Best Godfather Scene

[John]

Michael and Moe Green.



Michael: My credit good enough to buy you out?
Moe Greene: Buy me out?
[Fredo laughs nervously]
Michael: The casino, the hotel. The Corleone Family wants to buy you out.
Moe Greene: The Corleone Family wants to buy me out? No, I buy you out, you don't buy me out.
Michael: Your casino loses money. Maybe we can do better.
Moe Greene: You think I'm skimmin' off the top, Mike?
Michael: You're unlucky.
Moe Greene: You goshdarn guineas really make me laugh. I do you a favor and take Freddie in when you're having a bad time, and then you try to push me out!
Michael: Wait a minute. You took Freddie in because the Corleone Family bankrolled your casino, because the Molinari Family on the Coast guaranteed his safety. Now, we're talking business. Let's talk business.
Moe Greene: Yeah, let's talk business, Mike. First of all, you're all done. The Corleone Family don't even have that kind of muscle anymore. The Godfather's sick, right? You're getting chased out of New York by Barzini and the other Families. What do you think is going on here? You think you can come to my hotel and take over? I talked to Barzini. I can make a deal with him, and still keep my hotel!
Michael: Is that why you slapped my brother around in public?
Fredo: Aw, now that, that was nothin', Mike. Now, now, uh, Moe didn't mean nothin' by that. Sure he flies off the handle once in a while, but Moe and me, we're good friends. Right, Moe? Huh?
Moe Greene: I got a business to run. I gotta kick asses sometimes to make it run right. We had a little argument, Freddy and I, so I had to straighten him out.
Michael: You straightened my brother out?
Moe Greene: He was banging cocktail waitresses two at a time! Players couldn't get a drink at the table! What's wrong with you?
Michael: I leave for New York tomorrow. Think about a price.
Moe Greene: Son of a bitch, do you know who I am? I'm Moe Greene! I made my bones when you were going out with cheerleaders!
Fredo: Wait a minute. Moe, Moe, I got an idea. Tom, you're the consigliere and you can talk to the Don, you can explain …
Tom Hagen: Just a minute, now. The Don is semi-retired and Mike is in charge of the Family business now. If you have anything to say, say it to Michael.
[Moe Greene leaves]
Fredo: Mike! You don't come to Las Vegas and talk to a man like Moe Greene like that!
Michael: [coldly] Fredo, you're my older brother, and I love you. But don't ever take sides with anyone against the Family again. Ever.

 

[Husky25]

Alex Rocco was an actual mob associate in New England before he became an actor.

My two favorite scenes are the sit down between the Don and Virgil Solozzo (not the dinner, but when Vito Corleone refuses investment and police protection) and when Michael arranges for the "removal" of the heads of the other 4 families and Moe Green while he is standing Godfather to his nephew.

A Third great scene is Coppola's father playing piano for the extra soldiers while the Corleones are at war.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Tom Hagen and Frank Pantangele talking at the army barracks is probably my favorite scene from the whole trilogy.

 

[G0UCONN]

Godfather 2 when Robert Deniro tracks down and kills the neighborhood "don".....

 

[Fishy]

The scene where Appollonia showed her bosoms was the best scene because she showed her bosoms.

(B-o-o-b-s is censored because welcome to kindergarten.)

 

[Husky25]

Everybody needs a bosom for a pillow. Everybody needs a bosom.

The scene where Appollonia showed her bosoms was the best scene because she showed her bosoms.

(B-o-o-b-s is censored because welcome to kindergarten.)

 

[Vowelguy]

Great scenes in the Godfather series? Too many to count. Here's a few:

In G2, the apartment-house owner comes by DeNiro's shop after realizing he's not to be messed with, and falls over himself apologizing. Hilarious.

The baptism where Michael Corleone exacts his revenge.

In G2, Hyman Roth: "... . That kid's name was Moe Greene, and the city he invented was Las Vegas. This was a great man, a man of vision and guts. And there isn't even a plaque, or a signpost or a statue of him in that town! Someone put a bullet through his eye. No one knows who gave the order. When I heard it, I wasn't angry; I knew Moe, I knew he was head-strong, talking loud, saying stupid things. So when he turned up dead, I let it go. And I said to myself, this is the business we've chosen; I didn't ask who gave the order, because it had nothing to do with business!"

 

[CL82]

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Great scenes in the Godfather series? Too many to count. Here's a few:

In G2, the apartment-house owner comes by DeNiro's shop after realizing he's not to be messed with, and falls over himself apologizing. Hilarious.

The baptism where Michael Corleone exacts his revenge.

In G2, Hyman Roth: "... . That kid's name was Moe Greene, and the city he invented was Las Vegas. This was a great man, a man of vision and guts. And there isn't even a plaque, or a signpost or a statue of him in that town! Someone put a bullet through his eye. No one knows who gave the order. When I heard it, I wasn't angry; I knew Moe, I knew he was head-strong, talking loud, saying stupid things. So when he turned up dead, I let it go. And I said to myself, this is the business we've chosen; I didn't ask who gave the order, because it had nothing to do with business!"

Lee Strassberg was spectacular in II.

The end of both I and II bug me a bit, especially where Hyman Roth gets killed. If the Corleones had a guy who was willing to do a suicide mission, wouldn't they have used that guy earlier? They never explain where that guy comes from, or why he does it either. I actually think it would have been better if Roth survived.

Three of the best scenes in the whole trilogy occur in III. "Just when I think I was out, they pull me back in", the helicopter attack, and the execution of Joey Zaza. I was watching III this past weekend, and it is amazing how apocalyptically horrendous Sofia Copolla is, and the amount of damage she does to an otherwise excellent movie. She is so awful, that when the movie got to the scene on the stairs, and the gun goes off, I was afraid there would be an alternate ending where they hit one of the extras by accident and Mary (Copolla) survives.

 

[Husky25]

Such a shame. Sofia Copolla was fantastic in The Godfather. She played a boy for crying out loud and no one noticed!

 

[temery]

(B-o-o-b-s is censored because welcome to kindergarten.)

Michael Corleone: It's not personal, Sonny. It's strictly business.

 

[John]

Great scenes in the Godfather series? Too many to count. Here's a few:

In G2, the apartment-house owner comes by DeNiro's shop after realizing he's not to be messed with, and falls over himself apologizing. Hilarious.

The baptism where Michael Corleone exacts his revenge.

In G2, Hyman Roth: "... . That kid's name was Moe Greene, and the city he invented was Las Vegas. This was a great man, a man of vision and guts. And there isn't even a plaque, or a signpost or a statue of him in that town! Someone put a bullet through his eye. No one knows who gave the order. When I heard it, I wasn't angry; I knew Moe, I knew he was head-strong, talking loud, saying stupid things. So when he turned up dead, I let it go. And I said to myself, this is the business we've chosen; I didn't ask who gave the order, because it had nothing to do with business!"

along the "this is the business we've chosen" motif, this is great scene and line (Vito):

I knew Santino was going to have to go through all this and Fredo... well, Fredo was... But I, I never wanted this for you. I work my whole life, I don't apologize, to take care of my family. And I refused to be a fool dancing on the strings held by all of those big shots. That's my life, I don't apologize for that. But I always thought that when it was your time, that you would be the one to hold the strings. Senator Corleone, Governor Corleone, something.

 

[August_West]

Looked for a clip of this scene from GF2 and found this write up. Explains my sentiments better than I could.

http://www.andsoitbeginsfilms.com/2012/05/my-favorite-scene-godfather-part-ii.html

 

[John]

Looked for a clip of this scene from GF2 and found this write up. Explains my sentiments better than I could.

http://www.andsoitbeginsfilms.com/2012/05/my-favorite-scene-godfather-part-ii.html

thanks for that link, now I'll have to explore that blog.

It's a heartbreaking scene.

 

[temery]

I've heard rumors of another Godfather movie based on a book/prequel written a couple years ago.

Will it happen?

 

[John]

I've heard rumors of another Godfather movie based on a book/prequel written a couple years ago.

Will it happen?

well, there is this to work from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Family_Corleone

 

[nelsonmuntz]

John Cazale would own a lot of hardware by now if he had lived. While Sofia Copolla is the biggest problem, by far, with III, the movie definitely feels the impact of no Fredo. They practically make him a character in III with the amount of dialogue they spend on Fredo.

 

[Husky25]

well, there is this to work from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Family_Corleone

I think it's really tough to make period piece Mafia movie based on books nowadays. First of all, the film only represents one interpretation. Secondly, and more important, there is too much over acting. While The Godfather and The Godfather, Part II were cinematic masterpieces, Flicks like The Godfather, Part III, The Last Don, and The Last Don Part II were pieces alright, but of other things. One movie I kinda liked, was Witness to the Mob about Gotti and Gravano, but it wasn't really a period piece per se. The movie was made not long after the events occurred.

Anyways, GFIII has grown on me a little, but I agree that Sofia Coppola was miscast and Anthony Garcia is lucky the movie didn't turn him into Richard Grieco, Even though Coppola directed III, there is still to much over acting. Nowadays, there is too much Silvio Dante and Paulie Walnuts going on as if the actors (at the director's insistence) are breaking their own arms reaching for that perfect "Dago, Guinea, wop Greaseball Goombah" character. In reality they are just playing caricatures.

 

[HuskyBandDad]

Best line - "Leave the gun take the cannoli"

 

[CL82]

along the "this is the business we've chosen" motif, this is great scene and line (Vito):

I knew Santino was going to have to go through all this and Fredo... well, Fredo was... But I, I never wanted this for you. I work my whole life, I don't apologize, to take care of my family. And I refused to be a fool dancing on the strings held by all of those big shots. That's my life, I don't apologize for that. But I always thought that when it was your time, that you would be the one to hold the strings. Senator Corleone, Governor Corleone, something.

We'll get there Pop. We'll get there.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I think it's really tough to make period piece Mafia movie based on books nowadays. First of all, the film only represents one interpretation. Secondly, and more important, there is too much over acting. While The Godfather and The Godfather, Part II were cinematic masterpieces, Flicks like The Godfather, Part III, The Last Don, and The Last Don Part II were pieces alright, but of other things. One movie I kinda liked, was Witness to the Mob about Gotti and Gravano, but it wasn't really a period piece per se. The movie was made not long after the events occurred.

Anyways, GFIII has grown on me a little, but I agree that Sofia Coppola was miscast and Anthony Garcia is lucky the movie didn't turn him into Richard Grieco, Even though Coppola directed III, there is still to much over acting. Nowadays, there is too much Silvio Dante and Paulie Walnuts going on as if the actors (at the director's insistence) are breaking their own arms reaching for that perfect "Dago, Guinea, wop Greaseball Goombah" character. In reality they are just playing caricatures.

Al Pacino started chewing scenery in all his movies by the late 80's. Carlito's Way was the last movie where he showed any restraint. I didn't think Garcia was that bad in III. I liked the villains in III a lot. I wouldn't lump III in with a TV miniseries that glorified the mafia. III had some interesting themes about repentance, misplaced ambition, and failing to escape past sins. It was a good movie where the director made a catastrophic casting decision. (I had considered a separate thread about worst casting decisions in movie history, but almost all of them would involve Nicholas Cage so I didn't bother.)

 

[nelsonmuntz]

The endings in both I and II undermine the movies a bit when you step back and think about them. If all he had to do was give an order to kill everyone, why didn't Michael do it earlier?

 

[John]

Lee Strassberg was spectacular in II.

The end of both I and II bug me a bit, especially where Hyman Roth gets killed. If the Corleones had a guy who was willing to do a suicide mission, wouldn't they have used that guy earlier? They never explain where that guy comes from, or why he does it either. I actually think it would have been better if Roth survived.

Three of the best scenes in the whole trilogy occur in III. "Just when I think I was out, they pull me back in", the helicopter attack, and the execution of Joey Zaza. I was watching III this past weekend, and it is amazing how apocalyptically horrendous Sofia Copolla is, and the amount of damage she does to an otherwise excellent movie. She is so awful, that when the movie got to the scene on the stairs, and the gun goes off, I was afraid there would be an alternate ending where they hit one of the extras by accident and Mary (Copolla) survives.

Roth was killed by Rocco Lampone, who had killed Paulie in GF1 in the famous "take the canolis" scene. I don't think he viewed it as a suicide mission. Don't forget, he said it was "difficult, but not impossible" when they were discussing the feasability of the hit. I think the killing of Roth is a masterstroke by FCC. It shows that Michael is so drowned in his vendettas and bloodlust that he can't even let a terminally ill old man live whatever short time remains of his life. Tom Hagen says as much "he's going to die soon anyway". But no, Michael is willing to have his people undertake this very difficult hit. I think as an audience, even we are saying "Jesus Michael, just let it go". It makes us also think how this guy (Micheal) is just gone inside. Total wasteland inside, "kill em' all".

Edit: Rocco also was on the hit of Don Tattaglia.

 

[Husky25]

The Last Don was a Puzo adaptation. Other than Aiello, it was probably miscast and was absolutely mis-directed, but as you point out, it was a mini series, not a cinema epic. Many of the A-listers probably thought it was beneath them as silver screen actors, if it was made known to them ahead of time.

I think it's tough to include Carlito's way with the traditional mob movies because it didn't really include the Mafia (only at the end, in the hospital and the train station with a future Johnny Boy Soprano). If memory serves, Carlito was a Puerto Rican character. It was also directed by Brian De Palma, who is another monster in the genre. These two facts alone allow Carlito's Way enough separation from reaching too hard for the typical "Goombah" role.

 

[CL82]

The endings in both I and II undermine the movies a bit when you step back and think about them. If all he had to do was give an order to kill everyone, why didn't Michael do it earlier?

In the book, which is excellent by the way, it is a tactical decision. 1) The Don agrees not to be the one to break the piece, so nothing can happen until Michael assumes control. 2) They also did not know which of the lieutenants would be the eventual traitor, so they have to weight for Tessio to offer to broker the deal with Brassini. 3) Michael needed to find his Lucca Brassi and build his own army. 4) He also needed to put some time and distance between Sonny's war with the rest of the five families and show weakness so that the other Dons and enemies (Moe Greene) would let their guard down.

I'm not a big fan of G2 or G3 (except for the Vito (Di Nero) backstory but the G1 is a masterwork...and the book is better.