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The Family.. #28605
05/11/05 12:04 AM
05/11/05 12:04 AM
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 4
Baltimore
T
The Law Offline OP
Associate
The Law  Offline OP
T
Associate
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 4
Baltimore
Hello, Im new to the board and pretty new to the Godfather in general. But my question is this. I know that some characters of the Godfather are based on actual people(Like Hyman Roth based on Lansky)but who was Vito and the rest of the Coleone family based on, if they where?

Re: The Family.. #28606
05/11/05 12:39 AM
05/11/05 12:39 AM
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 19,721
AZ
Turnbull Offline
Turnbull  Offline

Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 19,721
AZ
Welcome, The Law.
Vito Corleone is a composite of New York City Dons. Like Joe Profaci, he was the biggest olive oil importer in the US. Like Joe Bonanno, he had a son rising in the family, and suffered a betrayal by one of his underbosses. Like Salvatore Maranzano, he vanquished an opponent in an urban war, and left him dead in a restaurant. But the Don that Vito was most like was Frank Costello. Costello, called "the Prime Minister of the Underworld," was all-powerful in gambling and unions, controlled many of the politicians and judges in New York, retired after being shot, and died peacefully of a heart ailment.


Ntra la porta tua lu sangu � sparsu,
E nun me mporta si ce muoru accisu...
E s'iddu muoru e vaju mparadisu
Si nun ce truovo a ttia, mancu ce trasu.
Re: The Family.. #28607
05/11/05 10:19 PM
05/11/05 10:19 PM
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 15,032
Texas
O
olivant Offline
olivant  Offline
O

Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 15,032
Texas
I disagree, Turnbull. I think Vito is Bonanno just about all the way. There are similarities with Costello and others for sure. For one, the name change. Costello's was originally Castiglia (but he was Calabrese, I believe, not Sicilian like Vito) like Vito's was Andolini. Yes, both were "prime ministers" so to speak, but Costello was never really a power unto himself. He attained his position throught he largesse of Luciano; Vito attained his through intelligence, cunning, manipulation, etc., etc.

Although it was Mike that moved to Nevada and not Vito, that parallels Bonanno's move to Arizona. The wedding was modeled on Bill Bonanno's marriage to Rosalie Profaci. the Rosato brothers are the Gallos who revolted against Bonanno and Pentangeli is Joe Magliocc a Bonanno ally. What do you think?


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Re: The Family.. #28608
05/12/05 01:29 AM
05/12/05 01:29 AM
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 15,058
The Slippery Slope
plawrence Offline
RIP StatMan
plawrence  Offline
RIP StatMan
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Posts: 15,058
The Slippery Slope
I agree with Turnbull here.

I think Vito Corleone was meant to be a composite of the heads of the five New York families at the time.

This opinion, BTW, forms the basis for my argument that the Corleones were a fictional sixth family, and Puzo deliberately constructed Vito Corleone as a character who could not be identifed for certain as the head of one of the five families, all of which existed in reality at the time the book and film were set, as well as the time when the book was published and the film released.


"Difficult....not impossible"
Re: The Family.. #28609
05/12/05 09:48 PM
05/12/05 09:48 PM
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 1,211
Little Chicago
Tony Love Offline
Underboss
Tony Love  Offline
Underboss
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 1,211
Little Chicago
The tie between Frank Sinatra and Johnny Fontane is pretty obvious.


"Any American who is prepared to run for president should automatically, by definition, be disqualified from ever doing so"-Gore Vidal
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Re: The Family.. #28610
05/13/05 12:57 AM
05/13/05 12:57 AM
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 19,721
AZ
Turnbull Offline
Turnbull  Offline

Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 19,721
AZ
Quote
Originally posted by olivant:
I disagree, Turnbull. I think Vito is Bonanno just about all the way. What do you think?
As I said at the outset, olivant: Vito is a composite of the five NYC Dons of his era, and certainly contains elements of Bonanno. But the override that makes me think he's more like Costello is that, like Costello, he didn't touch drugs, was tops in gambling and unions, kept peace with the other Dons, and "owned all the politicians." He also chose to retire after an attempted murder. Bonanno was big in drugs, ran afoul of the Commission, was deposed by them, launched a long, damaging war against the other families, and eventually was forced to retire. Michael's move to Nevada was a business decision; Bonanno had a second home in Arizona that he bought mainly because his son and putative heir, Salvatore (Bill) suffered from mastoid infections when he was a kid, and the dry air was thought to be good for his condition.


Ntra la porta tua lu sangu � sparsu,
E nun me mporta si ce muoru accisu...
E s'iddu muoru e vaju mparadisu
Si nun ce truovo a ttia, mancu ce trasu.

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