I have grown up watching mafia movies and reading everything I can about them, so I'm not some naive guy when it comes those kinds of movies but I was wondering

Did anyone else miss the fact that Sonny was the don? He doesn't do anything that makes him look anymore important as the Don he still just seems like a hot head who is "speaking when they should be listening" and when he was killed you didn't see the same emotion from the family as you did when Vito was shot.

So I was just wondering if anyone else missed that he was techinically the don/

By virtue of his father being shot and basically incapacitated, Sonny was 'acting' Don and therefore in charge. Everybody knew that. That may not be how it works in real life...but it's the way it worked in The Godfather. It was why Sollozo had Vito shot...so he could do business with Santino. Of course he was the Don. And he was a bad one, as his own father admits years later.

And I don't know about anybody else...but when Sonny died I saw plenty of emotion coming out of both Vito and Tom (in one of the best scenes in the film, by the way). Vito says that his wife is upstairs crying. In Italy, when Michael is told of Sonny's death he remains calm but you can certainly see the emotional impact to both him and Don Tommasino. What more do you want? The reason we see 'no emotion' from the others is that there are no scenes depicting Sonny's wake/funeral and the immediate aftermath of his death. This does not mean we can take for granted there was no emotion from the family.

So no...can't say that I 'missed' that Sonny was technically 'The Don'.

Apple

Nice Signature!

i dont think sonny was fit to be don he was way to hot headed for his own good sort of reminds me of al in scarface at the end when hes coked up

He may not have been 'fit' to be Don, I agree.
But after Vito was shot everyone seemed to be following Sonny's orders pretty well. He was the Don and to be treated so until his father was recovered.

Of course, Sonny's death (due in part to his being 'unfit') forced Vito to take back the reigns a little earlier than anticipated but then the return of Michael took care of that.

It's possible that Vito knew full well of Sonny's flaws and was grooming him to keep a more level head in anticipation of running the Family years in the future. He may have been successful but for the shooting...and Sonny was forced to take over long before he was really ready.

Apple

Don Michael I think people knew Sonny was the acting Don. When they shot Don vito and took Tom, they called Santino, Solozzo even told Tom that he needed help to change Santino's mind w/regards to the drugs. Santino made the decision to kill Bruno Tattaglia(?)That's a serious hit and only he (and Don Vito) could give the okay for that.

I know that if you look at the facts of "Vito shot" "Son takes over" you know that Sonny is the don but I didn't get the same vibe when he was in power as I did with Vito and Michael.
He just didn't seem to fit the part, I guess that is just how his character was supposed to be. To me I can't see the don of a family rushing out of the house with no protection to go beat someone up. I understand that is his hotheadedness showing through but to me stuff like that just "lost" his effectiveness at being a don.

Nobody got the same 'vibe' toward Sonny as they had toward Vito. Sonny did not command the same type of respect and fondness that Don Vito had definitely earned over the years. And you're right...he didn't fit the part. Still though, he was considered 'acting' Don and his orders were followed; that's all that mattered to him.

Which is exactly why Barzini was so successful in setting the trap. And when Sonny actually fell for the trap... not only did he lose his 'effectiveness' at being a Don...he lost his life.

Apple

thanks apple

Not that this would have mattered, but another flaw to "Don" Santino was that it wasn't too hard for his enemies to find him. For example, we all see at the end that Barzini knows Santino will visit his sister after he hears about the horrific beating Carlo give Connie. But another thing to keep in mind is that Sonny was addicted to Lucy Mancini (the maid at the wedding). He would often "hook up" with her. Even though Sonny always had bodyguards with him, his enemies could have hide inside Lucy's apartment and murdered him.

All and all, there were just to many flaws to Santino's charchter. Which is why clearly dies.

Yes, indeed, one of the best scenes. The way Brando made his face fall, then recover, has never been duplicated. He did it again, almost, when he uncovered Sonny's body at Bonasera's funeral parlor. Amazing acting!

you guys are a lot better at analyzing movies than I am. I have read through almost this whole board and now I need to rewatch I and II and catch all the things you said.

One of the greatest triumphs of the GF Trilogy is the level of detail and subtlety that FFC put in the films. Every time you watch the films, you learn more, pick up more nuance, enjoy them more.

And not only that, but the look on his face just before Tom tells him about Sonny...you know he's bracing himself for some very bad news. Then he just releases...so beautifully done.

Brando moments like that occur throughout the entire film. Some critic whose name escapes me hit the mark when he said that Brando does things in this movie that NO ONE else could've ever of (including the orange peel teeth).

And DonMichaelCorleone...do yourself a favor and don't watch the movies and JUST look for the things people mention here. Part of the joy of enjoying them over and over is you catch something new, gain a new insight to something almost every time...without even trying (especially in GFII)!

I've never 'analyzed' either film. I just watched. Much more fun that way.

Apple

In the book, Don Vito's face fell, and then recovered, much like Marlon Brando's face in the movie.

I agree, Sonny is a bad don, but there are more than his own character flaws. For example, Tessio and Clemenza are not really all that young to handle the troops. It states this in the book, and in various scenes in the movie. (We see Clemenza and Tessio in various poses at the mattresses, but not decisively leading but resting and trying to recuperate.) Also, Tom, for all of his brilliance cannot deal with the cunning of the other five Families. The tricks they use to smoke out Sonny, and using Carlos are great. Sonny also did not have the political connections to make any type of deal to force the other five Families to capitulate. His greatest asset was the fear and bloodshed that he could unleash against the others.

Once they realized that they could not reason with Sonny, he had to go. This would force Don Vito Corleone back in the picture, and with all the bloodshed, it was the same deal as Solozzo--
without Solozzo.

sonny would have caused a war alot earlier had he lived.

Sonny DID cause a war by giving the go-ahead for Michael to kill Sollozzo. Everybody was prepared for that.

There was a war going on when Sonny was killed. His murder is what prompted Vito to negotiate to end the war, and bring Michael home.

Apple