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Re: Another Godfather 2 Observation
#6694
02/09/04 10:24 PM
02/09/04 10:24 PM
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Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 15,058 The Slippery Slope
plawrence
RIP StatMan
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RIP StatMan
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 15,058
The Slippery Slope
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I don't think Tom leaked the info, either.
I took the look Michael gave Hagen to mean "How did he find this out?" and Hagen's look back at Mike is "I don't know".
But right after that, isn't that where Mike says "Turnbull is a good man"? That indicates to me that Mike knew where Geary got his info, and that it wasn't from Tom.
"Difficult....not impossible"
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Re: Another Godfather 2 Observation
#6696
02/12/04 01:43 AM
02/12/04 01:43 AM
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 92
BadaBing
Button
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Button
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 92
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What did Michael and Tom hope to accomplish as a result of the meeting? Did they think that Geary was going to give the license out of appreciation for the donation? Were they finding out at that moment what a complete dirtbag Geary was?
CHRISTIAN You desecrated a classic film. This is worse than "Godfather III." GIBSON Whoa, whoa, hey, whoa! Let's not say things we can't take back. CHRISTIAN All right, all right, I'm sorry.
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Re: Another Godfather 2 Observation
#6698
02/12/04 04:04 PM
02/12/04 04:04 PM
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Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 310
EnzoBaker
Capo
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Capo
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 310
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I think the function of the scene is to show that in fact Michael was correct when he said to Kay in GF I that senators and presidents are corrupt too.
I think Geary wanted the meeting to put the heat on Michael. He thought he could bluff Michael by talking tough to him, threw in the Sicilian pronunciation of "Corleone" to show he knew damn well what the family was about, and then figured he could pressure Michael for the payoffs.
Michael and Tom of course just made a notation in their little black book. Geary was far more useful to them as a living pawn than a dead body, so they set up the dead-girl-at-the-brothel episode to give them a blackmail hammer on Geary he could never escape.
After that, in Cuba and at the Senate hearings, Geary is an obedient lapdog to the Corleone interests.
"You did good."
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Re: Another Godfather 2 Observation
#6701
02/13/04 05:35 AM
02/13/04 05:35 AM
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Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 310
EnzoBaker
Capo
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Capo
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Posts: 310
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Originally posted by Turnbull: Originally posted by EnzoBaker: [b] After that, in Cuba and at the Senate hearings, Geary is an obedient lapdog to the Corleone interests. Geary very nearly sent Michael to jail with his two-faced speech in the Senate, and his questioning of Willie Cicci that led Michael into Geary's perjury-trap. [/b]I think more than anything else, Geary's smoochy speech in the Senate simply revealed to most of the rest of the committee members what a tool he was. Most of the tough questions to Cicci came from Questadt, the lawyer who was on Roth's payroll. Geary makes a point, before the questioning gets really rough, of conveniently having "another committee meeting" that he has to go to. While Geary undoubtedly wanted to see Michael go down, he also knew he himself couldn't play much of a part in it, or he'd be connected to the death of the girl at the brothel, which would ruin him.
"You did good."
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Re: Another Godfather 2 Observation
#6702
02/13/04 12:49 PM
02/13/04 12:49 PM
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Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 19,721 AZ
Turnbull
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Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 19,721
AZ
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All of the members of the Senate Committee, including Geary, knew that Frank Pentangeli was alive and had turned informant. Michael and Tom didn't know that. So, when Geary asked Cicci if he ever got a direct order from Michael, and Cicci said he hadn't, it seemed as if Geary was being helpful to Michael. But the effect was to make Michael relax--since Cicci apparently was the top-ranking witness, and since (thanks to Geary's seemingly "helpful" question)Cicci said he never got a direct order from Michael, he thought he could get away with lying under oath about his involvement in organized crime. Then, bada- bing! , the committee sprang Frankie on him, and he was open to five counts of perjury.
Geary's two-faced speech also was a subtle blow against Michael. When he said, "these hearings on the Mafia are not a reflection on the Italian-American people," who was he referring to as "Mafia" if not Michael? And, when he said, "it would be a shame if a few rotten apples were permitted to spoil the whole bunch," who was he referring to if not Michael?
Ntra la porta tua lu sangu � sparsu, E nun me mporta si ce muoru accisu... E s'iddu muoru e vaju mparadisu Si nun ce truovo a ttia, mancu ce trasu.
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Re: Another Godfather 2 Observation
#6704
02/17/04 05:50 PM
02/17/04 05:50 PM
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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 6,762 Anytown, USA
goombah
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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 6,762
Anytown, USA
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Originally posted by Turnbull: All of the members of the Senate Committee, including Geary, knew that Frank Pentangeli was alive and had turned informant. Michael and Tom didn't know that. So, when Geary asked Cicci if he ever got a direct order from Michael, and Cicci said he hadn't, it seemed as if Geary was being helpful to Michael. But the effect was to make Michael relax--since Cicci apparently was the top-ranking witness, and since (thanks to Geary's seemingly "helpful" question)Cicci said he never got a direct order from Michael, he thought he could get away with lying under oath about his involvement in organized crime. Then, bada- bing! , the committee sprang Frankie on him, and he was open to five counts of perjury.
Geary's two-faced speech also was a subtle blow against Michael. When he said, "these hearings on the Mafia are not a reflection on the Italian-American people," who was he referring to as "Mafia" if not Michael? And, when he said, "it would be a shame if a few rotten apples were permitted to spoil the whole bunch," who was he referring to if not Michael? I was always confused by Geary's speech, but Turnbull has added much clarity. I always wondered why Geary was sort of vouching for Michael at the first hearing, but speaking disparagingly in the second. But that makes sense-Geary knew about Pentangelli & how the testimony could potentially sink Michael. This would allow Geary some sense of revenge for the dead prostitute, which held Geary in debt to the Corleone's.
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Re: Another Godfather 2 Observation
#6706
02/18/04 01:25 AM
02/18/04 01:25 AM
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Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 19,721 AZ
Turnbull
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Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 19,721
AZ
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Originally posted by dcashley: Do we just assume he figured it out after this? I wouldn't assume that Geary ever knew for certain that the Corleones had the prostitute killed. All he had to know is that he was in the room with the dead girl, in a brothel run by Fredo Corleone, and that Hagen was a witness. Even if he knew that the Corleones did it, there was no way off the hook for him. That's one of the reasons why he tried that clever maneuver with his questioning of Willie Cicci. Notice, too, that old think-with-his-dick learned nothing from the brothel escapade. Just a few weeks later, in Havana, he's importuning whoremaster Fredo for "one of those red headed Yolandas."
Ntra la porta tua lu sangu � sparsu, E nun me mporta si ce muoru accisu... E s'iddu muoru e vaju mparadisu Si nun ce truovo a ttia, mancu ce trasu.
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Re: Another Godfather 2 Observation
#6708
02/18/04 11:50 AM
02/18/04 11:50 AM
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Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 19,721 AZ
Turnbull
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Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 19,721
AZ
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Originally posted by MaryCas: [QUOTE]We have agreed in past threads that JD Spradlin's characterization of Geary is impeccable. The other day I was watching GF2 while doing some treadmill time and I picked up on a little dialog connection that I never heard. Anticipating the "red-headed Yolanda" line, I was paying attention to the stage dancers and the MC announces the singer as "Yolanda" something or other. I guess that is where Geary got the Yolanda reference. (We never did get to see Fred Korngold do the cha-cha.) Couldn' agree more! Casting is one of the major triumphs of GF and II. Geary's a relatively minor character in II, and look at all the attention he gets here. Willie Cicci even more so. In both cases, the characterizations were letter perfect. Same applies to Al Lettieri. We could go on and on... MC: The Havana sequence is so perfect that serious scholars of modern Cuba advise their students to watch GFII if they want an accurate picture of what Havana was like on the eve of Castro's takeover. Another nice touch in the Yolanda scene: Watch how Michael rolls his eyes when Geary says he'll have one of those "red-headed Yolandas." More detail: thanks to the clarity of the DVD, I was finally able to see that there's a card on Michael's table that says there's a $5.00 minimum at the Tropicana club, which I was unable to read on the VHS tape. Also notice that Fredo has three black Cuban cigars in the breast pocket of his white jacket (I thought it was a black handkerchief).
Ntra la porta tua lu sangu � sparsu, E nun me mporta si ce muoru accisu... E s'iddu muoru e vaju mparadisu Si nun ce truovo a ttia, mancu ce trasu.
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