When instructing Michael in preparation for the murders of Sollozzo and McCluskey, Clemenza tells him

"Walk out of the place very quickly, but don't run. Don't look anyone directly in the eye, but don't look away from them either."

Why?

I would have told Mike "Get out of there as fast as you can, and try not to let anyone see your face."

I suspect its part of the intimidation process. If Mike showed an aura of confidence and fearlessness the bystanders would be less likely to interfere and/or identify him later on.

I agree with SC. If Michael had fled like a thief in the night, some of the other diners might have been emboldened to cooperate with the police. But if he looked confident--and if he looked back at someone who looked at him--they might feel intimidated: "Oh-oh, this guy's a professional killer. If I tell the cops anything, he'll find me and whack me."
pl, the novel adds to the point SC made: Clemenza said something like, "They'll be afraid of you, don't worry." That said, if I were in that position, I'd react the way you did: dash out as fast as possible so that other diners could claim they didn't have time to make a positive identification of me. Never mind that Mafia macho b.s. about "not looking away."

Yes, both very good points!

However, I thought that Mike's original way of wanting to do it was the best way - " I'll sit back down, and finish my dinner. "


Don Cardi

I always found it odd that the instructions given to Michael while the others were eating dinner are different between the novel and the film. In the movie, we see Clemenza talking to Mike ("no better still, ask for permission to go..."). Yet in the novel, it's actually Tessio telling Michael what to do. I wonder why the change was made. I think it sounds more natural with Clemenza's New York accent, but that's probably just a testament to Richard Castellano's performance.

That's a good point about Clemenza. In fact, in the book and movie Clemenza gets alot more emphasis than Tessio although he and Tessio started out with Vito at the same time. In further fact, we never get to know Tessio's first name until he's about to be executed.

And in the novel, his first name was never mentioned.

...yes, especially since it was going to be his last restaurant dinner for quite a while...

I think that they told Michael not to run out so fast, so if anyone looked him in the eye, they would know who he is......they would also know that HE would know who saw him, and therefore they would be less likely to squeal on him......for fear of the family.
I also think that they gave Clemenza that line in the movie, and not Tessio is because Clemenza is the Weapons expert, he is the one setting up the gun that will be used, he has a firing range in his basement...lol It makes sense considering he first meets Vito, asking him to hide his guns...lol.
I dunno......just my opinion.

Your opinion make sense...

Your statement doesn't make sence since when clamenza first met vito, he was used to be small time thief and now he was the copergime to the Great Don Vito Corleone. So the difference is obvious. What's up?