The Godfather

Carlo Rizzi is dissatisfied with his life. He thought that after he married Connie, he would live in Long Beach with the rest of the family and be brought into the business. Instead, he is in charge of a bookmaking operation on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Connie is seven months pregnant and is going to visit her father, who is out of the hospital and recuperating at home. But Carlo beats her, and her face is so damaged that she decides not to go. Carlo leaves for work. Sonny, who is on his way to Long Beach from the city, decides to see if Connie wants a ride to visit the Don. When she answers the door and he sees her face, Sonny goes into a rage. He goes to the bookmakers where Carlo works and beats him in front of everyone on the street. Carlo is completely submissive, and after Sonny leaves, he throws up from the fear. One of the other men at the bookmakers calls Rocco Lampone, who contacts Tom Hagen through Clemenza. Tom worries that one of the other families—especially the Tattaglias—will hear that Sonny is in the city and try to kill him. One of the other men who work at the bookmaking operation is an informer for the Tattaglias and calls them to tell them about the event. But by the time word of Sonny’s trip to the city has worked its way to the top of the Tattaglia family, Sonny is already safe at home again in Long Beach.

It is 1947, and the Corleone family is at war with the other New York Mafia families. This situation is made more complicated initially by the murder of Captain McCluskey; the police are determined to punish the Mafia for his death. But once the police realize that McCluskey was involved with Sollozzo and the narcotics business, they become less interested in getting justice for him. The police see narcotics as dirty business, as opposed to the “clean graft” in which they all participate. Soon, balance is reestablished with the police, but the Corleone family has a problem: They are outmatched by their opponents. The Don is still recovering, and Sonny is in charge, but Clemenza and Tessio have grown old, and Tom is not cut out to be a wartime consigliere. Sonny cannot replace any of them because it is not in his authority and because it might create opportunities for betrayal. The Corleone business is suffering badly during the war, due to the pressure that the other families can put on their existing business. The Don has been fully informed about the situation, including the fact that Michael killed Sollozzo and McCluskey and has left the country. Sonny finally decides that they must go to war. He plans to assassinate the heads of each of the families, but before he can, they all go underground.

Amerigo Bonasera, the undertaker who long ago asked Don Corleone to avenge his daughter’s assault, receives a call from Tom Hagen. Tom tells him that the Don needs a favor, and Bonasera agrees. He, like everyone, is aware of the war between the Corleones and the other families that has been going on for nearly a year. He knows that, because of his profession, most likely he will be asked to make the dead body of an important person disappear. Later that evening, he waits in his office alone. Clemenza and his men arrive and make sure that there is no one else there, and then the Don enters alongside a body on a stretcher. When the sheet is removed, Bonasera is shocked to see the body of Sonny Corleone. His face has been destroyed by bullets, and the Don asks Bonasera to make Sonny presentable, so that Carmella does not have to see the damage.

The narrative moves backwards in time to tell the story of Sonny’s death. Sonny has been at war, assassinating low level employees of the other families and attacking them on all fronts. In reality, his actions do not change the poor position the Corleone family is in, but he thinks that he is having some success because the families have been quiet, offering no response to the violence. One of the side effects of the war is that Carlo Rizzi’s bookmaking operation has been closed down. As a result, he has been drinking more and abusing Connie worse than ever. One night, he beats her so badly that, after he passes out, she calls Sonny and asks him to send a car to bring her home. Sonny flies into a rage and drives to the city himself, alone. He stops at a tollbooth to pay, and some men block his car and shoot Sonny. Sonny’s men, who had been following in another car, see his body and call the Don’s house from a nearby pay phone.

Tom answers the phone and learns of Sonny’s death. He realizes that he made a huge error in thinking that, because the other families were quiet, they were complacent. He realizes now that they had been planning this the entire time. But before he can wake up the Don and tell him, he calls Tessio and Clemenza and goes into the office to pour himself a drink. The Don, dressed for the first time since the shooting, comes into the office, wanting to know why there is so much activity in the house at midnight. Once Clemenza and Tessio are there, Tom tells them all that Sonny is dead. Immediately, the Don issues orders that there is to be no vengeance or violence in response to Sonny’s shooting, and that all business will be suspended until after Sonny’s funeral. He tells Tom to call Amerigo Bonasera and tell him that they will need his services.