Back to the 1930s...
Younger Frank Pentangeli (40-ish):
Younger Hyman Roth: (50-ish):
Younger Moe Greene (35-40):
And in an uncredited cameo role as Luca Brasi, at his fearsome best...
And in the "epilogue" sequence: "The Corleone Family at the Millennium (1980-1997, with coda, 2003)
Santino, Jr., a little less hotheaded than his half-brother Vincent, also rises to a major role in the family at this time (after, we are told, living the 'straight life' for 10-15 years, explaining his absence from GF III)... and Anthony Corleone, after the shock of seeing his sister's murder ... abruptly decides to dump his singing career and returns to law school. Against his father's wishes, Anthony decides to get involved in the family business, to seek revenge for Mary's death. (Astonishingly, we find out that Kay - now widowed after her husband dies of a heart attack - actually encourages him to do this, with urging from Connie, who sees Anthony's analytical mind and dramatic flair as an asset to the family. Michael strongly resists the idea at first, but Connie and Vincent convince him it's the right move.)
Upon completing law school and trying several high-profile cases in the mid-1980s, Anthony goes to work for his father and cousin as the lead defense counsel for the Corleone Family in criminal matters, which becomes critical as the Justice Department attempts to bring the hammer down on the family's operation.
But Anthony's sheltered upbringing leaves him weak, vulnerable and indecisive, and he is pressured by the Feds (and the other families) to give up information on the family, which needless to say brings him into conflict with his cousins Sonny, Mikey and Vincent, at least one of whom concludes that Anthony has become an intolerable liability.
We see Vincent seek counsel from his uncle Michael. "Uncle... What would YOU do when a family member betrays your trust and places everyone in the family in danger?"
Michael hedges his answer, because he knows he can't tell Vincent the truth - or he could be signing Anthony's death warrant. He finds out shortly thereafter that Vincent has asked Connie the same question.
Meanwhile, Michael Francis (Rizzo) Corleone, who, backed by his chillingly ruthless and cold-blooded mother Connie, now the Godmother of the Corleone Family, rises to effective control of the family in the early 1990s (after being released from a 10-year jail stint in about 1980, we later find out) when his cousin Vincent is critically wounded in a hit attempt and his own Godfather, Michael Corleone, is partially incapacitated by a stroke, speaking only with difficulty, and confined to medical care.
The movie ends in 1997, at the funeral of Michael Corleone, as his godson, now the Godfather himself, "settles all family business..."
The final scene is 2003, in a courthouse in New Jersey, with Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty visible out the window in the background, in a blustery winter storm, as a judge reads the name of an accused juvenile murderer before passing sentence.
"Vito Andolini Corleone..." We see the hardened face of the 16-year-old suspect. His father, Vincent Corleone, enters the courtroom in a wheelchair, surrounded by a phlanx of bodyguards led by Al Neri, still cold and steely at the age of 80.... his mother, Grace Hamilton, looks on in a cold rage. Vito is led off into a cell. The door slides on its track and closes with a crash, and a hard metallic click as the lock shuts.
He sits on the bed and starts chanting phrases from a violent rap song...
Scene dissolves to the cemetery in New York City.
The camera pans over the stones, obscured by dead leaves and drifting snow. It is sunset, and the shadows are long and black:
Vito Corleone, 1893-1954
Carmella Corleone, 1897-1959
Santino Corleone, 1917-1947
Alfredo Corleone, 1920-1959
Michael Corleone, 1924-1997
Constanzia Corleone, 1927-2001
The scene fades. A single figure walks slowly away from the gravesites, as, for the final time, the Godfather Theme rises...
