Just curious - We know Santino loved the ladies, his favorite being Lucy and I remember Michael saying something to Tom like, are you going to Vegas with your wife, kids and mistress - and Fredo loved ladies - well did Michael ever cheat on Kay?

Not that we know of. He didn't seem to be that kind of a guy and he even didn't like the way Fredo welcomed him in Vegas. Later in Cuba we didn't see him with anyone either. He just fell in love with Appolonia, kind of love in the first sight and if you think of that as cheating on his girlfriend. I think he was almost disappointed in going back to the US then.

There isn't even a hint of him having a mistress. Michael would have thought it would have taken away from business. So, NO!

No way. Michael was too focused on his business, too obsessed with the image of legitimacy and protecting his family, to dally.

DBC and Turnbull, you BEAT me to it !!!

Michael's only 'mistress' was the Family Business!

In fact, the way things turned out, Kay probably would have preferred a real, live mistress for her husband, had she been given the choice.

Apple

In fact, Mike's existence is almost monastic. He has a monk-like devotion to the family, and it's highlighted by his lack of a mistress.

I think his avoidance of alcohol, him drinking water all the time, supports this characterization as well.

Not for me, thank you! I'd rather my husband be too busy with his business than having a mistress. I kind of like Michael because of that he never showed interest in any other woman than his wife.

Am sure Kay would've said that, too...before getting caught up in this Sicilian thinnnggggg that's gone on for hundreds of years !!


Apple

Mike's trip to Vegas.

Mike to Fredo: Who are the girls?
Fredo: That's for you to find out!
Mike: Get rid of them.

Sheesh, what a dud.

But doesn't Michael say in his confession to Cardinal Lamberto in GF III that he "betrayed his wife" among other things? I always interpreted this as adultary...or having mistresses, I guess.

I think he meant he betrayed her by lying to her about becoming "legitimate" in five years.

I suppose, but I still think that despite never seeing it in the movies, that the statement made by Michael to Lamberto should be taken literally.

It's just like the Sopranos. "When you are with a powerful man, you'd better damn well make him feel powerful. Livia never understood that."

Kay never really made Michael feel powerful, did she? I mean, in I, we see her naive and loving side, but in II we obviously see her defiance and growing hatred towards him. Even in III, it is obvious she has some kind of power over him.

I think "I betrayed my wife" was when he shut the door on Kay and not let her to be with her kids. It is a sad scene when Kay is crying and Michael shuts the door but I wouldn't blame him. Michael was a loyal man to his family kind of the way Vito was. Vito was blaming Sonny of having a mistress but Michael was NOT that kind of a man.

I would have cheated on kay if i were mike. Shes annoying and stupid. I would get someone actually hot and not annying. Just as carlo would do.

after the abortion i would of wacked Kay

I don't.

I agree w/ Turnbull (and have always felt this way) that the 'betrayal' Michael refers to is in terms of his Business...how he misled and hid things from Kay, gave little if any though to the personal lives of his wife & children ("A man who doesn't spend time with his family....").

Remember that by the time of GFIII Michael Corleone has undergone a metamorphasis and is now quite aware of his responsibility in the failure of their marriage. Quite a reversal from his utter blindness to the situation when Kay first announces she's leaving him in GFII.

Apple

What did Vito think of Appolonia?

We don't know, because neither the film nor the novel ever mentions Vito having a reaction, or even being told. He was probably too sick to be told, or to react if told. We have to assume that Don Tomassino, as Michael's protector, communicated Michael's intentions, either to Vito or Sonny, but we never hear of a reaction from them.
Vito's reaction to Kay is obscure, too. In a deleted scene from GF, Vito says to Michael, after the wedding: "Did your American girlfriend get home alright?" He rolls his eyes as he says "American girlfriend," a clear sign of disapproval. And the only time we see Vito anywhere near Kay in the entire film is in the family photo that Michael drags her into at Connie's wedding.
The hint that Vito disapproved of Kay, per the above, makes me believe that he probably approved of Apollonia, a real Sicilian gal from a family that was vouched for by his ally, Don Tomassino. After Apollonia was killed, Vito probaby softened his attitude toward Kay, out of sympathy to Michael. He might even have believed that her impeccable WASP background would provide Michael with a modicum of respectability that he desperately needed, since he was now Don Corleone, and never going to be Senator Corleone or Governor Corleone.

I agree with you all about Mike not cheating on Kay. It just doesn't go with his character.

Besides that, I think he saw love as a weakness after Appolonia. He may have felt pleasing her blinded him to the betrayal that ended up costing Appolonia's life, and he wouldn't let that happen to his family again.

LMFAO, this a funny dude.

Tom Hagen - I agree - maybe to Michael, love was a weakness. Well, maybe not a weakness but love was dangerous. IN GFIII, he reminded Vincent, they kill the ones you love and yes, as he was in love and happy with Appolonia, bam! they kill her.
But love and mistresses are not the same thing - I think MIchael was too stressed out and tired for a mistress- but maybe if he had the excitement of a mistress, he would have been a lot happier!

Sophia, will you be my mistress?

I'm Funny, Funny how, Am I here to amuse you?!

Hey DeathbyClotheshanger, I'm lucky enough that my husband looks like the young Michael Corleone -and I guess lucky for him - I'm half Lucy Mancini and half Appolonia, or Kay - meaning dedicated, but I prefer Appolonia, she's cute.

Appolonia was Sooo Hot oh la la