Did Fredo know they were going to try and kill Michael?

How involved was Fredo in all of the planning on Tahoe? What all did he do?

Fredo was weak and stupid.

If you watch the film, later on you hear him tell brother Mikey that he (Fredo), "ran into" Johnny Ola in Beverly Hills.

It was he who asked Freddy for some help. If you remember, Fredo told Mike..."they said you were being tough on the negotiations and that if I could help...there was something in it for me....something in it for me!" Mike: Haven't I always taken care of you?"...Fredo:TAKEN CARE OF ME. TAKEN CARE OF ME? I'm your older brother Mikey and I was stepped over!" Mike: That's the way Pop wanted it." Fredo: "Well, it's not the way I wanted it!"

Being the weaker sibling, Fredo always believed he was being stepped on by everyone else. He saw this as a golden opportunity to make a little mark in his own right.

Freddy, because of the way he saw himself, was very gullible. He truly believed that he could do something important. In his glee, he more than likely did not believe he was doing anything wrong, hence, he could not see through his own self-excitment, that his deed was truly part of a "hit" on Michael.

"You're nothing to me now, Fredo. You're not a friend, not a brother."

Fredo was weak and stupid.

If you watch the film, later on you hear him tell brother Mikey that he (Fredo), "ran into" Johnny Ola in Beverly Hills.

It was he who asked Freddy for some help. If you remember, Fredo told Mike..."they said you were being tough on the negotiations and that if I could help...there was something in it for me....something in it for me!" Mike: Haven't I always taken care of you?"...Fredo:TAKEN CARE OF ME. TAKEN CARE OF ME? I'm your older brother Mikey and I was stepped over!" Mike: That's the way Pop wanted it." Fredo: "Well, it's not the way I wanted it!"

Being the weaker sibling, Fredo always believed he was being stepped on by everyone else. He saw this as a golden opportunity to make a little mark in his own right.

Freddy, because of the way he saw himself, was very gullible. He truly believed that he could do something important. In his glee, he more than likely did not believe he was doing anything wrong, hence, he could not see through his own self-excitment, that his deed was truly part of a "hit" on Michael.

"You're nothing to me now, Fredo. You're not a friend, not a brother."

This is one of the most oft-asked questions on these boards. Many (most?) here believe Fredo when he said, "I swear to God, Mike, I didn't know it was gonna be a hit." He's too weak, too stupid, too helpless, too easily misled by Roth, to be in on the attempted murder of his own brother. But then you have to take into account that, just before the shooting, Kay notices that the drapes in her and Michael's bedroom are open. Who opened the drapes, if not Fredo? And if he did, to what purpose did he open the drapes? So the gunmen could sneak a peek at Kay undressing for bed?

Thanks for that laught Turnbull! I have always wondered about the drapes too. I think Fredo just wanted his brother gone, not dead, but he didnt realize in that business they go hand in hand. When Ola calls him and he says-You've already gotten me in deep enough... I think thaty says he didnt know.But this also brings up the question of if Fredo had told Mike in Havana what he was trying to, would he have been killed?

yeah, but if ya think about it, he was fine while working with Don Vito, after the shooting, when he went to Las Vegas, and then onward, he was kind of on his own, and he really didn't know what to do.

That lack of guidance always had a way of getting him into trouble, then to top it all off, get threatened by his own brother. All he wanted I guess was to be set in the right direction, but he was too naive to deal with it.

In all fairness, Vito shoud have wanted Fredo out of he Family Business, live a quiet, happy life without the problems of killing or mab hits or anything like that.

I'm very intrigued into the character of Fredo, I believe he did know it was gonna be a hit. Hes the only one that could have left the drapes open as said before by Turnbull. Plus he acts like he didn't but when confronted by Michael in the boat house we see Fredo get really upset for the first time. He was always very quiet and clumsy. But here we see Fredo getting angry and its no coincedence that its right after Michael says "Haven't I always taken care of you?" Fredo wanted to be in charge but never got the chance. Plus if he wasn't in on the hit like he said which I think is bull. Why then afterwards wouldn't he help out the Family and show his loyalty to the Family by telling Michael about how Roth was gonna set up Pantangelli? If some scum bags lied to me about killing my brother I think I would want to screw up their plans if I could! He didn't though, he knew if the Pantangelli plan went through it could hurt the Family. Pure and simple he was a traitor in every way.

Probably not. He probably would still have waited until after his mother died.
Fredo probably didn't know that Pentangeli was alive before Michael found out--and Michael found out before he met with Fredo. I think the one thing he told Michael that Michael didn't know was that the Senate lawyer, Questad, "belongs to Roth."

Fredo was so traumatized by his father's shooting in GF I that now in his warped mind someone being shot results in having them incapacitated like his father was.

You know ... I never thought about that before but now that you mention it ... yes, perhaps Fredo DID know it was going to be a hit. My 'clue' to this is the fact that he starts right off by saying to Michael that he *swears* he didn't know it was going to be a hit. Ever notice when people are guilty, they swear and swear and swear that they are innocent, trying to make themselves seem more credible? ... Like when Michael confronts Carlo, and he 'swears on the life of his kids' ... heh. My guess is that if Fredo were truly innocent, he would have just said so. No elaboration needed on Fredo's part ... {just my 2 cents}