The Godfather Theories That Change EVERYTHING! 

Also he has probably killed people in WW2, he may not have killed anyone at point blank range mafia style but he certainly saw alot of gore up close since he was wounded on a beach assault, and as a Captain in the infantry he certainly "ordered" the deaths of many Japanese via command of his troops. He was likely nervous about killing Solozzo and McCluskey because he had never actually murdered anyone illegally, not because because he felt bad about killing them.

Very good points and I would also add that part of his Marine training likely dealt with psychology, like how to interrogate captured enemy soldiers, for example. Also, how to combat psychological tactics/torture if he were captured. Tactics in outsmarting/intimidating the enemy in battle, etc. Had to have helped when planning his move on the other families.

I'm sure being a Marine in the Pacific, he did kill people up close.

@Nicholas Spevak the marines in the pacific were killing and getting killed and mutilated very up close

Mike never finished college, but he had the strongest academic potential of all of the siblings and was easily the smartest Corleone even before he signed up. He is the thinker, the one who waits for the right time. His time in the Marines exposed him to a ruthless, efficient system of order and respect for authority. He knows the effects of propaganda, as when he suggests Tom get a newspaper guy to print muck on McCluskey to soil his reputation. Most of the thinking is done by Michael's own cunning mind, rather than Marine doctrine. In the mafia you don't get air support, heavy MGs or naval landings

I like this theory.

Great theory, makes alot of sense.

Niiiiice :)

. . . whitch would put a lie to Freddo’s later arguments “I didn’t know it was a hit! I only thought there was something in it for meeee . . .” Sniveling b*** Awsome actor

Ooooooo, this is a sound theory…..

I know right?😂 It was such an unanticipated segue!😂😂😂

Apparently a bullet to Tessio’s head would be too merciful of a way for the traitor to go out. Stripping away his wealth, name, reputation, and exiling him to the west coast. Making him work at Good Burger is a fate worse than death itself.

Blame it on 'climate change'

Yes, too rushed and compressed. One of the biggest mistakes of the movie IMO was making Luca look like a giant clown and nothing more. Just a big moron, stuttering his words, then incompetently getting himself killed. Honestly, I think that scene only served to make Don Corleone look weak and dumb.

@@lordsod69 😂🤣

Good point on the compressed timeline

"Timeline got fucked up"

That's what cracked me up when Sonny and the rest laughed at him. Like, "MF'RS, DO YOU KNOW WHAT I DID OVER THERE???!!!!"

@@molasorrosalom4846🤣.... i know ur right... C'MON! 👍🪖 💚💛

Then why was he so scared in the restaurant scene. That was his first body.

@@pitbullsami1741 he could have been incharge of serving spaghetti in a mess tent or a motor pool supply trucks. We don't really know that he did any fighting in ww2.

Michael had a Navy Cross, not a Silver Star

Hilarious!! Like Ali's "Phantom Punch, " I too believe in one's ability to spontaneously possess Super Powers 😃😆🤣

The Force punch

Any actual ideas for real analysis?

@@janestones323 You sound fun.

You don't F with Jimmy Caan, plain and simple.

Ha ha… smoking gun 😂

Good point. Also, they were found with their throats cut.

😮 Never thought of that. Nice 👍🏾

There were plenty of places where it was perfectly legal even by the sixties.

Yes. Also, I’m sure Kay had prenatal medical appointments that she was “allowed” to go to, I srsly doubt Tom would have questioned her going to those appointments and wouldn’t have asked any questions even if she was escorted to & from those appointments. I imagine she could have organized the abortion under the guise of a prenatal appointment without the men being any the wiser.

@@ajonteampanalo and this also falls in line with the times. Men had zero to do with women and their OBGYN appointments or really anything at all with the children. They weren’t changing diapers and feeding babies during that era so it’s not a stretch that Michael and Tom would have zero to do with any prenatal care in any way making fairly easy for Kay to get the abortion.

Fredo opened the drapes and killed the assassins. Abortions were easily obtained before they were legal. Heard about one of my parents friends getting an abortion. Was told by someone who worked in the Clinic that it only takes 5 to 10 minutes to perform an abortion. Solozzo (in the book) lies to Michael’s face and Michael knows just by looking at him. Michael thinks of Solozzo as a pesonovante.

"I don't understand you"!!🤔

I’ve always thought that. It just seems so odd that she would do this without anyone knowing.

It's would have not been possible for her to have abortion remember Tom wouldn't let her leave to go shopping and if she had a doctor's appointment he would have sent some guys with her.

Kay’s abortion is easily explained. Throughout history women have/has alway’s known how/ where to get it done . Rich women during the time when abortion was illegal would have them done at a doctors office… Theres alway’s been some doctors throughout history willing to do a therapeutic abortion/D & C .. Tom wouldn’t have been the wiser , all he would’ve known she had a doctors appointment.

@@bradwinston4670 women have been using herbs since the dawn of time to do this. If she had some celery powder in her cupboard, or enough oregano she could do it to herself.

@@Anne-pv9cb Read Puzo's novel. There is a character in it with a fairly large role that is not in the movie. He's a physician named Jules who performs abortions.

Are you saying Michael knew Rocco was the traitor for most of GF2, but he waited until the very end to send him on a suicide mission to kill Roth in front of the press? Why would Rocco agree to that? So his family would he taken care of?

Wow good point

Coda removed the flashback to Michael dancing with Kay in GF2 and Appolonia in GF1. The ending had less depth without those two scenes.

Agreed.

Appolonia's death was Michael's final loss of innocence. Watch his "proposal" to Kay. It's a business negotiation devoid of emotion.

I agree. You can tell in the scene where he first meets appolonia. He was smitten, like a bolt of lightning. He absolutely loved her. Kaye was someone he thought he loved early on because she was nothing like the rest of his family. Remember, when he met kaye he didn't want a mafia life. Later, after he was the Don he wanted children. Kaye was just comfortable for him and it wouldn't look bad to marry her because of their history together

Apollonia was a manipulative goldigger who married an older man who she found ugly for money. He conned her into marrying him at the hight of the danger and practically killed. And then moved on as if she never existed. He turned himself into a savage animal to protect Kay so what happened in Sicily wouldn't happen to a woman he actually loved

luca was still dead. The sequence is so clear: Luca meets Brazilian, kills Brazi. Than he kidnapped tom and, in the meantime, his men tried to kill vito. luca was semply cheating.

How Could ANY girl NOT FALL In LOVE W/Mike C.? The Second they Showd MIKE 'BACK' Frm 'Sicily'! That's When 'i' Fell In LOVE W/Mike C.! . .N 2 Months Later . .i Just Turnd '11' a couple months Later! . .Xoxo .To MIKE C.!🥰🗽👍💒😁❤

What if the assassins committed suicide?

I didn't think about it, but, what you're saying makes sense. Must not have been the easiest move to make but not the hardest either. Necessary though.

The only reason Vito survived the first shooting was luck(or the script). The Turk had won and did outsmart the Don.

Personal issues played very important role in his decision making. He killed Fredo bc of his family

This is a good theory, but I'm stuck on Michael's earlier comment "They gonna kill Pop. It's the key".

I wish GF2 explained that Rocco was in on it instead of just seeing him go assassinate Roth at the end.

@@jasonleetaiwan Excellent point!

That part.

Michael was not heartless. Wtf are you talking. Dude literally got diabetes and aged over night when his wife left him.

people keep saying that MC is heartless, but look at everything that happened to him. Imagine being betrayed that many times by the people closest to you. By family. And that's AFTER you pulled off the all time legendary move at the end of GF1. I mean eventually, when betrayed enough times by people close to you, how much heart are you going to have left. How warm will your heart be when you find out your bro helped set you up. That your wife had an abortion to spite you

Thank you

Kay wasn't a scorned woman. She was protected woman, everything Michael did was for her safety. She left bc she didn't wanna be married to mafia and bc she wanted to get her child out. When he lost her he got diabetes,aged over night, stopped smoking drinking killing, never took the ring of his finger or touched another woman for the rest of his life

@@dc6461 she knew exactly what she was marrying into. she is the worst character in the entire film series imo

@@johndavesco she is the best character of the story. So beloved and respect that Puzo put her on a pedestal. A woman Michael called his Don In a book. " You are my Don" And Kay didn't know what she was marrying. Michael told her he was working for his father " who was no different than president or Senator " but he is not going to be like his father. " My father's way of doing stuff is old and finished. Give me 5 years and Corleone family will be legitimate "

@@johndavesco And what exactly did she know.....that he was gonna become goddaddy., that he was commit Mass murders, kill his brother in low, extort the casino, got her nearly killed in her own house bc of his slow brother, that she was gonna be locked up in that same house, that Michael was gonna be investigated by The government, .....what exactly did she know ?.....None of those things...... Interestingly he did all of those things bc he had to.. he killed all the families and even Carlo himself not out of vengeance but safety for her and his family. He turned himself into a savage animal to protect Kay so what happened in Sicily wouldn't happen to a woman he actually loved. After his father gave him advice " Women and children can be careless men can not "... But she didn't understand that until he explained it to her in gf3 " Kay , I did what I could to protect you from horrors of this word " " You were in danger, what could I do. Later out children were in danger, what could I do "... The only person that kinda knew what she was getting herself into was Apollonia. She knew Michael was a criminal hiding from the police, coming from the mafia family and still, she married him for money and only for money..... yeah she thought she got herself a daddy but daddy got her....literally. Which is why Puzo blew her up in an act of unbelievable irony..... a goldigger who married a mafia for money blew up in a car. Now Michael, on the other hand never told her about Mafia war. He chased her at the hight of the danger, conned her into marrying him in the middle of the mafia war and killed her with the wedding..... that is bc he didn't give a fuck

best character in the story huh? we're done here

Also, he was kinda distracted after the attempt, like he's scared because Michael survived

Gotta remember, Rocco was brought up in the old regime under clemenza. He probably had the same mindset as Pentangeli and would've hated to see his mentors legacy

But Tom would question Kay's doctor after she lost the baby. Is it possible the doctor didn't know his patient was Michael Corleone's wife, with the bodyguards right there? However, it is possible that Hyman Roth had spies inside the Corleone Family to communicate with Kay and Roth's spy could deliver the abortion drug.

@@user-iy6rm6pm4j Tom would not have been with her as Michael had put him in charge of everything while he secretly went to see Roth. The body guards would not be told nor tom as even then doctors respected patient confidentiality. Even then intelligent women like Kay would already have known about ways to bring about a miscarriage and possibly ask for a tranquilizer( not suspicious) especially since the attempted assassination attempt) and mix it with an over the counter cough syrup, many of which contained Codine, and an alcoholic drink from at home. While individually, not harmful, the combination while not harming her could be fatal to an embryo especially if it was early in the pregnancy. It was not until the mid 60’s that cough medicines containing Codine was put under prescription only after it was found how addictive Codine was. Most doctors and pharmacists were not aware of drug interactions as they are now. Since at that time, most prescriptions were still compounded in the drugstore and the ready made drugs were just coming on the market mostly through doctors giving out the new heavy duty tranquilizers, not a pharmacy. This I know as my first job was as a delivery boy for a drug store in 1959, and all three druggists in the New York neighborhood prepared all the Rx’s personally,even though it was a well iff neighborhood. While the families knew if drugs like cocaine, opium, Heroin, and marijuana, even they were nit aware if the new drugs coming from the fledgling pharmaceutical companies except for some. Antibiotics like penicillin,and streptomycin. Things such as Gamma Globulin were shots given by a doctor. Even things like Diethyl- stilbesterolwhich was given to women at that time could cause a miscarriage even though it was said to be a drug to prevent miscarriage. This drug that was first given in 1940,in the US, was first given to women that had difficulty in maintaining a pregnancy. It was nit until the 60’s that the Effects if giving it to women in their first trimester was harmful to the fetus, and then only after many miscarriages, stillborns, and deformed children were born. -

With how woke Hollywood is now i wouldn't be surprised if a younger Vito was played by Lizzo. Oh, and Michael's reserved behaviour is because he's a closet non-binary furry.

LMAO, please don't turn this thread into an Uncle Junior thread. LOL

Al Pacino is a dwarfism 5ft. 7

agree. It was part of making them feel comfortable. like "I'm here to get a guarantee on my father's safety and am def not here for another reason"

Vito and Michael did coordinate everything. It's 4 families not 5.

And when Michael said " What about Sonny, what about Sicily ".... he ment Barzini declaring was on them, killing Sonny and nearly killing him.

In GF1, Tom complains about Rocco setting up a secret regime. This was his concern and not Neri being a bodyguard of Michael. I never felt any tension between Hagen and Neri.

Number 3-was Rohipnol out at that time. Maybe he slipped him a “Mickey Finn”

Was rohipnol out by that time? Of course maybe he slipped him a “Mickey Finn” ?

Thank you!

Ugh I hate this theory

APPOLLONIA would have been the absolute perfect mob wife. Playing her position and having a bushel of babies for DON MICHAEL, unlike baby killing KAY.

Sean Metro, I go back and forth on this. On the surface, Appollonia (sp) was more like Michael’s mother. That traditional Italian woman. But I think she was spunkier than he knew. She just died before he saw her fully. Kay always had that modern American woman thing going against her. She was never going to be submissive enough for Michael. I think the healthy part of him chose her. But as the unhealthy part eventually won out, there was no way their relationship was going to make it.

Well there are a lot of women that are very nurturing and maternal whom aren’t ready or don’t want another kid. Many people have abortions not because they don’t love the idea of a child but because they are concerned about the mental, physical, spiritual and emotional well being of the child when it gets here. When Kay spoke to him about the ‘abortion’ she spoke with a lot of hatred and resentment. So who knows if she did or not? It was clear she had been holding back a lot of her anger though.

@@MaryLou913, good points. :)

Watch the detailed analysis of the Godfather on my channel!

Yeah, the senate committee would call Michael in for another hearing. If Rocco some how survives after shooting Roth, he would give up Michael for giving the order. It seems Michael assumed Rocco would be shot and then deny later that he gave the order.

Rocco was the betrayer

Apollonia would have been the perfect wife for Michael. There would never have been the strain in the marriage he had with Kay. Apollonia would have had a half-dozen children (at least) with Michael and taken care of the family while loving Michael unreservedly. With a happy family life Michael would have been a different man. I feel his marriage with Kay hardened him and made his life worse. But it wasn't Kay's fault completely; Michael simply shouldn't have married her. When you listen to Michael, he doesn't say he loves her until the end, almost throwing that in at the end, when in fact (in my own opinion) he simply wanted companionship.

I don't think Apollonia would have changed Michael but at the same time Apollonia would have fit into the Sicilian scheme of things... Kate was a wasp and I really believe wasp culture is totally different from Sicilian culture... In terms of questioning your husband's actions.. but I really believe if Apollonia would have made it back to the United States as Michael Corleone's wife there would have been less drama

All I know, she wouldn’t have asked him about his business.

Truly great question sir!

Agree. With Apollonia, Michael was hit with "Thunderbolt". With Kay, no "Thunderbolt".

yup. "No matter what Sollozzo says about a deal, he's gonna kill pop. That's the key for him"

True..true..although paulie was Clemenza’s Guy

Rocco did it

Vito should have known having Luca go under cover would never work. The Turk was a very smart man. Luca was too loyal, as said in the book.

Cheers

@@CineRanter could you do a video on Mean Streets? It really shows that scorcese was the master even before taxi driver. Edit: and thanks for the response.

That would suck balls

Couldn't happen nobody would follow Tom and plus he was a lawyer, not a killer and he could never become the real Don he wasn't Italian.

Michael was good at negotiating. He wasn't stubborn at all and as Don he was fer Except when it came to his family/ his wife .... he destroyed anything that threatened his family

But the mission itself made no sense.

Apollonia was a manipulative goldigger who he conned into marrying him at the hight of the danger and practically killed. And than moved on as if she never existed. Michael's behavior was explained in a book and shown in a movie and it has NOTHING to do with Apollonia. Michael turned himself into a savage animal to protect Kay so what happened in Sicily wouldn't happen to a woman he actually loved. Especially after his father gave him advice " Women and children can be careless men can not " " Why was I feared. What betrayed me, was it my mind or heart "

Goldigger died he came home and told Kay he loved her and cared about her. Kay left he got diabetes aged over night stopped smoking drinking killing, never took the ring of his finger or touched another woman for the rest of his life

@@dc6461 I don't understand how seeing a woman dying he cared nothing about could make a man turn into such a savage animal that he is willing to make the woman he does care about hate him. If he didn't care for Apollonia why did it have such a power over him to make him irrational to the point that he would now drive away the very thing he loved by trying to protect it? He was not shown to have such irrationality beforehand. I have no idea about the book. But the movie gives no indication he loved Kay a great deal. His interest in her after reconnecting with her seemed to be as his wife and the mother to his children. One could even speculate that he purposefully married a woman he didn't love because he felt he couldn't afford to be vulnerable the way he was when Apollonia died. In the movie there's nothing to suggest Apollonia is a gold-digger. And why in the world would a man con a gold-digger into marrying him? I don't understand what sense that makes. One has to admit that the book and the movie are their own stories and works of fiction. The book can perhaps be used as further insight to things in the movie that are treated similarly, but if what you describe about Michael's relationship with Apollonia and his feelings towards Kay are truly a part of the book, it seems to me that the story was rewritten somewhat for the movie. Not only don't I see any evidence of your claims in the movie, but it seems to go against the storytelling of the movie. The movie goes out of its way to show an already cold Michael reconnecting with Kay years after coming back from Sicily. Consider the music playing at the time. As for your second post, no, that is not what happened. Michael came home and only years later told Kay he loved her and cared about her. And, of course, Michael repeatedly showed in the movies that he would never lie to Kay, right? (sarcasm) Michael became a stalwart of the Sicilian traditions. In some sense he was devoted to his family and he greatly respected his wife for being his wife. But that was the tragic nature of Michael. At the same time that he embodied the old ways, he did so without love or soul, and he actually tore down those old ways as the old world was simultaneously being torn down around him. In fact, a little off topic, but I think that's precisely why any sequel after Godfather II was a near-impossible task to pull off well. In the original Godfather a mythology was created. In Godfather II that mythology was torn down. It was the tearing down of the created mythology that gave Godfather II such substance. There was very little left to the Godfather "universe" after that. One couldn't pretend the old mythology still survived and one couldn't just retell the crumbling of it.

@@mattmexor2882 Michael didn't care about Apollonia. He told us that in the book using exactly those words.... When Michael and Kay reunited he tells her " You are the only one I care about, only one I have affection for. I could have chased you I could have conned you I didn't wanna do that to you ".... That is what he did to Apollonia. That is the point of the story. That is the reason she is death, perfectly and utterly elaborated in the book. CARE....Word that made it into the movie, too. He pushed Kay away from him and his family when mafia war began. Because it was dangerous for her to be around him. He chased Apollonia in the middle of the mafia war, conned her into marrying him at the hight of the danger. He never told her that Don Tomassino had warned him, right before he met her that his enemies found him. Everyone knew where he was. Noone knew where exactly in Sicily. It was his moral duty to " pain the picture as clear as day " as stated in the book. He didn't.... he knew he was putting her in danger and he said nothing. He didn't plan for her to die, ..... he just didn't care. The wedding killed her Village circus that was their wedding made by her father is how they found him.

@@mattmexor2882 He brought Kay back into his life only after he made sure it was safe for her. After he made plan to execute 4 families thus getting rid of all the danger she might be in. Clemenza told him when he was preparing him to kill Sollozzo and the cop that wars in mafia sporadically start every 10 years. Opportunity presented itself to get rid of that possible future danger. Only than he brought her back into his life. And After he made plan to legitimize the business by taking over Moe's business. After his father gave him advice " Women and children can be careless men can not " ... he took it to his heart and lived by it. He was serious, vigilant and emotionally stable. In gf1 it was after his father told him that, he found and killed Fabricio. Fabricio was murdered in gf1, that scene was deleted. That is compatible with the book. In book Michael looked for Fabricio only after Kay stayed pregnant with their first child. And it's specifically stated that the main reason he was killed was security of his family. By the way same goes for Carlo. " Man can be forgiven but they never forgive themselves.If they were kept alive he would be neglecting duty to his family "...

Agreed. Michael and Tom are too smart to rely on a fortunate coincidence to come their way. The death of that prostitute had all the makings of a planned set up.