On his U.S. Marine Corps uniform, Michael wears the Silver Star, Navy & Marine Corps Medal, Purple Heart, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with one bronze oak leaf cluster, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with one bronze oak leaf cluster, and the World War II Victory Medal. In Michael's final days as the Don of the Corleone family, he largely succeeded in his quarter-century drive to make the family legitimate. With Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, Andy Garcia, Talia Shire. When Pentangeli meets with them, they try to kill him, but he survives. Knowing Pentangeli's testimony could easily send him to jail, Michael has his brother, Vincenzo, fly in from Sicily. Vincenzo's icy stare is enough for Frank to recant his testimony. In Francis Ford Coppola's 2020 director's cut of. Vincent reports that Lucchesi, working with Altobello, is behind the assassination attempts on Michael. Hours after Anthony's First Communion party, unseen gunmen shoot at the Corleone house, nearly killing Michael and Kay. Michael learns that Altobello (in league with the conspirators) has hired an assassin named Mosca (Mario Donatone) to kill him. He learns from Clemenza about the legendary exploits of the novel's main character, Salvatore Guiliano (In the novel, the spelling of Salvatore Giuliano's name was intentionally changed by Puzo to "Guiliano". He moved to Nevada and quickly turned the family into a successful business venture. (Francis Ford Coppola reveals in his audio commentary that Michael is frequently seen drinking water in the first two films—subtle hints that he is a diabetic. In Godfather Returns, set roughly during the time of Godfather Part II, Michael battles with a new rival, disgruntled Corleone capo Nick Geraci, while attempting to legitimize the family. More than a year following his return, Michael reunites with Kay and they marry. That same night, Vincent, with Michael's tacit blessing, wipes out Lucchesi, Gilday and Keinszig in a bloody wave of murders. Some years earlier, he turned over what remains of his criminal interests in New York to Joey Zasa, a longtime member of the old Clemenza regime. After this, Michael volunteered to murder the men responsible, Virgil Sollozzo and McCluskey, who was now acting as Sollozzo's bodyguard. He preferred to wipe out all of his enemies in one fell swoop, as it happened with his slaughter of the other Dons and his killing of Hyman Roth and his associates. Take your favorite fandoms with you and never miss a beat. Apollonia was the only daughter of a Greek mother and a Sicilian father, both of whom were incredibly protective of her and never wanted her heritage to be confused. Born in 1920 to Mafia don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) and his wife Carmela (Morgana King), Michael has two older brothers, Santino "Sonny" Corleone (James Caan) and Frederico "Fredo" Corleone (John Cazale), and a younger sister, Constanzia "Connie" Corleone (Talia Shire). He has set up charitable foundation, and is named a Commander of the Order of St. Sebastian by the Catholic Church for his good works. There, he becomes involved in his family's criminal enterprises, taking over for his deceased brother as underboss of the family under Vito's supervision and subtly attacking the other families' businesses through the use of his secret caporegime, Rocco Lampone. Fredo confesses to Michael that Roth's right-hand man, Johnny Ola (Dominic Chianese), had promised to reward him for information about Michael. Captain Mark McCluskey (Sterling Hayden), a corrupt NYPD officer on Sollozzo's payroll, breaks Michael's jaw before more Corleone button men arrive. Michael appears to believe that Fredo didn't know about Roth's attempt on his life. Kay and Michael at Anthony's first performance, 1980. Michael, Tom and Kay at the Senate hearings, 1959. Later the same day, he has Tessio and Carlo Rizzi (Gianni Russo), Connie's abusive husband who conspired in Sonny's murder, executed. Michael enrolls in Dartmouth College and is progressing well academically, but drops out to enlist in the United States Marine Corps the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Unknown to Michael, Roth was actually maneuvering to have Michael killed in revenge for the death of Moe Greene, his longtime friend. Clemenza greets him as "Don Corleone" and kisses Michael's hand. In a flashback scene, Michael informs the family that he has dropped out of college to enlist in the Marines. At Michael's house, Michael confronts his brother-in-law, telling him that he knew about Carol's betrayal in setting up Sonny for his assassination. Meanwhile, Vincent has Lucchesi, Gilday and Keinszig murdered; Lucchesi is stabbed to death in his office by Tommasino's longtime bodyguard, Calò, Gilday is shot to death by Neri on the cathedral stairs and Keinszig is abducted, suffocated and left to hang from a bridge, and Connie murders Altobello with a poisoned cannoli. “I want reliable people, people who aren’t going to be carried away. Michael also appears in The Godfather II, where Aldo is killed and the role of Don of New York is given to Dominic. He had been a sickly child, coming down with pneumonia at a young age.In the (non-canonical) continuation novel The Godfather Returns , it is revealed that Fredo is secretly bisexual, and has many secret liaisons with men. During the summer of 1945, Michael is discharged from the Marines, unaware that Vito secretly arranged for his release, using his political influence. However, this was merely a ploy to make Carlo vulnerable, per Vito's advice to "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer." The final scene cut from The Death of Michael Corleone is the death of Michael Corleone. Michael concludes on his own that Roth was behind the assassination attempt, but suspects that he had help from a mole in the Corleone family. Corleone family caporegimes Salvatore Tessio (Abe Vigoda) and Clemenza, chafing under the apparent decline in power by the Corleones, request permission to begin operating their own families in Corleone territory. Just before Christmas 1945, Vito is critically wounded in an assassination attempt by drug kingpin Virgil Sollozzo (Al Lettieri), pushing a reluctant Michael into the Mafia world he has avoided for so long. Michael at his first wedding with his new bride, Apollonia. [7], Fictional character from The Godfather series, The Godfather Papers and Other Confessions, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Michael_Corleone&oldid=993793723, Characters in American novels of the 20th century, Characters in American novels of the 21st century, Articles using Infobox character with multiple unlabeled fields, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 12 December 2020, at 15:00. Frederico Corleone is a fictional character in Mario Puzo's 1969 novel The Godfather.Fredo is portrayed by American actor John Cazale in the Francis Ford Coppola 1972 film adaptation and in the 1974 sequel, The Godfather Part II.. The Godfather trilogy is the story of Michael Corleone, the one member of the Corleone crime family who was supposed to get out and be something more legitimate, a … He also orders the murder of Carlo Rizzi, his brother-in-law, who beat his sister Connie and set Sonny up to be killed. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Michael appears in Mark Winegardner's sequel novels The Godfather Returns and The Godfather's Revenge. The Godfather Part III ends as Michael is sitting alone outside a villa in Sicily. Michael sent out a manhunt against him, led by Thomas Neri and the DiMiceli brothers, but this failed due to the unreliability of Michael's CIA contact, Joe Lucadello. His efforts have been largely unsuccessful, however, as his many enemies and growing obsession with revenge keep him tethered to the criminal underworld. Michael fears that Vincent's growing involvement in the Mafia will endanger Mary, just as it did Michael's first wife, Apollonia.[5]. 29. Of Vito’s children, he is certainly the best candidate to take over the family. “Don’t ever take sides with anyone against the family again. He promises her the Corleone family will be completely legitimate in five years. Michael appears in The Godfather: The Game, although he doesn't have Al Pacino's likeness or voice. “Accidents don’t happen to people who take accidents as a personal insult.” – Michael Corleone. Although the singer himself was infamously irked by the connection, it's widely believed that the Corleones' close… The Holy See has named him a Commander of the Order of Saint Sebastian for his charitable works and large donations to Catholic institutions. Tommasino directed him to the honest Cardinal Lamberto, who persuades him to make his first confession in 30 years. Don Tramonti and the treacherous Lucadello were also killed.[5]. Following this vow, Vincent, who had been spying on Altobello, revealed that Lucchesi was behind the plot against Michael's life. He also began to rekindle his relationship with Kay, as well as taking Sonny's illegitimate son, Vincent Mancini, under his wing, after the headstrong youth attacked Michael's subversive New York boss, Joey Zasa, at a party. This was seen as one of the few times Michael ever showed anger at her. However, unbeknownst to Michael, the doctor treating him had been bribed by his father to exaggerate his injury in order to send him home. Hoping to salvage the deal, he sought the assistance of Don Tommasino. Michael gives acting Don status to Tom, 1958. 28. The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone, Francis Ford Coppola's remaster/re-edit of his 1990 film The Godfather Part III has the same virtues and vices as it did three decades ago. Born The Godfather Part III is set in 1979 and 1980. He would only deal with people that had reasonable business connections and more or less knew his father. In one stroke, Michael re-establishes the Corleone family as the nation's most powerful crime family, and establishes a reputation as being even more cunning and ruthless than his father. Vito dies in 1955, and Michael officially becomes Don. Roth recovered and tried to flee to Israel. While there, he learned of the Mafia's roots and there he also fell in love with, and soon married, a beautiful young woman named Apollonia, but she was killed by a car bomb intended for Michael after he was betrayed by his bodyguard Fabrizio. Silver Star (Later Upgraded to Navy Cross). When Carlo gets into the car, he's garotted to death by Clemenza as they drive away. Sonny agrees and approves the hit, although he doubts Michael may be tough enough to pull it off. Portrayed by Unlike his two older brothers, Michael renounces the Corleone "family business", wanting instead to lead a more Americanized life. Zasa later wiped out most the Commission, yet Michael and his old friend Don Altobello escaped. He retrieves a handgun that Corleone caporegime Peter Clemenza (Richard Castellano) had planted beforehand in the bathroom and kills Sollozzo and McCluskey by shooting them at point-blank range. The Godfather book series is a series of crime novels about Italian-American Mafia families, most notably the fictional Corleone family, led by Don Vito Corleone and later his son Michael Corleone. He also takes in Sonny's illegitimate son Vincent Mancini (Andy Garcia), a soldier in Zasa's crew, as his protegé. This ignites the New York underworld's first Mafia war in a decade. While he was experienced in handling guns from his time in the Marines, Clemenza taught him how to use a handgun and dispose of it. They have two children, Anthony and Mary. At all times, Michael seems committed and intent on changing the course that he, in large part, put his family on. He also had a selfish reason for having Anthony, as he wanted him to follow in his footsteps. He died there in 1997, distraught and alone, of a stroke while sitting in a chair in front of the villa. Vito, still in tenuous health following his recuperation, calls a meeting of all the families in which he forswears further revenge killings, but warns he "will not forgive" any further attempts on Michael's life. However, he is alarmed when Pentangeli is called as a surprise witness, since there is no insulation between them. That night, Michael, reconciled with Kay and Anthony, watches his son's performance in the opera Cavalleria Rusticana. He wants to leave something better through a big deal with the Vatican. Michael asks Carlo who he conspired with; Carlo tells him it was Barzini. In the scene where the Family deliberates after the shooting of Vito, we see five men sitting in the dark office of the Corleone home. They are born within two years of each other, leading Michael to joke that Kay is "more Italian than Yankee". Michael disowns Fredo, and tells his personal assassin Al Neri that nothing is to happen to his brother while their mother is alive — the implication being that Neri is to kill Fredo after she dies. "Just When I Thought I Was OutThey Pull Me Back In. " The plot unfolds on the same day Michael stands as godfather to Connie's newborn son. In June 2003, Michael Corleone was recognized as the 11th most iconic villain in film history by the American Film Institute, although some critics consider him to be a tragic hero.[2][3]. Follows Michael Corleone, now in his 60s, as he seeks to free his family from crime and find a suitable successor to his empire. He was initially used as Clemenza's contact in the black-market garment centre, as well as working with Government officials who provided food stamps during t… Gender Discover what happened on this day. Michael is a secondary character in Puzo's novel The Sicilian, which takes place during his first exile in Sicily. He also reveals that he has long resented being passed over to head the family, feeling that as the second-oldest son, he should be the boss. Sadly for Michael, he’s always going to be … According to an early draft of the script of the first film, Vito expressly forbade the family from getting Michael involved in the family's shadier dealings. The Godfather Part II is set in 1958 and 1959. Hoping to salvage the deal, Michael seeks Don Tommasino's assistance. Michael sees that Vincent is a changed man and names him the new Don of the Corleone family, in return for ending his romance with Mary. Fredo also reveals that he resented being "passed over" to head the family in favor of Michael, and that he withheld key information about the Senate investigation. Michael's time in Sicily has a profound effect on him. When Michael volunteered to assassinate Sollozzo, everyone, especially Sonny, was surprised. Michael and Sonny at Connie's wedding, 1945. Sitting in the same courtyard where he married Apollonia, he suddenly slumps over in his chair and falls to the ground, apparently dead. Michael loved his family but his thirst for revenge and ambition was stronger, which led him to kill Carlo, the husband of Connie and later his brother Fredo. Fearing her unborn son will tie them to the Mafia forever, she secretly has an abortion, while Michael is away in Cuba, and passes it off as a miscarriage, planning to escape Michael forever. However, Michael has Pentangeli's brother Vincenzo (Salvatore Po) brought from Sicily. Michael's older brother, Sonny Corleone, was shocked at this suggestion, since it had long been a hard and fast rule in the American Mafia that policemen were not to be harmed. He sells his gambling interests to the other Mafia families and reorganizes his vast business holdings as the "Corleone Group". 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