In The Godfather, Part II, Frank Pentangeli is portrayed as having been one of godfather Vito Corleone's (Marlon Brando) most trusted associates.
Frank is a caporegime in the Corleone family, running the family's operations in New York City while Michael Corleone (Al Pacino), his brother and underboss, Fredo (John Cazale), and the other two capos, Rocco Lampone (Tom Rosqui) and Al Neri (Richard Bright), are based in Nevada.
This is also spelled out in a cut scene in the The Godfather II video game. His brother's presence, as well as the stare they exchange, serves as a threat that if Frank follows through with his planned testimony, retribution will be taken against his children, who are living in Sicily under Vincenzo's guardianship.
Jump to navigation Jump to search. Frank "Frankie Five Angels" Pentangeli is a fictional character from the film The Godfather Part II. In the film, he is portrayed by Michael V. Gazzo, who was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance, which he lost to Robert De Niro, his co-star from the same film (as young Vito Corleone).
Peter Clemenza could be based on Frank Labruzzo, who was one of the most loyal capos of Joseph Bonanno, staying on his side during the "Bananas war" in the 1960s. Coincidentally, Labruzzo was portrayed by Richard Castellano in the made for TV movie Honor Thy Father, which was released one year after The Godfather.
Because Pentangeli's protective custody was so secure, Michael could not have him killed before the hearing. Instead, he flew Vincenzo in from Sicily. Upon seeing his brother in the committee room, Frank denied his written testimony and feigned ignorance of the Corleone family's criminal activities.
The Godfather Part II Clemenza does not appear in the present timeline of the film due to a disagreement between Castellano and Paramount Pictures over the character's dialogue and the amount of weight Castellano was expected to gain for the part.
There's one casting in particular, however, that could've gone another way. Many actors were considered for the role of Michael Corleone, though Al Pacino, of course, got the part. Before Pacino, though, Jack Nicholson was in the running to play Michael, but he declined the role for a rather progressive reason.
He had a major plot point in the last half of the film in which Pentangeli plans to rat on Michael. However, he realized too late that this betrayal was completely unmotivated. So, in post-production he added the Danny Aiello line "Michael Corleone says hello".
mogul Meyer Lansky1. Hyman Roth is based on real casino mogul Meyer Lansky. Hyman Roth, played in The Godfather: Part II by actor Lee Strasberg, was based on real-life mobster Meyer Lansky. Lansky is widely credited for coming up with some of the key innovations upon which the casino and gambling industry is built today.
Richard Salvatore Castellano (September 4, 1933 – December 10, 1988) was an American actor who is best remembered for his role in Lovers and Other Strangers and his subsequent role as Peter Clemenza in The Godfather.
Richard S. CastellanoA distinguished character actor, Richard S. Castellano was the highest earning actor in The Godfather, whose fame outside the saga included playing Joe Girelli in The Super. He also received an Academy Award nomination for his role in Love and Other Strangers.
In The Godfather: Part II Fredo was set to go fishing on Lake Tahoe with one of the Corleone children, but at the last minute he is told the child can't go, and that he will be joined by one of the family thugs instead. Fredo goes out on the boat with the thug, who shoots him dead.
Kay knew. In the book, she sort of put the pieces together. Also, in Part 3, she sarcastically mentions the marriage when Michael tells her he never stopped thinking about her in Sicily.
Nicolas Cage has revealed that he asked his uncle, director Francis Ford Coppola, for a role in The Godfather: Part III but was rejected.
Thomas "Tom" Hagen was the consigliere and head lawyer of the Corleone family, as well as being the adoptive son of Vito and Carmela Corleone and the adoptive brother of Sonny, Fredo, Michael, and Connie Corleone.
In the video game. Frank Pentangeli in the game. In the video game adaption of The Godfather Part II, Pentangeli acts as a mentor to Dominic after he has been made the new Don of New York. Pentangeli warns him about the Rosato Brothers, and is garroted in a meeting with Carmine Rosato himself at Richie's Tavern.
In 1958, Pentangeli approached Michael to ask for his help in eliminating the Rosato Brothers, his rivals in New York, who claimed to have been promised territories by Clemenza prior to his death, but Michael refused.
Pentangeli took this as an insult and left in despair, saying "There will be no trouble from me".
Hagen subtly told Pentangeli that he did the right thing by recanting, and that if he accepted responsibility for turning on the Corleone family, his own family would always be taken care of and remained unharmed, as had happened with insurrectionists against the Roman Emperors.
After Clemenza's death, Pentangeli took over the Clemenza regime, and headed the Corleone family's operations in New York while Michael and Fredo Corleone were in Las Vegas. He also moved into the old Corleone estate on Long Island .
Pentangeli was born in Partinico, a town in the Province of Palermo, Sicily. He immigrated to New York, United States. He had an Italian wife and children, as well as a mistress, whose children he sent to live in Sicily with his brother Vincenzo .
Frank Pentangeli was an experienced street enforcer before he became Clemenza's right-hand man. He was prone to making rash decisions and would not readily back down from a fight when challenged, particularly on matters of honour, such as his disputes with the Rosato Brothers. He was also deeply fond of his family and of young children, giving Anthony Corleone a reasonable sum of money at his Communion Party at Lake Tahoe. This made him a popular man to have around. This tendency also helped him become integrated with Mariposa in the 1930s, and avoid suspicion even whilst acting as a spy.
While its cinematography and acting were immediately acclaimed, many criticized it as overly slow-paced and convoluted. Vincent Canby viewed the film as "stitched together from leftover parts. It talks. It moves in fits and starts but it has no mind of its own. [...] The plot defies any rational synopsis." Stanley Kauffmann of The New Republic accused the story of featuring "gaps and distentions." A mildly positive Roger Ebert awarded three stars out of four and wrote that the flashbacks "give Coppola the greatest difficulty in maintaining his pace and narrative force. The story of Michael, told chronologically and without the other material, would have had really substantial impact, but Coppola prevents our complete involvement by breaking the tension." Though praising Pacino's performance and lauding Coppola as "a master of mood, atmosphere, and period", Ebert considered the chronological shifts of its narrative "a structural weakness from which the film never recovers". Gene Siskel gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four, writing that it was at times "as beautiful, as harrowing, and as exciting as the original. In fact, 'The Godfather, Part II' may be the second best gangster movie ever made. But it's not the same. Sequels can never be the same. It's like being forced to go to a funeral the second time—the tears just don't flow as easily."
Theatrical. The Godfather Part II premiered in New York City on December 12, 1974, and was released in the United States on December 20, 1974.
In 1901, the parents and brother of nine-year-old Vito Andolini are killed in Corleone, Sicily, after his father insults local Mafia chieftain Don Ciccio. Vito escapes on a ship to New York City, and is registered as " Vito Corleone " on Ellis Island. In 1917, having settled in New York, he marries and has a son, whom he names Santino ("Sonny"), with his wife. He loses his job in a grocery store due to the interference of Don Fanucci; his neighbor Clemenza invites Vito to take part in a burglary.
The Godfather Part II was featured on Sight & Sound ' s Director's list of the ten greatest films of all time in 1992 (ranked at No. 9) and 2002 (where it was ranked at No. 2. The critics ranked it at No. 4) On the 2012 list by the same magazine the film was ranked at No. 31 by critics and at No. 30 by directors.
The Godfather Part II did not surpass the original film commercially, but in the United States and Canada it grossed $47.5 million. It was Paramount Pictures ' highest-grossing film of 1974 and was the seventh-highest-grossing picture in the United States that year.
Michael Sragow 's conclusion in his 2002 essay, selected for the National Film Registry web site, is that " [a]lthough "The Godfather" and "The Godfather Part II" depict an American family's moral defeat, as a mammoth, pioneering work of art it remains a national creative triumph.".
This home viewing release, under the title The Godfather Trilogy 1901–1980, had a total run time of 583 minutes (9 hours, 43 minutes), not including the set's bonus documentary by Jeff Werner on the making of the films, "The Godfather Family: A Look Inside".
Hagen tells Pentangeli if he accepts responsibility for turning on the Corleone family and kills himself, Frank's family will always be taken care of, just as the families of confessed traitors in the Roman days who killed themselves were allowed to keep all of their possessions.
Tom and Pentangeli talk nostalgically about the good old days when the Corleone Family, as Pentangeli says, "was like the Roman Empire." Hagen tells a story about what would happen to traitors during those Roman days, implying that the correct thing for Pentangeli to do now is to kill himself. Hagen tells Pentangeli if he accepts responsibility for turning on the Corleone family and kills himself, Frank's family will always be taken care of, just as the families of confessed traitors in the Roman days who killed themselves were allowed to keep all of their possessions. He thanks Hagen, returns to his assigned quarters, and despite the presence in the other room of his federal guards, commits suicide by slitting his wrists while taking a bath.
An early draft of the film's script explains that Vincenzo, shocked that Frankie is about to break his blood oath and betray the Corleones to government authorities, attends the hearing to remind Frankie that he must not break the Mafia's code of silence, omertà.