Tom Hagen

Tom Hagen
Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall) with Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) in The Godfather.
Born	1910 New York, New York, USA
Died	1972 Tampa, Florida, USA

Thomas "Tom" Hagen (1910-1972) is a fictional character in the Godfather books and films. He was portrayed by Robert Duvall in the films. He is the informally adopted son of Don Vito Corleone and serves as the family lawyer and advisor.

Hagen is based on real-life mobster Frank DeSimone.

Biography

Tom Hagen was found, homeless, at age eleven by Sonny Corleone, a boy who took him home and persuaded his father to take him into the family. Although the Don never formally adopted him, thinking that this would have been an act of disrespect to Hagen's parents, Hagen thought of Vito Corleone as his true father.

After graduating from law school, Hagen offered to work for Corleone as though he were one of the Don's own sons. His German-Irish ancestry precluded his formal membership in the Mafia, which did not accept non-Italians, but after the death of Genco Abbandando, Hagen acted as consigliere to Don Corleone, the first non-Italian to achieve that important position. In the novel, it was said that Hagen's ascension to consigliere caused certain rival Mafia families to refer jokingly to the Corleones, behind their backs, as "the Irish gang".

In 1945, shortly after Connie Corleone's wedding, Hagen was dispatched by Vito Corleone to Hollywood in order to convince Jack Woltz, a big-time movie studio head, to give singer/actor Johnny Fontane (Vito's godson) the lead role in his new war film. When Woltz discovered who exactly Hagen worked for, he invited him over to his palatial estate for dinner, and showed him his prized horse, Khartoum. During the dinner, when Hagen again "suggested" that Woltz give Fontane the role, Woltz erupted at him and revealed that Johnny would never get the career-making role because of his ruination of one of Woltz's brightest up-and-coming female stars. Later on that night, men stole into Woltz's stables and decapitated Khartoum, then proceeded to place the horse's severed head and a large amount of its blood in Woltz's bed. Shortly afterwards, Johnny was given the role by Woltz.

While he loved all the Corleones, Hagen always idolized Sonny, and when Sonny was murdered, Hagen blamed himself. After becoming the new head of the family, Michael Corleone removed him as consigliere, taking the advice given by his father, restricting him to handling the Family's legal business in Nevada, Las Vegas, Chicago, and Los Angeles. When Tom asks why he was being removed, Michael answers by telling him he just isn't "a wartime consigliere". In the films, Hagen grudgingly accepted this decision and remained loyal; however, in the novel, it was heavily implied that Hagen's removal was a ploy by Michael to misdirect the family's enemies, and he still held a high position in the organization.

After an attempt on the life of Michael in The Godfather, Part II, Hagen (whom Michael felt was the only one both intelligent and trustworthy enough) took over as Don whilst Michael tried to find out who in his organization had betrayed him and aided the assassins. Hagen was instrumental in both securing the friendship of powerful Senator Pat Geary and defending Michael during the Senate hearings on the Mafia. After the fall of Cuba to the communists and the killing of Fredo Corleone, Hagen retook a more active role in the Corleone family. In the novel The Godfather Returns, Hagen was instrumental in the election of fictional President Jimmy Shea and the death of Chicago boss Louie Russo.

The fall of Cuba forced Michael to abandon his dream of becoming a legitimate businessman and retake his place as the Don of the Corleone family. As a result, Hagen was given back his old position as consigliere for the family.

In a scene that is for some reason little mentioned, perhaps because of its brevity, towards the conclusion of The Godfather: Part II, Michael reveals to Tom Hagen that the reason that Michael has held Hagen to a limited role is because he intends for him to be the next Don, and has needed to shield him from direct knowledge of certain actions. This is a momentous scene, as even Michael's unmatched weight would be barely enough to support the nomination of a German-Irish man as the Don of the Corleone family. Michael shows that his respect for Hagen's intellect is enough that he will vouch for him with his reputation and maybe his life. Hagen dutifully fulfills his role as not just a legal adviser but a dispassionate envoy for the family, artfully reminding the doomed Frank Pentangeli, a history buff, that Roman senators marked for death were given an honorable exit: to commit suicide, other than to face a more violent death, Roman senators and high-ranking officials would kill themselves once a plot was discovered against the emperor, and the official in question being one of the conspirators. The most common way to do this was to draw a hot bath, cut their wrists (or "open up their veins", as Pentangeli put it), and bleed to death. This way, the conspirator's family would receive a pension for the rest of their lives and be well taken care of. Seeing this to be the better deal, and the only sure way to keep from breaking the law of omerta, Pentangeli takes Hagen's advice and is soon found dead in his bathtub by one of the federal agents guarding him.

According to the plot of The Godfather, Part III, Hagen died sometime in 1972. This abrupt removal of the only counterpart to Michael's character was brought on by the fact that Duvall had been unable to reach agreement with the film's producers on financial terms for him to reprise the character. Francis Ford Coppola has stated that Part III was originally planned to have the eventual split between Michael and Tom as its central plot. Coppola stated in the film's commentary that Duvall demanded the same salary as Pacino, which Coppola apparently rejected on principle.

In Mark Winegardner's The Godfather's Revenge, a derivative novel, it is "revealed" that Hagen was murdered by Nick Geraci. Hagen's murder in an interstitial novel is not a part of the Godfather canon in most fans' eyes.

Hagen and his wife Theresa had four children: Frank, Andrew, and two daughters. Andrew becomes a priest in The Godfather Part III. Andrew is also Michael's godson in The Godfather Part III, and since he is Andrew's godfather, Michael helps to get Andrew a position in the Vatican early on in the film.

Family

• Vito Corleone — Unofficial adoptive father; played by Marlon Brando
• Carmella Corleone — Unofficial adoptive mother; played by Morgana King
• Teresa Hagen — wife
• Andrew Hagen — Older Son; played by John Savage as an adult in Part III.
• Frank Hagen — Younger Son

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Wikipedia information about Tom Hagen This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Tom Hagen". It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer). Help contribute to Americola and edit this article.