Moe Greene
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Moe Greene (1908-1955) is a fictional character appearing in Mario Puzo's 1969 novel The Godfather and the first installment of the The Godfather trilogy of films, in which he was portrayed by actor Alex Rocco. Greene's character is heavily based on real-life gangster Bugsy Siegel.
In his younger days, Greene was one of the top killers in Murder, Inc. He is credited with helping turn Las Vegas into a gambling and entertainment mecca, bringing the interests of the most powerful organized crime organizations in the World to the town. Among these was Don Vito Corleone, who bankrolled the creation of Greene's first hotel-casino. In return, Moe took the Don's son Fredo under his wing during the war between the Five Families in New York. Although Fredo was greatly influenced by the city and Greene, family heir Michael Corleone disapproved of the effect on his brother, whom Greene reportedly chastised and slapped around in public.
At a meeting with Greene, Michael expressed his disapproval and, perhaps partially motivated by Fredo's disgrace, made a stern offer to buy out Greene's entire interest in the casino as part of the Corleone's relocation to Nevada. Offended, Greene angrily refused, claiming that the Corleones had neither the favor nor the power required to drive him out of the business. In the film, he belittles Michael's credentials as a mob boss, saying, "I made my bones while you were dating cheerleaders!"
[edit] Novel
In the novel Greene was murdered by Michael Corleone's bodyguard and lieutenant Albert Neri not long after the meeting in Las Vegas. On the airplane ride home Michael asked Neri, "Did you make him good?" To this question Neri tapped his head and responded, "I got Moe Greene mugged and numbered up here." Not long afterward Neri went to Las Vegas as the family representative at the funeral of family friend Nino Valenti. During the course of that trip Greene was assassinated.
[edit] Film
In the film Michael let the matter rest until the day of his nephew's baptism, when he had Greene wounded and later died as part of his sweeping revenge on enemies of the family. In one of the most famous scenes of the film, Greene is shot clean through the eye by Clemenza using a BB rifle while getting a massage in one of his hotels. The method in which he was killed, where the victim is shot through the eye, came to be known as a "Moe Greene Special". (His real-life counterpart, Bugsy Siegel, also had one of his eyes shot out during his murder.) In similar circumstances, the character of Brendan Filone is killed in the same manner in an episode of The Sopranos.
However, Greene's death would return to haunt Michael in The Godfather Part II, when rival Hyman Roth, formerly a partner to the departed mobster, angrily cited his death to Michael as an example of Roth's willingness not to question or become involved with business-related killings, despite his friendship with the victim. Since Roth was in fact plotting an otherwise unprovoked attempt to eliminate Michael at the time, the scene might imply that revenge for Greene's death was what drove him to conspire against the Corleones.
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