Carlo didn't fight back and was taking the beating entirely. Was he a wimp or that was part of the setup to assassinate Sonny later?

Not only was he a wimp...he was a CLASSIC wimp.

Comfortable putting down & beating up his pregnant wife but not man enough to even try to fight back when attacked by his much bigger brother-in-law.

Unless the novel says otherwise, I'd bet the 'setup' with Barzini came later.

But even if it didn't...Carlo was still a wimp.

Apple

He was a wimp.....any man that beats his wife is a wimp....he knew that Sonny would kill him if he ever found out, and sure enough he found out...lol.
He really didn't have a chance to fight back.....Sonny exploded on him right away......even with that famous fake punch Sonny throws that never connects.....lol...classic!!!
The thing that I think scared Carlo the most though.....was that Don Vito and Mama Corleone always stopped Sonny from getting envolved.....now that Sonny was in charge there was no stopping him.

That includes Mike?

I never said Mike was tough.....but hey I would of hit that bitch if I was him too......killing my son like that.....she is lucky she didn't get the same fate Carlo and Fredo did.....lol.

Of course he was a wimp. Any man that beats on a woman and does not fight back a man is just a plain punk.

But in the novel I believe that Puzo explains that when Sonny is beating Carlo, he knows that he cannot hit Sonny back because by doing so he would be signing his own death sentence.

His taking the first beating had nothing to do with the Barzini plan. I think that later on, when he is approached by the Barzini's he realizes that he could use the beating of Connie to set Sonny up. But again it was not his original plan when he took the first beating.


Don Cardi

Complete wimp. Complete coward. Complete jerk. Wife beating idiot. Right before Sonny beats him up we see him trying to act like some kind of big shot around some neighborhood "toughs" who also run for cover when Sonny jumps out of the car.

YOU TOUCH MY SISTER AGAIN, I'LL KILL YA."

One of my favorite scenes.




Don Cardi

Although Michael did strike Kay out of sheer rage when she told him of the abortion...I would not categorize him as a 'wife beater'.

Nor a wimp.

Carlo was a wimp.

Apple

I agreee. Carlo was a typical bully. In the novel, we see that he married Connie, not out of love, but for what he hoped would be a cushy life. When he got the lowly job at the bookmaking operation (which in the novel, we are told he was incompetent), he was angry and resentful. He first slapped Connie around out of anger, and expected to be punished. When there were no repercussions, he bragged about it to his coworkers at the book, and it made him feel very manly. I believe that Sonny's anger and actions gave the Barzini's a solution to lure him out of hiding by getting an impetuous reaction from him. They then approached Carlo, who was happy to get back at the family who he felt had treated him so disrespectfully.

And of course, Michael's subsequent action in which he said Carlo would be his top man in Vegas was a characteristic "Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer" move.

then
And the Don's adding to it by saying to Carlo
" I'm happy for you Carlo."


Don Cardi

then
And the Don's adding to it by saying to Carlo
" I'm happy for you Carlo."


Don Cardi

I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when Vito and Michael hatched this plan. Maybe something like this:

Vito: Not that I think Tom wouldn't be a help tp you, understand, but if you think he can't handle a war, well....

Mike: I have you, pop, and now with Neri, I have the muscle we need.

Vito: We still need to protect your sister.

Michael: I know, pop, I'll protect her. I say we tell Carlo we're giving him something important. That's what he's always wanted.

Vito: How would you do it?

Michael: We need to do it in an open way. In a way that makes him feel very close to us. Tessio and Clemenza want a meeting with you, right?

Vito: Yes, Michael.

Michael: So we have the meeting. Here. In your office. It'll be Tessio, Clemenza, Tom and Carlo. Now Carlo has never been to a meeting like this, right? So he won't know if we're on to him or not.

Vito: Tessio and Clemenza are going to ask me if they can break away from the family.

Michael: Yes, and I will step in to tell them they have to wait. When I do, I'll also tell Tom that he's out, and I'll tell Carlo that he's going to be my top man in Vegas. It will take Carlo by surprise, and it will allow us to see whether Tessio or Clemenza, or both of them betray the family. (pause) But when I tell them to stay, they will appeal to you.

Vito: I will direct them back to you, and then I will speak to Tom. He has been as loyal as my own blood -- maybe more loyal --- well --- anyway --- I want to show him some respect.

Michael: So we keep Tom, Tessio and Clemenza close, but we keep Carlo closer.

There is a deleted scene where Connie runs downstairs and Sonny goes to get up to go upstairs at Carlo and Vito says "Don't ever get between a man and his wife" or something along those lines. I think if that scene was added to the movie it would have shown that the beating Sonny was giving Carlo was more "built up anger" etc.. and reenforced your statement that there was no stopping him.

That scene with Sonny beating Carlo was well done dramatically and served several purposes. The main one, I think, was to underscore Carlo's lack of character and thus to set us up for his eventual betrayal of Sonny and his own demise. BTW: in the novel, Carlo thought to himself: "Man to man, he thought he could take Sonny..." Puzo then said Carlo might have been a little bigger than Sonny, a little better muscled. But, as all of us said here, he was a wimp, precisely the coward that lurks in any wife-beater. And, as DC said, he realized that if he fought back, Sonny'd kill him,

As it says in the novel, Carlo would have to call up all of his courage to kill while Sonny could kill as easily as an animal kills. Because of that realization, I imagine that Carlo had to temper his reactions to Soony's aggression.

By the way, it is inappropriate and rather immature for at least one poster above to use the "B" word when referring to women.

Olivant....I was not referring to all women in general......just her, you can not sit there and tell me that she was not a bitch. She killed her own child for crying out loud.
I would never refer to a woman as a bitch, unless they did something to deserve it.
That is all I meant in my statement.

As stated previously...it is inappropriate and rather IMMATURE to the word when referring to women. Any woman.

Just because you feel a particular female (whether fictional or otherwise) did something to 'deserve' the title...doesn't make it any more appropriate.



Apple

He who is without sin shall cast the first stone.......I am sorry if I offended anyone, my statement was not meant to do that......but I do not take back what I said......everyone thinks differently.......I guess if you think that is immature that is your opinion......I would like to remind you that I am referring to a fictional character not a real person.

Without sin?? In here????

By the way, I find interesting that Puzo allows that Vito could have been a wife beater. Why? Because in an exchange with Connie, Vito says that his wife never gave him a reason to beat her. So, apparently, beating his wife was an option with Vito for the right reason.