MovieChat Forums > The Godfather Part II (1974) Discussion > How would Sonny have handled Fredo's bet...

How would Sonny have handled Fredo's betrayel?


I've never seen anyone discuss that before.

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Doubt he would have had him whacked. Probably would have kicked his ass though.

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It wouldn’t have happened with Sonny. He was older than Fredo.

However if it did happen, Sonny would’ve shoved him in a pizza oven.

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I wonder if Fredo’s betrayal would have even occurred if Sonny had not been killed.
The family hierarchy would certainly be different, with Michael not feeling as if he had to take a leadership role.
But then again, Sonny was a hothead, and would probably have brought along his own demise eventually in some way or another.
However, if Sonny was able to find enough mental serenity to be a level-headed leader, maybe Michael would have become the Las Vegas guy, and Fredo would have been relegated to some harmless/useless position around the compound.

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Exactly, Fredo likely wouldn't have turned traitor if either Vito or Sonny was the Don, because he wouldn't have felt "stepped over."

But let's assume, for the sake of argument, that Fredo betrayed Sonny anyway.

How would Sonny have handled it?

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Sonny would've beaten him up, but not kill him.

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If Fredo hadn’t been stepped over, and somehow he still managed to betray the family/Sonny, then most likely his fate would have been the same: death, or removal in some form or another.
If it was directly an affront to Sonny, then Sonny would have probably beaten him to death, but by accident. And then Sonny would have felt really bad about it afterward.
But of course, this is just conjecture. For the sake of argument.

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He'd have given Fredo a good beating - done by himself I might add. He never would have killed him. IN fact, it never made sense to me that Michael had Fredo whacked. When Michael did this, Fredo was already reduced to nothing. A helpless Uncle innocently spending his days fishing with his nephew. There was no reason to knock him off.

Sonny would have thought this way from day 1 - but of course, in his instant anger - he'd have leveled Fredo with several good punches.

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The thing the movie leaves ambiguous (and it's been over 50 years since I read the novel) is what exactly Fredo did to betray Michael?

If he intentionally left Michael's curtains open knowing it would lead to his assassination, then he deserved to be killed by Michael or Santino.

If he was simply providing some intel that would line his own pockets with the understanding Michael would not be harmed, that's different. Of course, we all know Fredo wasn't that bright and it seemed Johnny Ola played him to a degree, but did Fredo know Michael would be harmed or not is the question.

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Probably with a spellchecker.

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