Had a quick search of the forum but couldn't find a thread similar to this - apologies if there is one:

What are your favourite 'little' moments in the trilogy? Some of mine would be:

* the camera slowly zooming in on Micheal when he first talks of killing Sollozo and Mcluskey - perhaps the first clear insight into what Micheal could/would become.

* Vito and Antony playing in the garden right before Vito dies - young Antony's performance was very good!

* Sonny putting Carlo firmly in his place at the dinner table - "don't you ever tell her to shut up" followed by "we don't discuss business at the table".

* "what a nice pear" from Mama Corleone followed by Vito's smile.

* Vito's conversation and refusal to accept the groceries from Abbandando - showed the type of man Vito was.

Sollozzo silently studying Michael at the dinner table at the restaurant while Michael tries to keep calm is definitely one of my favorites.

In Part II, we see a similar situation when Vito sits at the table with Fanucci.

I also enjoyed the moments of Mike and Fredo at the terrace in Havana.

And when Pentangeli and Mike discuss business in his Lake Tahoe's compound when Mike suddenly dictates Frank in Sicilian that his family is still called Corleone and he should act like one.

In Part III, when Mosca the assassins' kid acts like a donkey while seeing the expression on Mosca's face...

For the rest, the things you already mentioned.

Some good ones there!

I also liked:

* Vito's hand gesture and facial expression when he learns that micheal was the one who killed Sollozo

* when Micheal says to Moe "you straightened out MY brother?"

Also two great ones! I think we covered it all already.

But there are so many!!

I liked Vito's dialouge which begins " I have a sentimental weakness for my children..."

When Clemenza makes the sauce.

A few off the top of my head:

Clemenza drinking from the jug of wine, and the parallel scene in GFII with Pentangeli drinking from the hose.

The lighting on Michael when he interrogated Carlo.

Clemenza's gruff tenderness toward Michael before the Sollozzo assassination ("We were all proud of you...your father, too.").

Michael's glance at his steady hands after lighting Enzo's cigarette outside the hospital.

Definitely also great moments.

I'll respond with my favorite little (and big) gestures:
--Vito's face when he learns Sonny is dead, and when he uncovers Sonny at the funeral parlor.
--Vito's finger pointing to Tom to get Bonasera a drink.
--Vito dusting off Sollozzo's chair.
--Vito putting his hand over his heart when he pledges that he won't be the first to break the peace.
--Vito extending his hand to Bonasera to be kissed.
--Tom's grin when he hears Sonny banging Lucy.
--Michael's face after Sr. Vitelli invites him to his home.
--The way Roth's eyes glitter when he says, "This...is the business...we've chosen.
--Geary all puffed up when he thinks Michael is going to cave into his demands.
--Neri, after Michael asks Rocco and him to step outside so he can talk to Tom alone, starts going out, then stops to swipe a cigar.

...and about a hundred others.

Sonny dunking the bread in Clemenza's sauce: "Send somebody with him anyway." A very Italian, very "Old World" gesture.

Two deleted scenes. After Sonny breaks the news to Mama about Vito getting shot, they occur almost back to back:

Sonny, again taking a piece of bread and dipping it into a frying pan (in the novel he made himself a "sloppy sandwich of fried peppers").

Then, when Sonny walks into the Don's den, he can't bring himself to sit in Vito's chair. He clearly feels that, in some way, this would portend Vito's death. He was probably just being superstitious, but it's a VERY moving scene.

How about when Manolo asked Michael if he should trim the bushes in front of his bedroom window?

That was just a metaphor for Manolo's affair with Kay. He was actually trimming her hedges.

Michael's panic when he doesn't find the gun at the toilet.
Carlo's fear: "Don't do this to me."
The kids running in while Luca is telling Vito that he wishes Conny's first child to be masculine.

The look of evil on Sollozzo's face when Tom Hagen was kidnapped and warns Sollozzo that even Sonny wouldn't be able to call off Luca Brasi (not knowing that Brasi was already dead). Sollozzo replies, "Let me worry about Luca". Pure, delicious evil.

The look of impatience/irritation on Sollozzo's face as the waiter is opening the bottle of wine.

Vito's fingering pointing when he tells Bonasera: "and then they will fear you." followed by Vito's hands in his pockets and his body language as Bonasera tells Vito: "Be my friend."

Sonny's wife gesturing to the other women about the size of his manhood, and the look on her face when she suddenly realizes he's run off with Lucy.

The exchange between Michael and Sonny before Michael leaves to kill Sollotzo, neither knows it is the last time they will see each other.

Also the way Pantangeli, in the Congressional hearing, acts so aloof and goofy when he decides to recant on his original testimony regarding the family.

Probably the most emotional little moment (and arguably the best) in the whole trilogy.

The satisfied look of Clemenza after having a leak and after having heard the shot that killed Paulie.

* Clemenza's face when young Vito is telling him that he'll somehow convince Fanucci to take less money. He looks at him thinking "you've got BALLS"

* Luca Brasi's "may thier first child be a masculine child" speech and Vito's face throughout.

* The glance that Micheal gives to Tom after he says "Roth played this one beautifully".

Also, the old man singing at Connies wedding. Hilarious!!

TB made me remind one. When Mike talks to his mother at the Lake Tahoe compound in Part II. When his mother says that he will never lose his family and he responds with that times have changed..

It's possible that, with a different answer, she could have stopped or, at least, changed him or his direction.

When Sollozzo wipes his hand on his jacket before shaking Vito's hand after their meeting. Sollozzo's palms had been sweating.

.. or part of his hand had accumulated condensation from the glass of wine he held.

Um, room temperature beverages don't generate condensation.

You guys have already mentioned quite a few "golden moments" in the Godfather series. But...

* In the first Godfather, some of my favorite scenes are those of Michael hiding out in Sicily - and especially of his courtship and marriage to Apollonia. Michael hadn't yet become very hardened, so it was touching to see that he was still capable of falling in love, and being sweet to his woman.

* In Godfather II, I found nearly all the flashback scenes of Vito's early life - especially as a young husband & father in New York - fascinating. Part of the fascination was simply the "period piece" attention to detail - the sets, props, clothing, the traditions & social mores, etc. And part of it was related to the study of Vito's character - especially the ways in which he was compelled to respond to the pressing challenges in his life.

In a number of ways, I found myself actually liking young Vito quite a bit. He's basically an honest person by nature. He's loyal. He's generous. And he's compassionate to others, seemingly sincere about helping people out, as his circumstances allow. Hardly the stereotypical gangster sociopath - like Al Capone, or Bugsy Siegel, or Willie Moretti.

Carlo telling Connie "Cmon be a murder like your father"

Little Vito singing the song about the donkey when he's quarantined. I remember my grandmother singing that song.

When all of the immigrants come out onto the deck of the ship to see the Statue of Liberty as the music swells, very moving.

The dirty look Kay shoots Michael right after the assassination attempt. It's a miracle he doesn't burst into flames right on the spot.

The scene between Fredo and Michael in Cuba, when Fredo confesses that he always felt like an outsider.

In Godfather III, when Michael kneels at Don Tommassino's coffin and asks why he was so loved when Michael was so hated. I always thought he was, on some level, speaking to Vito.

Paulie's co-worker tossing him sandwiches at the wedding. I remember my grandmother-in-law telling me stories about "football weddings" Where they would pass out the salami sandwiches and have grape soda. That was in coal mining country in Northeast Pennsylvania.