsoring his immigration to the US?

Anyway, did anybody else notice how quickly McCluskey got his plate of veal at the restaurant?

Zagat's says Louis Restaurant in the Bronx is "famous for quick service."

TB, didn't you find it curious that it was Tessio who knew about Louis's and not Clemenza? Afterall, the Bronx was Clemenza's turf.

Of course, how could I forget? It's noted right after the wonderful antique bathroom fixtures and the clientele's propensity to mind one's own business.

Did anyone else notice that...

The last innocent and genuine smile from Michael was when he and Kay are exiting the movie theater. He is forever changed after Kay spots the newspaper featuring Vito's shooting.

In the beginning of the Baptism Scene, they show quick cutaway shots of the assassins preparing for their tasks.

Clemenza is shown leaving his house with the box that contains the gun used to kill the men in the elevator. Before Clemenza gets into his car, he quickly polishes a spot on the car with his handkerchief.

The car finally got the real chrome bumpers from Detroit. The wooden bumpers are gone.

Another nice one:
In the nightclub in Havana, Geary, with one of his most lascivious grins, says, "I'll have one of those red-headed Yolandas." If you look very closely, Michael rolls his eyes as if to say, "There he goes again--thinking with his dick."

I just watched that scene, TB. If you notice later at the New Year's Eve party, Geary is happily in the company of an attractive, tall redhead wearing a red dress.

Yes. I believe that was Yolanda. Looks like Fredo delivered ("That you got, con mucho gusto you got it.")

The entire Cuban sequence is a marvel of authenticity. I'm sure the floorshow at the Capri (with Yolanda) was an exact replica of a real Havana hotel show of the era. So, too, was the Superman show. I'm sure you noticed the people attacking parking meters. That really happened. Batista installed parking meters and claimed that the proceeds would go to support a children's hospital. The proceeds found their way into the pockets of Batista's brother in law. Everybody knew it, which was why they attacked the meters.

I am struck by the avariciousness of Vito's mother when she defended Vito against Ciccio by putting a knife to his throat. I wonder if Vito's capacity to murder comes mainly from his mother or father.

As the novel states, his father was murdered because he failed to accommodate a Mafioso, thus evidence of courage and/or stubborness (which the novel states helped shape Vito's demeanor when faced with adversity). On the other hand, his mother tried reason to placate Ciccio, but resorted to violence when reasoning was unproductive.

Well, maybe that's an indication Vito got his violent streak from his mother.

But where did he get his brains? Because that plan of holding a knife to Don Ciccio's throat while surrounded by his buttonmen wasn't too intelligent, to say the least.

Why wasn't Mama Corleone in the surprise party for Vito flashback scene?

She was out shopping for a nice pear to give Vito for his birthday.

Where did he gets his brains? Because he had no other choice, he had to make his own way.
My all time favorite scene is when he comes home with nothing to eat but that pear. "What a nice pear", now that a wife!

When Michael returns to snowy Tahoe and his big black car passes through the gate, the guard closes the gate with a big ADT Home Security logo visible.



Were The Corleone's also using Pinkerton Security Guards?

The big black car is a real rarity: a '58 Chrysler Imperial Crown Ghia limo, one of <25 built by Ghia of Turin and, at ~$14k, the most expensive American car of that year. Anyone could have found a Cadillac limo of that era--trust FFC to use this rarity for six seconds in GFII.

BTW: If you look closely at the windshield of the red and black '58 Ford Custom 500 that Michael drives to his meeting with Roth in Miami, you'll see a Florida vehicle inspection sticker from the Seventies.

That car is absolutely beautiful. I would love to have that vehicle. Is it still around?

Not likely you'll easily find one of the Ghia limos, given that so few were built. Try www.hemmings.com. I saw a few regular (non-Ghia) Imperials of that era for sale. They're very elegant. Some ragtops, too.

That same maitre-d' later went to serve Cardinal Lamberto in Rome. Remember how quickly Michael got the orange juice and candy?

In the Epic there's a scene that takes place during the communion celebration. It's sandwiched between the Geary meeting and Kay running after Tony.

Rocco and some of the guys are standing between two cars and Rocco appears to be balling out another wiseguy about something. Rocco appears rather animated. It's an odd scene because it has no explanation and doesn't fit in with any other scene. Any ideas?

Oli:

If it's the scene I'm thinking of, Anthony is with Rocco and the other guys, and the camera cuts to Kay watching them.

I think the point is to foreshadow Kay's concern about the environment in which Anthony is being raised and, in particular, her "Anthony's friends are your buttonmen!" comment to Michael during their argument in DC.

We often say that every time we watch the Trilogy we see something we never noticed before.

I have one from watching the Epic the other day:

When Connie's wedding cake is being carried through the crowd, Nazorine is walking in front of it making "hey, look how awesome I am" gestures.

I remember that scene well, oli. It seems that anyone in charge of a group of people is eventually going to have to kick some butt. The underling most likely screwed something up (dinged a VIP's auto, was rude to a member of law enforcement, etc?) resulting in reprimand.

As discussed in many threads, there were obvious differences between the opening celebrations of GF1 & GF2. In the first movie, the FBI at the wedding were spit at, cursed at and treated poorly. At the communion party, the lawmen appeared to be treated like guests. The Troopers were served drinks and sandwiches even appearing to be another level of Michael's security.

Interesting how Sonny was biting at the Feds in GF1 and Rocco was biting at his guys in GF2. That's what I took away from that Rocco chewing out scene.

Of course, it's difficult not to offer some sarcastic scenarios...

One of the underlings accidently groped Deana during her & Fredo's arrival. Deana begged Rocco for the man's phone number?

Rocco was chewing out the guy who was driving the car that picked Connie up at the airport - a week ago. Hey, there was no Uber back then. Maybe he got lost?

Rocco was chewing out the guy because he forgot to pick up the over-sized check at Staples for the photo op with Senator Geary and Michael Car-lee-on.

In GF2, when they get to Florida and Michael drives while his bodyguard occupies the back seat, is that some Mafia technique or are they emphasizing that the bodyguard is an old country guy who couldn't cope with modern traffic? Or something else?