Did Senator geary know he was being set up with the dead hooker at fredo's whorehouse? (Did he see what was going on and just realized that he had no choice but to accept tom's offer?) or did he really think that the Corleone's were helping him out?

He didn't know he was being set up at the time. He was drugged, passed out, Neri killed the hooker, and Tom showed up. Geary, groggy, guilty and panicky, still wasn't thinking clearly when Tom made his offer: the girl had no family, nobody knew she worked there, he was putting in a call to Geary's office to establish an "alibi" for Geary--he was spending the night at Michael's home in Tahoe. Once Geary agreed to that, his coglioniwere in Michael's pocket. Once the drug left his system and his head cleared, Geary probably figured out that he'd been set up. But by that time it was too late for him to backtrack.

I've posted elsehwhere that he probably tried to get back at Michael at the Senate hearing. As a member of the committee, Geary had to have known that they were holding Frankie as a surprise witness against Michael. His questioning of Cicci ("Did you ever get a direct order from him or were there always buffers?"), and Cicci's answer ("No, I never talked to him."), were designed to make Michael think that it'd be ok for him to lie under oath.

One of the many small touches I love about GFII is Geary's reactions as Tom lays out the situation for him.

At first he is frustrated, panicked, and, I think, a little fatalistic. But as soon as Tom says "It'll be like she never existed" Geary's face brightens and he seems to snap back into focus. You can see that he suddenly realizes that he may not be ruined after all.

nice discussion here. I remember Michael saying more than one time (in the novel at least) "I may get killed, but I'll never go to jail" so confidently, and in reality he was one step from jail when they come up with Pentangelli's old brother. is another great thing in GFII, how pressed Michael was, which makes him grow ruthless and cold.

Exactly, LW. The expression on Geary's face was just perfect!

"I've posted elsehwhere that he probably tried to get back at Michael at the Senate hearing."


Is his speech about how great Italian-Americans are during Michael's testimony a part of that as well?

TB,

In the past we've had discussions on Geary's comments at the hearings. I think he was at his political, slimy best at the hearing. His comments are carefully worded so that no matter the outcome his hide was safe. Likely he knew about Frankie, but if need be he could plead ignorance with Michael. His buffer questions could have served to make sure that it was on the record that Cicci never got orders from the Don. When the committee chairman announces that they will produce a witness (Frankie) who got direct orders, Geary had a washed out look on his face like - I tried Mike, but..... and of course his Eye-talian American, salt-of-the-earth speech was another slime factor, political grandstanding. Great character development by the actor.

That speech was political BS. His real feelings were expressed when he told Michael how he didn't like his kind with the oily hair, etc.

My favorite geary line came at this point. "We'd done it before."

How would Vito have handled Geary?
Vito certainly had no use for prostitutes but he didn't go out of his way to kill people needlessly either..

Exactly. When he said, "These hearings on the Mafia are not a reflection on the great Italian people," who did he mean by "Mafia" if not Michael, who was sitting right there? And when he said, "It'd be a shame..for a few rotten apples to spoil the whole bunch," who did he mean, if not Michael? But of course, most people would think he was defending Italians.

As you said, Kly, the "oily hair/silk suit" rap expressed his true feelings about Italians.

Vito would have handled Geary much differently. Had Geary come to him and said I intend to squeeze you, etc., I doubt Vito would have handled it like Michael. Instead he would probably have said something like, "I invited you here because I believed you were a politician who understood business, and who wanted to show me respect, and who wanted my respect in return. Instead you come here today, and in front of al these witnesses you ask me to pay you a bribe. I am sorry Senator that I cannot do. Had you come to me in friendship and asked that I call a friend to get you that committee chairmanship you want, I would have done whatever I could to help, and in turn you and your friends would be able to come to the Tropigala any time as my guest. But because you have asked me to do the impossible, I will take whatever steps necessary to secure my position at the Tropigala, and as long as your interests do not interfere with mine, this meeting never took place.

Then after the Senator left he would have got Tom, and perhaps others to find out everything they could about "this Senator fella" including his pecadilloes. There is no question that if he found out this Senator had a case of Eliot Spitzer disease, he would have had Luca and Tom do the same thing Michael did, and just as ruthlessly.

Yes, Vito would have handled Geary differently. For one, he would have told Geary that he would consider his proposition. Then he would have tried to "find a way to reason" with him just like Vito said to Tom about Woltz in the Saga. Remember, Vito's big thing was reason.

Exactly. He would have never confronted him. But he would have convinced him to "see reason."