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Also something to denote is that when Fredo is disowned by Michael, in the boat house scene, he still has a mustache. Afterwards, when he's nothing anymore, just a ward of the Corleone's - the gypsy who belonged to no one he always feared he was - at Carmela's funeral, he's cleanshaven. That can't have been an accidental choice on Coppola's part - it's like saying, to be vulgar, he got his balls cut off completely.
Astute observation. Hadn't noticed that before.
Honestly, it almost seems like Michael has a DISDAIN for Italians. He speaks the language, sure, but the culture seems alien to him, despite having lived there. He's almost a self hating Italian.
In a deleted scene from II, when Gardiner Shaw asks for Francesca's hand in marriage, after Michael says yes, he turns to Tom and says, "Make sure her dowry's big--these people think Italian brides go barefoot." It's as if he's speaking of Italians as a species separate from himself.
