All the talk about Kay in the other thread got me thinking...

Did Kay know about Michael's first marriage to Appolonia?

In the novel, in which the Mike-Kay reunion scene is considerably different than that in the film, Kay and Michael are in bed, when she tells him that she has "gone without a man" for the two years Michael was gone. She then asks Michael "Did you (have a woman)?"

Michael replies "Yes, but not in the last six months."

Puzo then writes "It was true. Kay was the first woman he had made love to since the death of Appolonia."

But he doesn't tell Kay about Appolonia in the novel. And I'm pretty certain that no mention is made to Kay about Appolonia in the films.

Do you think she knew, and if she did, would it have affected her feelings towards Michael?

Plaw - I believe there was one reference in the third movie. Michael was showing Kay the room he stayed in while in Sicily and was telling her how he always thought of her. Kay's response was, "And then you got married," and Michael responded matter-of-factly, "I still thought of you."

Now that you mention it, I remember that bit of dialogue.

But since the third film was made more than 15 years after the first two, let's pretend that I'm asking the question in, oh, 1988 or so, and GF III was never made.

An interesting question, pl--and one that hasn't been asked before (miracles never cease!)
I'm guessing that Michael did tell Kay. In that scene in New Hampshire, Michael admitted that he'd been back from Sicily for a year. It's logical that Kay would have asked about what he did in Sicily--and what brought him back. It'd be in Michael's interest to be straight with Kay. Michael, very calculating at that point, would want to win her sympathies: she'd know that a red-blooded lad like Michael wouldn't have been without female companionship for such a long time, but would have been reassured to know that her "rival" was dead. And anyway, a widower gets more sympathy than an errant lover. Also, everyone in the family knew that Michael had been married to Appolonia, so there was no way he could take Kay into his family, live at the Mall, and not worry that someone would spill the beans sooner rather than later.

that dialofue from GF3 makes that clear, but even if Part III was never done, I would still think that Kay knew about Appolonia. I think Turnbull got the point (surprise!).

Michael probably wanted to be straight to Kay, and he would be such a stupid if he kept Kay in the mall and still tried to hide such an important thing from her, knowing that someone could acidentally let her know the truth.

btw, I have an off-topic question:
Turnbull, why do you only post in the Godfather-related threads? (at least is only where I see you) well, I'm just curious.

I was thinking about that question too for sometime too.

Well she knows about it, that's established but the question now becomes whether she heard about the marriage from the kids (after Michael tells them in garden/courtyard thing in sicily), or she learnt about it before. I bring this up because we have no indication of Kay knowing of the marriage before this point, also she even brings it up in a sly way in the manor when she says "And then you got married". This is nothing she ever brought up in the past and really seems like a new point of contention between the two. Like a wife bringing up something a husband did that he was not wholy aware of her knowing about in a way to surprise him.

Furthermore the logic can easily be switched here. If Kay, had still been in contact with the kids all this time, as Michael presumibly was as well, wouldn't she have most likely told the kids of Michael's previous marriage and wouldn't this preclude the need for Michael to tell them as they would most likely ask him to confirm the story?

I would have to bet that she did. Michael would have to explain things to her, but in the novel it said that "he could be very convincing when he wanted to" so I'd bet she'd forgive and forget in no time.

She knew. I think she knew it long before, because she says "...and then you got married" in almost a teasing way to Michael.

She wouldn't have said it that way if she was being hit with this news for the first time, after 30+ years... It would be a lot more bitter and angry.

After Michael has been back from Sicily for a year or more and reconnects with Kay, there's no reason for him to lie about it; Apollonia is dead and gone, so there's nothing for Kay to be jealous about.

I always take this line as something they've talked about long before.

From one female propective, I think that this is a blow for Kay and if Mike told her before their marriage, they would not likely get married. I would be upset if my financee, jump up and married a complete stranger. I can understand that he has been away for a while, so he had an affair. I don't think Kay was thrilled about the idea as well as noted in Kay and Mike bedroom scene in III.

Off on a slight tangent, but the look of Mary flicking through the photo album was not one of a daughter who had just recently found out either.

Even though Michael recalled his love for Appolonia to his children, I'm sure it was just a fresher version of a story they had heard from their childhood. Only told once again as they were all gathered together in Sicily.