Danny Aiello said he ad-libbed "Michael Corleone says hello." If so, why didn't FFC cut it out?
I've often speculated that the remark was meant for Richie the bartender. Richie obviously was a civilian ("No, Carmine, not here!"). If the cops got involved, Richie would never rat out the Rosatos. So Tony Rosato fed him a line to give to the cops: "I dunno who these guys were, but one of them said, 'Michael Corleone says hello.' " That'd point the finger at Michael. And, when the newspapers got it, his "legitimate" image would be damaged further.
Good point about the line being said for the bartender.
I think that in that scenario..it was done so that the underworld would think that Mike had him taken out.
Same code that would have kept Richie from fingering the hitmen would keep him from mentioning Corleone's name to the cops.
Roth wanted east coast underworld to think that Mike had it done.
