What is the horrifying origin story of Luca Brasi?
He also took part in the Olive Oil Wars, where he was in the room with six other hitmen and killed all of them in various bloody ways. Another one of his origin stories crosses over with real life. Brasi supposedly killed two of Al Capone's henchmen who were hired to assassinate Don Corleone.
Most noteworthy, the novel depicts Clemenza's fatal heart attack (mentioned in The Godfather Part II), and the many conspiracy theories that he had actually been murdered by the Rosato Brothers, former Corleone soldiers who had formed their own gang after a dispute over the future of the family.
If anything, it was Vito who was afraid of Luca and who was anxious to keep him onside, knowing what a savage loose cannon he was. Luca was a messed up killing machine and working for Vito kept his energies channelled and focussed and gave him purpose.
Enraged, Sonny speeds towards Connie's apartment in Hell's Kitchen ahead of his bodyguards. At the Long Beach Causeway toll plaza, Barzini's men trap Sonny and shoot him to death. During a meeting with the other crime family dons to establish peace, Vito realizes that Barzini masterminded Sonny's murder.
The Murder of Luca Brasi with English and Italian Subtitles
Is Luca Brasi good or bad?
Luca Brasi is Don Vito Corleone's personal enforcer and the only man Vito himself fears. While slow-witted and brutish, Brasi is fiercely loyal with a reputation as a savage and remorseless killer.
Fredo later betrays Michael after being approached by Johnny Ola (Dominic Chianese), an associate of rival crime boss Hyman Roth (Lee Strasberg). Ola and Roth tell Fredo that Michael is being particularly difficult in business negotiations between Roth's organization and the Corleone family.
Michael arranges to have Roth killed at the airport where he is about to be taken into U.S. federal custody. Minutes after disembarking the plane, he is fatally shot by Michael's caporegime Rocco Lampone, posing as a reporter. Rocco himself is killed by federal agents as he tries to escape.
The third and final film in the Godfather saga, The Godfather: Part III, set in 1979, explains that Hagen had died a few years earlier. His son, Andrew, is ordained to the priesthood, and is assigned to the Vatican on Michael's recommendation. While talking with Andrew, Michael remembers Hagen fondly as a great lawyer.
The attempt failed, and a furious Sonny Corleone lashed out, ordering his men to kill Bruno. Salvatore Tessio's regime carried out the hit, and Bruno was killed in his very own nightclub. His death would be avenged three years later with the death of Sonny.
However, Paulie didn't know that the family had several phone company employees on the payroll, one of whom alerted Sonny. When Sonny found out, he ordered Clemenza to have Paulie – "that stronz" (Italian for «turd»), as Sonny called him–killed on the spot.
The two of them surmised that someone in the family would betray Michael in this event by setting up a meeting with Don Emilio Barzini, Vito's main rival and the mastermind behind the Sollozzo scheme. In 1955, he died of a heart attack at age 68, while playing with his grandson Anthony in his garden.
Pacino was Coppola's favorite for the role as he could picture him roaming the Sicilian countryside, and wanted an unknown actor who looked like an Italian-American.
Notably, this unflinching drive to protect the family is exactly what led us to this scene in the first place. Paulie has seemingly betrayed Vito—and thus the family—by selling him out. In The Godfather, this kind of betrayal is the worst of all sins.
Vito didn't like Luca. He didn't want to socialize with him. He was anxious to attend the wedding and Luca was just another hindrance to that goal. But being aware of Luca's usefulness to him, he acquiecsed.
As Fredo prays the Hail Mary (which he claimed brought him luck whilst fishing), Neri shoots him in the back of the head, not knowing that Anthony was watching from his bedroom window.
Clemenza was scheduled to return in The Godfather Part II, but due to a disagreement between Castellano and Paramount, his character was killed off and was replaced by Frank Pentangeli.
Michael removes Hagen as consigliere in favor of having Vito fill the position, restricting Hagen to handling the family's legal business in Nevada, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Michael and Vito explain that the Corleones risk inciting a fight with the planned move to Nevada, and they need a "wartime consigliere".
Once inside, Tony Rosato (Danny Aiello) ambushes Pentangeli with a garotte, telling him, "Michael Corleone says hello." A policeman steps inside, and the attack degenerates into a shootout in the street. Pentangeli disappears and is believed to be dead.
In the novel, Greene is murdered shortly afterward by Al Neri. At the end of the film, Michael has Greene killed as part of his slaughter of the Corleone family's enemies. Neri surprises Greene while he is getting a massage and shoots him through the eye.
TL;DR. "What exactly did Paulie do to "sell out" Don Corleone?" He gave them information about Vito Corleone's daily journeys, and about the protection he had, so the gunmen could choose the best place to carry the assassination. It was all set-up.
