Why wasn't Clemenza in part 2 instead of Frank Pentangeli? I know there was a reason he couldn't/wouldn't do it...

But I thought of this: Could you imagine Clemenza betraying Mikey? Clemenza sitting for the Commission and cooperating with the FBI...I can't!

It's been said many many times here before that it was a money thing.

However I think that if Clemenza had agreed to do GFIII, his character would NOT have been the one to betray Mike.
The script probably would have been written a little bit differently. It is possible that a Pentangeli character may still have been in the movie as the traiter, but I don't believe that it would have been Clemenza.

Good question though. Makes one really wonder what would have changed scriptwise had Clemenza been written into GFII.


Don Cardi

From past threads I remember there was a problem with Richard Castellano, the actor who played Clemenza. He wanted more out of GFII than FFC was prepared to give. So the older Clemenza was written out (that was no heart attack) paving the way for Frankie.

And yes, I'm sure there may have been somewhat of a different story had Clemenza been able to stay in the picture. But remember, a main theme of GFII was Michael's growing distrust and hardness due to betrayal coming from just about every direction. So it would've been interesting to see if even Clemenza had remained loyal.

Apple

Apple's right, here. Clemenza would have been the perfect example of the changing times and the "Americanization" of the Corleones. He would have gone against Michael and it would have been terribly sad to see that. For that reason I'm glad Castellano held out (for more money and writer's "authority") and did not appear in Part II. He was my favorite character.

I would have hated to see that. I loved Clemenza. And maybe because of this feeling, I refuse to think that FFC would have had Clemenza betray Mike.

It's strictly business, and I am taking it personal.


Don Cardi

Haha I could not say it better..

So if people weren't that greedy (the actors or the directors) we still had Richard Castellano and Marlon Brando in The Godfather Part 2. But than we didn't have Robert de Niro, and maybe Micheal Gazzo neither.

Because FFC wanted Marlon Brando also to play the young Vito, am I right?

You're not.
But Brando was supposed to appear in the last flashback scene (the one where Michael tells he joined the marine). The scene would then have been totally different, it would've been a conversation between Michael and Vito.
But Brando wouldn't do it, and I do not really regret it. The scene was powerfull like it is now. Bringing Fredo, Carlo, Sonny, and Tessio back (of which three people were going to be killed by Michael, as we know) was already very nice to see.

I just came on this site:
http://www.gonemovies.com/WWW/TopFilms/Godfather/EnglischGodfather2.asp


Look under Trivia, there it's said that marlon brando would have played young vito and clemenza the role of frank pentangeli...

I think with Clemenza in GFII they could have really gone in some very interesting and deep plot lines and scenarios....He was so much more of a deeper and more well known character than Frankie, considering he was in teh first movie and frankie was just fabricated....i think how the GFII is, is wonderful and it's hard to imagine it being better, but with a character like Clemenza that is much more well known to the audience and has a history being told in the movie, it could have made for some really interesting scenes.....I don't know what aand how it would be different but I think it would have been even better...



Joe Batters

Also, Enzo. We don't actually see the Don. It just adds more mystique to Vito's character.

Clemenza's loyalty to Mike when Mike and the family appeared to be weak (in GF I when Tessio turned on him) tells me that he would not have betrayed Mike over some squabble with the Rosato brothers. If you remember in GFII Mike tells Frankie that Clemenza promised territories to the Rosatos and that after he died Frankie welched, because, among other things he disapproved of their hiring practices. This shows Clemenza was towing the party line.