After he hears about the death of Sonny, Brando-Vito mumbles: "I want all inquiries made." It doesn't really seem to make sense, because just the opposite was what Vito wanted, according to the novel ("none of you are to make any inquiries ") and according to the original script (3rd draft) ("I want no inquiries made.")

So, did Brando misunderstand the point or forgot his line or do I/we misunderstand Brando. What does he really say? Something like "I wannawh inquiries made"?

I thought he said "no" inquiries too. If he wanted the war to stop now, why would he make inquires?

That's what I always thought, too, but it is easy to misunderstand the Don sometimes.

No, no. He says no inquiries.

According to the script, it does say "ALL inquiries made."

According to which script? The transcript? It might include the mishearing too.
This one http://www.dailyscript.com/scripts/The_Godfather.html
is an early version of the script.

By the way, which reason should FCC/Puzo have in mind to change the script this way?

THIS SCRIPT

It does say "All inquiries made." Good find Don Cardi! The wording of the script is confusing though, now if Vito had said "I want all inquiries made, but no acts of vengeance," then it would make more sense.

I believe that is exactly what Vito meant.


I want -- all inquiries made. I want no acts of vengeance. I want you to arrange a meeting, with the heads of the Five Families.


I want all inquiries made into the killing of my son, but I DO NOT want any acts of vengance taken because I must make the peace here. I must find out who my real enemy is, and make sure that I do not lose another son but instead get him back home safely.

I think it's very possible that Vito was beginning to suspect Barzini involvement in all of this. He mentions to Tom later that "Tattaglia could never had outfought Santino." I think that also encompasses that Tattaglia wouldn't have the "balls" to whack Santino either, while Barzini had the strength to do so.

I just listened to it. It's no inquiries.

Oy vey!

I've often pondered this one myself. My guess is that we'll just never know for certain.

The GF is on AE right now. Give it a listen.

By the way, I can hear it clearly and I'm nearly deaf.

I just heard it, and rewound it twice.

He clearly says " I want ALL inquiries made."

Well, this is a transcript.
I'm not American. So I trust olivant as well as Don Cardi in what they hear. Or let me put it like this: It seems to me me that everybody heard what they want to hear.

So perhaps Brando got his paperballs in his mouth

But in the novel as well as in one of the original FCC scripts the surprising point is that Vito really doesn't want any inquiries. Why? If he initiates any inquiries, the other families, will get to know about it. As dontomassino said, perhaps he began already to suspect Barzini. He trusts his guts that as soon as he meets the other families, he'll find out who's behind it.

Very likely. His voice was choked, and, though I heard him say "all," it could have been "no." Or perhaps he just screwed up.


Exactly. His saying "I want all inquiries made" would be completely antithetical to what came next: "I want no acts of vengeance. This war ends now. I want you to arrange a meeting with the heads of the families..." If Vito had ordered "all inquiries made," it would be a sign to the other Dons that he was preparing for vengeance, and that the meeting he was proposing would be a trap. They'd dive underground.

And anyway, what did he need to inquire about? He had to know that Carlo had set up Sonny, and that Tattaglia (with or without help from the other families--it didn't matter which ones since they were all at war) arranged the murder.

I believe that, even in his moment of greatest grief, Vito was thinking clearly. He recognized immediately that his top priority wazs to get Michael back safely to America to be the new head of the family. To do so, he had to appear weak to his enemies. That was the purpose of no inquiries made, no acts of vengeance, and the meeting. Later, in a deleted scene, Michael challenges him on not seeking vengeance for Sonny. Vito admits that "it was a sign of weakness," but to a purpose: to get Michael back, and to have Michael exact vengeance. It was Vito at his most Sicilian-subtle.

Good points TB. How in the world would he expect the five families dons to show up at any meeting if he commissioned any inquiry let alone all inquiries. "Hey Barzini, this is Phillip. You know Vito's trying to find out who killed his kid. You still gonna go to that meeting? I think it's a set-up. Oh, he's arranging hostages? I'm still not sure. It could turn out to be a really good set-up."

Besides, even if he sought inquiries, that's quite an awkward way to express it - all inquiries.

What ya'll are hearing is a short o vowel sound as opposed to the usual long o vowel sound on the end of No.

I always thought it was "no inquiries made." In other words no efforts to find out who did it. By making no inquiries, a message would have been sent to the other families that Corleone was really seeking a truce. ON the other hand if word got to the heads of any of the families that Corleone people were out there asking about who killed Sonny, then they would not be too sure Corleone had given up.

Exactly.

I've always thought he said "all inquiries made," although it is hard to tell.

The "no inquiries" explanations make sense, but only up to a point.

My problem with them is this: Is it really believable that someone like Vito Corleone would simply shrug his shoulders and let the killing of his son go without even the most routine investigation? If I was Tattaglia or Barzini, I'd be very suspicious if there wasn't even a hint of inquiry from the Corleones.

Also, inquiries and a Commission meeting are not mutually exclusive. Vito could be playing both ends - calling a meeting to arrange a truce, but also being prepared to fight should those efforts fail. In fact, if I was a head of a Family, that's just what I'd expect Vito to do.

Think about it. Why did he call the Dons' meeting in the first place? So he could obtain a peace in order to do what? - bring Michael home. So, why in the world would he jeopardize the achievement of that primary objective by making inquiries?

Also, I posted previously that all inquiries is a really awkward piece of dialogue by which to convey an instruction.

Hagen speaks directly to your point in one of the novel's best passages. Following the meeting, Vito asks Tom if he approves. Tom replies that, while he knows Vito'll keep his word about not breaking the peace, not seeking vengeance, etc., it's not true to Vito's nature. "You've constructed a magnificent riddle for me," Hagen concludes. Vito is very pleased with that response--even tells Tom, "even though you're not Sicilian, I made you one." He then tells Tom that he'll figure things out "before the end." It's clear to me that Vito was deliberately making himself appear weak and defeated in order to bring Michael home--and to have Michael exact the revenge that Vito's nature would have demanded.

He definitly says all inquiries made I just watched it on DVD with subtitles.

The DVD guys had the same problem as we do.

I don't think because the subtitle's are straight from the script.

I always thought he said "all". And what's the signifigance? A man who is greiving makes an impulsive statement. Of course he wants to know who, what, and why. I think the other Dons would be suspect if the Corleones didn't snoop around looking for answers.

But regarding the validity of the "script", there are mistakes...such as "Carmine Corleone" instead of "Carmine Cuneo". So I could see the "no" being substituted for "all".

MC, you (et al) don't make any sense. He's just learned his son and heir has been murdered. He wants to end the war. He wants to insure that he can bring his son safely home from exile. He's tells Tom to arrange a meeting of his rivals so that he can get his kid home. He tells Tom that "this war stops now." So, why in the world would he risk any or all of that not happening by instructing Tom to investigate Sonny's murder? The novel makes it absolutely clear that Vito didn't want anything done about Sonny's murder. In fact, in the novel he tells them not to concern themselves with it, not to committ any acts of vengenece, not to initiate inquiries, not to committ further acts of war, and even to cease protecting their businesses. But you think he said all inquiries. "Hey Tom, look, I want you to find out who killed Sonny, You know, make all inquiries. Yeah, if the other Dons get scared off and don't come to the meeting, don't worry about it. Afterall, Mike likes Sicily and he's met a nice girl over there. And Fredo really likes Vegas. And I don't really care one way or the other about the drug business anymore. So, go ahead and find out all you can." For sure!

I think the character said "no inquiries made". It doesn't really make any sense for Vito to have said "all inquiries made".

As he said "This war stops now". Vito wanted to be able to bury his first born son and mourn in peace. He wanted to be able to bring back his youngest son. He finally wanted to seem to give in to the Five Families while plotting a revenge that would take years to bring about.

So he didn't want any of his people , especially Clemenza, who was Sonny's godfather, nosing around upsetting the apple cart, by asking questions and thus indicating to their enemies that the Corleone Family was by no means willing to let bygones be bygones.

Anyway although the Family leadership may not have initially known that Barzini was behind Santino's murder, they all immediately knew that Carlo was. So there really would have been no point to any further inquiries. The Don already had all the information he needed.

Now you sound like my wife . Let's not forget that this is a film based on the book. We try to validate or understand the film based on the book and soon the two become one. But the film will have many departures for artistic reasons. I offered a viewpoint. Personally, I always thought the statement with "all inquiries" didn't make much sense based on what followed - as you point out. But as we know in real life, we say things one day in one state of mind and the next day we might have a different perspective.