Sonny Corleone
| Santino Corleone | |
|---|---|
James Caan as Sonny Corleone in The Godfather
|
|
| First appearance | The Godfather |
| Last appearance | The Godfather: The Game |
| Created by | Mario Puzo |
| Portrayed by | James Caan Roman Coppola |
| Information | |
| Nickname(s) | Sonny (commonly used) |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Mafia boss |
| Title | Underboss, Acting boss |
| Family | Corleone family |
| Spouse(s) | Sandra Corleone |
| Children | Francesca Corleone Kathryn Corleone Frank Corleone Santino Corleone Jr. Vincent Corleone |
| Relatives | Deanna Dunn (sister-in-law) Apollonia Vitelli-Corleone (sister-in-law) Kay Adams-Corleone (sister-in-law) Carlo Rizzi (brother-in-law) Anthony Corleone (nephew) Mary Corleone(niece) |
| Father | Vito Corleone |
| Mother | Carmela Corleone |
| Brothers | Fredo Corleone Michael Corleone Tom Hagen (adopted brother) |
| Sisters | Connie Corleone |
Santino "Sonny" Corleone is a fictional character in Mario Puzo's 1969 novel The Godfather and its 1972 film adaptation. The character also appears in various flashback sequences in the film's 1974 sequel, The Godfather Part II.
In the novel and film, he is the oldest son of New York City Mafia Don Vito Corleone and Carmela Corleone.[1] He has two brothers, Fredo and Michael, a sister, Connie, and an adopted brother, Tom Hagen. In the film, Sonny was portrayed by James Caan, who reprised his role for a flashback scene in Part II. Director Francis Ford Coppola's son Roman Coppola played Sonny as a boy in the 1920s scene of that film.
Contents
Novel and film biography[edit]
In both the novel and the movie, Sonny is the eldest of Vito Corleone's four children, and depicted as the most impulsive and violent. He is heavily involved in his father's crime family. At age 16, Sonny committed a robbery. When Vito learned about it from Sonny's godfather, Peter Clemenza, he demanded that Sonny explain why he did it. Sonny told him how, years earlier, he witnessed Vito murder the feared "Black Hand" gangster Don Fanucci. He told his father that he wanted to sell olive oil. Vito, understanding that Sonny wanted to join the Corleone crime family, sent him to Clemenza for training.
Sonny "made his bones" when he was 19. By his mid-20s, he was promoted to a caporegime in the Corleone family. By the end of World War II, he is his father's underboss and heir apparent, respected and feared as a ruthless killer with an explosive temper. Vito, however, doubts Sonny's ability to succeed him as Don, knowing his lacks the deep intelligence and subtle cunning it requires. Sonny also possesses a gentler side; at age 11, he brought home a homeless boy, Tom Hagen, demanding he be allowed to live with the family. Hagen eventually rises through the Corleone ranks to become Vito's consigliere. As the eldest child, Sonny acts as protector to his younger siblings and has a close relationship with his youngest brother, Michael and only-sister, Connie. The novel shows he is unable to harm women, children, or anyone unable to defend themselves. This trait probably saves Connie's abusive husband, Carlo, from being fatally beaten by Sonny when Carlo refuses to fight back.
Sonny is married to Sandra, mother to his four children, but he has several mistresses, including Lucy Mancini, who was his sister, Connie's, bridesmaid. In the novel, Sandra ignores his infidelities because she is unable to tolerate his enormous penis.
Sonny’s life is upturned in 1945, when Virgil "The Turk" Sollozzo approaches Vito with an offer to enter the narcotics trade, backed by the Tattaglia family. During the meeting, Sonny spontaneously speaks out-of-turn, expressing an interest in the plan that Vito refused. Sollozzo later attempts to have Vito assassinated, believing Sonny, as his father's successor, will join his business.
The failed assassination attempt leaves Vito near death, and Sonny becomes acting don. When Sollozzo mounts a second unsuccessful assassination attempt on Vito at the hospital, Sonny orders Bruno Tattaglia, son and underboss of Philip Tattaglia, and Solozzo's ally, to be murdered. Sonny then issues an ultimatum to the Tattaglias: turn over Sollozzo or face war. This ignites the New York underworld's first Mafia war in a decade.
Michael, who distanced himself from the family's criminal enterprise, volunteers to kill Sollozzo and his bodyguard, the corrupt NYPD officer, Captain Marc McCluskey. Sonny is impressed by Michael's loyalty, but doubts that his "college boy" brother, despite his war experience, is capable of committing murder. Additionally, Sonny knows that killing a police officer or other law enforcement officials is prohibited by American Mafia rules. The resulting backlash would be too severe. However, Michael argues that McCluskey being a corrupt cop and having crossed into their world make him fair game. Sonny is ultimately persuaded and he approves the hit. A meeting with Sollozzo, McCluskey, and Michael is arranged at an Italian restaurant in the Bronx. Michael kills both men with a handgun that was planted in the men's room. Michael flees to Sicily to wait out the inevitable police crackdown on the Five Families.
The war between the Five Families drags on, and Sonny, unable to break the stalemate, orders bloody raids that accomplish nothing. In retaliation, Don Emilio Barzini, the real mastermind behind the conspiracy, enlists Sonny's brother-in-law, Carlo Rizzi, to help set a trap. Earlier, Sonny savagely beat Carlo upon learning that Carlo physically abused Connie. To draw Sonny out into the open, Carlo baits Connie into an argument, then severely beats her. Sobbing and hysterical, she telephones home. Enraged, Sonny speeds from the family compound unaccompanied, heading for Connie's apartment in Hell's Kitchen. As Sonny stops at the Long Beach Causeway toll plaza, men emerge with tommy guns and kill him.
During a meeting with the Dons of the crime families to establish peace, Vito realizes that Barzini masterminded the ambush on Sonny. After Michael returns from Sicily, Vito and Michael secretly plot to wipe out the other New York Dons to avenge Sonny's death. The plan is successfully executed in 1955, eight years after Sonny's death. On Michael's orders, Clemenza, Sonny's godfather, executes Carlo. In a single strike, the Corleones become the nation's most powerful crime family
Role in Godfather sequels[edit]
As well as appearing in the original film, The Godfather, Sonny features in the sequel, The Godfather Part II. In this film, he briefly appears in some flashback scenes as an infant and as a young child. He makes a final appearance at the end of the story, in a scene that portrays Vito's birthday celebration in 1941. Michael announces that he has dropped out of college and enlisted to fight in World War II. Sonny is furious at the decision, and he berates his brother for risking his life "for a bunch of strangers." This flashback also reveals that Sonny introduced Carlo to Connie, and the rest of the family, which led to their marriage.
In The Godfather Part III, Vincent Corleone is introduced as the illegitimate child of Sonny and Lucy Mancini. Vincent succeeds Michael as head of the Corleone family at the end of the film. Vincent's existence in the film contradicts the literary universe, as Puzo's original novel stated that Lucy never bore a child with Sonny.
Family[edit]
- Vito Corleone— father; played by Marlon Brando; in Part II played by Robert De Niro as young adult Vito Corleone
- Carmela Corleone— mother; played by Morgana King
- Tom Hagen— adopted brother; played by Robert Duvall
- Fredo Corleone— brother; played by John Cazale
- Michael Corleone— brother; played by Al Pacino
- Constanzia "Connie" Corleone —sister; played by Talia Shire
- Mary Corleone— niece; played by Sofia Coppola
- Anthony Vito Corleone—nephew; played by Anthony Gounaris in The Godfather, played by James Gounaris in The Godfather Part II, and played by Franc D'Ambrosio in The Godfather Part III
- Sandra Corleone— wife; played by Julie Gregg
- Francesca Corleone—daughter, born 1937
- Kathryn Corleone—daughter, born 1937
- Frank Corleone—son, born 1940
- Santino Corleone Jr. — son, born 1945
- Vincent Corleone—illegitimate son with Lucy Mancini born circa spring 1946, played by Andy García
Behind the scenes[edit]
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This section needs additional citations for verification. (May 2014) |
- Coppola staged Sonny's death scene in The Godfather to be reminiscent of the final death scene of Clyde Barrow (Warren Beatty) and Bonnie Parker (Faye Dunaway) in Bonnie and Clyde.[2]
- Coppola had the car radio play the broadcast of the baseball playoff game won by Bobby Thomson hitting the Shot Heard Round the World. This would place Sonny's death on October 3, 1951, contradicting the novel by several years.
- Among the actors auditioning for the role of Michael during casting for The Godfather, one unknown off-Broadway actor named Robert De Niro also read for Sonny's part, as well as Michael's and Carlo's, without success. Raw footage of him in the scene where Paulie Gatto offers to kill Rizzi can be seen on the DVD. Eventually, Coppola cast Caan in the role and gave De Niro the part of Paulie, but he "traded" him to the film The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight for Al Pacino, who soon got the part of Michael. Anthony Perkins not only auditioned for Sonny, but also for Tom Hagen.
- Originally Caan was to be cast as the main character Michael Corleone (Sonny's youngest brother), while Carmine Caridi was signed as Sonny. However Coppola demanded that the role of Michael be played by Al Pacino instead. The studio agreed to Pacino but insisted on having Caan be cast as Sonny, so he remained in the production.[3]
- Caan was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the film, competing with co-stars Pacino and Robert Duvall, giving the movie three entries in that category.
Cultural references[edit]
- Sonny's death scene has been parodied several times on The Simpsons, including in the final scene of "All's Fair in Oven War", an episode in which Caan lent his voice. In that episode, the tollbooth death scene is re-enacted as part of Cletus Spuckler's revenge on Caan for "stealing" his wife Brandine's heart. The scene where Sonny beats Carlo Rizzi has also been parodied, in the episode "Strong Arms of the Ma".
- The tollbooth scene was parodied along with the execution montage in the final scene of the Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law episode "Dabba Don". In this scene the Ant Hill Mob from Wacky Races gun down Judge Mightor from their car.
- Bill Simmons, a columnist for ESPN.com, frequently compares the "Sonny Corleone move" to the "Michael Corleone move" when referring to hasty, rash decisions that end badly when a patient, reasoned approach would have been far more successful. Often, this analogy applies to free agent signings and trades in the NBA.
- Conan O'Brien also used the tollbooth scene in a parody on Conan, explaining how he was dropped from NBC.
- In the HBO series The Sopranos, the fictional strip club Bada Bing is named after the catchphrase "bada bing" that Sonny uses to describe an up-close shooting.
| Preceded by Vito Corleone |
Acting head of the Corleone crime family The Godfather ca. 1945–1946 |
Succeeded by Michael Corleone |
References[edit]
- ^ "Fact and Fiction in The Godfather". crimelibrary.com. Retrieved 2014-06-24.
- ^ Phillips, Gene D. (May 18, 2014). Godfather: The Intimate Francis Ford Coppola. University of Kentucky Press. p. 104. ISBN 9780813146713.
- ^ Seal, Mark (2009-10-20). "The Godfather Wars | Culture". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2011-03-07.
