Has this been mentioned before?
Vito doesn't seem to give a damn about movies. (Tom on the other hand admits that he admires Woltz' pictures)
When Johnny sends flowers to his Godfather, he tells Tom "What is this nonsense? (...) Take it away."

It foreshadows involuntarily Brando's refusal to accept the Oscar award as well as his low appreciation for actors' fame.

I have always thought Vito took a look at that hideous flower
arrangement and declared it to be "nonsense." When Tom told him it was from Johnny to thank him for getting him the role in the movie, Vito was insulted and said "take it away." Vito believed as Johnnie's Godfather that he had some kind of obligation to help him, and that Johnnie's appreciation would one day be manifested by doing a fvor for Vito (which turned out to be playing Vegas several times a year and encouraging his movie friends to join him). In Vito's world sending a
bunch of flowers to him as a gesture of thanks was meaningless under the circumstances, and he wanted the flowers out of his sight.

As for Tom telling Woltz he admired his pictures, he may or may not have been speaking the truth. He was sending a very
Corleone like message that his intercession for Johnny was
purely business, not personal.

Tom took Vito's advice of "Hold your friends close, but your enemies closer," very much to heart. His compliment to Woltz was meant to do two things:

1. Throw him off after how insulting Woltz was to him.

2. Kiss up so that Woltz underestimated him.

As for the flowers, Vito was a modest man. He didn't want his favors acknowledged in such a public (and gaudy) way. The flowers also served as exposition to let us (the audience) know that Johnny had gotten the part.

The novel sheds a bit more light on this matter. Tom is most definitely not being sincere to Woltz. The novel says something the affect of "Then, in the most fawning voice he could muster" Hagen said 'I admire your pictures very much. Keep up the good work - the country could use it.' (I am paraphrasing).

I bet Vito never went to the movies. His interest in Hollywood was in dominating the unions.

He sure looked uncomfortable sitting in the theater with Tessio!

Vito went to the theater with Genco Abbandando, not Tessio.
Vito first meets Tessio a few years later (in the deleted scene)when he and young Clemenza visit the gunsmith. For years I thought it was Tessio as well, but watching the extended chronological versions has cleared that up for me.

Vito never liked receiving things from people. He was humble and modest as Sicilian Babe has said above.

The gift of food from Abbandando Sr., The free Fruit/Veg from the street vendor, and then the flowers. They all made him uneasy.

Flowers are also not very masculine, and the Don felt Johnny was getting very soft out in Hollywood. I always thought that was the reason he was so turned off by them. To men of Vito's time, flowers are for a woman and a funeral. Men don't send men flowers...

I seriously doubt Vito would go see all those Hollywood finocchios in those Busby Berkeley extravagnzas, nor Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. I think the only entertainment he may have peeked at was the funny papers.

I think he refused the food from Abbandando Sr. because he was a proud man whou would not take a handout from someone who just fired him. As for the fruit vendor, I believe he liked the gift because it showed the vendor respected him. When he took the fruit I believe he said something like "If there's anything I can do for you tell me." The flowers definitely were not welcomed.

This is in contrast to the novel wherein Vito eventually accepts food from Genco, but prior to that reproaches Genco for his father's having fired him to give his job to Fanucci's nephew.

My bad. You're right. It was Genco. Or was it Frankie Carbone?

It was actually one of the bystanders who watched Sonny beat up Carlo.

Yes, he was humble. But this politeness includes accepting small gifts, such as the cake from Nazorine, the orange at the market when he was young and he even complained about not being invited for a cup of coffee to Mr. Bonasera.

However, why does nobody comment on the parallel between Brando's and Corleone's disrespect towards Hollywood?

I thought Vito's reception of the flowers was indifferent because he had Sollozzo on his mind. Right after he says to "put the flowers over there", he says "send in Luca Brasi". Luca was waiting in the wings. Vito had made up his mind about the Sol deal before the meeting and had Luca on standby. Johnny F and his flowers were not on his mind.

Well Dan, I just think that the window into Vito's life did not show any appreciation for the arts; not that he didn't have one, we were just never shown that side of Vito. I don't think it was disrespect. It just didn't interest him. In fact we don't know what interested Vito besides his business interests.

I don't know too much about Brando's personal life, but as I am becoming more and more a fan of his films, I would not mind knowing more about his views on the subject.

On a little side note, some of you may be interested in a good non-fiction book on the history of a major Hollywood studio, and it's deep ties to the Mob and politics. It's a great read for fans of the crime genre, called "Dark Victory: Ronald Reagan, MCA and the Mob" by Dan E. Moldea.

FF

Brando maintained throughout his life that acting was simple, that everyone is an actor and is putting on some kind of performance every day. Accordingly he did not believe in giving awards to indicidual actors. Nobody knows if he really meant this or if it was just schtick. Like many geniuses, Brando was one sandwich shy of a picnic.

dontomasso observes...

Quote:

Vito believed as Johnnie's Godfather that he had some kind of obligation to help him, and ... in Vito's world sending a bunch of flowers to him as a gesture of thanks was meaningless under the circumstances...

Moreover, this was a favor Johnnie requested at Connie's wedding and, as Tom Hagen teaches us, "no Sicilian can refuse any request on his daughter's wedding day." I have to believe Johnnie knew this and should have expressed his gratitude personally when he made his request knowing that his request would be fulfilled. Or did he make his request and harbor some doubts about his Godfather's ability to grant this favor? To me, the flowers were an absolute expression of Johnnie's doubt and ultimately his surprise about Vito's ability to grant the favor. You can almost hear Johnnie saying, "I didn't think you could do it for me, Godfather."

It was also probably a cinematic device to confirm for the audience that Johnnie did indeed get the part after Tom's eat-and-run dinner with Woltz...

tony b.