270. Robert Duvall in 'The Godfather Part II'

Show Notes

From Senator Geary to Frankie Five Angels, Duvall's Tom Hagen navigated a twisty and often dirty road in the second Godfather film.

Watching the movie through the lens of Tom Hagen, it's clear tha the film in its own way really focusses on Tom and Michael and how the changing times and Michael's increasing paranoia have removed the family so far from "The Good Old Days".

The last two brothers left standing at the end of II are Tom and Michael. One of the great mysteries of Godfather III is if the presence of Tom Hagen would have salvaged that film from being the blight upon the memory of the first two that it unfortunately remains.

But let's celebrate Tom Hagen, one of the most enduring characters in Duvall's long life as an actor, and a character present at and maybe the catalyst behind so many iconic scenes in these great films.