At the very end of GF I, there's a sign on the stone wall at the compound that says "5.6 acres for future commercial development and SOLD". Clemenza and Pentangeli both lived there, as is stated in GF II. Did the deal fall through or did Clemenza buy it?

Neither. Part II was made instead.

It was intended that the Corleones would sell the mall (and make a huge profit) and that would be the end of the story. The producer discovered that he could make a huge profit himself if he filmed a sequel (and I'm happy he did) but no thought was given the continuity issue of the mall (it really isn't an important issue IMO).

Could Genco land company have been a front company that was set up to make the sale to a Mr. Peter Clemenza?

Given that the Corleones had no problem murdering people, I'd say that setting up a front company to cover their land deal tracks or avoid associated taxes was certainly within the realm of possibility.

Damn, I noticed that also, and was going to make a post concering it, but thought it would be too nit picking

The Genco real estate company existed long before Michael became Don. The novel explains that real estate was one of Vito's sources of income. The novel also says that the company was named after Genco because Vito was "too modest" to attach his own name to it.

Some times the GF threads really do become full of nit picking.This isn't an important issue at all.

I'm sorry but that was a crappy thing to say. I hope you were teasing.

What's a nit? And how does one go about picking one?

Nit picking? Maybe. But (IMO) its an honest question about an observation from the movie (and some plausible explanations - I still like mine best ).

BTW - Thats quite a statement from someone who frequents the Games forum so much.

A nitwit? A knit sweater?

I wonder if its like picking a nose.

Hey i barely go into the Games forum anymore.It's become repetitive and stagnent.
It's just me opinion.We all know part two wasn't written yet and it's the fact that the sign reads that way because of it.
Yes i know it's an observational question,but i found it a little too "nit picking". Fair enough.

"Let he who is without nitpicks among you cast the first stone."

Both SC and DC are right. No sequel was in the works when GF was finished, so the sale of the mall and its property could simply have been a fait accomplias Michael moved the family West. But the "sale" of the property could have been a tax shelter and money-laundering move: Michael could have "sold" it to his New York underboss, Clemenza, for a fraction of its real worth, and taken a big tax credit. Clemenza could then list the deflated price of the mall as his main asset, and escape his own big tax bill. He could also have set up a dummy corporation to buy the mall, then "leased" it from his own company to launder money.

...And for the record i frequent the GF section a lot more than the friggin games.

A nit is lice.

Relax... I was just bustin' your balls.

HAHA yeah i know.

It's sometimes hard to convey sarcasm over the net,i was trying to sound sarcastic,looks like i failed.

Now YOU'RE nitpicking!!!

hahahahahaha

i know.

YEAH? WELL YOU CAN JUST GO PICK A NIT!

If the sale was some kind of elaborate self dealing operation as has been suggested here, then it would make sense that the property was "sold" for commercial development. If for some reason commercial development could not take place (here the Corleones would have to fix a zoning board to rule against them),
then the commercial "buyer" would probably have had an escape clause in the contract. This would make the land much less valuable, which in turn would allow for a huge price reduction for Clemenza. My guess is that some Corleone owned entity continued to own the property because after Clemenza died it passed to Pentangeli, to there was probably some provision that the person running the New York operations could live there for life....which speaking of nit picking.....raises the question, what did they do with Clemenza's wife and kids? Put them on the street?

Organized crime organizations have a plethora of ways to disguise financial transactions. Puzo may have actually intended that the property was sold legitimately to underscore Vito's acumen as he expressed in the novel. But we are allowed to speculate and, in light of the unplanned GFII, we speculate like crazy.

Clemenza's family would not need all that room or upkeep expense. Anything's possible. His wife might have died before him, etc. the timeline is so screwed up in GFII, it's nearly impossible to make any logical sense of it.

Yes but Michael said the house went to Clemenza. And as I recall in GFI Clemenza had kids cause he told Paulie to watch out for them when he was backing out of the driveway.

I've always wondered about those kids.

Clemenza, being roughly Vito's age, would have been in his mid 50's in 1945, a bit old (at that time) to be the father of such young children.

Clemenza was known among his close friends as "the human tripod"

Yeah, him and Anthony Quinn, knocking 'em up from the nursing home.

Maybe they were his grandchildren

Nah, then she would've asked for miniature cannoli.

"Leave the gun, take the miniature..."

It just doesn't work.

I always thought Clemenza divorced his wife for wearing that hairnet.

She wouldn't have blended very well at one of the hostess parties in GOODFELLAS, but if you brushed her with some tacky blue eye shadow, she'd be chewing bubble gum and cursing her husband in no time at all.