I totally agree that Roth did NOT engineer Frankie's survival for the exact reasons that Turnbull has given above. And as someone who did some bit part extra work on several shows and in several movies, ( no wise cracks TB ) I can tell you that I myself have been cast as an extra in a scene, without knowing the plot. Then there were times that we were given a vague idea of the plot, right before the shoot, only to later on see that the plot was altered a bit but the original scene that was shot was kept as is because it was a good take and it was already in the can.

Why is it hard to believe that, in a plot where Roth wanted it to look like Michael set up Roth, Aiello would ad-lib the line? Even if Frankie had been killed, the "Michael Corleone says hello" line still works in several ways. It throws a curveball to the viewer, and it also serves the purpose in that even if Frankie had died, word would have gotten out, maybe by the bartender, that Micahel was the one who killed Frankie. In my opinion the line works one way or another, and I think that FFC felt the same way.


Don Cardi