Michael Corleone—the second head of the Corleone Crime Family (and later the Corleone Group) in The Godfather Trilogy—has some of the best arcs to ever be bestowed upon any character in the history of cinema. These include transforming from a soldier to a mob boss and becoming heavily religious despite being a member of La Cosa Nostra.
Over the course of the three movies, Michael's saga unfurls in a way that's easy for audiences to keep up with. However, there is a wealth of information about the character in and out of the movies, making it impossible to have an encyclopedic knowledge of him by just watching. The information stretches from little movie details to general trivia.
10 The Only Character To Appear In All Godfather Media
Michael Corleone is the only character appearing in all other forms of media about this specific universe. He appears in Mario Puzzo's original novels as well as the sequel novels, The Sicilian, The Godfather Returns, and The Godfather's Revenge. He also appears in the video games The Godfather: The Game and The Godfather II.
While it might be baffling to some as to why Vito Corleone hasn't been granted the same honor, Michael's popularity makes him a more marketable character. Having appeared in all 3 films across three decades, audiences are way more familiar with him. Al Pacino's star power is also a factor since he has a greater body of work than Marlon Brando.
9 Similarities To Real Life Gangsters
There are few notable similarities between Michael Corleone and Bonanno Crime Family boss Joseph Bonanno as well as Prohibition Era mob enforcer Vito Genovese. Like Michael, Bonanno became the Don at a young age and shifted some of his operations to another city (Arizona in his case, compared to Michael's Las Vegas).
Genovese also fled to Sicily in the '30s after murdering a couple of people, same as Michael who fled after whacking Captain McCluskey and Virgil "The Turk" Solozzo. And just as Michael did shortly after ascending to power, Genovese slaughtered a group of rival mob bosses at the same time. Then there is the kiss of death, which Genovese gave to Joseph Valachi, just as Michael Corleone gave to his traitor brother Fredo.
8 Army Uniform
Michael is portrayed as a decorated soldier despite being young. When he shows up for his sister Connie's wedding at the start of the first movie, he is wearing an army uniform which has a Navy & Marine Corps Medal, a Silver Star, a Purple Heart, a European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, an Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, and a World War II Victory Medal.
Some critics have pointed out that it's highly unlikely that Michael managed to serve in both the Asia-Pacific area and the Europe-Middle Eastern region yet his military career was quite brief. His other military ribbons are described as realistic and consistent with those of soldiers who served in World War II.
7 Age
How old is Michael Corleone in the movies? In the first installment, it's stated that he was born in 1920 to Carmela and Vito Corleone. His place of birth is listed as Hell's Kitchen, New York. And even though his death comes in the third installment (which was released in 1990), the closing events take place in 1997. This means Michael is 77 years old at the time of his death.
Though Michael isn't too old at the time of his death, he lives a little longer than his father Vito who is 67 at the time of his death in 1955. Since most mobsters get whacked and die young, Michael's age at the time of his death is impressive. However, he has no bragging rights, especially when compared with a few real-life mobsters. Colombo Crime Family underboss John "Sonny" Franzese Sr. is the oldest ever known mobster (103 at the time of his death).
6 Papal Recognition
One of Michael Corleone's best traits is his religious nature. In The Godfather Part III, he becomes charitable towards the Catholic church. Thanks to his efforts, he's named Commander of the Order of St. Sebastian. In real life, Colombo Crime Family founder Joe Profaci also sought papal approval, pushing a group of Italian-American priests to lobby for him.
The major difference between Michael Corleone and Joe Profaci in this regard is that Michael succeeds and Joe Profaci does not. Since Profaci was a well-known violent criminal, the Pope refused to be associated with him. In the movies, it's clear that Michael goes this route because of guilt for the numerous sins he had committed. It's unclear if this was Profaci's motivation too.
5 Ailment
In the first two movies, there are hints that Michael Corleone is concerned about a certain aspect of his health since he insists on drinking only water. In the third movie, it's confirmed that the Don has Diabetes.
Mario Puzzo, the writer of the novel The Godfather as well as the screenplays of the trilogy, was himself diabetic. Authors often incorporate some of the things in their personal lives into the fictional characters in their works hence it makes sense for Puzzo to describe Michael as a person diagnosed with Diabetes.
4 Video Game Appearance
The Godfather fans who tried the games for the first time must have been disappointed to find out that Michael doesn't look or sound the same as he does in the movies. There's an explanation for that.
Popular figures that are portrayed in video games often have to sign likeness agreements. As for Al Pacino, he had already signed off his likeness for the game Scarface: The World Is Yours. His voice could thus not be used for The Godfather games even though EA and Paramount held the rights to all of the characters in the trilogy, including Michael.
3 Legacy
Michael Corleone is held in higher regard than most movie characters and his legacy remains intact to date. The American Film Institute ranks him the 11th most iconic villain in film history.
However, there are those who feel that categorizing Michael as a villain is wrong. Some have described him as a tragic hero, given the number of misfortunes that come his way. Others have labeled him an antihero since he lacks some of the conventional heroic traits. Since the term "antihero" has only become popular recently with the emergence of characters like Tony Soprano and Walter White. Michael being categorized as a villain at the time he emerged is fitting.
2 Dental Work
Among the most popular behind-the-scenes, facts about The Godfather is that Marlon Brando has his cheeks stuffed with cotton to make his jowls more prominent. However, that was only for the test screening. During actual filming, Brando wore a custom dental appliance so that he could alter his voice and have more prominent jaws.
Most viewers aren't aware that Al Pacino also did a similar thing for one scene. When he confronts Captain McCluskey after the attempted hit on his father Vito, Michael gets assaulted, and his jaw breaks. In order to make the injury appear real, Al Pacino wore a pair of splints in his mouth. This way, he had a convincing disfigured look.
1 Differences In How His Story Ends
The Godfather Part III has one of the most tragic deaths in the trilogy. Michael passes away while sitting on a chair, sickly and regretting his past actions. In the 2020 revised cut titled The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone, events come to a close with Michael’s harrowing screams as a montage of women who were oppressed by him plays out.
The ending of the most recent cut triggers more pity and also reemphasizes the fact that Michael is a popular figure but he isn't a good person. It also denies him any redemption. His own life will have no happy ending. Just as he made the lives of other people miserable, he will feel the same pain too.
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August 07, 2021 at 12:00AM
