Stereotypical old person.

Liek when he has the cake, i find it funny that he is like I want everyone to see it before we cut it.

Like it just is kind of funny to me, because its something that the common elderly person does.

Well, of course Roth is an old person in the film. But many of his "little old man" ways are shams, designed to fool Michael into thinking he's harmless--when in fact he's anything but. "Dying of that same heart attack"; "good health--the most important thing"; "I'm going in to take a nap now..."...all this is designed to mask his absolute dangerousness.

Yes TB, but then, on the other hand, he does go on about Moe Green "I didnt ask" (clearly, telling Michael he knows it was him)-- I think in that particular scene he did remove the mask, and was being careless as to let Michael know his true feelings towards him, basically declaring himself a dangerous enemy who holds back a lot of anger inside over Moe Green's death.

I didn't interpret that as carelessness. Rather, I think Roth was clear sending a message that Michael shouldn't let the desire for revenge interfere with business.

Also, Roth may have been hinting that the Nevada hit cancels out Moe Green (a la the shootings of Vito and Bruno Tataglia) and they should now put grudges behind them and move forward.

Yes TB, but then, on the other hand, he does go on about Moe Green "I didnt ask" (clearly, telling Michael he knows it was him)-- I think in that particular scene he did remove the mask, and was being careless as to let Michael know his true feelings towards him, basically declaring himself a dangerous enemy who holds back a lot of anger inside over Moe Green's death. [/QB][/QUOTE]

I think Michael had understood that Roth knew of Michael's involvement in Moe's death at the outset. I believe that the purpose and effect of Roth's Moe Green speech was not to reveal a dangerous side. I'm sure that Roth knew that Michael was aware of Roth's dangerous side. Rather, Roth was just pointing out that the hit on Frankie was just business and Michael shouldn't question him just as he didn't question Michael after the murder of Moe, a more influential figure than Frankie, who was "small potatoes." He pointed out that as great as Moe was, this was the business they had chosen, so he let it stand. I think this was designed to maintain a business relationship with Michael.

I think Roth felt secure in the Rosato brothers' attack on Frankie as Michael had told Roth that he had planned to kill him.

Yes, Roth did let his mask slip in that scene (IMO, one of the best in the Trilogy--notice how FFC shone the baby spotlights on Roth's eyes to make them glitter with anger). But I think the purpose was to divert Michael's suspicions of Roth and his motive for the attack on Frankie:

When Michael visited Roth in Florida, Michael clearly blamed Frankie for the Tahoe attack, and even asked Roth's permission to whack Frankie ("Frank Pentangeli is a dead man--you don't object?"). Roth must have felt mighty satisfied (or as Klydon said, secure): He engineered the Tahoe attack, it failed, and yet Michael blamed Frankie, not him--and even volunteered to kill Frankie.

But when Michael instead ordered Frankie to settle with the Rosatos, Roth must have known that Michael no longer suspected Frankie--meaning that Michael might suspect Roth. He ordered the Rosatos to whack Frankie to remove Michael's ally before the two of them could cook up mischief against Roth. So, when Michael, sounding confrontative, asked, "Who had Frank Pentangeli killed...I know I didn't," Roth needed to divert Michael's suspicions. He give his little speech about Moe Green as a way of telling Michael that his move against Frankie was a quid pro quo for Michael's murder of Moe Green.