Frank Pentangeli
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Frank Pentangeli ("Frankie Five Angels") is a fictional character from the film The Godfather Part II. In the film, he was portrayed by Michael V. Gazzo, who was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance. It has been suggested that Pentangeli was based on the famed Mafia informant Joseph Valachi, though this has not been confirmed.
He was born circa 1890 in Partinico, a small town outside Palermo, Sicily.
Pentangeli is a caporegime in the Corleone family, running operations in New York City while Michael and Fredo Corleone are in Las Vegas. He took over the position following the death of the previous capo, Peter Clemenza. Pentangeli is a very old associate and family friend, having worked with Vito Corleone in the early days of their olive oil business.
Near the beginning of the story, Pentangeli approaches Michael to ask for his help in eliminating the Rosato brothers, rivals in New York, who claimed to have been promised territories by Peter Clemenza prior to his death, but Michael refuses. He orders Pentangeli to do nothing, as he does not want a war to interfere with an upcoming deal with Hyman Roth, who supports the Rosatos. Pentangeli takes this as an insult and leaves in anger. Later that night, Michael narrowly escapes an assassination attempt at his home.
Suspecting that Hyman Roth was behind the assassination attempt, Michael meets with Pentangeli and asks him to help take his revenge. Pentangeli agrees, promising to end his feud with the Rosato brothers and giving the impression that Michael supported their claim, so as to give Roth the impression that Michael did not know he was conspiring against him.
Back in New York, Pentangeli arranges a meeting with the Rosato brothers. At the meeting, Tony Rosato (played by Danny Aiello) ambushes Pentangeli with a garotte, telling him, "Michael Corleone says hello." A policeman passes by and the murder attempt devolves into a shootout in the street. Pentangeli disappears and is believed to be dead.
Later, at a Congressional hearing, Pentangeli is presented as a surprise witness for the prosecution, believing that Michael ordered the Rosato brothers to kill him. He has been in the custody of the FBI since the murder attempt, and is prepared to testify that Michael is a Mafia Don and has ordered countless murders for the Corleone family, as well as having personally murdered a police captain (in The Godfather). Because Pentangeli's protective custody is so secure, Michael knows he will be unable to have him killed before the trial. Instead, he flies Pentangeli's brother in from Sicily, who appears in the courtroom. Upon seeing his brother, Frank Pentangeli then recants his earlier statements, and now claims that the Corleone family is innocent of any wrongdoing, thereby derailing the government's case.
After the hearing, Tom Hagen visits Pentangeli. Pentangeli discusses how tough his brother is, much tougher than himself, says Frankie. Hagen tells Frankie that he did the right thing by recanting, and that if he accepts responsibility for turning on the Corleone family, Frankie's own family will always be taken care of and remain unharmed. He thanks Hagen, returns to his room, and slits his wrists in the bathtub.
The finished film leaves unclear exactly what about his brother's presence caused Frankie to change his story. It may be that Michael is implying that if he testifies, his brother will be murdered. An early version of the script, however, details that Frankie's brother is himself a hardened Mafia chieftain in Sicily. Shocked that Frankie is about to betray the Corleones, his brother appears to remind Frankie that he must not break the Mafia's code of silence. His brother's mere presence and icy stare directed at Frankie serve as a threat that if Frankie follows through with his planned testimony, retribution will be taken against his former mistress and their child, who are living in Sicily under his brother's guardianship.
That background also gives additional meaning to Pentangeli's conversation with Hagen afterward, in which Pentangeli discusses his brother's toughness — this presumably being the reason that Pentangeli felt as though his brother might indeed take retribution against Frankie's family — and then receives assurance from Hagen that if Frankie kills himself, his family will be fine.
Pentangeli's character was originally written to be the returning character Pete Clemenza. Richard Castellano, the actor who portrayed Clemenza in The Godfather, however, agreed to return only on the condition that his girlfriend at the time be allowed to rewrite his dialogue to his own satisfaction. Rather than give in to this demand, director Francis Ford Coppola rewrote the script so that Clemenza had recently died of a heart attack. Pentangeli was created to be Clemenza's successor. Pentangeli first appears wearing a black band in remembrance of Clemenza, which is how his death is explained to the audience.
