Originally Posted By: johnny ola
 Originally Posted By: Turnbull
 Originally Posted By: olivant
Many scenes end up on the cutting room floor.

But, as the novel explains, it was only Luca who could make Vito feel nervous because Luca was an uncontrollable force. Luca let Vito control him. Also, Luca's reputation was well known in the underworld and allied community, so his presence might make some people uncomfortable. After all, it was a celebration.

More detail: Tom tells Vito, "He didn't expect to be invited..." I took that to mean that Vito's nervousness about having Luca around lingered until it meant that Luca's invitation was a last-minute decision.
Probably Vito felt a) Luca's fearsome appearance would make other guests nervous; and b) his presence would be a reminder to some people that the Corleone empire rested on the kind of brute force that Luca represented.


So continuing with this thought, would it also be possible that Vito was trying to gain some sort of respectability by disassociating himself from sinister types? Keep in mind also this dialogue at the wedding:

VITO CORLEONE

Prego.

(then, to Tom Hagen, after Bonasera leaves the room)

Ah, give this to ah, Clemenza. I want reliable people; people that aren't gonna be carried

away. I'm mean, we're not murderers, despite of what this undertaker says.


Now keep in mind that Vito's question to Tom was not about inviting Luca to the wedding; it was about meeting with Luca. As I said in my post above, only Luca could make Vito feel nervous and, like anybody, he sought to avoid nervous situations.

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