Ok I watched the tail end of GF1 on HBO early this morning. At the scene when Michael goes to see Carlo, about his role in Sonny's death.

Ok it's more than obvious that Michael was already planning on having Carlo clipped IMHO.

But why would Michael go to all the trouble to buy a plane ticket for Carlo, since he was planning on having him killed anyway?


Unless it was a last minute decision to have Carlo killed. Which I don't think it was.

Was the plane ticket just a way to cover the hit up? To make it appear that Carlo had just left town?

I did search and found nothing concerning this topic. If there was then I need to get my eyes checked.

Michael obviously didn't want Carlo killed at the mall, where Connie or another "civilian" might see his body being hauled out. The ticket was a ruse to make Carlo think Michael really was going to spare his life. That way, Carlo would relax and get into the car with Clemenza, believing he was being driven to the airport. Killing him in the car was a good way to mask his murder.
Some people believe that Michael asked Carlo to confess because he wasn't certain, at the very end, that Carlo really ratted out Sonny, until he heard it from Carlo's lips. I don't believe that, but if so, Michael may have bought the ticket in the off-chance that Carlo was innocent.

Thanks a lot turnbull I didn't even think of that until you mentioned it. I should have been able to figure it out.

Turnbull,

But wasn't Carlo whacked at the mall? As I remember as soon as he got into the car at the mall he was garroted.

By the way, I believe at that time plane tickets were refundable, so if there really was a plane ticket in the envelope, they could have gotten their money back, if they wanted. Don't forget they left the car that they whacked Paulie in, so a plane ticket would be a "mere bag of shells".

Just when you think you've seen the most amazing question that could ever come up on the Gangster BB.

Perhaps Michael gave Carlo's ticket to Tom, and a few more for his family & sent them all off for a well deserved vacation.

Or ... maybe there was just ONE extra ticket reserved for Sonny's widow Sandra...and that's how the alleged affair began between those two!

Couldn't have passed them to Clemenza, Neri or Rocco...as they were with him in the office when Connie confronted him about Carlo's murder. Couldn't have been Mama, cause she was there in the car with Connie.

So that's it. Tom used the ticket. The REAL question is (and I'm astonished this hasn't been explored before)....with just WHOM did he go!?!?

Or...maybe...just perhaps....Michael Corleone, now Head of a multi-million dollar Empire...had no problem absorbing the cost of a piddly little plane ticket.

Hmmmmmm.....

AppleOnYa

I can't say I ever really questioned the plane ticket. I took it all as part of the "scheme" to make Carlo believe he wasn't gonna get killed, and like mentioned, went willingly to the car thinking all was ok.

TIS

The car was closed, and it was moving out of the mall.

"All the trouble"? How much trouble is it for a wealthy man that has dozens of people working for him, to pick up a plane ticket?

The plane ticket was used as a soothing balm to get Carlo in the car without a fuss (as TB explained). But Carlo was garrotted as the car pulled away and no one was around to witness; they were all at the Baptism party. The real problem. What do the hitmen and Clemenza do now? The windshield of the car is broken - out and they have a body to get rid of. Its daylight, you're on the Corleone mall, which according to the book has other residence. Wait a minute, what are we worried about. These guys got rid of Tessio without a peep. I imagine the car drove in circles in the mall while Clemenza did his thing. He got out and got back in Mike's car. "The boys" then cleaned up the glass, put Carlo in the trunk of another car to take him where the fishes sleep and one of Cicci's boys took the car to the shop to get a new windshield which got hit by a baseball.

Makes sense to me. IMO, if Carlo hadn't admitted his participation in Sonny's death Mike would have TEMPORARILY let Carlo slide, and would have allowed Carlo to go to Nevada. (Mike was cunning, and following his father's advice to keep your friends close, but your enemies closer, he would have waited until Carlo was completely relaxed and THEN "tricked" him into admitting his role).

Do you really think that Michael would have trouble with paying for an unused plane ticket?

How do you know there was even a ticket in the folder? I didn't notice Carlo checking the ticket to see where his seat was located.

I dont believe at that time you could pick out your seat until you got to the airport.

Please forgive me for asking a simple question. Next time I won't ask at all, would that make you happy.

As I recall, the book says Michael had some doubts, which is why he wanted to be 100% sure and hear it from Carlo's dumb lips.

I think the ticket was just to get Carlo to relax and confess after being told that his punishment was simply exile in Nevada.

NO!!

Everyone, please DO ask any question you like; I find the inquiries on this board a constant source of amusement! And like I said just when you think you've seen everything, somebody comes up with something that tops it all! Be proud, Iceman, you are the MAN of the HOUR!

However all keep in mind that when you DO open up a topic and ask a question, be prepared for the responses you're going to get...serious and otherwise.



AppleOnYa

I understand everything in the scene except for the car driving around. Michael wanted the confession out of Carlo to satisfy himself and to let Carlo know that he didn't get away with his deception. Otherwise, he just simply could have had him killed at any point.

The timing of the killing was perfect because everyone was gone from the mall and Carlo hadn't yet heard about the various deaths yet. (I wonder if he knew about the Tessio/Barzini plan?). The plane ticket was for Carlo to relax and get in the car. But I don't understandwhy the car was driven around. I don't think that they'd want to drive around choking a guy to death for everyone to see.

Also, what did they do with the body? By the last scene, Connie obviously knew that Carlo was dead. Wouldn't her first emotion be revenge by the Family?

The main reason was for dramatic effect (seeing Carlo's feet smashing through the windshield),and a little variety in death (Paulie had been shot in a car earlier, so this time FFC chose the garotte.) As a "practical" matter, if they'd stopped the car, Carlo might have smelled a rat and resisted. But I guess he wouldn't have expected to be killed while the car while the car was presumably moving to take him to the airport.
Also, what did they do with the body? By the last scene, Connie obviously knew that Carlo was dead. Wouldn't her first emotion be revenge by the Family? [/QUOTE]
This is an interesting question. I'm guessing that they dumped the car somewhere (it was an old clunker--a '49 or '50 Dodge, and this was 1955). But, did Michael order that the car be abandoned somewhere to be found--with Carlo's body in it, also to be found? Yes, if they wanted to advertise to their enemies that they found the rat in the family and dealt with him. No, if they wanted to avoid letting Connie know that her husband had been murdered, perhaps leading her to at least suspect that maybe, just maybe, he abandoned her. I'm thinking the former: Connie knew he was murdered, as in the last scene, and connected Carlo's death with the Great Massacre of 1955 ("Read the papers! Read the papers!"). Since she knew Michael was responsible for Carlo's death, she avenged herself on him, in her own way by becoming a floozie in GFII.

Maybe the plane ticket was Michael's to go to Nevada. I seriously doubt a man with all Mike's money would wory about an unused plane ticket, if it ment the destruction of an enemy.

I always thought it was Micheal going that one step farther to toy with him. I think Micheal new it was Carlo.

I read somewhere that James Caan really disliked Carlo in real life and broke a few of his ribs during the street fight. Does anyone know exactly where that took place (the filming in the neighborhood)

It's sort of been out there for years and was one of the between-commercial notes when Bravo was showing the film a few years ago (that there were 'real life' differences between the two actors). Actually Caan was directly asked about that fight scene by the host of Inside the Actor's Studio.

I believe his reply was..."I hated him."

Apple

No, he didn't say why and really didn't elaborate.
By the way the fact that Caan is Jewish has also been out there for years.

Apple

I guess I was the only one who didnt know that,..

Meggie, I didn't know that either..... I knew he wasn't Italian but that's it. That's interesting those two didn't get along....

Yeah, I always thought Michael's buying him a plane ticket was to relax him and get him where he wanted him so that he would confess (brilliant the way Michael got him to confess... not asking directly...but so that he would have to say who he worked with) and die.

Does anyone mind explaining something to me. I always thought someone was Jewish because of thier religion. I've been hearing it refered to as a race a lot. So what is it?

There is no such thing as a Jewish "race," just as there is no such a thing as a Catholic "race," a Protestant "race" or a Muslim "race." All of the above are religions that count among their adherents people of all races.

Yeah thats what I thought, but I was watching some show, and they said Jewish people were more prone to get a certain disease. So if you take on thier beliefs, you automatically are more prone for diseases? What is that all about?!

I'm guessing that you heard about Tay-Sachs, which is most prevalent among Jewish people of Eastern European descent. This is an ethnic thing, not a religious thing. It's a disease of Eastern Europeans. The reason that Jewish people of Eastern European descent get it more than other Eastern Europeans is that they tend to marry each other, which perpetuates the gene causing the disease. It does not apply to Jews of other ethnic descent, or to people who convert to Judaism from another religion (what you meant when you said "take on thier beliefs").

Tay-Sachs isn't the only kind of heritable disease among ethnic groups. For example, Cooley's Anemia afflicts people of Mediterranian descent--especially Southern Italians for the same reason that Tay-Sachs afflicts Jews of Eastern European descent: they marry each other, and thus perpetuate the gene that causes it. It has nothing to do with religion or religious choice.