Word: strasbergs
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Battista's apres-nous-le-deluge decade-long gangbang of imperialism provides the backdrop to the one point in his career where Michael seems on the verge of respectability. In partnership with Hyman Roth (Lee Strasberg), he is about to transfer a large part of his wealth into more-or-less legitimate Cuban hotels and casinos. Along with executives of companies like United Fruit and "U.T.T." he goes to Havana to be honored by El President (whom U.T.T. presents with a solid gold telephone). But Michael's plans fall apart--Roth is really plotting his assassination, and in a weird...
...pass naturally, without a whimper, from the barely legal to the outright illegal. The Godfather II is like dynastic history--full of human interest, good gossip, and referring in passing to more important, underlying historical events. Visually it's a treat, and the understated performances of Pacino and Lee Strasberg are fine. But in the end it is a waste of time--did we really need three and a half hours of family squabbles, successful and unsuccessful "hits," elaborate flashbacks to Sicily and big deals in Havana, to be told--once again--that crime doesn...
...idea of working in Godfather II was a lark, working on it was not. Strasberg applied himself to the role according to his own strictest principles of introspection. "In no way did I try to give a sense of the theatrical elements of the Mafia. So I tried to create a façade of not showing emotion, the sense of a man for whom all things were business." Strasberg also carried elements of Roth over into his own life-a basic article of Strasbergian faith-to flesh out the character...
...results of all this labor were exemplary and work saving. Both he and Coppola were dissatisfied with Roth as written. Neither found the role complete, says Strasberg, "but since somehow I was able to make a character out of it, there was no need to rewrite...
...Strasberg confides that "now that the bug has bitten Lee, there's no holding back," and her husband admits, "I am just waiting for another good offer." Some roles that would interest...