Actually, the reason why Michael wanted a confession was because the Don couldn’t bring himself to kill his favorite daughters husband, which is why Carlos lived as long as he did after Sonny’s death. The confession was unecessary for Michael - he only wanted it to “prove” to his father* that Carlos was, in fact, guilty.
This behavior is re-emphasized in Pt. II when Michael waited until his mother died before killing Fredo.
I do love, though, how he kept in the fact that Sonny was hung like a horse. One quick shot, in passing, of Sonny’s wife showing all the girls at the wedding how big it is, then noticing as Sonny runs off to put it to use.
The war was between the Corleones and the Tattaglias. However, during the meeting, it was Barzini who did all the negotiating. Why? Because “it was Barzini all along” and not Tattaglia.
In the “authorized by the Puzo estate” but non-canonical to purists books by Winegardner his widow and kids move to Florida where she remarries a man with no connections to the Corleones (just an honest schlub). One of the twin girls is a fairly major player in a part of the book that dovetails with her engagement in GODFATHER 2:
You learn that her rich upper-crust WASP boyfriend impregnated her but then wouldn’t marry her because she was an Italian Catholic and specifically a Corleone, but Michael had one of his men “talk” with the guy and change his mind.
I never understood the need to make Vincent Mancini a bastard either since Sonny had at least two sons and so did Connie. Either one of these legitimate nephews would have worked as well. Of course I was also irked at learning Connie’s godfather was Don Altobello (Eli Wallach), a man never once mentioned in the previous movies or book which would mean he was either 1- a soldier (and thus not likely to be the Don’s daughter’s godfather) or 2- a don in a rival family (again, not likely to be the Don’s godfather).
Further off-topic, one of the biggest irritants to me in Winegardner was how Tessio is killed:
He’s taken to the basement of his club, tied to a chair, beaten up, and then killed with slugs to the back of the head. What irked me is that the garrot is the death for traitors. Unless Michael, who seems to actually respect Tessio and understands his treachery really is ‘nothing personal, just business’, specifically said ‘make it quick in consideration of prior service’ he’d have been garrotted like Carlo, and if Michael did give “quick death” mercy why beat him up?
Something I always wondered was if Michael’s killing of the five dons and Carlo is intentionally an Old Testament allusion. In the Bible, King David- following the rebellion of his son Absalom- agrees that he will not take vengeance on some of the men who supported Absalom or on his nephew who went against direct orders and killed Absalom once he was defeated. On his death bed he gives his son Solomon orders to waste them the first chance he gets, a way of not breaking his own oath but getting revenge nonetheless, the same as the retired Vito does with Michael.
In the book the Don knows perfectly well that Carlo’s a wifebeater. The surprising thing is that he’s not visibly upset about it and laughs when his daughter comes to him for help. She asks “Have you ever beat Mama?” and the Don, with Mama Corleone there and smiling in agreement, says “I never had any reason to”. The Don is so old fashioned Sicilian that he considers a marriage a sacred bond that not even a father should interfere within the boundaries of, which is she goes to Sonny (who’s a bit more American, less analytical and old fashioned). It’s very clear even in the movie that the fact he’s battered Connie several times has nothing to do with why he’s ultimately killed, he’s just executed for his treachery that led to Sonny’s death.
Here’s what gets me: Carlo agrees to beat up his wife, at Barzini’s request, to lure Sonny out of the mall so that he can be ambushed on the causeway. Wouldn’t you think, as part of the deal, that he would insist on safe passage into Barzini’s organization?
Granted that Carlo wasn’t the sharpest tool in the drawer, but surely even he would figure out that if he remained with the Corleone family he was dead. Even if they didn’t figure out that he was in Barzini’s pay, they’d be pissed at him for causing Sonny’s death by beating up his wife.
The “negotiator” that is with the Corleones playing Pinochle until Michael gets back is a paid hostage from another family. If anything happens to Michael, they kill the paid hostage, or hold him somewhere else until the third family makes war upon Solazzo and the Tattaglias. This is very clear in the book.
The way I understood it, Carlo was all about the money. He had taken all the wedding money and blown it on booze, girls, and horses. The money had run out and he was looking at having to find a job. When he was rebuffed by the Corleone’s for a job, he was a prime opportunity for Barzini to get to him.
As to the thought of getting caught, hell, why would he? He had beaten Connie before and there was never any real problem with it. Sonny had kicked his ass and he may have felt that getting Sonny killed was what he deserved.
SSG Schwartz
As to the thought of getting caught, hell, why would he? He had beaten Connie before and there was never any real problem with it. Sonny had kicked his ass and he may have felt that getting Sonny killed was what he deserved. >>SSGSchwartz
I think a key point for Carlo, when he realized that he might be able to get away with it, was when Connie complained to her father and The Don’s response was “don’t give him a reason to beat you”. Sonny was the only person that threatened Carlo when he beat Connie, so Carlo probably thought he was getting two birds with one stone- money plus get rid of the only person that was gunning for him.
I can no longer discuss The Godfather (or sequels) without thinking about this Family Guy exchange.
Another off-topic question - after Apollonia was blown up in the car in Sicily, did Michael make any reparations to her family?
That’s never addressed, Mona.
I don’t believe it was even addressed in the book.
Ah well, love 'em and leave 'em. Go back to America and look up Kay.
But in the book, isn’t he privately concerned but unable to interfere? I got the impression that Carlo was treading on thin ice.
And as to the whole “giant vagina meets giant penis” storyline, I guess it was unnecessary in the film, but damn! That scene where Sonny nailed the bridesmaid up against the wall was pretty hot for a high school freshman to read! 
Michael had already married Apollonia so I believe that canceled out any need for reparations.
I agree with much of your post, but I don’t agree that Michael really is as cool and detached as he pretends. He’s vicious and most of the killing he does, including Solazzo, not to mention his brother, is out of vengeance. Whenever Michael says it’s just business, he’s lying. Unlike Sonny, Michael is sophisticated and collected in the way he goes about murder. But he doesn’t do it because it’s good business, he does it for revenge; the rest is just a front.
–Cliffy
In the book the scene where Michael says he’ll do the killing is played a little different than the movie. In both of them the others present start to chuckle and laugh, after seeing Sonny does. But in the book Michael gets to his feet and angrily tells them to stop laughing. Then Sonny explains he’s not mocking him but says he’d always though Michael was the toughest of the three brothers, even tougher than the Don. “You’re a Corleone after all, you son of a bitch, and I was the only one who knew it.”
That’s right. The other gangsters don’t understand his behavior and figure that despite his impressive victory, he’s still not quite the gangster his father was. But I think he really felt that killing his sister’s husband was a step beyond where he’d yet gone. It was Carlo’s death and Connie’s reaction to it that forced Kay to see what her husband had become. She was oblivious to the rest of the bloodbath.
However, I would contend that he wasn’t that way until after he killed Solazzo and McCluskey. The whole scene is set up to show how tense he is about the whole situation. And when he’s sitting there, after he’s returned from the bathroom with the gun, and Solazzo is talking to him in Italian (with no sub-titles, perfect for the scene) he’s not paying attention. His eyes are darting all over the place, he’s sweating, he’s gulping … it’s like he’s going over in his head what he’s getting himself into. Two pistol shots and he’ll be sealing his fate.
It’s quite a performance.