Underboss
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 1,466 No. Virginia
Just a note: the Johnny-Fredo conversation establishes Fredo as a traitor, it also establishes Ola (and presumably Roth) as the adversary. We don't really have a scene like Luca's murder or the Sollozzo-Tom dialogue, so without Johnny's phone call the audience could go deep into GF2 uncertain who the bad guy is.
"All of these men were good listeners; patient men."