In the scene with Sollozzo and Hagen where Solozzo thinks Vito Corleone was dead, he makes a comment that the Don was "slipping" and that five or ten years ago he (Sollozzo) couldn't have gotten to him.

What I think he means is that someone as low on the food chain would never have been allowed to assassinate Corleone with the blessing of the other families, but I am not so sure. If all the families had lined up on some issue or another wouldnt they have been able to take Corleone out if he was the only obstacle?

DT, that's an excellent viewpoint. Mine was simpler: that they had overlooked Paulie being sick and Fredo was not truly up to the task of bodyguard. That, a few years before the shooting, the Don wouldn't have been so relaxed about security. But your POV scratches below the surface and is more interesting.

I think you're right Babe. He meant that the Don had relaxed to the point where he did not see potential threats to him and his family. Also, in the novel even Tom makes the point that he thinks the Don is wrong about not accepting the drug deal.

Very good points......I personally think he meant that the Don might be a little nervous about Sollozo going with another family and the Don losing some clout. If Don Vito was very secure with this drug dealer getting to the other families, and making them business partners, he would not have had that meeting, but Tom and Don Vito were a little worried that this guy might make the other families stronger, he wasn't as confident as he was as a young man.....remember Don Vito told Solozzo "I said I would meet with you, cause I heard you are a serious man to be treated with respect..." I think that was exactly what he said.....but none the less, there are a lot of reasons for what Solozzo meant by saying what he said.
But what do I know......LOL
I will be interested to hear what everyone else thinks....

"Could I have gotten to him ten years ago?" I used to think it referred to the hit on Vito. Now I firmly believe it refers to the actual meeting itself.

And the answer is a resounding No. Ten years ago, with Genco as consigliere, it never would have gotten as far as an actual meeting.

The other families were going into (or approved of) the drug trade and they made that decision BEFORE they approached the Corleones and without their consultation. Tom didn't recognize that. I don't know if Vito understood it either. "Face it...the don is slipping..."

If you read the novel, the characteristic most ascribed to Genco, and woefully lacking in Tom, is the cunning of a Sicilian. I think Genco would have understood the threat to the Corleone family posed by the other families in the form of Sollozzo's "proposition." They had to be "in"...or they most certainly were "out."

Under Genco, I think Sollozzo is a casualty of his own business. It would be the only way to defuse the whole situation. I believe Genco would have understood the threat posed by Sollozzo's offer if Sollozzo was coming to the Corleones with the support of the other families. And Genco would have acted in consort with Vito's distaste for the drug trade as to the level of risk and threat it posed to the family. To eliminate the threat, you eliminate Sollozzo, maybe make an example of him for the other families. Perhaps he's arrested and charged with trafficking in narcotics, his entire crew is rounded-up, tried and convicted, and given the maximum sentence for their crimes. And you point to them and say to the other families, "I couldn't help him. That's what could happen to us."

I always thought it was a mistake on the part of the Corleone family, Tom in particular, to grant Sollozzo an appointment only to say no to his proposition. The meeting should have been granted only to say YES to his proposition -- giving the family's endorsement of the deal and approving the general terms of the deal.

Sollozzo knew that.

They embarassed Sollozzo with their refusal. And they insulted the other families that supported Sollozzo. The only response from the other families was to hit Vito and eliminate the only obstacle in their path. Tom never saw it coming, but justified it later to Sonny when he said, "Even the shooting of your father was business."

"A refusal is not the act of a friend."
-- Don Barzini

I may edit this for more clarity later on. That question by Sollozzo, and the possible interpretations for the answer, say a lot about the business of mob life.

tony b.

Good point Yo TB, but during the meeting didn't Tom make it clear that he already knew how the proceeds were going to be divided among the families? Also I think they asked who was picking up Tattaglia's share to which Sollozzo said he would take care of Tattaglia. This means the Corleones had to know ahead of time the other families were on board.