MovieChat Forums > The Godfather Part II (1974) Discussion > Senator Geary's demands..

Senator Geary's demands..

posted 3 years ago by Rolltide (964)
9 replies | jump to latest

He obviously was dirty and was willing to take bribes and dirty money. Being a successful politician he should know how to play people. What then was the point about trying to ream Michael and to also insult him?

If he had asked for 50K for the gaming license he probably gets it. $250K? No way Michael pays him 5% off the top for all hotels. Just kill him and they do not have to pay. Not like there is a contract

Why was he so greedy and how could he misread Michael so badly? The point of the scene is how people underestimate Michael's intelligence and ruthlessness. Geary was just so over the top.

[–] strntz (10775) 3 years ago

He obviously was dirty and was willing to take bribes and dirty money. Being a successful politician he should know how to play people. What then was the point about trying to ream Michael and to also insult him?

Why would Geary insult Michael? It was clear from the exchange in Michael's office he hated Italians and how they had the nerve to be uppity and wear their silk suits like they were as good as everyone else. Michael's response to them both being part of the same hypocrisy was brilliant.

If he had asked for 50K for the gaming license he probably gets it. $250K? No way Michael pays him 5% off the top for all hotels. ...Why was he so greedy and how could he misread Michael so badly? The point of the scene is how people underestimate Michael's intelligence and ruthlessness. Geary was just so over the top.

It could be that he didn't want Michael to buy and operate the hotel(s) at all, but if Michael was willing to pay that ridiculous amount, why not?

I also wonder if Geary hadn't pulled similar stunts successfully in the past on other businesses.

As far as underestimating Michael, Geary sure did, but so did just about everyone at some point, including Roth. Senator Geary was an old time thief and successful power broker but I just guess that at some point, a person like him allows his ego to get the best of him. Geary greatly underestimated Michael and unknowingly ended up being one of Michael's tools.

[–] Rolltide (964) 2 years ago

I think you are missing the point. He hates Italians but that does not mean he has to insult them and show how obvious that is. You want powerful people behind you not against you. He might be telling his friends and colleagues how he dislikes these people but insulting powerful mafia types makes no sense.

I do not think his demands were just a way to block Michael. I think he honestly thought he could cash in.

[–] strntz (10775) 2 years ago

He [Geary] hates Italians but that does not mean he has to insult them and show how obvious that is. You want powerful people behind you not against you.

That's how you and I see it, yes, but not Senator Geary. He didn't care that Michael knew his disdain of Italians or any other ethnic group for that matter and probably enjoyed insulting him. Smart? No, not at all. That's his flaw (one of several) and one that would lead to his downfall at the hands of Michael.

But it still came down to the money. Would Michael have accepted that deal if Geary called him "paisan" and fawned all over him and Kay? Geary could have been just as disrespectful to Michael as he was but they could have made a deal if the deal was a bit more reasonable (and by bit I mean a lot). Michael understood how the game was played with Senators and would have greased Geary as he probably did others, but at the end of the day, it was the pure unreasonableness of the deal that made them enemies, not the personal insults.

[–] MovieChatUser497 (18943) 3 years ago

Basically he hates Italians and he thought he could walk all over Michael, how wrong he was.

[–] Rolltide (964) 2 years ago

FYI $250,000 then is over $2M today. A lot of money.

Geary would have been too smart to make Michael do anything drastic and to make a life long enemy of him. He was willing to play Mr nice guy outside that room, remember?

A real experienced senator would ask for a payment that was substantial but not outrageous. He would not have insulted Italians either no matter what his true feelings were of them.

A partnership with Michael in Vegas could have made him a very rich man and been an asset.

[–] strntz (10775) 2 years ago

Geary would have been too smart to make Michael do anything drastic and to make a life long enemy of him.

All we know of Senator Geary is that he's an old school political crook who would take a bribe when it suited him. Doesn't make him a genius or even particularly smart. All we know about Geary's smarts is that he totally misread Michael.

A real experienced senator would ask for a payment that was substantial but not outrageous.

I agree completely, but as I answered in an earlier reply, we don't know Geary's motivation. Maybe he didn't want the Corleone' take over the hotel at all, but if Michael was willing to pay that much, what the hell? It's no different than anything anyone has that gets a price put on it. I wouldn't sell my '66 Mustang for even 25% more than its current value is but if someone made me a stupid offer 10X its worth, it's gone.

A partnership with Michael in Vegas could have made him a very rich man and been an asset.

Agree again, but did Michael really want a partnership with Geary or Geary with Michael? Michael didn't need Geary' money, and we don't know how rich Geary was. Most likely, Geary didn't need the money so threw out that ridiculous offer to keep Michael out of Las Vegas.

[–] corey (723) 2 years ago

Ever notice how when Geary stands up to leave, he rotates the small cannon on Michael's desk to point at Michael. A signal to somebody in the room to take Michael out, since the assassination attempt was that evening?

[–] MovieChatUser497 (18943) 2 years ago

He hates Italians, he also underestimated Michael.

[–] ecarle (14979) 2 years ago

21 years later in Martin Scorsese's Casino, we get a similar scene with a much different demeanor to the character:

Veteran Western support LQ Jones(The Wild Bunch) shows up at the office of Casino manager Sam "Ace" Rothstein (Robert DeNiro) as Nevada local and county commissioner Pat Webb, to put in a friendly request for a favor; please re-hire the Good ol' Boy nephew that DeNiro fired as a slots manager.

DeNiro won't budge, even when Webb asks if Ace can find a job for the nephew "further down the trough."After LQ has tried some more as a "nice guy," he looks to lay down the law to DeNiro(here playing a Jewish man, not Italian-American):

"You people never will understand how it works out here. You're all just our guests...and you think you're home."

The theme with the Senator and this County Commissioner is that they are local shit-kickin cowboy types who will never really accept the ethnic urbanites who have come to their desert state. The easy going, soft spoken Pat Webb is later shown telling local casino regulators about DeNiro: "Its time to kick a k--e out of the desert."

Perhaps Senator Geary doesn't comprehend the danger of his opponent in Michael Corleone, but both Geary and Webb operate out of "local pride" and prejudice.