What did you think when Fredo got whacked?

Did you feel sorry for him or did he deserve it??

Little bit of both

Viewing it for the first time, the pathos of the scene (Fredo sharing a warm family memory with Anthony, saying his "Hail Mary") made me sympathetic to Fredo. Thinking about it later, and putting it in the context of Fredo's boathouse outburst, I came to realize that Fredo had to go--he was a threat to Michael as long as he was alive.

Sorry

I think the snibbling little wuss should have been iced much sooner, or at best learned the pizza business....

Ditto.

And I'll add that in context with the business he & his family were in and how he treated his brother as well as his Don...Fredo got exactly what he deserved.

Poor Fredo

Right? I'm a little surprised with some of the replies here. Considering they're movies about family, where is the compassion???

Poor poor Fredo. He didn't know it was gonna be a hit. He really thought that there was something in it for him, on his own, to help the family.

Poor Poor Fredo.

Fredo was selfish and stupid.

Compassion? For a group of people that treat murder as a way of doing buiness?

Too bad he didn't learn his lesson and know that things aren't always the way he thinks they are. If he did, he would have know that Al wasn't just taking him out for a little fishing.

Only a scum would have his own brother, especially one that was weak and feable minded, murdered.

In a similar situation, I think that Vito's thinking would have gone:

1. I am the head of the family (not "The Family," just the family);
2. Fredo is my responsibility;
3. Fredo's betrayal is due to my carelessness.

Had Vito still been around, and Fredo done something so stupid, I think that he would have been confined to the compound or sent to a sanitorium or something. He would not have been killed.

The tragedy to Michael is not so much that he killed his own brother, as that he killed his father's son.

In GFIII he said as much. He only mimicked what his father was; he lacked Vito's inherent qualities.

Poor Fredo, my ass! He was a danger to the Family as well as the family. He put Michael, Kay and the children in the line of fire. It's always been my opinion that Michael thought about letting Fredo live until the boathouse scene. When he saw the depth of Fredo's anger and resentment, he knew that he couldn't let his brother off the hook.

I feel bad for Fredo. I personally think it's a dang shame that Mike killed his own blood like that. But it is the mob, and that's just the way it goes I guess.

Even if that brother helped in an assasination attempt on his brother and his wife, not to mention the damage caused to some of their children's toys?

Do you believe Fredo knew it was gonna be a hit on Michael??

Sure, Fredo was stupid, but is that reason enough to kill your own brother?? Mike could have easily sent him away instead of killing him.

It was the defining moment when Mike lost his soul, and although I was sorry to see Mary die in the end of Part III, I thought it was almost a "payback" for his killing his own brother.

Fredo didn't know.

And if anything, after Fredo's outburst in that boat house scene, Mike should have realized even more that Fredo didn't realize that there was going to be a hit. After that outburst Mike should have realized that his brother was dumb witted, weak and easily manipulated, and should have never made the decision to kill his own brother, his father's son, his mother's son. The thought of killing his own brother, especially one that was so dumb and simple, should NEVER have even crossed his mind.


C'mon now, even Neri, Mike's own cold blooded gun for hire, has a look on his face, when Michael gives him the nod, like, "are you fucking kidding me, I can't believe you're going to kill your poor ole brother."

What a cold hearted bastard!

Indeed!
He could have just exiled him rather than kill him..
Poor Fredo!

I don't believe that Fredo had to be whacked.

If exiled, he would not have been a threat to the family (or the Family). He was too stupid to mastermind anything and too scared to go against the family. I also do not believe that he knew it was going to be a hit.

Mentally and emotionally, Fredo was a child. C'mon, he thought Hail Marys help you catch fish. He was easily manipulated. He was impulsive, selfish, and venal. He had a temper.

But he was repentant, and he was no continuing threat to Michael and his killing was a new low - even for someone like Michael (as he comes to realize).

Michael knew all that when he talked to Tom in the boathouse right after the failed hit.

If Fredo was exiled you guys think there is no chance he would try to kill Mike and take over? He's DUMB but he could still get lucky. There's not much of a chance he would do that but why leave any chance?

What if Fredo got so angry while he was exiled he talked to the FBI?

Neither of those scenarios would pan out. Sure, Fredo may have been angry at his lowly standing in the Family, but he wasn't hateful towards his family.

The way that Michael was at him.

We will never know what Fredo did or didn't know or do re. the Tahoe shooting. But let's go with what we do know:
1. Fredo actively conspired with Roth and Ola against his brother's interests, for his own personal gain. ("Johnny Ola bumped into me in Beverly Hills...he said you were being tough on negotiations...but if they could get some help, there'd be something in it for me."[emphasis added.]
2. Fredo's involvement with Roth and Ola was deeper than his disingenuous "bumping into" Ola in Beverly Hills. (At the Superman show: "Johnny Ola brought me here...old man Roth would never come here, but ol' Johnny knows these places like the back of his hand.") Fredo could not possibly have gone clubbing with "ol' Johnny" during that visit to Havana, right under Michael's nose. He had to have been to Cuba with Ola (and maybe Roth) earlier.
3. Fredo had expected to be named head of the family. He was deeply resentful of Michael. ("I'm your older brother, Mike...I was passed over...IT AIN'T THE WAY I WANTED IT!!!)
4. The drapes in Michael and Kay's bedroom were opened to give the gunmen clear shots at Michael. ("Michael, why are the drapes open?" followed by machine gun fire through the window.)
5. Fredo had some role in the events of that night. ("You guys lied to me"--to Ola on the phone afterward; "I swear to God, Mike, I didn't know it was gonna be a hit"--to Michael in the boathouse.)

The last two statements could suggest that Fredo didn't know his involvement would be fatal to Michael (and maybe Kay). But, it is a fact that Fredo betrayed his brother for his own gain; and that Michael and Kay were nearly killed as a result.
The best-case scenario (and it's a reach, IMO) is that Fredo was so terminally stupid that he thought that Ola and Roth might want to kidnap Michael and somehow convince him, without harming him, to let Fredo take over. Anyone stupid enough to fall for that is a danger on and on. Worst case (and the one I believe): Fredo knew good and well that he was opening the drapes to facilitate his brother's assassination, or simply closed his eyes and ears to that outcome in his lust to take over the family--and for revenge. Either way, he couldn't be forgiven or trusted.
Yes, DC, Michael was definitely a cold-hearted bastard. And he acted cold-heartely in the way he lured his brother back into the bosom of the family, tricking Anthony and Connie (and Fredo) into believing that he forgave him. He could have had him whacked in New York (Tom evidently knew where he was, as in "Get word to Fredo...") and spared the rest of the family that cruel charade. But Fredo deserved to die--he was a danger to Michael and his family.

A friendly undercover pal couldn't find any information out from Fredo?

I'll never agree with the idea of a brother ordering the murder of his own brother, especially one that was as simple minded as Fredo.

I guess that I will never make a good Don.

I never thought you were a bad consigliere--I thought Santino was a bad Don, rest in peace.