Olivant once again raised the point about cinematic expression overriding logic--in this case, having a witness other than Clemenza to Carlo's execution. But again, what multiple witnesses heard from Michael was that he was banishing Carlo from the family.

A couple of far more serious violations of logic occurred in the films:

--When Michael, Calo and Fabrizio are at Sr. Vitelli's cafe, he tells an indignant Vitelli and his sons his name and that he's hiding from the police of his country--not real smart things to reveal to three guys who think he's intending to commit the ultimate Sicilian infamia of dishonoring their daughter and sister. He also tells Vitelli, "There are people who'll pay a lot of money for that information. But then your daughter would be losing a father instead of gaining a husband." Vito never, ever, would have approved of making an unnecessary threat. It's a great scene--one of the best in the trilogy--but it doesn't make Michael look very smart.

--In the penultimate boathouse scene in II, Michael has a full discussion of Roth's escape plans with Rocco, Neri and Tom present, then says, "I want it [his plane] met." He had three witnesses to a direct order for murder--no buffas. The drama of that scene (yet another great one) was to show just how low he'd go to humiliate Tom and manipulate Rocco. But could easily have been a fatal mistake for Michael.