How would it be if Sonny took over but Michael was still in the family?

I don't think there would be a family wipe out, but as soon as Vito dies all the Families would attack the Corleones. Sonny most likely would never take Michael's decisions seriously or Sonny would most likely go into drugs cause there's no way he could handle the casion business.

The key to this question is Vito's recovery:
If Sonny had survived, Vito still would have recovered, and he would have still been head of the family. He still would have had to deal with bringing Michael back safely from Sicily. So, I'm guessing, Vito would have made the peace he made, and brought Michael home.

With Sonny as the head of the family in Vito's retirement, I'm guessing Vito would have approved of Michael NOT becoming Don, but finishing law school and becoming a "legitimate" political pezzanovante. In that capacity, he would have worked to legalize gambling, either statewide in NY or nationwide, and to channel Vito's labor support to his own political campaigns, and to use as a lever to get other politicians to support him. Sonny would have been head of a diminishing olive oil business--in effect, Michael's muscle whenever he needed it. Michael would become head of "Corleone, Inc."--a semi-legitimate gaming and labor organization.

Yes, I always imagined the two brothers working together in a partnership, each playing to their strengths. Sonny would have held onto the past, and Michael would have fueled the future.

I am not so sure. Commenting on how Sonny ran the olive oil business, Vito told Tom that he thought "Santino was a bad don, rest in peace." Had Sonny lived, and had Vito made the peace by allowing drug sales to take lace albeit with some restrictions, I think he would have resented Vito because in effect Vito was now going along with the drug business....something which Sonny thought was a good idea all along. From his point of view, had the Corleones made this deal with Sollozzo, the assassination attempt on Vito would not have happened, and the war he had fought after it would have been meaningless. Moreover, Michael who was now "with" Vito, had tasted blood, had lived in Sicily, and had abandoned any hope of living a "legitimate" life. If he came into the family business in any capacity, I would see serious arguments between him and Sonny, and eventually when Vito died, this rift could have had a significant effect on the future of the family.

The Sonny and Michael scenario could have made a good sequel. Michael, with his superior smarts and cool, would have been an increasing success, Sonny a diminishing force. Sonny might have resented his little brother getting ahead in the world, and conflict--perhaps deadly--might have resulted.

A GREAT sequel. The whole Cain and Abel story. No doubt they would be plotting against one another.

I don't think Sonny would have had resentments like Fredo did. Sonny was much more "balanced", for lack of a better word. He was really good at what he did ("short term action"). He enjoyed it. I think it would have been closer to a team of equals with more mutual respect.

Sonny would have been impressed with Michael's book smarts and mainstream connections, even as he ruthlessly mocked him for it. And Michael would have admired (and used) Sonny's ferocity even if he chided him from it time to time.

I think it would have ended up something like the two brothers Dominic and Eduardo in Prizzi's Honor-occasionally a little squabbling but nothing serious because each would have respected (and needed) the other's area of expertise.

Fredo HAD no area of expertise which left him free to ruminate on all sorts of real or imagined insults.

Fredo was an expert at taking big shot pezzanovante out drinking, eating and whoring. He wasn't too good at betrayal.

I agree, Sonny and Michael would have found a way of operating together, perhaps Sonny as a wartime consigliere
But with the Sollozzo story behind them, outsiders would know how to crack the bond between the two brothers. Greed and hot temper were Sonny's weaknesses. A new Sollozzo or Roth might have used that information. Or he might use the knowledge that Michael knew that those were Sonny's weaknesses. So he could have put a seed of mistrust in Michael's heart.

Sonny would always have "big brother" syndrome over Michael and this would have forced Michael to become even more cunning. I think though that even if Sonny hadn't been killed when he was,he would have been hit eventually, by some other rival. He was that type of man/boss!

I think they probably would have worked together very well.

Sonny would have been the Don, but Michael would have been the brains behind the operation, happy to go on with his public life as a pezzenovante.

I believe that Sonny knew he was not a good strategist, so he would have been willing to listen to Michael.

The only potential problem would be if Sonny refused to heed Michael's advice. But I don't know if Michael had enough fraternal love to sacrifice his own "legitimate" life to protect his family once Vito and Mama were gone.

I see an irreconcilable difference between personalities: Michael's hyper-controlling and Sonny's hot temper. In my imagined scenario, when gambling is legalized among the states, Michael successfully transfers the Corleones' dominance of illegal gaming and their top position in Nevada legal gaming to the new franchises. Sonny's in the background, running a diminishing suite of illegal rackets and serving as Michael's muscle. Michael tries to establish a firm line between himself and Sonny, but Sonny wants to be part of the explosively growing legal gaming business. Michael sees Sonny's reputation and image as a violent gangster as a threat to his "legitimacy." That's when the blood starts flowing.

Bottom line??? If Sonny hadn't been killed on the Causeway he would have been killed sooner or later because of his temper.

That is true, If sonny didn't die, then Michael would have no real reason to get involved in the family business. But then again Sonny would most likely drive the business to the ground and Michael would be back to square one making himself directly involved!

Turnbull offers a plausible premise in which...

Quote:

"Michael tries to establish a firm line between himself and Sonny, but Sonny wants to be part of the explosively growing legal gaming business."

If Michael truly wanted the Corleone family to be legitimate, I don't think he would have left anyone from his immediate family in New York to run the olive oil business on a day-to-day basis. I think Michael would have eventually moved Sonny out to Las Vegas and placed him as an executive at...wait for it...



The Montecito Resort and Casino.

tony b.