Godfather Misinterpretations and/or Weird Theories

I don't know if this has been discussed before, so I apologize in advance if this is "old hat." But I was talking to my friend's mother a few weeks ago. My friend had taped the Godfather Saga for me in Sept. His mother made me laugh when she said, "Wasn't that awful when they were shooting those people on the church steps during the baby's baptism?"

I said to her, "Margaret [not her real name; I'm protecting her privacy ], none of those shootings took place near the church. They all took place elsewhere while scenes from the baby's baptism were intercut among them. The scene you're thinking of was the murder of mob boss Barzini, which took place outside a court house." My friend had to corroborate before she would believe me .

This leads me to pose this question: The first time you (or someone you know or heard about) saw any of the Godfather movies, did you (or they) misinterpret a scene and think that something totally different was going on? This can get especially humorous if you (or someone else) first saw the movie(s) when you were very young (teen or pre-teen), since the finer plot points could at first be missed.

Or did you hear about someone having a really funny (or laughably strange) explanation or theory for something that happened in the film(s)?

The funnier the better... and you don't have to use real names (to save your friends and acquaintances from embarrassment )

I can think of two stupid things that I thought.

1. In the opening scene when Bonasera is asking Vito to avenge his daughter, when Vito says "Bonasera, Bonasera," I didn't realize he was calling him by his name, I thought he was dismissing him by saying "Buona sera," meaning good evening.

2. When Moe Green says he "made his bones" when Mike was going out with cheerleaders, I didn't know that making your bones meant killing someone...I thought it was some kind of sexual reference.

Good ones, DT!
When I saw the "Saga" TV version the first time, I was struck by two things:
1. Sonny says to Tom re. Michael and the gun in the toilet: "I don't want my brother comin' outta there with just a STICK in his hands..." Eh? I thought maybe he was gonna reach for the toilet plunger.
2. When Frankie and Michael meet at Anthony's party, Clemenza says, "Clemenza promised them [the Rosatos] USH-GATZ." What? An Italian word I never head of? Maybe Frankie was Turkish?
Only later did I realize that the TV version was bowdlerized (censored). Wadda dunce I was!

Oh my goodness, this is funny. The toilet plunger! USH-GATZ! Buona Sera!

I haven't giggled in front of the computer like this since Don Cardi's parody script about Robot Films and J. Geoff ("... and I've had meatballs all over the world!")

I'm still wondering what sanitized word Frankie was using in that scene. When I saw it on the Saga, I thought it sounded like "nougat," which doesn't make a lot of sense because that's the candied nut filling found in chocolate bars. (So what was Frankie saying -- that Clemenza promised them nuts? Or he promised them nuttin'? ) But if it's supposed to be a (sanitized) Italian word that sounds like "uz-gatz" then I'm still lost.

Thank you guys for posting. I hope we get more good ones like that.

I never understood why they shot Vito because of what Sonny said during the Vito-Sollozzo negotiations. I tought sonny said, angrily, "then you go tell the Tattaglia's that their guarantees...." I couldn't hear it was actually a question, out of interest. And thus, I didn't understand why everyone was so mad at Sonny.

Kinda stupid of mine, because this is a major plotline.

For many years, my husband thought that Luca Brasi's name was Lou Cabrazzi.

Cristina, when I opened your thread I was sure it was a brief summary of my usual interpretatory posts
OK, when I saw the GF first, I was actually pre-teen, and I don't remember much. I only know that "deathkiss" seemed kinda strange to me. And thank God, there was no GF3 then!

*still rolling on floor*

Cristina: Frankie was supposed to be saying "ugaz," as you know, as in "ugaz a tan cul," the all-purpose Italian F-expression. That the TV networks thought they could spare viewers' tender sensibilities by making it "ushgatz" is REALLY comical!

Now you've got me giggling!

Hey, in the GFII where Frankie meets up with Fredo and Frankie says "Bring out the peppers and salsiccia" they are still translating that as peppers and sardines. Madonne!

For the longest time I thought that Woltz found the head of Khartoum in his bed on the very night he had dinner with Tom Hagen. Then when I saw The Godfather again several years later, I picked up on the fact that Tom left for the airport that same evening. I briefly thought, "Boy, that Tom Hagen works fast. And he must have slipped something in Woltz's wine to knock him out." Then it dawned on me that the Khartoum incident happened days, or maybe weeks, later.

It's not as funny as "Lou Cabrazzi" , but it's the only one of my misinterpretations that I can recall right now .

I was thinking of "Lou Cabrazzi" (having a chuckle), and I have to ask Sicilian Babe how her husband discovered that he had the name wrong all that time. (Or did someone discover it for him and point it out?) Wait, let me guess: He read the book, saw the character "Luca Brasi," and put two and two together?

Among 4,000+ members, it's possible there could be more "undiscovered" Godfather characters. Maybe there's a Paul Legato (Paulie Gatto), Enzo DeBakker (Enzo the Baker), John Niola (Johnny Ola), High Man Roth (Hyman Roth), or Joe Izasa (Joey Zasa). Heck, there could even be a Carl O'Reetzy or a Toni Rose Atto if someone really wasn't paying attention.

You never know...

I was young when I first saw the film, and when Vito was berating Johnny Fontaine for acting unmanly, I thought he said 'Hollywood pinnochio' instead of finochio. I thought he was calling him a liar until a lady I know whose parents had come from Sicilly explained to me the varied meanings and usage of the word finnochio.

He had never read the book, although he did start it recently. I was talking with my brother about major differences between the book and the film, and said something about Luca's story being dropped from the film, and that's how my husband realized it.

Lou Cabrazi is great.

How about an Irish twist

Veet O'Corleon
Santeen O'Corleon
Carl O'Rizzi
McCluskey (stays the same)

Not quite as bad as the good doctor - for years I thought Sonny was telling Vito (upon Vito's return home from the hospital) that Fredo was going to Vegas to learn the casino business under the protection of Don Francesco Valet (instead of Don Francesco of L.A.)

When Roth says "90 miles .... for a man looking to become the president...", I thought he(Roth) aspired to become the president. I know it doesn't make sense, but..

When I first saw the films and hadn't read the book yet, I couldn't figure out what was wrong with Michael's nose in the Sicily sequence. What was all the sniffling about? Was he allergic to the local flora or what?

Having never been smashed in the face myself, I didn't realize that a broken jaw can also cause sinus problems. DUH!

Partagas, you just brought back a Godfather memory to me. I had forgotten about it until I read your post. My relatives had a set of Britannica Year Books (published by the Britannica Encyclopedia company), which were hardcover time capsules of the year in review, covering politics, economics, sports, film, television, etc.

As a youngster, I recall perusing the past editions. In the 1972 book, I was reading the film section and came across a blurb of The Godfather, which read something like this: "Don Corleone seems gentle on the surface. He plays with his grandchildren, dances at his daughter's wedding..."

For about a year after that, I thought Marlon Brando's character was actually named Don . And I wondered what the long form of his name could have been because "Don" certainly didn't sound Italian .

Some relatives were watching the first film, and the scene where Michael is being take to the restaurant and the car quickly changes direction. One person didn't quite understand what happened, and asked if they had turned around. Another person said 'No, the Corleones forced them to turn around.'