What if the Don send his son Sonny to California to talk to Woltz and not Tom.
shareTerrible idea, which Vito would have known without a seconds thought. Inside of three minutes it would have turned into a vicious argument and Sonny would have had to use all his self control to refrain from belting Woltz in the jaw, which would have led to some costly legal fees / favours called in for Vito to get him out of trouble. Tom was perfect for that job, he handled it with just the right amount of tact and calm. He didn't make a threat, he didn't get emotional. I suppose it does highlight that although he may not be a wartime consigliere, during peacetime he was pretty damn good at his job.
Yeah Sonny would have either kicked his ass right there on the spot or just shot the guy. Not at all what Vito wanted to see.
shareI would of love to see Woltz telling sonny, you ginny whop like he told tom. Sonny would of went nuts after that. Lmaoooooooo
shareEspecially if they left the entire sequence from the book/deleted scenes in the movie... where it turns out that Woltz is also sexually abusing a young starlet... then Sonny would've torn him apart like Superman ripping a phone book in half.
shareThen Sonny would have been in the dock for murder. Killing people in 'their world' doesn't usually generate much heat from law enforcement because of omerta, and the terrible repercussions that await someone AND their family if they break it. Woltz was very high profile in the movie business and there were too many people who would be witness to Sonny going to town on him. I'm not saying Vito wouldn't have been able to get him off, he may well have been able to call in enough favours to make it happen, but he would lose a lot of good faith from powerful people who were able to 'look the other way' when it came to his involvement in gambling and union issues, which they likely don't see as morally too 'bad'. The blatant murder of a high profile movie producer would be an unwelcome reminder to all those politicians that this guy they're dealing with is a criminal. It would be very costly to Vito to keep Sonny out of jail, and the alternative would be even worse. The other five families likely had a few people in NY prisons that could get to Sonny and it would have been easy enough to deny responsibility, as it could have been easily explained away as just a prison grudge.
Plus, Vito wanted Woltz alive so he could give Johnny the film part. Vito wouldn't have liked to have to explain that the film had been delayed or cancelled because the producer (who was more important than the director at that time) had been found dead with his prized horses head shoved up his arse.
What if the Don send his son Sonny to California to talk to Woltz and not Tom.
He wouldn't.
In the book Sonny does ask if Vito wants him to go to see Woltz for Johnny but Vito says no because he is sending Tom Hagen, so Tom was already decided on.
Sonny would have gone and introduced himself as Santino Corleone and the son of Vito Corleone right away, bragged about who his father was and not been subtle like Tom Hagen was, Sonny had a violent reputation and Woltz would have been told and warned about that first for certain, he would have been more polite and agreeable towards Sonny, no yelling or calling names or insulting the Don at all.
But he still would have refused the deal and been casually rude, Sonny could either return home and relay this news to Vito or kick his ass on the spot and try to rough him up and force him to take the deal, that too would backfire, all that Tom did was accept the no answer and return home with the message, Sonny would straighten Woltz out and kick his ass and give a warning and go home, resulting in criminal charges and his arrest before he left town, that would cause the newspapers to report Johnnys ties to the Mafia Underworld Don Corleone.
This would probably cause Johnny to lose the role and get blacklisted, so Sonny would just make things worse for Johnny, and get an even worse reputation for himself, it might have been funny to see Sonny straighten Woltz out but it would have been a disaster for Johnny and the Corleone Family.
Reminds me of a part of the book, where some home improvement firm sent workers to the Don's home who dismantled the fireplace or something. The Don asked Sonny to take care of it, as a kind of test, which he did, having his hoods beat the home improvers on the soles of their bare feet. The Don felt Sonny's approach lacked subtlety.
"Chicken soup - with a *beep* straw."