How would Solozzo have gotten to Vito, if the Don didn't send Luca to spy??? My opion is that they would have found a way to take out Luca first, then Don Vito......but I would like your input on this. Would they have waited till Luca was gone, or what???
Discuss......LOL
thanks!

Since the Don "was slippin'", Sollozzo could have taken him out the way that was shown in the film, or in other ways. His complacency made him a sitting duck--if not by Paulie's betrayal, in some other way. But I think you are correctly implying that getting rid of Luca would be an important consideration in any plan to eliminate Vito.
IMO, one way that the Don was slippin' was to instruct Luca to pretend that he was "not too happy with our family." Sollozzo and Tattaglia would have known about Luca's position in the Corleone Family and his absolute loyalty to Vito, and would have smelled a rat. Vito, by dispatching Luca with that specious story, helped them along by showing his hand. If he hadn't, I'd guess that Sollozzo, wily Sicilian that he was, would have approached Luca about a deal (drugs or something else), knowing that Luca would report it to Vito. Sollozzo would guess that Vito would then tell Luca to go along for a while to see where it was leading--which would lead to the same end: Luca's death. Barring that, a guy of Luca's size would be highly conspicuous--Sollozzo could have arranged to tail him night and day, find out his habits, and whack him at about the same time as his attempt on Vito.

Well said, Turnbull- following Luca Brasi down the street would be as easy as following a bulldozer through an office building.

Sammy The Fish

I assume his plan B would have been (was) Carlo. Vito may not have trusted him entirely but Carlo certainly would have had enough access to kill Vito himself (although he seemed like too much of a coward to do so) or to, for lack of a better term, "open the drapes" for Sollozzo/Barzini's men.

Also, was it really necessary to kill Luca before the hit on the don? It didn't seem that Luca was always at the Don's side. For instance, he didn't expect to be invited to the wedding, even though there would be many strangers around the Mall that day. Plus, as pointed out above, he was easy to spot. Despite his reputation, I imagine he would have been susceptible to ambush.

If Luca had been alive to hear that Don Vito had been shot, Luca would have gone on a rampage that nobody, not even, as Tom said to Sollozzo, Sonny would have been able to control. Luca may not have been able to get to Sollozzo, but given that he probably knew that the Tattglias were involved, he would have run roughshod over that entire family. Eventually, someone would have been able to take Luca down, but it would have been a bloody road to that point.
Conversely, if Luca had been hit too early, that would have tipped off Don Vito that Sollozzo was not finished with the Corleone Family and he would have been too atuned to a potential threat for Sollozzo to be able to get to him.
That's why it was crucial to coordinate the hit on Luca with the hit on the Don.

Sammy The Fish