Posted on 08/10/2025 2:09:09 PM PDT by nickcarraway
A subplot in the Francis Ford Coppola movie The Godfather has only just been solved by fans who couldn't work it out for years.
Fans of the legendary film The Godfather are only just working out a subplot decades on from its release. The Hollywood classic left some viewers stumped, with members of the r/Godfather Reddit page finally piecing together one of the film's smaller but still crucial storylines. A post to the forum saw users decipher a crucial detail which would lead to one of the film's most iconic scenes.
Mario Puzo's novel adaptation is hailed as one of the best films of all time, frequently topping best-of lists. The film still clearly has influence, as fans discuss it decades on from release. One detail that has left viewers stumped for years has finally been solved, it seems.
A fan asked: "Why are the police with Jack Woltz's horse? When Woltz shows Tom Haggen his horse in the stall - there is a police officer in there with the stable hand. Is he there to guard the horse? He did not do a very good job!"
Jack Woltz, a minor character in the first film portrayed by John Marley, is a movie producer who also runs a stable which houses prize-winning horse Khartoum.
Khartoum's head ends up in Woltz's bed, with hitman Luca Brasi killing the prize-winning horse. The plot points circling around the animal had left some viewers confused over the years, however.
One user wrote: "Khartoum was a $600,000 horse that was to be retired and put to stud. Woltz’s entire stable was to be built on this horse’s offspring so Woltz hired security to protect him.
Fans of the legendary film The Godfather are only just working out a subplot decades on from its release. The Hollywood classic left some viewers stumped, with members of the r/Godfather Reddit page finally piecing together one of the film's smaller but still crucial storylines. A post to the forum saw users decipher a crucial detail which would lead to one of the film's most iconic scenes.
Mario Puzo's novel adaptation is hailed as one of the best films of all time, frequently topping best-of lists. The film still clearly has influence, as fans discuss it decades on from release. One detail that has left viewers stumped for years has finally been solved, it seems.
A fan asked: "Why are the police with Jack Woltz's horse? When Woltz shows Tom Haggen his horse in the stall - there is a police officer in there with the stable hand. Is he there to guard the horse? He did not do a very good job!"
Jack Woltz, a minor character in the first film portrayed by John Marley, is a movie producer who also runs a stable which houses prize-winning horse Khartoum.
Khartoum's head ends up in Woltz's bed, with hitman Luca Brasi killing the prize-winning horse. The plot points circling around the animal had left some viewers confused over the years, however.
One user wrote: "Khartoum was a $600,000 horse that was to be retired and put to stud. Woltz’s entire stable was to be built on this horse’s offspring so Woltz hired security to protect him.
"In the brilliant video game you get to follow Paulie around avoiding or subduing many of these guards." Though the video game version of The godfather may not be familiar to viewers of the film, extra details can be found within.
One user praised the games and the additional detail, writing: "I loved that game! I loved all of those off screen moments you get to take part in. It seemed like it was made with love!"killing Khartoum, Don Corleone showed Woltz that his security was a joke."
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Johnny Two Times. Wrong movie.
Me too
Me too.
It means the Las Vegas police were already ‘on the Corleone payroll’.
I thought Ed was a golden Palomino, but read somewhere he was something else. Can’t remember what.
Khartoum didn’t kill himself!
Bamboo Harvester. No lie man.
A bigger plot hole concerns Michael’s service in the Marine Corps in the Pacific war.
Oy vey, they gave the guard an offer he couldn’t refuse.
“Look how they massacred my boy.”
He enlisted in late 1941?
“I feel like I read that twice.”
Did you find the answer?
The fact that we’re told he enlisted on Pearl Harbor day, served throughout the war, seeing enough heavy combat that he has a chest full of medals and got a promotion to officer, and yet when he offers to kill Salazzo and McClusky, Sonny mocks him as a “nice college boy” with no experience of killing up close. It makes no sense.
Vito seems to disdain Michael’s war experience, so maybe Sonny does too.
Couldn’t make this film today. Not enough roles for women, blacks, and gays.
IIRC in the original novel Fredo was a “Finocchio”.
Sonny mocks him as a “nice college boy” with no experience of killing up close.
He assumed in combat, Michael shot the enemy from far away, and didn’t engage in any hand-to-hand combat. But I sense Michael wasn’t much for talking about his war experience.
I always think of the scene when he and Enzo The Baker stand outside of the hospital pretending to have guns to ward off the assasins. Enzo’s hands were shaking when Michael lit his cigarette, but Michael’s hands were steady. I always thought that scene was very significant in showing the Michael realized he had to take over the family because his battle experience trained him for it.
Vito seems to disdain Michael’s war experience, so maybe Sonny does too.
Ya think? Just watch the ending of Godfather II.
As Yogi Berra once said, “It’ss Deja vu all over again.
It’s just your imagination
It’s just your imagination
It’s a glitch in the Matrix!
Better dial out while we still can….
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