Michael quickly realizes that Roth perpetrated the murder plot. Remembering his father's advice to "keep enemies close", he maintains a good business relationship with Roth. Michael also suspects a mole within the Corleone family aided Roth, and needs time to uncover his identity.
Hyman Roth agrees to the hit. This was done by Michael to give Roth a sense of security and superiority that Michael was wrong about who ordered the hit. Michael then goes to Frankie to reveal that he knows it was actually Roth behind the hit.
In the late summer of 1948, Sonny Corleone was lured into a trap and was killed at the Jones Beach Causeway by Barzini family hitmen in order to avenge Carlo. The hit was engineered by Emilio Barzini after Carlo, angered at the loss of his income and at the fact that Sonny had beaten him, helped set it up.
Ultimately, Tessio betrays Michael by helping arrange his assassination at a peace summit with Barzini and Philip Tattaglia. The summit will be held in Tessio's fiefdom in Brooklyn, where Michael will presumably be safe. In return, Tessio was to inherit the Corleone family upon Michael's death.
In The Godfather, Sollozzo and the Tattaglia's attempt to assassinate Don Corleone. He is shot several times in the back but survives.
Paulie has seemingly betrayed Vito—and thus the family—by selling him out. In The Godfather, this kind of betrayal is the worst of all sins. We see the matter discussed, in the Corleone family office, just before the viewer spends time in front of Clemenza's cozy abode.
Connie (who was unaware of her husband's role in Sonny's murder), hysterical after Carlo's death, blames Michael, denouncing him in front of his wife, Kay.
Emilio "The Wolf" Barzini is a fictional character and the main antagonist in Mario Puzo's 1969 novel The Godfather and in its 1972 film adaptation, in which he is portrayed by Richard Conte. The Barzini crime family was inspired by the Genovese crime family.
2. Michael and Vito might have placed some of the blame for Sonny's assassination on Tom. Though it turns out that Carlo Rizzi plotted with Barzini to set Sonny up, Michael and Vito probably believed that Tom didn't do enough to stop Sonny from leaving the safety of the family compound that day to find Carlo.
He didn't know, because Tessio didn't turn traitor until just after he died. Vito only knew that there would be a traitor, and that the traitor would be whoever tried to set up a 'peace meeting' between Michael and Barzini.
Don Philip Tattaglia then arranges a meeting between Brasi and Sollozzo. Sollozzo, not fooled by the ruse, impales Brasi's hand into a table while one of his men strangles Brasi to death with piano wire.
Don Barzini is killed on the steps of his office building along with his bodyguard and driver, shot by Al Neri (Richard Bright), disguised in his old police uniform.
In Winegardner's 2006 sequel, The Godfather's Revenge, Fredo appears in one of Michael's dreams. In the dream, Fredo warns Michael about an unspecified threat, and asks him why he had his own brother killed. Much of the novel portrays Michael dealing with his guilt over Fredo's murder.
Roth secretly plans to assassinate Michael, partly to avenge Moe Greene's murder (as depicted in The Godfather). Roth instructs Ola to befriend Michael's brother Fredo, who provides Ola (and Roth) information about Michael that enables them to make an attempt on his life.
According to studio executive Robert Evans in his 1994 memoir The Kid Stays in the Picture, Caridi was director Francis Ford Coppola's first choice for the role of Sonny Corleone, but Evans insisted on James Caan because Caridi was too tall to play opposite Al Pacino.
The "information" is unspecified, and Fredo explains that he did not know this exchange would lead to an attempt on Michael's life. Fredo's decision is most likely a result of resentment toward Michael, by whom he felt he had been passed over.
7 Carlo Rizzi Betrayed The Family Because He Felt Mistreated
This betrayal didn't go unpunished as Michael eventually got revenge by killing Carlo. While it may have gone against Vito's wishes, Michael's decision proved he would not tolerate anyone betraying his family.
According to Russo, Caan actually fought him during filming, causing some injuries. Caan, on the other hand, has denied this, but did admit to improvising one part of the fight scene. Read on to see what both actors have had to say about the dustup.
At the Long Beach Causeway toll plaza, Barzini's men trap Sonny and shoot him to death. During a meeting with the other crime family dons to establish peace, Vito realizes that Barzini masterminded Sonny's murder. After Michael returns from Sicily, he assumes Sonny's place as Vito's heir apparent.
Its fame started when its name was linked to the name of the mafia Family in the American movie saga “The Godfather.” In fact, the Corleone family does not exist. It is a cinematographic fiction.
Vito Corleone is based on a composite of mid-20th-century New York Mafia figures Carlo Gambino, Frank Costello, Joe Bonanno, and Joe Profaci. The character's story begins as Vito Andolini in Corleone, Sicily, in the Kingdom of Italy.
Michael Corleone was loosely based on Salvatore “Bill” Bonanno, Joseph Bonanno's son, who was groomed to go into the straight life after law school but got prematurely pulled into the family business after his old man was kidnapped.
Fredo betrayed his brother to rival gangster Hyman Roth, who used him as a pawn in a plot to destroy the Corleone Family. Fredo provided unspecified information on the Corleone family in return for receiving compensation (what kind is never specified) independently of the family.
At the very end of the movie, Michael lies to his wife, Kay, about having Carlo killed. This shows that he's set his course: she won't be able to be a part of his real world and will be shut out from seeing his true, ruthless nature in action.
Frustrated at his minor role in the family business, Carlo regularly physically abused and cheated on Connie as a means of exerting his own power over the Corleones. The Don accepted Carlo's philandering and abuse, coldly refusing to intervene when Connie complained.