Ok there was one scene where it confused me. It was the scene where paulie was bout to get killed. In the beggining in the car when paulie tells rocco to sit at the other side. it was ok that he said it but did any1 one find it wierd how he said. just hear the tone of his voice he sounded tricky when he said it. was there a reason behind it? and my second question when they killed paulie the car was messed so they could not drive it. how did they home. was there some who picked them up? thanks guys.

Paulie did have a certain "tone" to his voice when he asked Rocco to sit on the other side. Rocco was the new guy. Paulie may have been trying to assert his position in the family and in Clemenza's crew. He wanted to sound tough and in control and to show his boss that he was on his toes at all times.

Regarding the ride home....one would surmise that Clemenza had a backup car prearranged. He may not have told them why but said tail us from way back. When we leave the city, wait 15 minutes and pull over by the "leak-spot".

Maybe he was suspicious of what Rocco might do. He might have killed someone from a back seat himself. He must have known what would happen to him when the Corleones found out that he had indeed helped set Vito up to be shot.

There was a car parked nearby for them, empty and with a key.

In hindsight, after seeing what happened to Carlo, if I were connected to a mafia family I wouldn't want anybody sitting directly behind me in a car .

don illuminati's post is just what I was thinking. When I first saw that scene, I too sensed some kind of foreboding or discomfort in Paulie. A motif that runs along the Godfather films is distrust and treachery. Traitors are all around. They could even be in your own family; even your father's longtime friends, who knew you as a baby, could plot to kill you; you never know whom to trust.

Paulie, being a traitor himself, possesses a natural suspicion. Even if he didn't think that his betrayal of Vito had been discovered, he would wonder about this newcomer who's driving around with them. Is he there to usurp his position? (MaryCas's post describes this.) Are the Corleones unhappy with him as a driver, so they're replacing him? (And this being the mafia, instead of being "terminated from his employment," Paulie could readily imagine being literally "terminated.")


Are you getting this from the book, JustMe? I don't remember seeing this in the movie (and I'm too lazy to go check it right now ). It certainly sounds logical.

The novel says that Rocco and Clemenza got into "a car parked nearby."
Paulie certainly would have been nervous about Rocco sitting behind him (and was nervous in the novel). But greed is yet another Top-Five characteristic of Mob guys. Clemenza counted on Paulie's greed to learn about the location of "the matresses" (so he could sell the info to Sollozzo/Tattaglia/Barzini) to overcome his wariness.

Even if he didn't think that his betrayal of Vito had been discovered, his own guilt would create a kind of paranoia where he would suspect that the "new guy" sitting behind him may be there to take him out. That there always was the chance that somehow they had found out. Traitor or not, Paulie, being mentored by a man of Clemenza's status and street knowledge, was probably taught and now smart enough to know that as a driver or passenger in the front of a car, you would never let someone sit directly behind you, out of your view. Especially someone that you did not even know.

It was a natural reaction by someone trained to hold the position of driver/bodyguard.


Don Cardi

Yeah.

I also noticed a couple of other moves on the part of Clemenza which I interpreted to be pretty smart. (I saw these in the saga, so I'm not sure how much of them appeared in the theatrical release.) Clemenza leaves Rocco and Paulie alone in the car when he checks out the "mattress hideout." Then he stops for lunch, leaving the two of them alone in the car for a second time.

It seemed to me that the purpose of these two episodes was to make Paulie more relaxed around Rocco. Since Rocco didn't harm him at those two instances when he had ample opportunity, Paulie may have felt he could let his guard down a little. Hence, when Clemenza had him stop the car in the field, Paulie didn't get all jittery and jump out the door saying, "I need to take a leak too." He stayed in the car, which made the whole operation simpler and cleaner for Rocco.

Definitley possible, Cristina! It'd make sense.
Another possibility: It was a way of Clemenza to "lord it over" his subordinates--to reinforce his superior position by making them wait, like lackeys, while he had lunch alone. In his book, "Honor Thy Father," Gay Talese recounts an experience when Joe Bonanno and his son Bill (the Don-in-waiting) traveled to some meeting in upstate New York. Without telling Bill what the meeting was about, or who was attending, or how long the meeting would last, Joe went inside and left Bill waiting in the car for more than eight hours. It was a test of patience and subordination.

It has always mystified me why anyone would aspire to be in the mafia (but I guess Bill Bonanno, being born into it, had no choice). Not only is there the double-crossing and re-double-crossing, but also the possibility of being gunned down when you least expect it, the variety of horrible ways your life could end if you're even suspected of betraying the family, and the indignities you have to endure on the way to being "made." And on top of that, you have to put up with the egotism (and/or sadism) of your superiors, as Turnbull's anecdote illustrates.

And to think Joe Bonanno tested his own son like that! Did he really expect him to wait in the car for over eight hours?!! I can see him doing that to some up-and-comer in the organization who was being considered for promotion, but to do that to his own son makes me shake my head in wonder .

I just hope there was a discreet place nearby where Bill could relieve himself a la Clemenza . (But then again, if he's a criminal like his father, I can't say I have too much sympathy .)