Moe Greene

There are two conflicting canon sources for this article, from The Godfather (novel) and The Godfather.

Moe Greene
Biographical information
Gender	Male
Born	1922
Died	1955
Affiliation	Roth syndicate Murder, Inc.
Title(s)	Racketeer Hotel owner Associate Assassin
Behind the scenes
Portrayed by	Alex Rocco Bruce Robertson (voice)

"You son of a bitch. Do you know who I am? I'm Moe Greene! I made my bones when you were going out with cheerleaders."

―Moe Greene to Michael Corleone

Moe Greene was a casino owner from Las Vegas and caporegime in Roth syndicate.

Biography

Moe Greene was a renowned Jewish mobster and former executioner for Murder Incorporated, credited with the development of Las Vegas into a gambling and entertainment mecca, bringing the interests of the most powerful organized crime organizations in America to the town. He was a childhood friend of Hyman Roth.

Moe and Fredo

"I gotta business to run. I gotta kick asses sometimes to make it run right. We had a little argument, Freddy and I, so I had to straighten him out."

―Moe Greene

Among his powerful allies was Don Vito Corleone, who bankrolled the creation of Greene's first hotel-casino. In return, Moe took the Don's son Fredo under his wing during the war between the Five Families in New York, due to the intervention of West Coast Don, Anthony Molinari.

Although Fredo was greatly influenced by the city and Greene, family heir Michael Corleone disapproved of the effect it had on his brother, whom Greene reportedly chastised and slapped around in public -- Moe claimed that Freddie had been disrupting the business by cavorting with cocktail waitresses, often keeping them from their work.

At a meeting with Greene, Michael expressed his disapproval and, perhaps partially motivated by Fredo's public disgrace, made a stern offer to buy out Greene's entire interest in the casino as part of the Corleones' relocation to Nevada. Offended, Greene angrily refused, claiming that the Corleones had neither the favor nor the power required to drive him out of the business. He also belittled Michael's credentials as a boss, saying, "I made my bones when you were going out with cheerleaders!"

Moe's Death

Moe meets his end.

For this mistake, Greene was executed on the day of Michael Rizzi's baptism whilst at a massage parlor in Las Vegas. The execution was performed with a bullet clean through the eye. Moe's casinos then became property of the Corleone family.

Personality and traits

Moe Greene was an arrogant but successful gangster, who had a love for the gambling industry. Greene loved his business so much, that he was offended at Michael Corleone's attempt to buy it over. However, Greene was not wise enough to realise that his refusal to the Corleones would sign his death warrant, underestimating their strength and believing that he would have a greater chance of success with Barzini.

In the video game

"Moe's dirty Fredo. Dirty. He refused my offer... I can't allow that to happen."

―Michael Corleone

Moe Greene meets his end in the video game.

In the video game, Moe Greene is known as something of an entrepreneur, managing a casino below The Peak Hotel in Manhattan. Prior to Moe's death, Aldo Trapani robs Greene's secret casino in the basement of The Peak, gaining a sizeable sum that Michael would use to set up business in Vegas.

If the player manages to kill Moe before he has a chance to stand up using a pistol, he will die exactly as he did in the movie.

Throughout the game, Greene's name is misspelled Moe Green in the pause menu, in the subtitles and in the HUD. It is unknown why.

Behind the scenes

• Greene is primarily based on Bugsy Siegel, who was also good friends with Meyer Lansky, whom inspired the character of Hyman Roth. Like Moe Greene, Bugsy Siegel was also widely mythologized to have been killed with a single, clean, execution-style gunshot through the eye. This popular version of Siegel's death was based on inaccurate leaks and conflicting witness reports; the official files showed Siegel was actually killed with a burst of .30-caliber rounds from an M2 carbine, one of which struck him in the side of the head and gruesomely blew his right eye (largely intact) out of the socket and on to the carpet from the cranial overpressure.

• Moe Greene's name is believed to be derived from the names of Moe Sedway and Gus Greenbaum, who were close associates of Meyer Lansky, the model for Hyman Roth.
• In addition to Bugsy Siegel, Moe Greene also shares history with Moe Dalitz who was referred to as "Mr. Las Vegas" and is credited with turning the city from a layover for GIs to a major tourist destination (exactly as Hyman Roth describes Moe Greene).

• In the novel, Moe Greene was shot to death in the Hollywood home of his movie-star mistress. Afterward, Al Neri went on a vacation in the Caribbean and did not reappear in New York until almost a month later.
• He was portrayed by Alex Rocco.
• In the original screenplay, Greene had a business relationship with Carmine Cuneo, and the two were gunned down in an elevator by Peter Clemenza, much in the same way as Victor Stracci and his underboss in the final film.
• Moe Greene's death in the film became known as "The Moe Greene Special".
• In "Denial, Anger, Acceptance" (1999), a Season 1 episode of the television show The Sopranos, Brendan Filone is executed with a bullet clean through the eye. The execution is referred to as a "Moe Greene Special", in reference to the way in which Moe Greene was killed in the Godfather, which in turn is based on Siegel's real-life execution.
• Actor Rocco had a cameo appearance In the 1995 film Get Shorty as a mob boss. In the scene he is lying on his front and is being massaged in much the same fashion as his death scene in The Godfather.