Barzini and Roth never met

Vito would see I did business with Roth I respected Roth but I never trusted Roth or his Sicilian messenger boy

This obviously can't be known, but Moe was mentored by Roth and did business with Barzini, and then the book mentions Barzini "had interests" in Cuba. So, very plausible they crossed paths.

Yeah Roth was a bigtime player in that world so I’m sure he had dealings or at least met with Barzini

Maybe so Pete it was just a play on Fredo and Ola never met

It occurred to me there was no mention of Barzini by Roth and Roth was unknown in Godfather
Also Moe tried to to business with Barzini only when the Corlenes came to take over his hotel

"I tolk to Barzini. I can make a deal with him and still keep my hotel."

Is the line talk or talked? Seemingly minor difference but (taken at face value) the connotation variance regarding the tightness of the relationship is huge.

According to the transcript I just looked at, it's "talked"

Sure thing Moe Greene tried to “make a deal with him [Barzini] and still keep my [Greene's!] hotel” only when the Corleones came to collect on their IOU for bankrolling the Hotel

It doesn't seem to me Barzini and Greene had a “relationship” prior

Why did “Do you know who I am? I'm Moe Greene!”

• Still have to align himself with Barzini – the incoming Top Don!
• If Greene's mentor “Roth was a bigtime player in that world” why didn't Roth and Greene partner up not dissimilar to Roth's Klingman hotel arrangement
• Roth could have arranged the registered owners, then Roth and Greene themselves, the real owners

Perhaps they did all of the above. Remember: Roth wasn't a character, or even mentioned, in GF. He's strictly a creature of II. But, since we learned in II that Greene was Roth's best friend, it might be logical for Greene to involve Roth in his hotel--and his problems with Michael.

On the other hand, Moe--"headstrong, talking loud, saying styupid things..." --may simply have concluded that he didn't need Roth's help because he underestimated Michael and his father: "First of all, you're all done. The Corleone Family don't even
have that kind of muscle anymore. The Godfather's sick, right? You're getting chased out of
New York by Barzini and the other Families."

There you have it: Moe thinks he knows who's Numero Uno and can make a deal with him.

Why did Greene have to make a deal with another crime boss?

Roth in his soliloquy to Michael in Havana, admitted Roth knew Greene was head-strong, talking loud, saying stupid things yet left Greene to turn up dead

Why didn't Roth intercede in this thing between the Corleones who were considered “all done” and Greene the kid Roth grew up with, loved and trusted who sorta looked up to Roth

Then Someone may not have put a bullet through Greene's eye Thanks! pal

Again, because Roth didn't exist in GF. In Roth's soliloquy in II, Puzo and Coppola were "reverse-engineering" Roth and his relationship with Moe.

BUT, if we project Roth as an unseen presence in GF, we could imagine that Roth didn't try to intervene with Michael because Moe--"headstrong, talking loud, saying styupid things"--had dug his own grave, and intervention by Roth would have been useless--fatal. Also, Roth might even then have been negotiating with Michael for bigger things, so Moe's killing "had nothing to do with business"--the business Roth was negotiating or envisioning with Michael. Also, by muscling Moe, Michael was signaling his intent to be a big player in Nevada--Roth's turf. Roth may have known, even then, that he'd have to kill Michael to stop him from taking over. By "letting it go" (Moe's murder), Roth, ironically, was adopting the Corleone method of appearing weak, the better to lull his enemy and strike when his foe's guard was down.

Vito sick Corleones weak “all done” no muscle
What bigger things, business Roth might even then have been negotiating or envisioning with Michael

Roth doesn't have that kind of muscle

Thank you all for your engagement with “project Roth as an unseen presence in GF” Makes sense that


My only debating point - same as Capri, there won't be nothing left to build on or during, with the deemed weak and defeated Corleones unable to hold New York, let alone Nevada....