Was Busetta an Assassin or a Body Guard or Both

OK, hear me out on this one. Busetta is a pretty hardcore dude. He also doubled as a hitman. Now Michael definatly needed a Bodyguard, but he potentially also needed someone to whack someone. Do you think he knew of Roth's involvment and Busetta is just an assassin or is just a bodyguard or both? I know he functioned as both.

My guess is both. Busetta was like Luca Brasi.. bodyguard/hitman rolled into one (was about as useful, too )

Yes, Buscetta is both bodyguard and assassin.
Certainly Michael knew that Roth was behind the Tahoe attack (as he told Pentangeli). Buscetta was set to kill Roth after he whacked Johnny Ola, but Roth's stroke intervened.

For all intents and purposes I think one job goes with the other, but in the case of Neri and Busetta, they are also sort of raised to a postion of "confidant"

I always thought that he was a fashion designer/wardrobe consultant.

I mean, his weapon of choice was the deadly clotheshanger...

You could be on to something there. Maybe after taking care of Roth, Busetta planned to take Johnny's orange suit out on the hanger...and showcase it at his next 'What not to Wear' seminar.

Damn that Roth for having that stroke & screwing everything up...!!!

Apple

When was he ever called "Busetta"?

He was never called Buscetta in the film. We know his name only from the credits, scripts and books.

Does the Character buscetta have a story behind him like, say, Brazi/Lampone/Neri does, or is he simply an anonymous tough guy thought up for pt 2.

I think the clothes hanger was a bit boring and repetetive. Its 'another strangeling scene' (we've already seen Luca, Carlo, Frankie get strangled already). I am halfway through reading the 2nd version of the GF2 script, and here Ola expires in a much more entertaining way. I wonder why they changed it.

To those who haven't read V2 of GF2, Buscetta knocks on ola's door, then quietly unlocks and opens the door of the ajoining room. When Ola opens, Buscetta sneaks up behind him and "easily breaks his neck in two".

He's strictly a creature of GFII.

In fact Buschetta has a very interesting back story. His father ran a small pizza place in Sicily. One day the oven broke down and he got the idea to serve chopped tomatoes, spices, and olive oil on pieces of toast. He became very wealthy for his invention. Unfortunately when his son moved to the USA, the Immigration Officer did not understand his last name, and changed it from Bruschetta to Buschetta.

Here's my question: Why did he need Buschetta when he had Neri? Or was Neri more valuable doing other things? I know he did work at the hotels, security or some such thing, but what else did he do? Did he just take care of "special" jobs, such as Fredo and the like? Need speculation on that. Thanks.

As Michael told Tom just before he left Tahoe following the shooting: "Right now, you're the only one I can completely trust...[Neri and Rocco] are businessmen; their loyalty is based on that." In other words, even though Michael was nearly certain at that point that Roth was behind the shooting, he couldn't be completely certain that Neri wasn't involved in the shooting somehow.
Michael, subtle fellow, might have been playing his uncertainty about Neri to good advantage with Roth. By using Buscetta as his bodyguard, and leaving Neri out, Michael might have been signaling Roth that he was still in the dark about who was behind the shooting--in other words, not merely that he didn't completely trust Neri,but that he might actually suspect Neri (and not Roth).

Good point TB, but at thatpoint I think Neri was pretty high up in the organization and had plenty to do. When Mike made Tom the Don, he gave him control over "Neri and his men." This tells me Neri was a lot more to Mike than Luca was to Vito. Luca was just Muscle, but Neri had an advisory role, and it would have further weakened the family in Tahoe if Michael AND Neri went missing.

Yours is a good point too, dt. Neri was certainly more than mere muscle at that point, and as I've often posted (attention: plaw!), he was maneuvering in GFII to push past Hagen to be Number Two.
This leads to another point: if Michael knew that there was a traitor in his family, and that it was a "very scary" situation, why did he take off and leave his wife, kids and mom with the traitor in place? I think he recognized that, while Roth was ruthless enough to order a machine gun attack on him that might have killed Kay, Michael was still the prime target. By removing himself from Tahoe, he removed the target that could have endangered the rest of his family. And since Roth wanted that $2 million from him, Roth wouldn't move against him until he had the money. So Michael kept stringing Roth along--all the while buying time to figure out who the traitor was.

I always wondered about that and now you made me understand why he actually left. Thanks TurnBull.


DS

While Neri was Michael's Luca Brasi, it was in comparison in muscle only. Neri was much more than a Luca Brsi to Mike, more like a combination Luca Brasi / Peter Clemenza and Tom Hagen.

Strong and unafraid like Luca was to Vito, plus loyal and accountable like Clemenza was to Vito.

Neri was Luca, Clemenza and even a little bit of Tom Hagen all rolled up into one person.

Neri was a very important piece of Michael's army.


Don Cardi

Yes! And the proof is:
In the penultimate boathouse scene, when Michael says that he wants Roth's plane met, and Hagen says it's impossible, Michael puts down Tom and says, "Rocco?" He doesn't say, "Al"? Why? Because Michael knows it's a one-way mission--and he's selected Rocco, not Neri, because Rocco's expendible and Neri isn't.

Michael left all the traitors wondering if Michael had discovered their individual roles in the plot to assasinate him. I believe that Rocco was one of the traitors. Neri was left behind so that Rocco would not be tipped off as to Michael's suspicions of him (Rocco).

Hail, Caeser! Welcome! Hope to see many thoughtful posts from you.
Would you care to tell us more about why you think Rocco was one of the traitors?

Hail Turnbull...lol. I think Rocco was one of the traitors because it would have taken the consent of one of Michael's inner circle to hit him...someone who could allow the gunmen access to Michael's fortress and protection from discovery...someone who knew Michael's daily habits...someone who could walk in Michael's bedroom while Kay was sleeping and open the curtains...someone who could kill the assasins. I know Pentangeli could not have done those things. I don't believe Fredo could have either. I also do not believe that Fredo would have the courage to PERSONALLY take part in the hit. Fredo tells Johnny Ola in his middle of the night phone conversation, "You guys lied to me." Johnny Ola then replies, "Your brother won't find out." I believe Fredo did not want the hit to happen when he was on Michael's property. I don't think Fredo knew that the hit was going to happen that night. One interesting detail: check out the scene where Michael is greeting Johnny Ola and Rocco walks in with an orange. He is looking intently at Johnny Ola with a question mark expression. Michael takes the orange and says, "What's this?" Rocco says, "An orange from Miami." I think that orange was a signal to Rocco that the hit was going to be that night. And don't forget that Rocco was the man who would say, "Difficult...not impossible," when asked to assasinate an invulnerable target. What perfect Sicilian revenge to use Rocco to kill Roth and then have the assasin
bumped off by an FBI guy in the Corleone payroll.
To sum up: I think the logistics of the hit on Michael would have been impossible without Neri or Rocco.

Caesar, what you wrote about the orange has me intrigued -- so much so that I looked it up on the online script for GF2.

Michael introduces Al (Neri) and Rocco* to Johnny Ola. When Michael sees that Rocco is holding an orange, he asks, "What's this?" and Johnny answers, "It's an orange from Miami." While I personally don't think it's a signal about the hit, it does make me wonder if Johnny's bringing an orange as a souvenir for Rocco is an indication that they've had a prior acquaintance -- even though Michael's introductions indicate that the two men are supposed to have just met*.

Then again, I could be reading too much into it. Maybe Johnny gave the orange to Rocco because Rocco was the first one to greet him on shore. (I believe Johnny came in by boat via Lake Tahoe, as has been discussed on these boards; but I hope someone will post and confirm my recollection.) Or maybe the orange is just a hint of what will later to happen to Rocco (oranges = death in The Godfather films).

* On closer reading of the script, Michael says Rocco's name when Johnny enters the office; so I don't know if that's meant to be an introduction for Johnny's sake, or if Michael is simply addressing Rocco.

On the night of the hit, the curtains of Michael's bedroom were open so that the assasins could target Michael. Kay did not open them because she said, "Michael, why are the curtains open?" Michael didn't open them...you can see his reaction to her question is quizzical.

One of the traitors opened the curtains while Kay was sleeping. Who could have done that?

I had a feeling that Rocco was a traitor too (although some very smart people here have posted counter-arguments that make me doubt myself ). I also think I'm one of the few people who believed that Rocco opened (or could have opened) the drapes. It looks like he's in charge of security on the grounds, so I wouldn't be surprised if he had access to the house.

When you made that post about the exchange of the orange, I thought that could be one more point in favour of the "Rocco as traitor" theory because it hints that Johnny Ola and Rocco know each other. I have to check my Godfather II tape for the scene where Johnny Ola arrives at Tahoe to see if there are any visual clues about this.

Yes, Rocco does meet the boat that brings Johnny Ola.
It really isn't necessary that Rocco personally knew Johnny. I don't think he did. I believe Fredo put the players together.

I just read a previous thread on this topic...I think BOTH Fredo and Rocco were the traitors. Incidentally, it's clear from many scenes in GF2 that Fredo and Rocco are good friends. Check out the scene where Rocco gives Fredo a "love pat" on the face after telling him, "Michael says if you don't take care of this I have to." (Talking about Fredo's wife making a scene) Also, just as Michael is walking into the boathouse to question Fredo about the Senate investigation, Rocco walks out of the room...he has obviously been talking to Fredo.
I think Johnny Ola first contacted Fredo with the plot against Michael. Then Fredo supplied the players for the hit (Pentageli and Rocco). I think Fredo made Johnny and Roth promise that he (Fredo) would not be anywhere around when the hit went down. (Fredo's "You guys lied to me." Johnny's "Your brother won't find out.)

Oh it goes without saying that Fredo is a traitor too (or is the only traitor, depending on one's theory). He's certainly the primary traitor. I believe he is duped by Roth into doing some things that would make the hit on Michael possible. (I also believe that Fredo had no idea that Roth's men planned to kill Michael.)

I think Rocco could have been the person who killed the two gunmen.

Pentangeli wasn't involved at all. Michael believed it was either Roth or Pentangeli who arranged the attack. He learned very soon that it was Roth alone.

And now I have a Michael-like hunch that a moderator will soon come around and move the posts we've been exchanging into a new topic called "Traitors" (or something like that).

Anytime someone points out that the Roth hit was a "suicide mission for Rocco", I always feel compelled to mention that there is no indication that Michael necessarily intended that Rocco actually be the one to carry out the hit.

Michael could've merely been asking Rocco if such a hit were possible, to which Rocco replies "Difficult, not impossible."

Michael wanted Roth's plane "met". There clearly weren't very many options for the manner in which the hit would be carried out, nor would there be more than the one opportunity, since it was expected that Roth was to be taken into immediate custody.

But had Rocco come to Michael with another similar plan which involved someone other than himself as the shooter, there's no reason why Michael would not have agreed to it, unless he desired that Rocco also be killed.

But, had it been Michael's wish to eliminate Rocco, why not just have him whacked outright?

If Michael had good reason to want Rocco eliminated because Rocco was, in fact, his "enemy", then he was taking a big chance in giving this assignment to Rocco, since Rocco may have realized that Michael's insistence that he (Rocco) carry out this suicide mission meant that he (Rocco) had been identified as an enemy.

So Michael was taking a risk because if Rocco came to this realization, he might've left for the airport to kill Roth and instead headed off in the opposite direction, not only escaping himself, but leaving Roth alive as well.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by plawrence:
[Anytime someone points out that the Roth hit was a "suicide mission for Rocco", I always feel compelled to mention that there is no indication that Michael necessarily intended that Rocco actually be the one to carry out the hit. If not Rocco, then who?

Michael could've merely been asking Rocco if such a hit were possible, to which Rocco replies "Difficult, not impossible." Michael had already said, "I want that plane met." That statement tells me it wasn't a question, it was an order.

But had Rocco come to Michael with another similar plan which involved someone other than himself as the shooter, there's no reason why Michael would not have agreed to it, unless he desired that Rocco also be killed. There's every reason, IMO, for Michael to have wanted only someone completely trustworthy to carry out that mission--no substitutes, no subcontractors. That's why Michael himself had to carry out the murders of Sollozzo and McCluskey in another life-and-death mission.

But, had it been Michael's wish to eliminate Rocco, why not just have him whacked outright? Indeed--if Michael had suspected Rocco of complicity in the Tahoe attack, he would have been whacked outright. Instead, I believe, Michael had concluded that Rocco was worth less to him than Neri. So, the ruthless bastard concluded, send him on a "mission impossible." Rocco was an experienced killer who'd have a greater chance of killing Roth than any hired gun. He'd almost certainly be killed in return. That was good for Michael because he'd never live to be bribed or coerced by The Law into ratting out Michael--and Michael no longer needed Rocco anyway.
If Michael had good reason to want Rocco eliminated because Rocco was, in fact, his "enemy", then he was taking a big chance in giving this assignment to Rocco, since Rocco may have realized that Michael's insistence that he (Rocco) carry out this suicide mission meant that he (Rocco) had been identified as an enemy.

So Michael was taking a risk because if Rocco came to this realization, he might've left for the airport to kill Roth and instead headed off in the opposite direction, not only escaping himself, but leaving Roth alive as well.
Yes. That's why I believe that Michael didn't suspect Rocco of complicity in the Tahoe attack--he simply made a cold-blooded decision that Rocco was dispensible.

Cristina: Thank you for that terrific little nugget you game me about oranges equaling death in the GF movies!!!
By the way, Michael is sucking on an orange when he is giving Rocco the order to hit Roth...the scene where Rocco says, "Difficult, not impossible."

I tend to agree with Plaw about Rocco handing the job on down the line. To be honest with you, I never understood why Michael wanted Rocco himself to do it in the firstplace. I know he wasn't as important as Neri, therefore expendible, but that doesn't necessarily mean he automatically has to die. In fact, if I were Michael I would be more than a little worried if I found out that is was Rocco who performed the hit.

Michael had just dodged a major bullet at the Senate Hearings when Pentangelli changed his testimony, and in doing so eliminated the testimony of the "buffer" needed to convict Michael. From the chart at the hearings, the FBI knew that Rocco also received direct orders from Michael as a capo. Considering they knew all of this info, I think it is pretty safe to assume that they were aware of Michael's business relationship with Hyman Roth. It's been stated many times that Rocco's mission was a suicide mission, so they wouldn't have been able to get any testimony from Rocco, but how do you think it looked to the FBI when one of the top Corleone men ended up shooting one of his business partners in that Miami airport.

I'm no law professor so I could be wrong in my assumption, but I'm guessing that the circumstantial evidence would have been more than enough to expand any subpoenas or warrants and open the floodgates of the Senate Hearings all over again. Michael barely squeaked away clean the first time. I doubt we was real eager to try to do so again.

Having Rocco give one of his top subordinates the job would have kept the buffer system intact and he'd still have his no. 4 man. Michael obviously didn't have a whole lot of trust in Rocco anymore if he truly felt he was as expendible as some suggest, so why would Michael care if it was Rocco or one of his men that killed Roth? As Plaw stated above, the hit wasn't really all that difficult anyways. Any wiseguy could have posed as a reporter, pulled out a gun and shot Roth. If Michael really felt Rocco was expendible to the point that he needed to die, he could still have one of Neri's men do it or simply send him on a lower profile suicide mission.

Jimmy, everything you said in your post was logical. Logic is on your side. But consider:

If a button man below Rocco or Neri's level was considered good enough to do the hit, the guy would have been smart enough to figure out that he was certain either to be killed or captured. Given an order to do the job, with no option out, the guy would have had a powerful incentive to either rat out Rocco (or Neri, if he was one of Neri's men) to law enforcement--which would implicate Michael by extension--or to sell out to Roth.

But Michael, the supreme manipulator, would have sensed Rocco's desire to regain the stature that he lost to Neri. And Rocco might have convinced himself that he had a chance to escape. It's true that Rocco, dead or alive, would have been identified with Michael. But by that point in his life, Michael seemed not to care. Kay--who, more than anyone in his life needed to believe in his "legitimacy"--was out of his life, after revealing her abortion and her conviction that "this Sicilian thing...must end." And Fredo was about to be dead. Michael had achieved what he wanted in Nevada; and Castro's takeover in Cuba put the kaibosh on his plan to supplant Roth as the top gambling honcho in Havana. He had little to lose.