Why Did Michael Scream at Frankie?

When Michael comes to Frankie's house unannounced, he is scraming to him about how he was ambushed in his room where his wife sleeps and where his children come to play with their toys.

In the next breath he is telling Frankie he knows Roth was behind the hit and he enlists Frankie to help him take revenge.

So what is the point of Michael's outburst? It is unlike Michael to lose it the way Sonny did, and if he was already sure Roth was the culprit, he could not have been "testing" Frankie.

[PENTANGELI shuts the door.]
You heard what happened in my home?

PENTANGELI

Mike, I almost died myself -- we was all so relieved --

MICHAEL (shouting)

In my home! In my bedroom, were my wife sleeps! Where my children come and play with their toys. In my home.

Was Pentangeli there that night?

What I sort of get from this is that perhaps Michael felt that Frankie didn't acknowledge the implications of this! The fact that the Don's house was penetrated so...?

I don't think that Michael was 100% sure that Frankie wasn't involved somehow. He shows up unannounced and tells Frankie "I didn't want you to know I was coming". Even though he was pretty sure it was Roth I think the outburst was Michael's way of gauging Frankie.

More importantly even someone as self-contained as Michael still needed to vent sometimes and Frankie happened to be the person unfortunate enough to be around.

Lastly it is also an excellent opportunity to shame/manipulate Frankie into doing what he had been balking at doing-settle the troubles with the Rosatos.

Frankie just pawn in game of life.

I think he just wanted to intimidate Pentangeli and make him submissive. He wanted to make clear to him that he was the boss.

He wanted to make sure that Frankie would be more then willing to follow his orders. This was very important for his plan to succeed.

Personally, I enjoy this scene very much. Great acting by two great actors.

In the one & only Gangster BB dinnner we enjoyed together, Turnbull explained beautifully how in this meeting, Michael played Frankie like a violin.

The surprise visit & brief outburst followed by gentle, respectful prodding & nostalgic references to his father & the old days were not necessary, as Frankie would've at that point followed his Don's orders anyway.

But intimidation and submissiveness was EXACTLY what was needed after all that defiance and disrespect shown at the Communion party.

I think that Michael might have been screaming so that it could be overheard and maybe reported back to the Rosatos.

Sometimes I think we read too much into some scenes. It's pretty simple. Michael was outraged that someone fired at least a clip of bullets into his bedroom and nearly killed his wife.

I have to admit, I feel in that screaming scene, Al Pacino has adopted some of his acting habits that we can see in other films, such as Scarface, Carlito's way, City Hall. He has that strange way of disconnecting his lower jaw.
When it comes to anger I prefer the scene where he's screaming at Kay in the hotel.

Maybe he had more of Sonny in him than we knew.

A brilliant scene showing Michael at his most manipulative:

He came there with an agenda: to first play on Frankie's fear that he suspected him in the Tahoe shooting; and then, taking advantage of Frankie's relief, to maneuver him into a dangerous meeting with the Rosatos. Michael couldn't lose: by agreeing to meet with the Rosatos, Frankie erased whatever tiny, lingering doubt Michael may have had about who was responsible for the Tahoe shooting. If he kissed and made up with the Rosatos, it'd take a worrisome problem off Michael's chest. If the Rosatops atttacked Frankie, it'd not only be further confirmation of Roth's guilt, but it'd give Michael a leg up on Roth if he needed it.

Toward that end: Michael's goal in Havana was to stall Roth on the $2 million long enough to find out who the traitor was in his family. In his last meeting with Roth, he tried to play the Frankie-killed card: after Roth challenged him on why he hadn't brought the bagful of money Fredo brough to Havana, Michael replies, belligerantly, "Who had Frank Pentangeli killed?", as if it was some kind of quid pro quo. But then Roth brilliantly outmaneuvered him with the world-beating Moe Green speech.

Amazingly though, even after being outmaneuvered in BOTH these instances (as well as others), Michael in the end prevails over Roth.

Of course as the 'hero' for lack of a better word...Michael HAS to win against all odds or the story wouldn't work. What makes it such a compelling story (despite the numerous writing flaws) is how he ultimately does prevail...and yet is so alone and isolated in the end.

TB, I'm reluctant to disagree with you, but I will regarding Michael's motivation. I don't think Michael's manipulating Frankie took place. Michael told Frankie quite clearly in Tahoe that his family was still called Corleone and Frankie was too much of an old soldier not to understand what Michael meant by that. In NY, he patiently explained to Frankie why he wanted him to settle things with the Rosatos. Call that manipulation if you want. But Michael is the Big Don and Frankie is the little Don, Frankie realized that and, again, he was too much of an old soldier not to follow orders until he thought that Michael tried to kill him.

Michael's yelling at Frankie was simply Micahel's emoting over the attack.

Yes, but that was BEFORE the attack.

When it comes to all thing Godfather related olivant, I almost always agree with you and feel that you have great opinions and insight in regards to the trilogy. However on this one I have to agree with TB. As Apple said above, TB explained it brilliantly at one of the dinners we were at and I believe that if you were there to hear it, instead of reading it in words, you too would agree.

True...and if that's all there were to it then there would've been no need for Michael to pay this surprise visit to Frankie in the first place.

Frankie had already conceded that despite his need to vent his disgust and distrust of Roth, that there would be no trouble from him. That meant he would do what he was told...but wouldn't like it. Michael knew that was true when he allowed Frankie to go home ("The old man had too much wine...")

He DID need to manipulate Frankie and that's exactly what he did do in this scene.

And by the way, the manipulation begins right here (if not prior to Frankie even entering his own house):

FRANKIE: Don Corleone, I wish you had let me know you were coming; I could've prepared something for you.

MICHAEL: I didn't want you to know I was coming.

Exactly, Apple! And as soon as he said it, he started shouting. Why wouldn't he have let Frankie know he was coming--except to soften him up by scaring him and then letting him off the hook?

I don't eat in New York con the Board monitors or their messengers, TB and Apple. But I want everybody on the Board to know that there won't be any more posts from me on this subject.

TURNBULL : "You want him to leave now?"

DON CARDI : "Let him go back to Texas -- I've already made my point. That old man had too much wine."

Whi Did Michael Scream at Frankie?

Because he could!

Michael made a few bad decisions when it came to Frankie. I think he knew that Frankie was loyal but he screwed himself by not letting Frankie take care of the Rosatos even though we all knew from a mile away what they were going to do. Without Vito Mike didn't always think with a clear head

fatherson, It's probably because he was so angry and another thing was that Frankie was very hardheaded when dealing with The Rosattos. Keep in mind, that Frankie didn't promise certain Territories to them after Clemenza died so that damaged his credibility.