Vito Corleone immediately sidelines Carlo after his marriage to Connie surely seeing Carlo as untrustworthy.
But Sonny basically set Carlo up with Connie. Doesn't this speak poorly of Sonny's judgment? Why didn't Vito intercede?
shareHmmm ...
We know that after Carlo started beating up Connie, Vito didn't interfere. His logic was that it would be impossible for Carlo to ever be a good husband to Connie if he feared her family. In the book he says something like, "Even the king of Italy doesn't dare to interfere between a husband and wife." Maybe he viewed their courtship the same way?
Beyond that, I can only speculate. Sonny's judgment certainly wasn't as good as Vito's. But by the day of the wedding, when Vito says to give Carlo a living but never let him get involved in the family business, they had all had the opportunity to get to know Carlo better since Sonny had introduced him to Connie. It might well have been the case that at first Vito had also thought Carlo was a good guy, but by the wedding both he and Sonny had come to distrust Carlo.
Here's a question that's been bothering me for years: did Carlo only start beating Connie once he connected with Barzini? In other words, was the smacking around of Connie a way of pre-conditioning Sonny to impulsively fly off the handle for the time when they decided to go ahead with the hit? It almost seems that by having Carlo give Connie a particularly savage beating at the appointed time, it would virtually guarantee Sonny's storming to Connie's apartment via the causeway.
> Here's a question that's been bothering me for years: did Carlo only start beating Connie once he connected with Barzini?
No, he was beating her long before that. From the novel:
THE WEDDING DAY of Connie Corleone ended well for her. Carlo Rizzi performed his duties as a bridegroom with skill and vigor, spurred on by the contents of the bride’s gift purse which totaled up to over twenty thousand dollars. The bride, however, gave up her virginity with a great deal more willingness than she gave up her purse. For the latter, he had to blacken one of her eyes.
Puzo, Mario. The Godfather (pp. 47-48). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
Thanks.
No problem.
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Related follow up: did Carlo beat Connie on the day of Sonny's death intentionally as part of the setup plan, or did he call Barzini tipping him off that Sonny might be coming for him because he again beat her?
I don't think that's ever directly addressed. But I'm guessing it was the first, that he beat her as part of the setup plan. If he beat her up, left their apartment, went to the nearest phone booth and called Barzini ... even as Connie was phoning Sonny ... I don't think Barzini would have had enough time to get his men out to the toll booth. I also don't think Barzini would have given Carlo that much freedom of action; instead he'd tell him, "Here's what you're going to do, and we'll tell you when it's time to do it."
shareI don't think Barzini would have had enough time to get his men out to the toll booth. I also don't think Barzini would have given Carlo that much freedom of action; instead he'd tell him, "Here's what you're going to do, and we'll tell you when it's time to do it."
That's the way I figured it, but wanted your input in case the book said otherwise. Now I've got to get another copy and read it.
Thanks again for the info.
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Incidentally, I got curious about something. According to this Consumer Price Index calculator https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm $20,000 in August 1945 is the equivalent of slightly over $300,000 today. Wow!
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“Twenty, thirty grand. In small bills cash, in that little silk purse. Madon’, if this was somebody else’s wedding, sweet tonnato.” ~ Paulie Gatto