best of mafia cinema

This was an intriguing scene, but it was edited out for good reason. It gives away what was arguably the best scene of the movie: the baptism sequence, which was the climax. In the subsequent scene where Michael reunites with Kay and informs her that he's now working for his father and that the Corleone Family will "be legitimate in five years," it makes the audience naive enough to believe that he's sticking to his original vow to her that he would never be a man like his father. But when we see the baptism scene, in which the heads of the five NY Mafia families are knocked off, it creates an element of surprise. Had this deleted scene been included, it would have made the baptism scene too expected and predictable, because we would have known that Michael was going to eventually execute vendetta for his wife and brother's death.

Everyone talks about how great Brando and Pacino were in Part I, and rightfully so, but people often forget or overlook Robert Duvall. His performance as Tom Hagen is so underrated. He’s literally the heartbeat of the trilogy, or at least the first two films. It’s a damn shame he didn’t return for Part III. His absence is one of the reasons Part III ended up being such a shit show. Part III was originally going to revolve around Tom and Michael fighting for the soul of the Corleone family. That would have been so much better than what we actually got.

When Tom tells Vito that Luca Brasi wishes to see him, you can tell that the Don himself got anxious by how he stepped back from the window and started scratching the back of his head/ear. The only man Vito feared was Luca Brasi and the only man Luca Brasi answered to was Vito, what a duo of characters!

Wow, it's almost as if Michael is talking like a statue. When you compare the emotions displayed when they were together previously and to this scene, it's like night and day.

Such a great way to set the tone from the very beginning. The Godfather opens with the joyful, hopeful gathering of Connie’s wedding, where everyone treats Don Vito with reverence. The Godfather Part II opens with a much more cynical family gathering. Senator Geary, Frank Pentangeli, and even Connie’s new fiancé are all either disrespecting Michael, imposing on him, or embarrassing him. Even after Michael’s brilliant “settling of all family business” at the end of Part I, this scene makes one thing clear: he still doesn’t command the same respect Vito did.

This deleted scene from The Godfather is even more interesting when you read the original passage from Mario Puzo’s novel. Here’s what Vito really meant when he asked whether Jack Woltz had real balls. From the book: "Does this man have real balls?" Hagen considered exactly what the Don meant by this question. Over the years he had learned that the Don's values were so different from those of most people that his words also could have a different meaning. Did Woltz have character? Did he have a strong will? He most certainly did, but that was not what the Don was asking. Did the movie producer have the courage not to be bluffed? Did he have the willingness to suffer heavy financial loss delay on his movies would mean, the scandal of his big star exposed as a user of heroin? Again the answer was yes. But again this was not what the Don meant. Finally Hagen translated the question properly in his mind. Did Jack Woltz have the balls to risk everything, to run the chance of losing all on a matter of principle, on a matter of honor; for revenge? Hagen smiled. He did it rarely but now he could not resist jesting with the Don. "You're asking if he is a Sicilian." The Don nodded his head pleasantly, acknowledging the flattering witticism and its truth. "No," Hagen said.

This scene is also very important, because it's the only scene in the entire saga where we actually see Mother Corleone have dialogue, serious dialogue... she's been the instrumental soft side of Vito's empire, and it's the first time we hear her opinion.

"It was Michael who killed Sollozo". Notice how Sonny could not bring himself to tell the Don what Michael had done, and Sonny looked to Tom to break the news. Sonny knew how Vito felt about Michael, and that Vito would be extremely unhappy at what had happened.