| 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 (as a child) |
| Information | |
| Nickname(s) | Sonny (commonly used) |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Gangster |
| Title | Underboss |
| Family | Corleone family |
| Spouse(s) | Sandra Corleone |
| Children | Francesca and Kathryn (twins) Frank Santino, Jr. Vincent Corleone (with Lucy Mancini) |
Santino "Sonny" Corleone is a fictional character in Mario Puzo's 1969 novel The Godfather and its 1972 film adaptation. He also appears as an infant, as a young boy, and an adult in 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. He has two brothers, Fredo and Michael, an adoptive brother, Tom Hagen, and a sister, Connie. 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.
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Born in 1916, Sonny is depicted in both the novel and the movies as the most impulsive and violent of Vito's children and the most involved in his father's criminal operations. The novel provides additional backstory for Sonny: when he was 16, he committed a robbery. His father learns about it from Peter Clemenza, who stood as godfather to Sonny. When Vito asks Sonny why he did this, Sonny tells him that he saw his father kill the blackhander Don Fanucci years earlier. He then tells his father, "I want to learn how to sell olive oil." Vito realizes what Sonny really means, and sends him to Clemenza for training.
Sonny "makes his bones" when he is 19, and soon afterward becomes a capo in his father's 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. He is not without a softer side, however; at the age of 11, he takes in a homeless boy, Tom Hagen, who thereafter lives with the family and becomes the family's consigliere. As the oldest child, he serves as a protector to his younger siblings and is shown to have a very close relationship with his brother, Michael, and sister, Connie. The book also reveals that he cannot bring himself to harm women or children, or anyone who can't defend themselves.
Although Sonny has a wife, Sandra, and four children, he frequently cheats on her with other women, including Lucy Mancini, who served as one of his sister's bridesmaids. The normal course of events in Sonny’s life is upturned when Virgil "The Turk" Sollozzo comes to Don Vito with an offer of entering the narcotics trade, backed by the Tattaglia Family. During the meeting, Sonny speaks out of turn and expresses interest in the plan. Vito refuses the offer, however, and Sollozzo tries to assassinate him in hopes that Sonny, as his father's successor, will go into business with him.
The assassination attempt fails but leaves Vito near death, although he eventually recovers. Sonny takes over as acting boss. When Sonny finds out that the Tattaglias also killed longtime Corleone enforcer Luca Brasi, he orders the death of Bruno Tattaglia, son and underboss of family boss Philip Tattaglia. He then issues an ultimatum to the Tattaglias: Turn over Sollozzo or face war. This sets off the first real conflict in the New York Mafia in a decade, and puts the novel's plot in motion.
Michael, who had previously distanced himself from the family's criminal enterprise, volunteers to kill Sollozzo and his bodyguard, police Captain McCluskey. Sonny is impressed by Michael's loyalty, but doubts that his "college boy" brother has it in him to commit murder. Additionally, despite his violent streak, Sonny is leery of killing a police officer, as it has long been a hard and fast rule in the American Mafia that police and other law enforcement officials are not to be harmed. However, Sonny ultimately gives Michael the clearance to carry out the hit after Michael convinces him that since McCluskey is serving as Sollozzo's bodyguard, he has crossed into their world and is fair game. Sollozzo and McCluskey set a meeting with him in a small Italian restaurant. Michael kills them both, and is sent immediately to Sicily to wait out the inevitable crackdown on the Five Families.
In retaliation, Don Emilio Barzini, the real mastermind of the conspiracy, enlists the help of Sonny's brother-in-law, Carlo Rizzi, in setting a trap for Sonny. Sonny had already beaten Carlo to a pulp upon learning that Carlo was abusing Connie. To draw Sonny out into the open, a vengeful Carlo inflicts a particularly vicious beating on Connie, who telephones Sonny, begging for help. In a fit of rage, Sonny speeds out of the family compound unaccompanied, and heads for Connie's apartment in Hell's Kitchen to confront Carlo. As Sonny approaches the Long Beach Causeway toll plaza, Barzini's men emerge with tommy guns and gun him down before he can flee.
Vito deduces that the Barzinis were responsible for Sonny's death but does not permit retaliation, and instead calls a truce in order to end the war and bring Michael back to the United States. However, this is only to buy time; soon after Michael's return, he and Vito secretly plan to avenge Sonny's death by eliminating Barzini and Tattaglia. Vito dies eight years later, and Michael inherits the family. As his first major act, he has Barzini and Tattaglia murdered. Carlo confesses his involvement to Michael, who has him killed moments later.
Sonny appears in the original Godfather and in its sequel, The Godfather Part II. In the latter film, he briefly appears in some flashbacks as a young child. A later scene portrays the family dinner in which Michael announces he is volunteering to fight in World War II. He is angered by Michael's decision, and he berates his brother for risking his life "for a bunch of strangers." The flashback reveals that Sonny introduced Carlo to Connie and the rest of the family, hence their later marriage.
In The Godfather Part III, Vincent Mancini is introduced as the illegitimate son of Sonny and Lucy Mancini. Vincent succeeds Michael as head of the Corleone family at the end of the film. However, Vincent's existence in the film contradicts the literary universe, as Puzo's original novel stated that Lucy never bore a child with Sonny.
| Preceded by Vito Corleone |
Acting Head of the Corleone crime family The Godfather ca. 1945 - 1946 |
Succeeded by Michael Corleone |