Fredo Corleone - in The Godfather Returns

In The Godfather Returns

Mark Winegardner's novel The Godfather Returns further expands upon the character of Fredo Corleone. It includes explanations of some of the questions left open by the films, such as the details of Fredo's betrayal of Michael in The Godfather Part II, and how, as was revealed in The Godfather Part III, Anthony had known the truth about Fredo's death.

In the novel, it is revealed that Fredo is bisexual, and implied that he had been molested as a child by his parish priest. Michael's rivals, chiefly Louie Russo, the mob boss of Chicago, hope to exploit this rumor of Fredo's bisexuality to make Michael look weak. In Las Vegas, Fredo meets Marguerite "Rita" Duvall, who was sent up to his room by Johnny Fontane as a prank. Though hesitant, they have sex, and Fredo pays her to tell Johnny it was the best she had ever had.

At the funeral for Don Molinari of San Francisco, Fredo gets the idea of setting up a necropolis similar to Colma in New Jersey. The Corleone family would be able to buy up the former cemetery land, now prime real estate, and also be a silent partner in the graveyard business. Fredo would propose this plan to Michael and impress him, reassuring him and others of his abilities. To Fredo's dismay, however, Michael dismisses the plan as unrealistic. Later, in San Francisco, Fredo meets a man at a club and presumably sleeps with him. When the man recognizes him from a newspaper photo, Fredo panics and beats him to death. However, largely because of Hagen's efforts, the authorities are persuaded that the man had tried to rob Fredo, forcing Fredo to kill him in self-defense.

At Christmas, Fredo shows up at the Corleone Christmas party with Deanna Dunn, a famous, yet fading, movie starlet. A few months later they get married. Dunn gets Fredo to make appearances in bit parts in some of her movies. Later, in September 1957, Fredo's Hollywood connections allow him to get his own unsuccessful TV show, "The Fred Corleone Show", which airs irregularly, usually on Monday nights, until his death. Meanwhile, Fredo's alcoholism worsens. One day, he discovers Deanna cheating on him with her co-star, and shoots up the car he bought her. When Deanna's co-star tries to attack him, Fredo knocks him unconscious and goes to jail. Hagen bails him out, and they get in an argument about Fredo's recklessness and Hagen's blind loyalty to Michael. Despite this, Hagen again gets Fredo out of trouble by claiming self-defense.

It is also revealed that former Corleone capo Nick Geraci and Vincent Forlenza, the Don of Cleveland, were in on Roth's plot to eliminate Michael. Geraci, who is seeking revenge against Michael after the Don tried to have him killed, had met with Forlenza to discuss how Fredo could fit into their plans. Michael's planned deal with Roth has now reached a stalemate, and they figure Fredo could be used as a pawn to get Michael out of the way; if they promised to make Fredo's necropolis idea a reality, he would do anything to help them. Geraci meets with Fredo, who is blind drunk after having a fight with his wife, and persuades him to meet with Johnny Ola. Fredo then supplies Ola with all the information he needs about the Corleone family, particularly financial information.

Fredo's death plays out in the novel exactly as filmed in The Godfather Part II. Anthony, who is called by his Aunt Connie to go to Reno, actually never goes there; instead, he is sent to his room, where, from his window, he sees Fredo and Neri motor out on the lake aboard a small boat. Anthony hears a gunshot and sees Neri come back on the boat alone, explaining Godfather Part III's revelation that he knows the truth about his uncle's death.