I had seen Part 2 several times before I had ever come to this board, and the scene with the cop and "Michael Corleone says hello!" junk was always confusing.
So I watched the scene over and over and probably over thought it after reading several theories on here about what was going on.

People on here seem to think its impossible that Roth didnt have the full intention of killing Frankie. I think even here he had plan on Frankie ratting out Michael. The cop that comes in is really on the Roth/Rosatto bros side (hear me out!). Everything that went on as soon as that cop came in was to set the scene for the bartender. This includes the pointing the gun at the cop, the henchmen running out of the bar. There is nothing to indicate that the bartender is a connected guy.....I see him as kind of an Artie Bucco. What would have been bad about shooting the cop and hiding his body? No witnesses except henchmen. They could have killed Frankie too this way. This bartender was too innocent, I beleive, to have his hands dirty. If he was a wiseguy he would have been ok with killing the cop too.

As soon as everyone runs out there are gunshots, which I originally had assumed was the cop and henchmen and Cicci in a 3-way gunfight. But when the camera takes us outside the henchmen that were in the bar are running and firing at Cicci, and the cop is moving to help a wise guy, who, in those two seconds between the veiwpoint of us viewers, was shot and is laying on the green car. If this cop wasnt on Roth/Rosatto's side he wouldnt be dealing with that guy while guns are firing would he? hed be panicking!

I think all these guys ran out of the bar, ambushed Cicci, and suffered one casulty in return, who the "cop" helped. They all got in the car assuming Cicci was dead (apperently he is a Terminator for surviving that punishment). Frankie is incapacitated for long enough for real cops to arrive and he can spill the beans about Michael, since real cops will be at the scene of a gunfight on a crowded streetblock quickly of course. The Rosatto bros and the "cop" have escaped.

Most importantly however, the FBI has a semi innocent civilian in the bartender who can tell the story of how Michael Corleone tried to have Frankie murdered. This also explains the "Michael Corleone says hello" line that many here seem to be under the presumption was ad libbed by someone who was confused by the story. (ad libbed perhaps, but still fits in).

Does this make sense or is there a hole in it im not seeing? ....or is it just too farfetched?

Nice to hear from a new member with some new ideas.

I'm gonna watch the scene again. I'll get back to you.

Silvio, this is probably the most-often raised topic on the boards. You can find a recent discussion here:
http://www.thegodfathertrilogy.net/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=003890#000006
I agree with you that Richie is a civilian, and in the above thread, I offer an explanation of why he was the object of "Michael Corleone says hello."
But, not even Roth was clever enough to stage the cop's entrance at the exact moment. And the cop wasn't in on it. The guy you see the cop helping isn't a gangster--he's another cop. The two of them probably were cruising the neighborhood when the first guy saw that Richie's bar was open when it shouldn't have been. The second guy was probably waiting in their patrol car (the NYPD used two-man patrol cars in 1958). The gangster fled, guns in hand, with Cop #1 in pursuit, the second cop came out of the car, and was shot.
And yes, the biggest mystery in the scene is how Cicci survived being hit by that immense '57 Lincoln Capri, which weighed almost 5,000 lbs.

you dont see cop 1 (the one in the bar) chasing however.
the only cop i can see is the one helping what you say is a wounded cop (i didnt think the wounded man looked like a cop or civialian i thought he was a henchmen, perhaps one that was hit by Cicci if Cicci got any shots off). It wouldnt be very difficult to have a cop (assuming he was on Roths side, as I presumed) stand outside the door and go in as soon as he heard the yelling of Frankie or the ruckus. If the cop is on their side, hed stand by the door listening, then go in and set the scene for the bartender, then run out with the boys.
If he was a real cop hed be a major target, and his first thought wouldnt be to help another cop with bullets flying. If bullets are flying, hed have to be pretty confident that he wasnt a target of the Rosatto brothers to help some one else.
Your theory would require the cop getting out of the door of the car, being shot, and falling onto the green car, AND having the other cop realize this and help him out. All in less then two seconds
In my theory, henchmen come out shooting Cicci and Cicci manages to pop one right away and the guy falls on the car. The "cop" goes straight to him assuming hes safe and Cicci is soon dead

Sorry to make a repeat topic

I reviewed this scene in slow motion on my DVD player. The cop in the bar has three chevrons on the shoulder of his police tunic. He's knocked down by the fleeing Rosato brothers. He gets up, gun in hand, and chases them out the door. Shooting ensues in the street. Then you see, very clearly, that the same cop who was in the bar (with three chevrons on his tunic) is helping another cop, who's clutching his face. Look carefully and you'll see the second cop's policeman's hat bouncing around on the trunk of the police car. As the two of them move for cover, you see a nightstick at the wounded cop's waist. Then you see them duck for cover behind their car, which is a 1958 Ford Custom 300 (the standard patrol car for NYPD in '58), painted in authentic NYPD green and white. The scene is jump-cut--the action transpires over a lot more time than two seconds.
IMO, the two cops were on patrol in their car. The first guy, who knew Richie, saw that his bar was open when it should have been closed. He stopped the car outside the bar and went in, leaving his partner inside the car. When he and the gangsters ran out, guns in hand, the partner got out of the car and was wounded in the shooting.

Good theory and this one was one that I have been thinking about for a while. Roth setting it up is a strong possibility IMO. It would be redundent for him to say "Michael Corleone says hello" if he was a truly marked man. I mean, why would you purposly mislead someone who is about to be a dead man? Well unless he wouldn't really be a dead man and was being mislead. Or in the odd scenario that they weren't sure the hit would be executed properly, to cover their bases.

Now I see a few scenarios here that would explain what happened. None of these are certain and I think FFC and Puzo are great at leaving loose ends in this movie, which allow us to use our imaginations instead of being spoon fed the plot.

Scenario 1: The Rosatos went to kill Frankie as ordered by Roth behind Michael's Back. When the hit falls through Roth plays this to his advantage by getting frankie to trial.

Scenario 2: The Rosatos stage a hit on Frankie as ordered by Roth to make it seem like Michael Corleone was out to get him. WHen Frankie heard this it would be easy to convince him to testify against Michael knowing another hit would be very unlikely since he would be on his guard. The cop was either A) on the take and informed of it or B) tipped off and asked to check out the bar.

Scenario 3: The Rosato Brothers were asked to make the hit with the line "MC sends his regards". Roth then set the cop up to come in at the exact time to break up the hit.

These are as I see the 3 most likely scenarios. Scenario 3 is a new one I came up with because Roth as you know is a great manipulator (he totally manipulated Fredo) and he could have been manipulating the Rosatos to get to Pantangeli and therefore Michael in a very round about way. The Rosatos were lower on the pecking order too, so they could have had much information held back by Roth in order to use them to further this end.

All 3 are possible. Scenario one is the simplest and would just require an oppurtunist like Roth to simply make his move at the right time. Scenario two is the most complicated one but if it were executed properly could have resulted in a grand deception if all parties played their parts correctly. Scenario three would require alot of what-ifs to fall in place in order to make it work, but if the cop was either on Roth's take or Roth had the exact details, it would be easy for him to use this method as well.

Personally I am leaning towards scenario one due to what Turnbull posted in the pervious thread he posted a link to; i.e. the interview with Danny Aiello that was referred to. Danny said that it was an impromptu line kept in by FFC because it matched the plot.

Also it maybe useful to note that in a moive this complicated it's often important to listen to the narrative. The narractive, although at times spoken by a character is coming directly as narration to elaborate upon or explain explicitly a piece of the plot that may have been left unclear or ambiguous. The narractive in question is when Hagen, explains later on in the movie that "Roth played this one beautifuly. Pantangeli thought you arranged the hit, Roth convinced him that you are after him and convinced him to testify for protection" or something like that.

Just another note on the Danny Aielo interview. Often in scripts there are elaborations at the beginning of a scene so the characters could get in the right mood emotionally. Also directors often talk to the actor in question and may elaborate a little more about the scene or their motivation in the scene.

Danny Aielo as a consequence of reading this or getting additonal direction from FFC could have added the line thinking it would further the plot (of which he would have already known about). When FFC heard it, he could have kept it knowing full well it would have worked superlativly in the scene.