In Cuba. Why risk bringing two million knowing he doesn't trust Roth?

Fredo could've been jacked the minute he stepped off that plane!

Fredo, I believe, was under the protection of the Cuban military the second he touched down in Cuba. You'll notice in the scene where he's checking into the hotel with the suitcase with the $2 million in it, as soon as he walks through the front doors of the hotel two Cuban Army officers follow him discretely in.

The only reason I can think of for Michael to actually bring the $2 million into Cuba was to keep Roth thinking his partnership/relationship with Michael was still solid.

Since Michael knew that Roth was behind the Tahoe shooting, it was easy for him to deduce that Roth's offer to have him taken back to his hotel in a military car, "for my protection," was a plan to have him assassinated.

I agree that having Fredo bring the $2 million to Cuba was risky. But Michael had an overarching need to keep stringing Roth along in order to find out who was the traitor in his family. Fredo was the logical choice to bring the money: Michael couldn't have Tom leave Nevada because he was in charge in Michael's absence. And he couldn't ask either Rocco or Neri because, at that point, he couldn't be sure that either or both weren't involved in the Tahoe shooting. And, he still didn't know, until the Superman show, that Fredo was the traitor.

Yeah, but didn't he suspect Fredo?

Although when he puts Tom "in charge," Michael seems to say it could be people like Rocco or Neri because at the end of the day they are "businessmen." He also seems to rule out Fredo -- at least to Tom -- by saying he is weak and stupid. This may be a way to tell Tom that he is a "real brother" and manipulate him, while simultaneously hiding his suspicions aout Fredo..could be either.

However by the time Fredo gets to Cuba, I think Michael has decided Fredo is a prime suspect. First he asks him if he knows Johnny Ola, a loaded question if there ever was one, and second when they go out for a drink he listens to Fredo bemoaning the fact that they didn't go out together more often, and how he (Fredo) was really mad at Mike.

So assuming he suspects Fredo, why does he entrust him with the two million? Easy. If Fredo is innocent, he is the likely choice, as stated above in this thread. If he is not, and if he is in cahoots with Roth, then nobody in the world other than Roth's people and the Corleones (and Batista) know what Fredo has in the suitcase, and it is in everyone's interest the money gets there safely.

Good points! I sill don't understand how Michael is trying to flush out the traitor though. If Fredo hadn't slipped, would Michael still be able to figure out it was him?

I'm surprised Michael didn't monitor the phone calls. Ola phoned Fredo that one scene.

However DT, the looming question - why did Michael tell Fredo his plans about Roth?

That is a Manolo/Drapes question. I'll think about it.

In a deleted scene, Manolo can be seen sitting in the background when Michael and Fredo are out having a drink. Perhaps he picked up on their conversation.

No, Manolo spiked Michael's club soda with truth serum and Michael spilled his guts to Fredo.

OR

Michael spent the whole afternoon plying Fredo with so many bananna daquaris that Fredo blacked out and forgot everything Michael told him.

I'm still confused about Michael trying to flush the traitor out. If Fredo hadn't slipped in Cuba, would Michael still figure it out in the end?

Probably not. Of course, I don't agree with those Board members who maintain that Michael suspected Fredo before Fredo slipped. As I posted above, if Michael did suspect Fredo, why disclose his knowledge of his own assassination and clue Fredo in on his plans for Roth?

Well, this is truly a puzzlement:

Michael didn't suspect Fredo of being a traitor initially. When he told Tom, "Fredo? He's got agood heart. But he's weak and stupid, and this is life and death," he was saying that Fredo didn't have what it took to run the family in his absence.

BUT: He definitely gave Fredo a suspicious look when Fredo asked who else was in Havana. And he gave him another suspicious look when he introduced him to Johnny Ola.
AND: Despite that, he told Fredo what his plans were for Roth, when he had no reason to do so--even if he didn't suspect Fredo (he didn't ask him to do anything except just "go along").

I can't reconcile all of that.

TB, it is a puzzle as you expressed it. However, I don't see the suspicious look. Michael was responding to Fredo's question. In fact, I would guess that Michael didn't know anybody else in Cuba except Roth and Ola.

For all our grousing about how horrible Michael is, perhaps there's a simple answer that we have overlooked.

Maybe Michael did love his brother, and maybe he was in denial about being betrayed. I agree with TB that at the time of the shooting, that he saw Fredo as "weak and stupid," but nothing more. As time went by maybe he suspected Fredo, but maybe he also refused to believe it. The test questions about knowing Johnny Ola show he had some suspicion, but
he wass not convinced. Using him to bring the 2 million to the island would have been a typical chore given to Fredo. It was only a step above running a mickey mouse nightclub and Fredo was sweating bullets over this job. When Michael told Fredo about his plan to kill Roth, it was during the same conversation in which he reassured Fredo that he was "no gpsy" and boosted Fredo's spirits by telling him "its hard to be a son."

In the Superman show scene when Fredo runs his mouth and gives himself away, Michael is almost doubled over with grief. Only after he regroups emotionally does the cold Michael take over when he glances at the bodyguard to go take care of Ola and Roth.

When Castro takes over Michael offers Fredo a way out of Havana, but Fredo runs away. When Michael returns to Nevada the top thing on his agenda with Tom is to make conmtact with Fredo and get himm back to Nevada. I don't think he planned to kill Fredo at that point. That decision was made after the boathouse scene once Michael realized that Fredo had not merely been tricked by Roth, but that he was knee deep in it.

So all in all I take Michael at his word when he tells Fredo "You broke my heart."

DT, I think you expressed it quite well as I too agree with TB about Michael's weak and stupid comment. I also agree with you about the $2 million dlivery being a typical job assigned to Fredo.

Yes, dt, there's no question about Michael being devastated by Fredo's revelation. But, then there's another seeming anomaly:

Michael is frantic to get Fredo on the plane with him out of Havana. And, when he gets back to Nevada, his first order of business with Tom is, "Where's my brother?" But, after Tom tells him he thinks Fredo's in NY, Michael simply tells Tom to "get word to him." He could have ordered Fredo to appear, or sent people to grab him, if he'd still been so desperate to have Fredo. And, he didn't actually demand to see Fredo until after his first appearance before the Senate subcommittee.

TB I agree he did not summon Fredo to Nevada, but instead told Tom to "get word to him," as you point out. There has been some speculation on the boards that Tom may have had some kind of undisclosed contact with Fredo prior to getting this directive from Michael.

I forget the exact language, but I believe Michael also told Tom to tell Fredo that he (Michael) understood that Roth misled him, and overall I think he was still forgiving of Fredo, and still in the "weak and stupid" frame of mind. This changes in the pivotal boathouse scene about which I have extensively posted, and during which I think Fredo lied when he said he didn't know it was going to be a hit.

Yeah, I believe that until the boathouse scene that Michael recognized Fredo's shortcomings, but did not have nay murderous intent toward him. However, I still don't believe that he murdered him because he feared Fredo's future machinations. I believe that there was a certain rage in Michael that was awakened by Fredo's outburst about being stepped over and his utter stupidity evidenced by his statement that there was something in it for me.

In the novel there are a couple of scenes where Puzo states that Michael felt a cold chill of delight, "the surge of wintry cold hatred that pervaded his body." That's what I believe Micahel felt toward fredo in the boathouse - hatred of Fredo's stupidity.

Yes, it was pure rage, but it was also good business.
No way could Michael give anyone in the family -- including Fredo -- a pass for what he did. The attempted hit went way further than a missed chance to assassinate Michael. It was the last straw for Kay, and eventually it opened the door to the congressional investigation which was spearheaded by Roth. If Neri, Rocco, or Tom had done what Fredo did they would be killed as well.

That said, I think there is an foreshadowing albeit unbeknownst to FFC and Puzo at the end of GF II where Michael is sitting in Tahoe alone, and looking bitter and remorseful as he remembers happier times.

I'm still a bit confused about the cat/mouse situation with Michael and Roth.

1) Why did Roth try to murder Michael in the beginning? If Roth wanted Michael dead, wouldn't he try again? Or he kept him alive long enough to take his 2 million?

2) Wouldn't Michael be in fear that there would be another attempted hit on his life when he steps into Roth's territory?

1) The avarice of organized crime figures is monumental; theyare capable of just about anything. Roth was no different; he wanted all or a part of what Michael had. With Michael dead it would be easier for Roth to acquire all or part. We don't know when the $2 million requested contribution that Roth requested of Michael took place. I think that it most probably took place when Michael visited Roth in Miami, thus after the Tahoe assassination.

2) Michael did have such a fear. That's why he told Fredo that Roth would never see the New Year.