There are almost identical scenes at the beginning of GF I and GFIII, and looking at it FFC had to have done it deliberately. In GF I at the wedding, Kay notices Luca Brasi and says calls him a "scary looking guy" and Mike agrees he's a scary looking guy. Kay presses him, and then he tells the story of how Luca weas involved in that deal with the bandleader -- to Kay's horror.

In GF III at the party, Grace asks Vincent who's that "spooky looking guy" and Vincent says "That's Joey Zasa's Bulldog." She presses him and asks what a guy like that is doing at Michael Corleone's party, and Vincent tells her that he is known as "The Ant" and that he "dips his bullets in cyanide" -- to Grace's horror.

...And while I am at it, why would VIncent dump a hottie like Grace for Mary?

she was not the director's daughter?

Because Grace was part of the liberal and left-wing controlled media.

After Vincent killed the hitmen, Grace told him that they should have gotten a fair trial and been represented by an ACLU lawyer, and at worst, been sentenced to a five year prison term and eligible for parole ofter three.

Vincent, a member of the NRA, who believed that he had the right to bear arms and that Charlton Heston would have made a better Vito Corleone than Marlon Brando, found the political views of Mary more in keeping with own.

But Michael's feelings notwithstanding, he decided to drop Mary only because of the objections of the fanatical religious right and the moral majority, who objected to him having a relationship with his cousin.

Hope that helps

SNIDE SNIDE SNIDE!!!!

Grace obviously was concerned that those two hit men were abused as children. I doubt a commie liberal like her would have even wanted them to serve a day. They should have had therapy and given job training.

Yes, I agree about Mary. After Rick Santorum gave a speech on the floor of the Senate saying that sex with a first cousin would lead to beastiality, he called for a new round of investigations into the COrleone family business. This was too much and Michael went to all that trouble to get them broken up.

Well spotted dontomasso, that hadn't really registered with me.

Yet another pointless tacked-on "tribute" / "homage" to the earlier GF movies.

The Ant is as poor a shadow of Luca Brasi as GFIII Michael is of GFI Michael.

What I truly liked was how, although GF and GF2 started with huge party scenes, FFC made of point of showing how DIFFERENT the family was. At Connie's wedding, we see the homemade lasagna, the cake from Nazorine, the hostility of law enforcement, the guests singing with the band, politicians not showing up, etc. While at Anthony's communion, we see champagne and canapes, and state troopers calmly mixing in with the guests, and the high-profile appearance of Seantor Geary. It showed how Michael's world differed so greatly from Vito's.

Yes, there is a huge difference in "family" between those two party scenes as you've correctly pointed out.
But by the time GFIII rolls around, we see the movie open up with another party, but this time it seems as though Michael got back to that "family' oriented state. Less informal as was Anthony's communion. The "outsiders" were made to stay in the outside area of the party room, which allowed it to stay a somewhat family oriented party.


Don Cardi

I always thought FFC was having some fun with us fans in the beginning of GFIII, and rewarding us for our loyalty. We were reintroduced to so many family members and friends, like Lucy Mancini, Teresa Hagen, Enzo Da Baker, etc. Then Neri said he had Joe Zasa "waiting in the lobby," just like a certain mustachio'd previous owner of the olive oil business at another party years earlier. That mustachio'd guy failed to get the band at the earlier party to play a tarantella, but in III, the band more than complied--and Connie led the band. Oh, and by the way: the first song played by the band at the III party was the same song that Yolanda sang in the Havana nightclub on New Year's Eve in II.

There are any number of parallels between the three films, many obvious, some less so.

Besides the obvious opening of each film with a party and ending each one with the killing of the family enemies, we also have

-- The traitorous conduct of someone close to or within the family (Carlo, Paulie, and Tessio in I, Fredo in II, and Don Altobello in III).

-- "The true enemy has yet to reveal himself" (Barzini in I, Roth in II to a certain extent, and Gliday, Lucchesi, and Kelmszig in III).

-- The murders which take place during Italian street festivals (Fanucci in II, Zasa in III)

-- The transformation of a female character from one who is weak and meek to one who is capable of serious resolve and unexpected actions (Kay in II and Connie in III)

-- Someone coming to the head of the family with a business proposition which sets the plot in motion (Sollozzo in I, Roth in II, Archbishop Gliday in III).

I'm sure there were others.....

Sure ... who ain't ????

Apple

I love the parallels and continuity: the dancing, parties, celebrations, religious affinity, etc. Did anyone mention the family portraits and the adding of a character to them -Kay in GFI and Vincent in GFIII (Mike added them both times)?

Why dump grace? Simple. He was not in love with her. Ya'll need to get off of Sophia's back!!

Don't forget the prominent role that the cannoli plays in GF and III.

Good one MC! Only in GFIII they left the cannolis to do the job.

And of course as Turnbull said, FFC palyed with and entertained us with lines like " It's strictly business," and "A temper like his father."


Don Cardi

I also like the line that Vincent has when Michael says, "and like you your father had a way with women...."

and Vincent says ironically, "Yeah, I've heard."

The interesting thing about these story parallels is that they could have been very corny or cliche and FFC crafted them quite well as to not fall into that trap.

If we think of our own lives there are many similarities with family parties, weddings, funerals that follow the same pattern. So, FFC captures this cultural-familial thread quite well.

My personal favorite appearance at the party in GFIII is that of Enzo the Baker.

Maybe one of FFC's assistants wrote the script for GF3. FFC must have given him the script of GF as a reference. Don't brush aside this theory as a joke, this might as well explain immobilaire, Luchesi, Altobello etc

And then of course there is the parallel between Michael and Vincent both not wanting to be men like their fathers.

Another interesting similarity, is Vincen't desire to protect his neighborhood, while also rise in the Family business. Vito did have that sense of lust for power and, if you want, sensitivity.

And both matured in the process. Vito made real use of his intelligence, and Vincent, well, became Vito the Second!

Another parallel scene is between GFI and GFII.

Both start out with a party, one a wedding and one a communion. Very similar, yet different.

Similar :

In GFI Vito gives sees those who have requested and audience with him, and in GFII Michael is doing the same.

Different :

In GFI the authorities are taking down license plate numbers and Sonny confronts them .... "Goddamn FBI..."

Then in GFII during the communion party, we again see the authorities standing out in the parking lot. Only now instead of taking down license plate numbers and having to deal with confrontations, they are being served refreshments by the Corleones.


EDIT : Sorry for posting this here. I mis-read the title of the topic thinking that it said GFI and GFII.

Excellent point, DC.

Furthermore, while the judges and politicians only sent regrets and gifts to Connie, a US Senator is a prominent part of the festivities in Nevada.

Great indication of how much more "legitimate" the family had become under Michael. At least on the surface.

This was a great come back of plaw's.

You are exactly correct SB, but note that the party in III more resembled the party in I, even though it was on the upper east side. They had Italian music, sing alongs, "cent'anni" toasts, and a Nazarone (by Enzo) cake.

...but in III, Neri has Zasa "waiting in the lobby"--just where Pentangeli was hung up in II.
Another little touch: The first song the band plays at Michael's party in III is the same one Yolanda sang at the Havana nightclub in II.

Technically speaking Brasi was kept "waiting in the lobby" in I.
I am trying to remember if some variation of that Yolanda song wasnt also played at the First Communion party.

You may be thinking of a tango that was danced by a team under one of the gazebos at Anthony's party. But the work that Yolanda sang (a different movement of which was also heard at the very beginning of the Havana sequence when Michael is being driven along the coast, as well as his party in GFIII) is Ernesto Lecuona's "Cuban Rhapsody."
And, dt, I'm sure you recognized a selection from "Rigoletto" sung by an ensemble at Anthony's party in II (it may have been in a deleted scene).

But they left the cat out of GFII & III. Thank God they picked it back up in the Sopranos finale.

A few other parallels come to mind:

-Michael looking out the window of his study early in III, as Vito does in pt. 1

-In III, after Tomassino is shot, Michael tells Calo that some day he'll have to do him a very difficult service; this reminds of Vito's "Someday I'll call upon you to do me a service" remark in pt. 1.

-Michael tells Vincent never to let anyone know what he's thinking; this reminds of Vito's identical remark to Sonny in pt. 1

-note also the scene in III where Michael and Altobello are talking in the limo. Although the context and content of the scene are different, there is a clearly deliberate parallel between this scene and the "it was Barzini all along" scene in pt. 1 (note how the cars drive away into the distance in the same way, and the accompanying music.)

There are more, but I'm too lazy to dig out my notes at the moment.

Edit - another comes to mind: in III at the commission meeting, when Michael, Vincent, and Neri arrive, all the hookers are herded out of the conference room; this reminds of the scene in pt. 1 when Michael meets with Moe Green in Vegas, and tells Fredo to get rid of the girls.

The shot of Jack Dempsey's restaurant in Part 1 and the shot of the China Bowl in Part 3. For a second, it looks like the same shot.

I think it was deliberately made to look like the same shot--even the lighting in the rear window.
The China Bowl was a long-time fixture in the NYC Times Square area. I bet you remember it, PB.