Who would have taken over the family?

If Sonny had NOT had an illegitimate child in Vincent, then who would have been the heir to The Corleone empire?


Don Cardi

My guess is Connie.

Connie was who GF3 pointed to,but gimme a break,is that really logical.Plus if Vinnie was never born,Part 3 would have never been made.I would say Tony would have taken over.Who knows,he might have turned out like Sonny,more than willing to learn the family business.Donship isnt hereditary though,so depending on how old Tony was when Mike died and whatnot it quite possiblly could have been Al Neri.

Im guessing Santino Jr. would have been in the sotryline.

Well, clearly from the GF III dialogue, Michael *HAD* tried to get Anthony to join him in the family business, and Anthony had flat-out refused (no doubt at the urging of his mother).

Most of my GF IV script ideas center on Santino Jr. and Michael Francis (Rizzi) Corleone, the innocent baby baptized on the "Day that settles all family business" at the end of GF I. Although he would have been too young in GF III, still in his twenties.

Santino Jr. is the logical choice.

I believe Vincent was a bad choice to take over the Corleone Family, after just having watched III again last night on AMC. Look at what a disaster was in the beginning of the film - letting his temper take over and clouding his judgment. He kills Zasa's men to create problems for his Michael, then kills Zasa behind Michael's back. I think that no one we see in Part III is fit to take over.

The only person that would even remotely fit the bill to take the reins is Neri. And Neri would have been a bad choice because of his age. The same could be said for Connie, although she would have been much less respected than Neri when dealing with other Families on the Commission.

I would have rather seen Santino Jr. than an illegitimate child be handed the Corleone empire. IMHO, giving the control to Vincent cheapened the Corleone name.

I think FFC and Puzo had forgotten that Sonny had legitimate children. I wonder why they opted for Vincent. I like how it ended up, but there are a lot of angles that could have been discovered.

Maybe Sonny's wife took the kids away after he was killed and realized that that life was no good for them.

Who knows.

A possible plot for GFIV : How about Sonny's real son Frank coming back into the picture and challenging his half brother Vincent for the Corleone throne! Throw in Connie's boy seeking revenge for Michael having his father killed and you have a decent plot. Yes, I agree that Sonny's boy, who I think was named Frank, not Santino Jr. should have been the one written into GFIII. I liked the Vincent character, and think that he should have still played a role somewhere in GFIII, but never felt that he should have been the one to carry on the Corleone empire.


Don Cardi

It would have been carlo if it wasnt for that jelous bastard mike.

Hey board members, it looks like we have a stone in our shoe!


Don Cardi

"Don't tell me your innocent Carlo, it insultes my intelligence"
Carlo deserved it

I doubt Connie's boy would seek revenge on Mike. I mean he must have haerd the stories of his father beating his mother and alligning with a rival to kill Sonny. And he would know that His father's killing would be justified

FFC told me during the filming of GFII that Anthony and Victor would be the heads of the family in GFIII. Of course he was just kidding a kid, GFIII wasn't even an idea at that time...or if it was, he wasn't saying!

If vincent wasnt there, then Joey Zaza would be the guy to take over, Michael was alright with it, it was just vincent that didnt like him.

It wasnt just Vinnie,the comission would have whacked him sooner than later.

Actually, GFIII ws not even close to an idea, as in MANY interviews with FFC he has repeatedly said that he did NOT ever want to make a GFIII. He even tells a story about how nervous and stressful he was just making the first GF movie. For many years after making the first two GF movies FFC said that anytime he walked into a place and heard the music from the movie being played, he would get sick to his stomach because as much as he LOVED his GF movies, it would remind him of the pressure and stress that he was put under by the studio executives. He goes on to tell us that years later, he basically was squeezed into making GFIII due to financial reasons. If anyone watches the Show on Bravo called "Inside The Actor's Studio", every once in a while they will replay this interveiw with FFC. A great interveiw!


Don Cardi

Just one?

That could be an interesting plot for a GF4.

But one thing though & correct me if I'm wrong about this. But didn't Sonny have 2 boys with the names Frank, & Santino Jr. I swear I remember 2 boys with those names from GF1.

Unless my memory is going in my old age, which is possible.

Yes, Frank was born in 1940, Santino jr. in '45. If you look at the GF II family photo taken at Tahoe, Frank is in the back with his hand resting on Micheal's shoulder. The kid at the far right is Santino jr. played by Scott Summers.

i think somebody suggested connie being head of the family i dont think that would have worked a women in chareg of an empire,morelike antoney or sonny younger sons

why do you feel the need to run up your post count by saying stuff like yup, cool and I dunno?