Frank's brother from that "two mule town" in Sicily. Was he a boss back in the Old Country? He really put some fear into the heart of his brother. In the film, Frank said "he could have been big here!"

There's no indication that he was a boss, and the fact that Michael used an implied threat of harm to sway Pentangeli kind of indicates that his brother wasn't a high-ranking Mafioso, although he was almost certainly a "made" guy (or whatever the Old Country equivalent was) or a guy who had connections, if nothing else. Of course I am not sure what the old Mafia rules were that applied back in the Old Country; in the movies it seems that you could just go and whack a guy (Vito kills two of Don Ciccio's henchmen), even whack the boss (Vito kills Don Ciccio, the assassin Mosca kills Don Tomassino) without it mattering whereas in America you need to get approval to whack a made guy, etc. However that could have been instituted after the movies timeline (again, I'm not really up to speed on Mafia etiquette)

If he had come over to America with Frank, then he probably would have been a higher-ranking guy in the Family, is what Frank probably meant, or maybe having his own Family. I don't remember if Vincenzo was his older or younger brother.

Thanks for your input!

I'm guessing that Vincenzo was a gabbelloto--a rural capo Mafioso whose job was to "oversee" the estates of (relatively) wealthy landowners and dispense "justice" to the contadini. Although their territories and incomes were limited, gabbelloti had tremendous respect among the locals, and held life-and-death power over them. That's probably why Frankie said his brother could have been "big" in America and had his own family.

Wow, Thanks Thumbnail!!

I also don't believe that Vincenzo was brought to America under threat, and don't believe he was going to be killed if Frank testified. I am under the impression that it truly was "between the brothers".

Vincenzo was brought to the trial to remind his brother of the oath of silence they had taken. When everyone is shouting in the courtroom after Frankie changes his story, Tom leans over to Vincenzo and tells him that his family still has its honor.

TB, I rarely disagree with you, but, in this case, I heartily disagree. There is nothing to support your characterization about Vincenzo. Even you are careful to use the word "probably". It is more probable that Frankie's words about his brother were expressed in the same way that one might state that someone who was a good ballplayer in high school could have been a star in the Major Leagues. Frankie also said that his brother was ten times tougher than he was. He was just bragging about him.

No, Frankie understood his brother's appearance as a threat. I think it's naive to believe that importing Vincenzo with the vague hope that his appearance would influence Frankie was enough to change Frankie's testimony. Tom's statement to Vincenzo was just to keep the story intact that they had fed Vincenzo.

I don't necessarily think the threat was one of violence (e.g. If he talks, you die). It might have just been a threat of dishonoring the family, where Vincenzo would have to go back to Sicily and face the accusations/rumors that his brother had broken the omerta. It would have disgraced him beyond repair.

"Thumbnail"? I've been called a lot of things in my life, but...

Though the 2nd draft script gives a different picture of this event, I always interpreted Vincenzo's presence there to serve as a reminder that Frankie wasn't just dishonoring himself by becoming a rat. He was dishonoring his blood- his brother, his wife and children, his father and mother- his entire bloodline in America as well as in the old Country where dishonor is taken far more seriously.
Frankie was only thinking of himself and possibly his vengeance on Michael. Frankie didn't fully consider the consequences of his actions and what that would mean, not only to his family, but to the Cosa Nostra overall.

If you look at the expression on the actor's face playing Pentangeli's brother as he makes eye contact with Gazzo entering the courtroom it certainly doesn't look like one of fear, but of stern disapproval.

Perhaps the Corleone Family had some ties to the brother back in Sicily and they brought him to court that day to show that whatever connection they had with him was still good. At least that's what I took the meaning of that scene to have been.

Personally, I always thought that Vincenzo looked more bewildered than anything - I certainly wouldn't use the word "stern" to describe his expression. But this is sort of like a Kuleshov Experiment- we're just imprinting our own associations to his expression.

In any case, while the Pentangeli family honor was at stake, and that may have been part of why Vincenzo was brought in, it is really naive to believe that Vincenzo would have been put back on a plane to Sicily had Frankie followed through with his testimony.

I completely agree. How can anyone think that Michael Corleone would simply entrust the success of his plan to Frankie's sense of shame? That makes no sense. How can anyone think that Frankie thought "Oh, there's my brother. I guess he's here just to shame me into not testifying. They'd never kill him. Michael Corleone isn't that type of person."

But then: How was he convinced to take a plane to the US? Or: Who threatened him? Tomassino?

The desired effect was not upon Frankie's brother; it was upon Frankie. The implication was clear.

Frankie was under the impression the Michael had turned on him. By appearing in court his brother, Micheal was demonstrating to Frankie that that wasn't the case and that whatever connections the Coreleone Family had with the Pentangeli Family they were still strong. So obvious in fact, that it was enough for Pentangeli to retract his previous statements regarding Michael and the Family.

Also, it seems rather obvious that Vincenzo Pentangeli is at least a "someone" back in Sicily. So the idea that he was brought to America under threat by Michael seems, to me at least, to be a less likely scenario than the one where he was brought to America to show his brother that Michael was still loyal to the Pentangeli Family.

In the 2nd draft Michael tells Kay about Frankie's 2nd family- a mistress and two children who are under the care of Vincenzo.

KAY
I didn't even know he had a brother.
And where is he now?

MICHAEL
On a plane back to Sicily.

KAY
And that's all he had to do. Just
show his face.

MICHAEL
That's all. You see, in Sicily, in
the old days... there was only one
legitimate reason to kill a blood
relative... only one. IF he was a
traitor.

KAY
You would have killed his brother?

MICHAEL
Kay, you've got it wrong. That
kind of thing's all over, I promised
you. This was between the two
brothers. Years ago Frankie had a
young girlfriend; he called her his
co-wife. That was his joke, but he
meant it. He wouldn't divorce his
wife... because she was a great
cook. He said he girlfriend made a
spaghetti sauce once and it was so
terrible he knew he could never
marry her. He set her up in a
house in Jersey. She had to be
faithful... and she had to have kids.
And she did, two, a boy and a girl.
He had her checked out and watched
so she couldn't cheat... but the
girl couldn't stand that kind of
life. She begged him to let her go.
He did. He gave her money and made
her give up the kids. Then Frankie
took them to Italy, and had them
brought up by his brother Vincenzo.
Where he knew they'd by safe.

Kay begins to realize.

MICHAEL
When he saw his brother in the
hearing room, he knew what was at
stake.
(pause)
I don't think Vincenzo would have
done it. He loves the kids, too.
Omerta, Kay. Honor, silence. It
had nothing to do with me. It was
between those brothers.


So yes, I'd say there was a fear- but not a fear for himself or his brother but for his children and the honor of the family.

I think that's a very strong observation.



I don't think he would go to America voluntarily knowing that he might get killed. Yet I do think that Kay's question to Michael of Vincenzo's whereabouts could be a hint to the viewer that Vincenzo's life was threatened.

I think Michael's response that, "it was between the brothers," and the rather cold way he told that to Kay might imply that there was some sort of implied threat levied against Vincenzo, but I also think that sort of had to do with the truncated dialogue in that scene. Personally, I think that scene would have played better if they'd kept that unused dialogue explaining the brothers' history/relationship in the shooting script.

I think Vincenzo's status in Italy is an open question. While I guess it's possible that he is a "someone," it's far from "obvious." All we really have to support that is Frankie's assertion of his toughness.

On the other hand, he was somehow compelled to come to America in the hands of the Corleones, which I can't imagine happening if he were a big shot. (Maybe a big shot would have come, but he wouldn't have let Tom and Michael lead him around by the nose.) And Tom says his reputation in Sicily is "impeccable." I think Tom was too circumspect to make a blatantly false claim to the committee (at least one that could be easily debunked), so I think that points to Vincenzo having no criminal record.

As to whether Vincenzo was brought in as a threat, keep in mind that, when Tom comes to see Frankie in prison, Frankie's first question was whether his brother went back. So he clearly was worried about his brother's well-being.

Woltz, you're right. Some of our Board members use the smallest bit of dialogue on which to base an elaborate, but unmerited extrapolation. Frankie's brother was tough, so, of course, he most assuredly must have been Mafioso or something like it, right?

I'm sure that Michael, facing prison and the denouement of his criminal empire leadership, was content to rely on Frankie's sense of shame to exculpate himself. Oh, I forgot. He was also content to rely on a prior script.

I find the earlier scripts tend to elaborate on the reasoning as to why things are played out the way they are. Earlier drafts tend to explain things because they have the time to do so. Then when filming and editing these elaborations tend to be trimmed down for time and a better flow. But the reasoning behind the actions and dialogue remain.
In my opinion, of course.

Going to the old script as well as recalling postings on this subject several years ago, I always assumed it was some kind of honor thing between the brothers that had something to do with Frankie's "other" family who lived in Sicily.

All Don Tomassino or whomever had to tell Frankie's brother was that there was a problem in America with his family's honor, and that Frankie's sin would be visited on someone in Sicily and in turn ruin his brother's honor in the process, so naturally he took the free ticket and came to DC.

What is way more troubling is that right after the hearins, presumably in the afternoon, Michael says that Frakie's brother was already on a plane back to Sicily. Tom confirms this hour of the flight when he tells Frankie that his brother didn't even have dinner in DC. All flights from the east coast of the US to Europe leave starting about 6:00 p.m. so how could Frankie's brother be on a plane so early? Did the Corleones use the same teravel agent who got Tom on that plane to LA the evening of Connie's wedding day?

There are three perspectives that should be considered. One is Michael's, one is Vincenzo's, and the other is Frankie's. Vincenzo believes he is helping his brother; Frankie knows that despite any implication or inference about family honor, he is part and parcel of an organization that murders to achieve its ends; Michael, of course, knows that Frankie knows that and that Frankie understands that Vincenzo's life is on the line.