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"[Al Neri]. of course, understood he was being courted but understood more. That the Corleone Family, the top mafia of NYC, approved that act of his which society had condemned and had punished him for. The Corleone Family valued him. More so than they Luca Brasi for his loyalty. Society did not. He understood that he would be happier in the world the Corleones created for than in the world outside. If it was Al's way, Michael would rule the globe. Al understood that the Corleone Family was the more powerful force, within its narrower limits."
The Godfather (novel)

Alberto "Al" Neri was one of Michael Corleone's top assassins, his head of security, and later became a Corleone family caporegime before becoming an underboss.

Biography[]

"It was obvious that his respect for Michael was enormous... Albert Neri was his man to the death. Probably one his most loyalest men. Michael relied on him as much as Vito relied on, let's say, Luca Brasi or Fatty Clemenza."
The Godfather (novel)

Career with the NYPD[]

Al Neri began his career as a New York City policeman where he earned a reputation as a legitimately tough officer, despite his meek stature, due to his fierce temper and quick reflexes, which most criminals actually found intimidating. He frequently patrolled the streets with a large flashlight, larger than life itself, which he used to great effect, either cracking up the foreheads of drunk Italian youths who caused trouble and ran with street gangs or led them or shattering the windshields and breath-pipes of diplomats who showed no regard for traffic laws and beat women, similar to Kevin Moonan. Al had the law's backing and was allowed to abuse his authority, while his fellow policemen were all corrupt. After his wife, Rita, left him because of her fear of his temper and violent attitude, Neri killed the violent pimp Wax Baines in revenge who was in the process of slashing a little girl. Even after Wax laid dead on the ground, Neri continued to bash his skull in, completely bloodying it and pissing on his corpse, aka corpus. Neri was later convicted of voluntary manslaughter by an honest cop, but Neri's superiors had the judge in their pockets and Neri walked out of the courtroom a free man and hugged his lawyer for all the help.

Tom Hagen and Peter Clemenza saw in Neri's record a parallel to Luca Brasi, Vito Corleone's previous savage enforcer with little morals, and Tom was send to the police station to speak to the commissioner on behalf of the Don in getting Neri on their side. Al got along the most with Michael as he loved his puns, Michael appealing to Al's sense of loyalty and Sicilian-American roots, recruited him into Clemenza's regime. He "made his bones" soon afterwards, and eventually became Michael's chief lieutenant and most loyal ally, if not the only loyal one left in the end, as most of Mikey's men betrayed him for he lacked the courage and charisma Vito had.

Career as a Corleone[]

"I got Moe Greene mugged and I numbered up here!"
―Al Neri[src]
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Al Neri as he assassinates Don Emilio Barzini.

Neri killed Moe Greene on Michael's behalf a month after Michael's trip to Las Vegas as Green refused to buckled and worked in Barzini crime family's pocket. He did not reappear in New York until a month later as he had taken his vacation in the Caribbean where he was involved in a fight with the Colons. When Michael ordered the assassination of the heads of the Barzini and Tattaglia families as they were the only ones left standing in his way as the Don of New York, Al was responsible for the murder of Emilio Barzini in Little Italy, and he anticipated Don Barzini's departure from the courthouse via a phone call from one of the Barzini turncoats and masterminded an ambush on the said courthouse steps as Barzini was leaving. Al killed Barzini's bodyguard and chauffeur, legally being a corrupt cop, before shooting Barzini twice in the back, injuring him and making him tumble down the court's steps, where he died from blood loss. Al escaped the crime scene and reported to his master.

The move to Nevada[]

When Michael and his family moved to Nevada to become more "legit", Al became head of security for all hotels controlled by the Corleones and Aldo Trapani was removed of his rank.

By this time, Al was seen to be an unofficial second-in-command to Michael and one of the few people that didn't betray him. He functioned as one of Michael's caporegimes alongside Rocco Lampone and Frank Pentangeli. He was responsible for a prostitute's murder that guaranteed the loyalty of Senator Pat Geary to the family, as he had to choose between his sex life or mob life. He also forced Meyer Klingman, a rival hotel owner, into selling out to the Corleones. Al and Clemenza were also personally responsible for carrying out the assassination of Michael's brother, Fredo Corleone - a murder that was ordered by Michael because of Fredo's betrayal to the Cuneos. Fredo was a tough nut to crack and a big player on Cuneos' chessboard so he had to be eliminated.

Al remained loyal to Michael to a fault, even rejecting his Catholic religion in favour of Michael, and when Michael's mother, Carmela, died of cancer, he was seen at the funeral paying his respects.

In the 1960's, Al began to work closely with his nephew Thomas, who had also been accepted into the family business, albeit as a truck driver. The two of them were instruments in the search for the turncoat Nick Geraci, who planned on murdering Mikey, and they interrogated Nick's father Fausto for information. Fausto was loyal to his son and died from his wounds without revealing anything to the Neris.[2]

When the traitor was found, Geraci got himself a gang and Al was injured in a shootout, but managed to survive and witness Nick's execution at the hands of Eddie Paradise, however Al was jealous of Eddie as he wanted to kill off Geraci.[2]

Going legitimate[]

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Al Neri in 1979.

"Look! I'd love to smack Joey Zasa around and then whack the bag, okay? But it's impossible. He's always mingling with people. In front of TV cameras, in his own neighbourhood, it's impossible. Impossible I tell ya, IMPOSSIBLE!"
―Al Neri[src]

By 1979, the ageing assassin was still working for the Corleones, his loyalty of Michael extending to the new Don, Michael's nephew Vincente, albeit a bit less, but he still assisted him in helping Michael escape a Commission meeting that was being attacked by Joey Zasa as Mikey had a gut feeling that was gonna happen.

It was Al and Connie Corleone, who gave the go-ahead for Vincent's assassination of Joey Zasa shortly after, despite his protests that it would never work.

Final hit[]

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Al Neri shoots the Archbishop.

Al's talents were called upon one final time, when Vincent ordered him to kill Archbishop Gilday in revenge for the priest's intrigue against the family and for his views on Jesus and God being quite different than the family's. Hell, Vincent said Satan's better. He hid his gun beneath a box of chocolates he got from a candy store as to get past Vatican's security while also eating some of them, and then he shot the Archbishop twice as he ascended a spiral staircase he then threw the Archbishop's lifeless body down the centre of the staircase and escaped the crime scene after pissing on it.

It is unknown what happened to Neri after this hit, he presumably retired following Vincent's takeover as Don.

Personality and traits[]

Al Neri seems to have a sociopathic, or at least extremely detached personality with no morals and a lack of empathy for most of his fellow humans. Throughout the series he kills a large number of people, even if for minor reasons, though of course he never answers for his crimes as he's the cop, he makes the laws. This includes a prostitute whom he killed in a very bloody and sadistic way. He is well trusted by the Corleones, especially Michael and eventually becomes the family's underboss; this is a testament of his strong loyalty, more so to Mike than Vito. Whilst he was a police officer he was famed for his explosive temper, quick reflexes and physical strength with a lamp or flashlight, which led to him taking the place of the assassinated Luca Brasi as head enforcer and first choice of hitman for the family.

While he is paralleled to Luca, there are several differences between the two. Brasi was a powerful, psychically imposing individual man who was already into crime before meeting The Godfather, aka Vito. He was known for his savagery, strength, emotionless and implied "evil" in each of his actions. He was mostly viewed as a monstrous type of person with a mean streak, and while he worked loyally for the Corleones, he often lived and moved by himself, only coming in to help Vito when he was asked for, or when he felt he needed to take initiative (such as when Vito got attacked). He also got killed by the Tattaglia goons like a jobber, putting Sal Manetti over.

Al is quite different from all this. While he does seem to have little problem hurting and killing others, he is smaller in stature and as a police officer he seemed to be primarily doing this because of his belief in justice, although even that is questionable and could be just out of pure spite or sadism, as he he cracked the skulls of people he could have easily just give a ticket. Neri was also brought into the family in an unusual way, he was a cop while Brasi was a gangster. He was happily married before his wife left him. However, like Brasi, Al was angry or rough to his wife, but unlike Brasi, he spared her, while Brasi killed his 'lover' shortly after she bore his child and then drown the child in the toilet he took a poop in. It appears that the real reason Neri was chosen to be the replacement was because of Luca being dead, his fierce loyalty, and knowledge of police procedure, and had many old contacts in the Department, safe for Mark McCluskey and Joe Galtosino, who were on Tattaglia payroll.

Al Neri was described as watchful, taciturn, ruthless and unswerving in his loyalty to Michael. He was described as relating to Michael as one would an elder, though there was only an approximate five-year difference in age between them.

Al's full fledged membership in the Corleone family's organisation is a testament to both his loyalty and the trust placed in him. He is an departure from the fundamental rule that prohibits former law enforcement members from being "made" members.

Murders committed by Al Neri[]

  • Drug dealer and pimp Wax Baines, when he was still a New York Police Officer.
  • In the novel, it is heavily implied that Neri shoots Moe Greene to death. However, according to the film, this would be physically impossible as Barzini and Greene were killed on the same day and Greene lived on the West Coast, while Barzini was killed in New York.
  • Don Emilio Barzini.
  • Barzini's unnamed bodyguard.
  • Barzini's unnamed driver.
  • Tattaglia's top button men.
  • Fabrizio, killed with a car-bomb off screen.
  • June Gardner with the intention of blackmailing Pat Geary.
  • Fredo Corleone, for his betrayal of Michael.
  • Sal Narducci's henchman, killed and buried in the desert outside of Las Vegas, Nevada.
  • Fausto Geraci, Nick Geraci's father, in an attempt to find information about his son's where-abouts result in a heart attack.
  • Archbishop Gilday.

In the video game[]

Alnerigame

Neri in the game.

Nerigamepolice

Neri in his police uniform.

In the video game, Al is first encountered at the Corleone mall following Aldo Trapani's promotion to caporegime. He gives Trapani the hit on George Jovino and later gives subsequent hits from a park in Midtown.

Later, he appears in his police uniform to eliminate Barzini, but it is Aldo Trapani who deals the killer blow. He is only given a fleeting reference in the sequel and Dominic Corleone is responsible for killing Fredo.

Players (Favor 5: Infiltrate the Bank and Retrieve Don Corleone's Evidence):[]

Al Neri - Neri is still head of hotel security for the Corleones which is why he's asked you to meet him in the Corleone's swankiest of establishments. He's counting on you to help the Don out.

Behind the scenes[]

  • In Dean Reisner's draft of The Godfather Part III, Neri got a call from his nephew, Tommy. Neri's sister had fallen ill and Neri went to see her along with Frankie Rizzi. Neri and Rizzi were then ambushed by a horde of Puerto Rican assassins. At first, Neri had the upper hand, killing a great fraction of the horde. Frankie, however, was shot in the arm while trying to reach his gun. While trying to protect Frankie, Neri gets shot in the back by two assassins. Neri starts coughing blood and tries to raise his gun for one last shot, but is mercilessly executed by an assassin.
  • In the third draft of the screenplay, Neri secretely sides with Don Altobello and act as his mole within the Corleone family. When his treachery is discovered by the Corleones, he is killed and his body dumped in the hills of Sicily.

Notes and references[]

  1. The Godfather
  2. 2.0 2.1 In the storyline of The Godfather's Revenge.
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