Fredo was one such individual that was not really fully cut out for the Cosa Nostra. He didnt' have the cunningness, he was too trusting and his slip up in Havana at the superman club was more a testiment to this.

Fredo was always more of less on the level, in terms of truth, mainly due to a lack of cunning and calcualting intellect required to be a Mofioso. This slip up is definatly in the parimeters of his character. He was stupid. Stupidity does not necessary as I want to point out connotate a lack of intellect, but a lack of use of intelligence as is a more common usage:

stu·pid ( P ) Pronunciation Key (stpd, sty-)
adj. stu·pid·er, stu·pid·est

1) Slow to learn or understand; obtuse.
2) Tending to make poor decisions or careless mistakes.
3) Marked by a lack of intelligence or care; foolish or careless: a stupid mistake.
4) Dazed, stunned, or stupefied.
5) Pointless; worthless: a stupid job.

I never regarded Fredo as particularly stupid, but I did regard him as having more or less an average joe mentality, and not having the cunning or any extraordinary mental quality like ambition that would make him a good or efficent Mafioso. But I would like to point out he did have charm, was great with the women, was good at the casino and the club business, so he did have his talents that clearly marked some level of intellengce.

I think what Michael means by Stupid is usage is more 1 & 2 and 3, but only 3 in terms of a his carelessness and pension for making stupid mistakes.

Some people here have noted that the movie Fredo was broadly and unfairly characatured as terminally stupid--not what Puzo intended in the novel. Puzo described Fredo as "...a child every Italian prayed to the saints for. Dutiful, loyal, always at the service of his father, still living at home at age 30...still a crutch to his father, never disputed him, never embarrassed him by scandalous behavior with women. Despite all these virtues he did not have that personal magnetism, that animal force, so necessary for a leader of men, and he too was not expected to inherit the family business."
To be fair: in the novel, Fredo does incur his father's wrath by scandalous behavior with women (the two-at-a-time cocktail waitress trick), and does take sides with Moe Green against Michael. But Puzo didn't portray him as drunk at Connie's wedding, or telling his brothers that "the Japs didn't know it was Pop's birthday."

I never liked how in the movie they made Fredo look so weak. But I guess it was the smart way for FFC to go since it would tug at our hearts alittle more when he is "taken care of."

I woulden't say Fredo was stupid. Like you said he was smart with woman (which is a very hard thing to be smart about) and very good with people. The way he entertained everyone in Cuba was great. Micheal coulden't have done that.

Actually the only stupid thing Fredo did was betray Michael and think he could go unpunished. Oh and marry Deanna, but I'm sure he had fun with her while it lasted.

He's stupid because he had pneumonia as an infant. It made his brain less developed. That is why Coppola put that scene in Part II.

LOL nice Freddie, I was thinking along those same lines at one point as well

I don't see the connection. I had pneumonia when I was 8, and I've managed all these years.

A book the length of The Godfather can be nuanced in many, many shades of grey. A movie -- even as long as GFI -- cannot be as easily nuanced. Ergo, characters tend to be painted with a much broader brush. If you extrapolate, just a little, it's easy to see how a guy like Fredo -- dutiful and obedient as he was -- would absolutely go WILD the first time he was away from the strict family environment. I mean, come on! Hasn't anyone ever heard of COLLEGE???

There's enough forshadowing in GFI (his seeming loyalty to Moe Green as opposed to Michael) to make everything that happened in GFII entirely plausable.

Was he stupid? Perhaps in some ways. He certainly didn't think through how MUCH his growing disenchantment with Michael's authority would cost him and his family. But in other ways, he wasn't. He saw the handwriting on the wall. He saw that even though Moe slapped him around once in a while, he had a better shot at gaining SOME form of independence and self-respect working for him. The other way -- being put back under Michael's thumb -- the family's preconceived ideas about his intelligence would forever keep him down.

And isn't this exactly what happened?

BTW, of all the characters in the trilogy, Fredo fascinates me the most. I don't know if it's becaues John Cazale did such a wonderful job bringing him to life, or whether it's because I sympathize with misfits.

Fredo or Sonny never went to college, they both went into the family business right after HS. Mike was the first to go to college, unless you count Tom, but he's not a real Corleone.
The way I see it, Fredo wasn't "stupid" he just didnt have the personal force to make it to the top in that world. All throughout his life Fredo has just been trying to prove himself to his father, to show that he was as good as anyone else.
I've got some time on my hands so I'll fabricate a story. Sonny probably knew Fredo had a weak personality and from a very early age took advantage of that,making him feel stupid. With the influence an older brother has on a younger one, Fredo started to think he was stupid.

I know Fredo never went to college. But sending a kid in his 30s -- one who has never been away from the strict family homestead and experience life in any way -- would be akin to someone leaving home and going to college, wouldn't you say?

I just don't think Fredo ever thought ahead. He figured if something was good in the present, it'd be good forever. -Pat

Are you sure about that?