Unless I've been wrong all these years, Hyman
Roth ordered the hit on Frankie Pantangelese.
If this is true, why does the hitman tell him
"Michael Corleome says hello" while strangling him, especially since he didn't know the murder attempt would fail?

Welcome to the boards, greekgirl.

Its a good question, and one that has been much debated here. It belongs in "The Godfather Trilogy" forum where we discuss things about the movies. This "Help" forum is reserved for questions and matters concerning the operations of the message boards. Accordingly, I'm moving your question to "The Godfather Trilogy" forum.

I remember the day I joined these boards and asked this exact same question, which is, in my opinion, imposible to be answered

Michael Corleone's name was said so that the bartender or anyone else that may have been in the bar at the time, would hear what he said and eventually word would have goten around that Michael Corleone was the one who put the hit on Frank. That in itself would have caused much dissention amongst the families. It worked out even better, at first, because Frank did not die, so he sincerely believed that Michael was the one who tried to have him killed and therefore turned government witness. It almost worked out perfectly for Roth, but Michael was too swift once again!

Don Cardi

Not even Roth was clever enough to have bet his life on a split-second-timed plot to turn Frankie against Michael. Why would he even try, when he already had Michael in his killing-bottle in Havana? The simplest explanation is one that has been uncovered by Godfather scholars in an interview with Danny Aiello, who played Carmine Rosato. Aiello admits he ad-libbed the famous line, and Francis Coppola, for some reason (probably inadvertence), permitted the ad-lib to remain in the film, to the eternal bafflement of Godfather fans. But it’s also possible that Coppola, the most careful of directors, allowed it to remain because it fit the plot, even though Carmine intended to kill Frankie all along. “Michael Corleone says hello” was intended not for Frankie—but for Richie, the bartender, whose ginmill was being used to set up Frankie.
It’s obvious that Richie is a “civilian,” not a Made Man, and he’s nervous as hell about his bar being used for a murder (“Carmine, NO, not HERE!” he screams after the cop enters and Rosato draws his gun). Carmine knows that Richie might be squeezed by the cops investigating Frankie’s murder. Richie would be too fearful of Carmine to identify him as the killer. Still, as a civilian, Richie is not bound by the code of omerta. So Carmine hands Richie something he can give the cops so that Richie can get off the hook: “The murderers said, ‘Michael Corleone says hello.’ ” That line would set the police after Michael, and would be picked up by the press-- another nail into the coffin of Michael Corleone’s “legitimacy.” Clever Roth!

One interesting thing Peter Biskind pointed out in his book "The Godfather Companion" is why did Michael have to ask Hyman Roth if it was okay to kill Frankie Pentangeli when it was his man and not Roth's.

After all, if it's within the family, Michael reserves the right to order a hit on someone or solve problems however he sees fit without having to consult with anyone, especially someone outside the family.

In a way, Michael set himself up by doing that, because it gave Roth license to make the attempt on Pentangeli and try to pin it on Michael...

What a good point ACK-NO.1. MIchael was playing another move in his famous 'hypothetical chess games' with Roth at this time I reckon. He didnt need Roths consent but wanted him to think he did for some reason....even tho it backfired in the end as you pointed out.

FH

in GFIII right before they suffocate keinszig "the swiss banker fuck" they give a similar 'greeting'. "this is from vincent corleone." what could be the reasoning behind that statement?

He was trying to appear meek and humble before Roth, the better to make Roth feel "relaxed, sure of our deal."

So the Bastard would know, right before he died, that he did not get away with trying to screw The Corleones.

Don Cardi

the last name to think of before you die