Hyman Roth is already a manipulative and sinister villain in The Godfather Part II, but a deleted scene would have made him so much worse. While all three movies in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather saga contain antagonists, the line between good and bad is blurred by the knowledge that the Corleones themselves are no angels. Nevertheless, Al Lettieri’s Sollozzo and Richard Conte’s Barzini remain two of the most memorable scheming, slithering scoundrels in cinema history. While those characters set a high bar, The Godfather Part II features a formidable main villain of its own: Lee Strasberg’s Hyman Roth.
Roth initially emerges as an ally to Michael Corleone. The two partners are working on a deal as Roth enters his twilight years, but Michael soon realizes the casino kingpin is stabbing him in the back. As Al Pacino’s character puts it, “the old man thinks he’ll live forever,” so seeks to have the Corleone family’s don ᴀssᴀssinated, removing him as a rival while simultaneously getting revenge for friend Moe Greene – the Vegas gangster Michael targeted in the previous movie. While Hyman Roth’s motivations and plans are dark enough, a scene The Godfather Part II left out would have twisted the knife.
A Deleted The Godfather Part II Scene Would Have Revealed Hyman Roth’s Backstory
How Hyman Roth Met Vito Corleone Revealed
Hyman Roth seems to spring from nowhere between The Godfather and The Godfather Part II. The villain is never referenced in the first movie, but the sequel treats him like one of the Corleone family’s main collaborators and something of a father figure to the younger Michael. The Godfather Part II explains via dialogue that Roth established a relationship with Vito Corleone by smuggling alcohol during the prohibition era, and strongly suggests the two bosses shared a friendly rapport. These details represent the only real clues as to why Roth and Michael are so close when The Godfather Part II begins.
A deleted scene, however, revealed much more. Set in The Godfather Part II‘s past timeline with Robert De Niro, the lost conversation shows Clemenza bringing a green, sheepish Roth (then known as Hyman Suchowsky) for an audience with the up-and-coming Vito Corleone. Impressed by the boy’s skills as a mechanic, Vito appears willing to take a chance on this unlucky teen from the streets, placing him under the rapidly growing wing of the Corleone name. Moreover, it is Vito himself who helps Hyman Suchowsky rebrand as “Hyman Roth.”
Roth’s Deleted Scene Would Have Made Betraying Michael So Much Worse
Roth Meant More To Michael Than The Godfather Part II Revealed
In the final cut of The Godfather Part II, the relationship between Vito Corleone and Hyman Roth is merely alluded to. It comes across like Vito and Roth were simply two criminals who collaborated in the past because their interests aligned, and they maintained that mutually beneficial relationship throughout the decades. As Michael’s power and ambition swells between The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, Roth begins to see the Corleone family as a threat rather than an ally, so his position switches.
Lee Strasberg’s character transforms into a more ruthless, disrespectful, and villainous figure.
When adding the context of The Godfather Part II‘s deleted scene, however, the story totally changes, and despite Roth’s insistence that business is never personal, his betrayal of Michael Corleone suddenly becomes very personal indeed. The Godfather Part II‘s cut origin story shows Vito giving Roth a chance when no one else would, putting faith in a youngster who is just as lost as Vito himself was after arriving in New York. When Vito even demonstrates kindness by helping Hyman Roth pick a new name, the scene implies that Vito Corleone is becoming an older brother-esque figure to Roth.
Roth accepting that generosity, then trying to have Vito’s son ᴀssᴀssinated decades later, makes the entire betrayal sting so much more. Rather than just a tactical business move, attempting to get rid of Michael feels more like Roth selling out the very man who provided him with a start in the mafia. Lee Strasberg’s character transforms into a more ruthless, disrespectful, and villainous figure as a result.
The Godfather Part II Could Have Cemented Hyman Roth As The Franchise’s Greatest Villain
The Scene Gives Roth An Edge Over Barzini
Because the real villain of Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather saga is Michael Corleone himself, the trilogy’s more traditional villains – Sollozzo, Barzini, Roth, Zasa – serve more as secondary antagonists. In truth, the moral line between Michael and his enemies is usually thinner than Fredo’s mustache. Nevertheless, a debate to decide The Godfather‘s greatest villain would probably result in a pH๏τo finish between The Godfather‘s Emilio Barzini and The Godfather Part II‘s Hyman Roth.
Roth’s cut origin story from The Godfather Part II might have tipped the contest narrowly in his favor. The Godfather reveals virtually nothing about Barzini’s background or relationship with Don Corleone, save that the two are the bosses of rival gangs. A desire to stand atop New York’s Five Families is the one overriding motivation in the fight between the Corleone and Barzini clans.
The Godfather Part II‘s missing Hyman Roth scene would have added the personal connection that Barzini lacked, making his act of treachery a more pointed attack that disrespects Vito’s legacy in the past timeline as much as it endangers Michael’s life in the present. Having committed such a grave sin, it would have become almost impossible not to view Hyman Roth as the premier villain of The Godfather‘s entire story.
