Background

 Rocky (1976) is the phenomenally successful, uplifting, "sleeper" film that

was filmed in a record twenty-eight days with a paltry budget of about $1 million, and ultimately grossed well over $100 million. [A notable observation is that this low-budget film was positioned between two early "blockbusters" - Spielberg's Jaws (1975) and Lucas' Star Wars (1977).] Its screenwriter and major star, Sylvester Stallone, was an unbankable unknown at the time - an underdog actor/writer in the film industry (with 32 previously-rejected scripts) similar to the boxing 'bum' in the film. Stallone supposedly wrote the script for the sports comeback film over a three-day period. It was the third film production to use the new technology of the Steadi-cam, after Bound for Glory (1976) and Marathon Man (1976).

The main poster's tagline emphasized the lowly, simple-minded status of the working-class, Italian hero, who was a good-natured individual that lacked basic intelligence, but displayed gutsy, optimistic perseverance while fighting for his dignity: "His whole life was a million-to-one shot." In a self-fulfilling manner, the hulking actor persisted in demanding to be the film's star in a make-or-break deal, instead of letting the studio cast Robert Redford, Ryan O'Neal, Burt Reynolds or James Caan. As a result, he would forever be convincingly typecast as the mono-syllabic, crude and boorish hero - albeit super-star.

The action-packed, 'feel-good' crowd-pleasing story, shot mostly on location, tells of the rise of a small-time, has-been, underdog Philadelphia boxer against insurmountable odds in a big-time bout, with the emotional support of a shy, hesitant, loving girlfriend. The low-key film was a combination of On the Waterfront (1954), Marty (1955), and a fairy-tale, Cinderella rags-to-riches story. It was also one of a string of 70s films featuring blue-collar, Italian-American characters, i.e., The Godfather films (1972, 1974), and Saturday Night Fever (1977). And this United Artists' feature reworked the fight film formula of many early Hollywood films (i.e., The Champ (1931), Golden Boy (1939), Body and Soul (1947), Champion (1949), The Set-Up (1949), Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956), and Requiem for a Heavyweight (1956 and 1962)).

[Stallone claimed that he was inspired to base his "Rocky" character upon little-known, 36 year-old working-class New Jersey club boxer Chuck Wepner (the "Bayonne Bleeder"), who challenged Muhammad Ali in a heavy-weight title bout in March 1975 in Cleveland, Ohio, and went 15 rounds. Wepner was one of Ali's few challengers who knocked him down and went the entire distance - actually, up to 19 seconds before the final bell. Years later in mid-November 2003, Wepner filed a questionable lawsuit claiming that he was entitled to compensation, $15 million, for the unauthorized 'rights of publicity' use of his name for selling and promoting the film.]

Stallone had already appeared in small roles (some uncredited) - in Woody Allen's early comedy Bananas (1971), Klute (1971), Neil Simon's The Prisoner of Second Avenue (1974), The Lords of Flatbush (1974) in which he inaugurated his 'Rocky' street hood persona as Stanley Rosiello, in the film-noir re-make Farewell, My Lovely (1975), and in Roger Corman's Death Race 2000 (1975) as Machine-Gun Joe Viterbo. [Stallone had also appeared in a soft-core pornography film Party at Kitty and Stud's (1970) that was re-released as The Italian Stallion (1976) to capitalize on his popularity.] Stallone's pre-Rocky script for Hell's Kitchen (a section of New York) was later produced and filmed as Paradise Alley (1978) - it marked Stallone's directorial debut in a film about the world of wrestling.

The original Rocky film, from director John G. Avildsen, was the most accessible, popular and identifiable of the lot of Rocky films, and it packed movie houses. The million-to-one underdog film was awarded three Academy Awards from its ten nominations: Best Director, Best Film Editing, and Best Picture, and it beat out formidable competition for the top prize: All the President's Men, Bound For Glory, Network, and Taxi Driver - all excellent films about other aspects of the American experience. Its other seven nominations included: Best Actor (Sylvester Stallone lost to Peter Finch in Network), Best Actress (Talia Shire lost to Faye Dunaway in Network), Best Supporting Actor (for 69 year old veteran star Burgess Meredith and Burt Young - both lost to Jason Robards in All the President's Men), Best Original Screenplay (Stallone lost to Paddy Chayefsky for Network), Best Song, and Best Sound. [Ironically, Chayefsky won the screenwriting honors about twenty years earlier for Rocky's forerunner - the Best Picture-winning Marty (1955).]

[With Stallone's nominations for Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay, he joined only two others with the same pair of honors in the same year in Academy history: Charlie Chaplin (for The Great Dictator (1940)), and Orson Welles (for Citizen Kane (1941)).]

There were four successful, but predictable sequels or remakes, with Stallone, Shire, and Young returning for all of them. In each one, Rocky would ultimately meet his challenges and rise to the top. Then Stallone directed a 6th film 16 years after the last in the regular series, Rocky Balboa (2006), and served as writer-producer-actor in a 7th film, Creed (2015).

See much more about The Rocky Films Franchise/Series

Original 5 Rocky FilmsRocky Films Director Plot

Rocky (1976) John G. Avildsen

Rocky Balboa, the unknown underdog nicknamed the Italian Stallion, boxes the heavyweight champion of the world Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) and unbelievably 'goes the distance' under the direction of wily fight manager Mickey (Burgess Meredith). An upstart film that won Best Picture against heavy odds: Network,Taxi Driver, and All the President's Men. Box Office (domestic): $117.2 million

Rocky II (1979) Sylvester Stallone

Features a rematch between Rocky (now married to Adrian (Talia Shire)) and his nemesis Apollo Creed - with Rocky triumphant; considered a very similar film to the first in the series.Box Office (domestic): $85.2 million

Rocky III (1982) Sylvester Stallone

Three years after the second film, aging Rocky has successfully defended his title many times and become wealthy; he considers retirement but fights a new challenger Clubber Lang (Mr. 'T') for the title, loses, and then prepares for a rematch; former rival Creed becomes his trainer after former trainer Mickey dies in this film - terrorized by Lang into a heart attack; also in an early scene includes a charity fight between Rocky and professional wrestler Thunderlips (Hulk Hogan).Box Office (domestic): $124.1 million

Rocky IV (1985) Sylvester Stallone

A film with lots of Cold War rhetoric, Rocky trains in Siberia (under the guidance of Creed's former manager (Tony Burton)) and boxes the seemingly-unbeatable Soviet Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) - a hulking blonde fighter with his spokesman/wife Ludmilla (Brigitte Nielsen), to avenge the death of Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) who was killed during an earlier 'exhibition match' in the ring with Drago.Box Office (domestic): $127.9 million

Rocky V (1990) John G. Avildsen After poor financial management and a brain-damaged career as a boxer after fighting Drago, Rocky suffers bankruptcy, retires, moves back to his South Philadelphia urban-blighted neighborhood, and trains up-and-coming heavyweight boxer Tommy "Machine" Gunn (real life boxer Tommy Morrison) in Mickey's old

gym; Rocky is ultimately forced into a street brawl/match with his former protege after the arrogant fighter won the heavyweight championship from Union Cane (Micheal Williams) and was manipulatively prodded by Don King-like promoter George Washington Duke (Richard Gant) to challenge true champ Rocky; Mickey reappears in flashbacks as Rocky's spiritual guide. Box Office (domestic): $40.9 million

Additional Rocky Films in Franchise

Rocky Balboa (2006) Sylvester Stallone

Actor/director Stallone starred as the aged, retired, and bloated title character - the owner of a Philadelphia-area restaurant named Adrian's (after his wife who died of cancer); he was lured back to the ring (a charity exhibition match in Las Vegas) after watching himself win a virtual boxing match (an ESPN computer simulation) between his younger incarnation and the current heavyweight champion Mason "The Line" Dixon (real-life light-heavyweight boxer Antonio Tarver); the film featured regulars Burt Young as brother-in-law pal Paulie and Tony Burton as Duke - the only actors along with Stallone to appear in all 6 films; Geraldine Hughes played Marie from the original film, and Milo Ventimiglia played Rocky's now-adult son Robert (Rocky Balboa, Jr.); the film returned to its modest, self-deprecating low-budget roots and earned generally positive reviews.Box Office (domestic): $70.3 million

Creed (2015) Ryan Coogler

Upstart boxing progeny of Rocky Balboa's late rival Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers), born-out-of-wedlock underdog Adonis "Donnie" Creed (Mchael B. Jordan) is coached by retired Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone). Both Rocky's brother-in-law Paulie and wife Adrian have since died. Creed's opponent in the ring is undefeated boxing champion "Pretty" Ricky Conlan (Tony Bellew). [Note: Apollo Creed died in a boxing match in Rocky IV (1985).]Box Office (domestic): $79.3+ million

The Story

The first film opens with a screen of black - and then in giant white letters, the word ROCKY moves across from right to left accompanied by Bill Conti's memorable, dynamically-triumphant fanfare (Rocky's Theme song: "Gonna Fly" - that topped the Billboard charts in the first week of July 1977).

November 25, 1975 (Tuesday)

The boxing film is book-ended by two contrasting matches in Philadelphia - the first low-paying bout is held in late 1975 in a dark arena between two heavyweights (both wearing dark trunks) who fight beneath a giant painting of Jesus. The lower-class fans boo both fighters for getting into a clinch, and continue to heckle the pair for the entire fight. During rounds, bull-necked Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone in his first starring role) is told by his cornerman: "You're waltzin' - give the sucker some action. (You're) fightin' like a bum."

A fan asks the tired and plodding Rocky from the side whether he should bet that he will last the three rounds. Rocky's opponent, Spider Rico, purposely butts him with his head and opens up a bloody cut above his left eye, causing Rocky to get riled up. He attacks and ends the fight with a flurry of blistering punches. The ring is littered with rubbish as Rocky leaves. He is called a "bum" by a disrespectful, angry female fan as he bums a cigarette from another spectator and enters the shabby locker-room. There, he puts on a tattered, tan-colored robe with the words "The Italian Stallion" sewn on the back in white letters. The fight's promoter distributes slim profits between Rocky and his opponent:

Promoter (to Rocky's opponent): Forty dollars, less fifteen dollars locker and cornerman, five dollars shower and towel, seven percent tax, comes to $17.20. You fought a good fight, Spider.Promoter (to Rocky): ...Sixty-five dollars, less fifteen dollars locker and cornerman, five dollars shower and towel, and seven percent tax, comes to $40.55.

The credits continue to play, as Rocky Balboa, already labeled as a "bum," is portrayed in a series of vignettes as a simple-minded, hang-dog-eyed, inarticulate bum - a 30-year-old Philadelphia fighter who resorts to small, two-bit club bouts to make a meager living. He walks along a dark sidewalk littered with rubbish along the curb, while tossing and catching a small ball with one hand. As he often does, he pauses at the window of a local pet shop to look and wave at a litter of puppies, passes his boxing gym across the street, and stops to say hello to (and swig from a wine bottle) a group of street-corner singers (one of whom is his brother, Frank Stallone, Jr.). He lives a lonely but simple life in a dingy, cramped, one-room, second-floor apartment (at the end of a row of similar brick apartments) in South Philly - in a deteriorating, bleak area of the city. He has rolled and propped up an old mattress (with stuffing showing) to serve as a punching bag.

His only company is a 45 rpm record player (that he flips on), his pet turtles Cuff and Link, a tiny goldfish named Moby Dick, and a curling wall poster of heavyweight boxing idol Rocky Marciano. [All of these items reflect Rocky's dreams of grandeur and richness. Cuff-links are normally worn with fancy dress shirts, and Moby Dick is the largest of the creatures in the sea! Rocky also idolizes another Rocky from an earlier era.] He jokes to the turtles about his poverty-stricken, disappointing existence:

If you guys could sing or dance, I wouldn't be doin' this, you know?

In front of a mirror, he practices telling a joke about the turtle food, and then takes a few ice cubes from his half-sized icebox and applies them to his badly-swollen, cut eye.

(Wednesday, November 26, 1975)

The next morning, wearing a black hat and leather jacket, he visits the pet shop again and politely speaks to the painfully-shy, 30 year old, dark-haired, gawky, and spectacled Adrian (Talia Shire) - the timid wall-flower clerk behind the counter. Flirting with her, he repeats the "bad" joke about the turtle food getting caught in his pets' throats, and how he has to hit them on their shells - making them "shell-shocked." But Adrian offers the thuggish customer little encouragement in return for his interest. Afterwards, he plays with Butkus (Stallone's own dog), a bull mastiff placed in a large cage.

His next stop is the waterfront area, where he walks by a group of mafioso types next to a car, and is asked: "Fightin' again?" As the strong-arm collections man for a local numbers racket, he intimidates one of the laborers to collect a two hundred dollar loan for his employer - loan shark Tom Gazzo (Joe Spinell). Terror-struck, Bob pleads for Rocky not to hit his face or break his thumb, as Rocky tells him (with another metaphor about 'singing and dancing'):

You wanna dance, you gotta pay the band, you understand? If you wanna borrow, you gotta pay the man. Hey, I ain't emotionally involved, Bob, ya understand? Give us the money.

Thinking for himself, and revealing his kindness and heart-of-gold sensitive side, Rocky accepts $130 in cash and takes a verbal IOU - it's "still seventy dollars light." He refuses to take the coat of the desperate man. Bob suggests that he'll tape up his hand to fake that his thumb was broken, while Rocky walks away, advising: "You shoulda planned ahead." On a train trestle, Rocky is picked up in a car by Gazzo for the payoff (Rocky receives $20, a cut of the loan payment), and receives his next assignment to collect a 3-week late payment from Del Rio. Gazzo's driver/bodyguard Buddy asks the unsuspecting, dumb Rocky:

Bodyguard: Did ya get the license number?Rocky: Of what?Bodyguard: The truck that run over your face.

When Rocky is dropped off, he reasons that the debtor couldn't work to pay off the loan with broken thumbs. Gazzo warns him about not following orders:

Gazzo: When you don't do what I tell you to do, you make me look bad, Rock.Rocky: I figure if, look, I figure if I break the guy's thumb, he gets laid off, right? He can't make no more money...Gazzo: Yeah, well, don't figure. Let me do the figurin'. OK, Rock? From here on, just let me do the figurin'. You know? These guys think that we're runnin' some kind of charity or somethin', that they're gonna get off light. From here on in, do what I tell ya to do, because it's bad for my reputation. Ya understand?

Rocky strolls down a long sidewalk lined by a metal fence - toward the local gym where he has been boxing for six years. Mighty Mick's Boxing establishment is filled with amateur boxers punching bags, skipping rope, sparring with partners, and exercising. In the dingy locker room, Rocky fails to unlock the combination lock on his accustomed locker. After a few unsuccessful attempts (and the use of a combination cheatsheet that he hides in his hat), Rocky smashes it open with a fire extinguisher. But inside, there are pictures of a black boxer's lady friend and flashy clothes. After demanding an explanation, he learns from attendant Mike that it isn't his locker "no more" after it was given to up-and-coming boxer Dipper (Stan Shaw). With orders from the gym manager Mickey Goldmill (Burgess Meredith), Rocky's gear has been bagged and hung on a hook "on Skid Row."

The weathered, tough-talking, aging, white-haired, crusty old Mickey is coaching the young, muscular black fighter Dipper and is disgusted with Rocky's poor training habits and lack of ambition to be a great fighter:

Mickey: Dipper's a contender. He's a climber. You know what you are? Rocky: What?Mickey: You're a tomato. Rocky: A tomato?Mickey: Yeah, let's face it. I run a business here, not a god-damn soup kitchen.

And Mickey isn't impressed that Rocky, a once-promising fighter, knocked out a nickel-and-dime opponent Rico in the second round: "He's a bum." He also criticizes Rocky's fighting style with an expert eye. He recognizes that Rocky's main ability is to take a lot of punches and punishment, without any boxing finesse. Mickey suggests that he give up and retire early:

You got heart, but you fight like a god-damn ape. The only thing special about you is ya never got your nose busted - well, leave it that way, nice and pretty, and what's left of your mind...Hey kid, did ya ever think about retirin'?...You think about it.

That cold winter evening on his way home, Rocky visits again with Adrian in the pet shop, where she is cleaning a bird cage. He invites her to go to a local basketball game at the Spectrum, but she is so retiring that she can't answer. As he does quite often, Rocky downplays what happens to him and confesses that losing his locker earlier that day didn't bother him: "Lockers are bad anyway after a while, people get the combination. I must have had twenty bucks taken out of there in the past six years, ya know. Don't sound like much, but it adds up, ya know. Doesn't matter, who cares?" Speaking through the bird cage (the metal bars separate - or imprison - them), he offers to walk Adrian home, but she declines. As he leaves, he promises her that he'll go home and think up a new joke for her. When he departs, the mousy clerk manages to offer him a 'goodbye.'

Heading toward home, Rocky drags a wino passed out on the street into the shelter of the Lucky Seven Tavern - another instance of his caring and kindness. In the smelly, decrepit men's room of the bar, he finds one of his buddies, meatpacker Paulie (Burt Young), shaving in front of a broken mirror. He asks Paulie why his sister Adrian won't go on a date with him: "Your sister's givin' me the shoulder." He thinks that she looks at him like he was "a plate of left-overs...Is somethin' wrong with my face, you know what I mean?" Paulie degrades his sister and pummels her self-image. He regards Adrian as a loser that Rocky shouldn't even waste his time on:

Forget her...You could do better than her...She's a friggin' loser...Sometimes she gets me so crazy, I could split her head with a razor...Adrian ain't sharp. Adrian is a loser...She's pushin' thirty-friggin' years old and if she don't watch out, she's gonna end up dyin' alone...The girl's dryin' up...If she don't start livin', her body's gonna dry up.

As Paulie leaves, he reminds Rocky to recommend him to Gazzo for a job on the docks, but Rocky discourages him. (Rocky's debt-collector job is not even a sure thing for himself, and he fears risking his own precarious occupation and major source of income by recommending the loud-mouth drunk Paulie.) Rocky is invited to Paulie's place the next night for "some bird" on Thanksgiving - and to talk to Adrian. (Paulie's motivation is to offer up his sister with the promise of

romance, in exchange for being referred to the loan-shark.) At the bar, Rocky watches the evening sportscast on television - an interview with the reigning World Heavyweight boxing champ - a flamboyant, arrogant black fighter (Muhammed Ali-inspired) named Apollo Creed (football star Carl Weathers), about an upcoming, much-publicized 'Bicentennial Fight' between Creed and Mac Lee Green at the Spectrum:

This is gonna be the greatest sporting event in the country's history - a gala occurrence with me beatin' Green like he committed a crime. The Heavyweight Championship of the World is gonna be held in the only place it can be held, Philadelphia, the nation's cradle on January 1st - the first major event of our two-hundred year history.

The talkative Apollo advises young people with a clever rhyme [like his poetic predecessor Muhammed Ali]: "Stay in school and use your brain. Be a doctor, be a lawyer, carry a leather briefcase. Forget about sports as a profession. Sports make ya grunt and smell. See, be a thinker, not a stinker." No boxer has ever gone more than 12 rounds against Creed. During the entire broadcast, Andy the bartender (Don Sherman) speaks over the interview and criticizes the showy Creed, but Rocky takes offense:

Andy: Will you take a look at that guy? I mean, where are the real fighters gonna come from, the pros? What we got today are jig clowns.Rocky: Clown?Andy: That's right, clown.Rocky: Ya callin' Apollo Creed a clown?Andy: Well, what else, look at him.Rocky: Hey, Andy, are you crazy? This man is champion of the world. He took his best shot and become champ. Huh? What shot did you ever take?Andy: Hey, Rocky, you're not happy with your life. It's nice. But me, I've got a business going, I don't have to take no shots.

As Rocky passes Tony's Food Market on his way home that night, one of the teenagers (Christopher Avildsen) hanging around on the street corner asks him to buy a bottle of wine, but he refuses ("No wine, bad for your brain"). He spots a young, twelve year-old girl named Marie (Jodi Letizia) - smoking, swearing ("Screw you, yo yo"), and acting tough. When she talks back and attempts to impress her friends, he pulls her away and escorts her home, while lecturing her about getting a reputation as a foul-mouthed whore who hangs out with the wrong crowd ("coconuts on the corner"):

...that's the way guys are. They laugh when ya talk dirty. They think you're cute. But after awhile, you get a reputation and that's it. You get no respect. Ya understand? Ya get no respect. I gotta use a bad word - WHORE...You don't really have to be one, you just act like one and that's it...They don't remember you, they remember the rep(utation)...You hang out with nice people, you get nice friends, ya understand? You hang out with smart people, you get smart friends. You hang out with yo-yo's, you get yo-yo friends. You see, simple mathematics.

When they come close to her house, Rocky feels that he's done a good deed, but she crudely flips him off with a retort: "Screw you, Creepo." He is truly shocked by her reaction as he slumps down and walks off, muttering: "Yeah, who are you to give advice, Creepo?"

Thursday - Thanksgiving Day 1975

In the offices of Miles Jergens (Thayer David), a successful fight promoter, Apollo Creed is dismayed by doctor's reports on challenger Mac Lee Green's injured hand - the fighter has a "severely cracked third metacarpel in his left hand." Jergens proposes cancelling the Bicentennial fight indefinitely, while Apollo, his lawyer and his trainer Duke (Tony Burton) threaten that he must fight a "ranked contender." They all vow: "He's not gonna be embarrassed." According to Jergens, all worthwhile contenders have replied that five weeks is too short a notice to get in shape. Apollo thinks that most fighters are scared of him: "They're makin' excuses so they don't have to be the chump that gets whipped in front of the whole civilized world." Then Apollo comes up with a brand new "novelty" or scheme - to find an underdog, local Philadelphia fighter who will be given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fight in the hyped championship in "the land of opportunity":

Apollo: A snow-white underdog, and I'm gonna put his face on this poster with me. And I tell ya why. Because I'm sentimental. And a lot of other people in this country are just as sentimental, and they're nothin' they'd like better than to see Apollo Creed give a local Philadelphia boy a shot at the greatest title in the world on this country's biggest birthday. [Is he referring to July 4th, or to January 1st - the actual day of the bout?] Now that's the way I see it. And that's the way it's gonna be!Jergens: Apollo, I like it. It's very American.Apollo: No, Jergens, it's very smart.

Rocky is making his rounds to strong-arm "two yards from Cappoli and a grand from Snyder." Gazzo asks Rocky about the girl he's going out with "tomorrow night." [If the story is consistently being told chronologically, it is Thanksgiving day, but Gazzo's statement that the date is "tomorrow night" is wrong.] Buddy kids Rocky about his date with Paulie's sister, calling her "retarded," but Rocky claims she's only "shy." Gazzo slips Rocky a fifty-dollar bill so that he can have "a nice time" with Adrian.

Back in Jergens' office, Apollo looks through record books of the boxing registry, and finally chooses an obscure candidate for the fight - southpaw Rocky Balboa. When other boxing contenders refuse to take the challenge with such short notice, Creed chooses the unknown, no-hope Rocky to be his opponent for the public-relations January 1st event. Creed's decision is based on his belief that America was discovered by an Italian, and because of the great marquee potential of Rocky's dramatic nickname:

This is what I'm looking for. 'The Italian Stallion.'...Look, it's the name, man. 'The Italian Stallion.' The media'll eat it up. Now who discovered America? An Italian, right? What would be better than to get it on with one of his descendants...Southpaw, nuthin'. I'll drop him in three. APOLLO CREED MEETS THE ITALIAN STALLION. Sounds like a damn monster movie.

Thanksgiving Evening

On Thanksgiving evening, Rocky walks with Paulie to his home for dinner. Paulie mentions how his hands/joints are swollen from his miserable work. At the meatpacking plant, he has to carry carcasses in and out of the freezer: "Plays hell on the joints." Paulie claims that he doesn't need a doctor but instead, "a different job." Again, he asks Rocky to recommend him to Gazzo: "Tell him I'm a good man and nothin' bothers me. I'd make a great collector. Bustin' bones don't bother me." In front of the corner shop, Rocky spots Marie again hanging out, but doesn't stop to speak to her.

Although Rocky is assured that Adrian expects him ("she's very excited"), it's obvious that she wasn't expecting or ready for Paulie to bring home company for dinner. She is confused and reluctant to see Rocky ("Why didn't you tell me you were bringing him here?" she asks Paulie), argues with her crude brother over going out with Rocky, and runs to her room to hide. [Embarrassed to see them argue, Rocky watches a TV broadcast about the upcoming heavyweight bout in which "Apollo Creed says he'll be shopping for another victim to fill Green's vacancy for the Bicentennial championship fight".]

Paulie abusively yells at his withdrawn sister to quit moping, and to get out and live a little:

I want ya out of here instamatically. I'm sick of seein' ya hang around like a freakin' spider. Go out and live, enjoy life.

After hearing Adrian's excuse that she has a "turkey in the oven" and can't go out, Paulie opens the oven, spears the cooked bird with a fork (and tears a leg off for himself), and tosses it out the back door, brashly yelling: "I want ya outta here. Get outta the house. Get out and enjoy your friggin' life." Mortified, Adrian retreats to her bedroom and locks the door from her bullying, insensitive brother. Rocky is ready to forget the date by this time, but Paulie encourages him to talk to Adrian. At her door, he tries to calm her down and put her in a good mood. He starts with his familiar greeting to coax her out:

Yo, Adrienne, it's me, Rocky...I don't know what to say, 'cause I ain't never talked to no door before, ya know...Yo, Adrienne, you know, it's Rocky again, you know. Listen, uh, I know you ain't too happy at this moment, ya know. But could ya do me a favor, ya know, I ain't got nobody to spend Thanksgiving with, ya know? So, uh, how about maybe you and I, I mean, we'll go out together and get somethin' to eat, I don't know, maybe laugh a little bit, who knows, ya know?

She opens the bedroom door, bundled up in a frumpy coat and wool cap - ready to go out. Paulie's recommendation is to take Adrian ice-skating, although Adrian sadly regrets not having a traditional Thanksgiving dinner:

Rocky: Listen, I don't want no turkey anyway, ya know.Adrian: But it was Thanksgiving.Rocky: It was what?Adrian: It was Thanksgiving.Rocky: Yeah, to you, but to me, it's Thursday, right?

Although Rocky attempts to act chivalrously with Adrian, he awkwardly takes the lead down the porch steps and out the front gate. For their first date, they walk to a closed ice skating rink - deserted after 6 pm on the holiday except for an attendant/cleaning man. Dense-witted Rocky speculates: "I think maybe we're early or somethin' like that, ya know?" He inquires: "Are you closed to the General Public or are you just closed to everybody?" and then bribes the attendant by

appealing to his emotions and paying him an exorbitant $10, to provide skates for Adrian and ten minutes of skate time: "This girl here ain't feelin' well, ya know, the doctor says she should go out and exercise once in awhile, and ice skatin' is probably the best thing."

While Adrian struggles to skate next to him, Rocky half-runs and slips alongside her on the ice with his street shoes. The attendant yells a countdown of minutes to them as they circle the rink a few times. Rocky talks non-stop to Adrian about how he started fighting at age fifteen - to prove that he wasn't a bum and "that I had the stuff to make a good pro." He explains that he still fights as a "hobby," but that he never had a chance at the big time because he's a "southpaw" who often messes up the timing of other fighters - however, "things probably worked out for the best." He shows her a photograph of the Baby Crenshaw fight in his past ("I broke both my hands on his face - I lost that fight"). He also brags about his strength: "I can really swat, ya know what I mean, I can really hit hard."

When Rocky explains to Adrian why he started fighting, she loses some of her shyness and barriers between them begin to break down. She laughs for the first time. Both of them realize how their misfit, opposite characters awkwardly fill each other's deficiencies:

Rocky: My ol' man, he was never too smart. He says to me, 'You weren't born with much of a brain, ya know, so uh, ya better start using your body, right?' So I become a fighter. Ya know what I mean. (Adrian chuckles softly) Why are ya laughing?Adrian: My mother, she said the opposite thing.Rocky: What did she say? What did she say the opposite?Adrian: She said, 'You weren't born with much of a body, so ya better develop your brain.'

All their lives, both of them have been labeled as failures and lonely losers, but they have struggled to make the best of their limited talents as lower-class citizens in an urban and seedy Philadelphia. And for the first time, they see themselves as kindred souls. And then as time begins to run out on the ice, Adrian quizzes him about why he really wants to fight. He responds in jest: "Cause I can't sing or dance." As they walk to Rocky's apartment, they discuss Adrian's shy nature:

Rocky: I say you're very shy by nature, ya know?Adrian: I suppose.Rocky: ...Ya know, some people think that bein' shy is a disease, ya know, but it don't bother me none, ya know.Adrian: It don't bother me either.Rocky: Then why did I bother bringin' it up, huh? 'Cause I'm dumb, that's why. I think we make a real sharp couple of coconuts. I'm dumb an' you're shy, whaddya think, huh?

She again asks why anybody would want to be a fighter. He admits that he knows his qualifications to be a boxer - he's regarded as a bum: "Ya gotta be a moron to wanna be a fighter, ya know. I mean, it's a racket where you're almost guaranteed to end up a bum." Adrian counters his negative self-image:

Adrian: I don't think you're a bum.Rocky: But I'm at least half a bum, ya know.

He also explains the worst thing about fighting: "The worst thing about fighting is the morning after." He tells her in detail how painful and rough fighting is, although he has never broken his nose:

Rocky: The mornin' after a fight, ya' nothin' but like a large wound, ya know what I mean? Sometimes I got pains all over. I feel like callin' a taxi to take me from my bed into the bathroom...Ya' hair hurts, ya' eyes hurt, your face is all busted up, your hands are swollen...Look at this face, sixty-four fights. Look at that nose. See that nose? That nose ain't never been broken in sixty-four fights. I had guys bustin' on it. I had guys chewin' on it, twistin' it, punchin' it...Never broke. I'm very proud of that - that's rare.Adrian: Why do you do it if it hurts?Rocky: Why ya think?Adrian: 'Cause - (pause) - you can't sing or dance.Rocky: Yeah, somethin' like that.

He repeatedly invites her into his cramped apartment when they arrive at the front door, but each time she is uneasy and declines his offer. After a lot of cajoling, a promise to see his "exotic" animals, and an assertion that he can be trusted ("Is that a face you can trust or what?...They oughta stick this face on a stamp, whaddya think?"), she tentatively climbs the stairs. Inside the bleak and dingy apartment, he offers her soda, doughnuts and cupcakes from his icebox. He removes his tattered sweater, revealing a buffed, virile chest and massive biceps under a white T-shirt. She does ask him about

photographs next to his mirror of his parents and one of him when he was eight years old (He tells her: "That's the Italian Stallion when he was a baby").

Rocky introduces her to his pet turtles, forgetting that Adrian sold them to him. When she resists getting comfortable, he bellows out the window to announce her presence there to Paulie ("Yo - Paulie!"). She declines to sit down on his cluttered couch or even remove her coat, because she's scared to be in a man's apartment by herself for the first time. After trying to charm her with small talk and low-key jokes, he suddenly asks why she is so stiff and unsmiling:

Rocky: Whatsa matter? You don't like the room, do ya?Adrian: It's fine.Rocky: (apologetically) Well, it's only temporary, ya know.Adrian: It's not that.Rocky: What's the problem? Ya don't like me? Don't like the turtles? What's the problem?Adrian: I don't think I belong here.Rocky: It's OK.Adrian: I don't belong here.Rocky: Well, ya know, it's OK, 'cause you're my guest.Adrian: I don't know you well enough. I've never been in a man's apartment alone.Rocky: (shrugging) Well, I- they're all the same, ya know.Adrian: I'm not sure I know you well enough. I don't feel comfortable.Rocky: Yo, Adrienne. Ya know, I ain't so comfortable either.Adrian: I should go.

Their misfit romance begins to blossom after a first kiss in one of the tenderest, most authentic and affecting scenes ever filmed. At the door, he begs for her not to go and intercepts her exit. And then he asks for her to remove her outdated glasses, noting that she has really "nice eyes." As a second favor, he asks her to take off her wool cap, and then compliments her on how pretty she is: "I always knew you was pretty." Self-deprecating, Adrian replies: "Don't tease me," but Rocky is respectfully sincere about her budding beauty: "I'm not teasin' ya. I ain't teasin' ya." He leans forward, asking to kiss her:

I wanna kiss ya. You don't have to kiss me back if ya don't want. I wanna kiss you.

After one soft kiss, she responds and lightly returns the kiss. After the long-delayed moment, the pay-off is magical and natural. They passionately give themselves to each other with more kisses and an embrace as they collapse in each other's arms to the floor next to the front door.

Friday, November 28, 1975

The next day at the gym, Rocky is surprised that Mickey has asked to see him. He is told that someone from Miles Jergens' offices came by looking for "sparrin' partners for Apollo Creed." An argument ensues when Mickey calls Rocky a "dumb Dago" - he also thinks Rocky's has wasted his boxing talent:

Mickey: Because you had the talent to become a good fighter, and instead of that you became a leg-breaker for some cheap, second-rate loan shark.Rocky: It's a livin'.Mickey: It's a waste of life.

In Jergens' office, Rocky admits that he has no representation ("Just me"). He is enthusiastic and "available" as a sparrin' partner ("I wouldn't take no cheap shots neither"), but is taken aback when asked if he's "interested in fighting Apollo Creed for the World Heavyweight Championship." Stunned, he refuses the offer because he doesn't consider himself in the same league: "I fight in clubs, ya know, I'm really a ham-and-egger. This guy, he's the best, and uh, it wouldn't be such a good fight." When Rocky agrees that "America is the land of opportunity," Jergens assures him that Creed is proving that belief to the world by giving "an unknown a shot at the title. And that unknown is you. He picked you, Rocky. It's a chance of a lifetime. You can't pass it by."

In Paulie's apartment, Rocky and Adrian (without her glasses and looking very attractive) watch television in the living room - a broadcast of Creed being interviewed in a press conference. The famed fighter is asked about the impending match with a loser on the US' "most celebrated day" [again - this implies July 4th, not January 1st]:

Reporter: Why did you agree to fight a man who has virtually no chance of winning?Creed: Look, if history proves one thing, American history proves that everybody's got a chance to win. Didn't you guys ever hear of Valley Forge or Bunker Hill? (laughter) (after another question)...Is it a coincidence that he's fightin' a black man on the most celebrated day in the country's history?

Rocky is the butt of Creed's snide joke: "If he can't fight, I bet he can cook." The Italian unknown, dubbed "The Italian Stallion," assures the reporters that he'll do the best he can. In response to a question about the purse of $150,000, Rocky has no comment, but he blurts out a greeting to his girlfriend: "Yo! Adrian." The commentator ends the interview by summarizing that the Bicentennial fight will occur on January 1st ("the first fight on our 200th birthday and already people are saying it's the biggest farce in fight history"). Paulie is annoyed that Rocky was made out to be a "fool" with the "cheap shots," but Rocky deflects the criticism: "It don't bother me none." Rocky rejects Paulie's overbearing offer to help him train and exercise, stand by with a towel, run errands, and keep him "livin' the clean life," because nothing has really changed ("Who cared about me yesteday? Huh? Nobody, so I just think I'm gonna train myself"). Adrian supports Rocky's unlikely bid to win:

Adrian: Einstein flunked out of school - twice.Paulie: Is that so?Adrian: Yeah. Beethoven was deaf, Helen Keller was blind. I think Rocky's got a good chance.

Outside, Rocky kisses Adrian goodnight, and then confesses how he was hurt by the reporters' sarcasm: "You know how I said that stuff on TV didn't bother me none?...It did." Later that night, Gazzo meets with Rocky and donates $500 to his cause for training expenses:

Ya know, you ain't never had any luck. But I think this time Lady Luck may be in your corner. Whaddya think?

Mickey unexpectedly appears at Rocky's door that Friday evening [notice the #2 on the door from the outside, but it disappears in an inside view], calling his circumstances "freak luck" for his unusual opportunity to have "a shot at the title." He tries to convince a disinterested Rocky to let him be his manager, because of his experience extending back to 1923:

I'm here to warn ya, that ya gotta be very careful about this shot that you got at the title. Because, like the Bible sez, you ain't gonna get a second chance...Well, what ya need is a manager. A manager, listen to me. I know, because I've been in this racket for fifty years...I've seen it all, all of it. Ya know what I've done?...I have done it all...(He holds a bare lightbulb in front of his face) I've got twenty-one stitches over this left eye. I've got thirty-four stitches over this eye. Do ya know that I had my nose busted seventeen times?...(He glances at Rocky's poster of Rocky Marciano) Ya kinda remind me of the Rock, ya know that?...Ya move like him, ya got heart like he did.

Rocky refuses to listen - he can only remember how Mickey hadn't been there for him, and how he lost his locker at the gym. Mickey advises Rocky to lay off beer before a fight: "Don't drink that piss before a fight." Rocky shoots darts at the bathroom door [notice continuity problems with the positioning of the darts from one shot to the next] while Mick persists in describing how he didn't have a manager in his fighting days - and how he suffered: "I got all this knowledge, I got it up here now, I wanna give it to you...I wanna take care of ya, I wanna make sure that all this shit that happened to me doesn't happen to you...Ya can't buy what I'm gonna give ya." But Rocky rejects Mickey's offer of experience, because he was ignored over the past ten years:

I needed your help about ten years ago, right? Ten years ago, ya never helped me none. You didn't care...I asked, but you never heard nothin'.

Mickey desperately and urgently begs Rocky, through the closed bathroom door, to be his mentor and live vicariously through the younger boxer: "I'm seventy-six years old..." and then leaves, broken and dejected. As he descends the stairs, he hears Rocky's yelling about how his house stinks, and how his life has been crap, and that he's going to get massacred in the ring by Creed: "What about my prime, Mick? At least you had a prime? I had no prime, I've had nothin'....And you wanna be ringside and see it, do ya? Ya wanna help me out?...Go on, fight the champ. Yeah, I'll fight 'im - (I'll get) my face kicked in." But then Rocky has a change of heart after venting his frustrations and anger. He runs down the street toward Mick, who has reached the end of the block. In a long camera shot, he places his arm around the trainer - they shake hands and are reconciled when Rocky accepts him as his manager.

Thanksgiving Weekend to New Years

Rocky's training program from Thanksgiving weekend to New Years, a five week period, begins in earnest under Mickey's fight training and management. With great difficulty, he awakens at 4 am on a sub-freezing morning in the city, prepares a

drink of five raw eggs that he consumes in one gulp, and jogs in gray sweats through the deserted city streets. Out of shape, he ascends the steep set of steps to the Philadelphia Art Museum as the dawn light breaks, but a side ache and exhaustion slow him down. He hobbles bent over down the steps and looks out on the Philadelphia skyline. A little later that morning, he speaks to Paulie where he works in the slaughterhouse freezer. Rocky infuriated anger builds up after enduring Paulie's rude questions about Adrian, and more requests about working for Gazzo:

Paulie: What's the story? What's happenin'? Ya really like her?Rocky: Sure, I like her.Paulie: I don't see it. What's the attraction?Rocky: I don't know. Fills gaps, I guess.Paulie: What's 'gaps'?Rocky: I dunno, gaps. She's got gaps, I got gaps. Together, we fill gaps. I dunno.Paulie: You ballin' her?Rocky: Hey! Hey, ya don't talk dirty about your sister.Paulie: Ya screwin' my sister?Rocky: Ya see. That's why I can't connect ya with Gazzo...because you got a big mouth...You just talk too much.

After seeing Paulie challenge him by hitting a swinging frozen carcass of beef, Rocky begins pounding a hanging slab of raw meat to take out his frustration. Paulie is respectfully impressed by Rocky's flying, bloodied fists, his intense concentration, and the barrage of punches at the bloody object:

You're breakin' the ribs. You do that to Apollo Creed, they'll put us in jail for murder.

Later in the day, Adrian helps a depleted and tired Rocky. He reminds her not to make amorous advances: "There's no foolin' around during trainin', you understand? I wanna stay strong." In the gym, Mickey advises Rocky to keep balanced and quit being so clumsy and sloppy in his jabs and movements. He ties a short length of string to Rocky's ankles and notes: "If you can move and you can hit without breakin' the string, ya got balance." And then he instructs Rocky to leave his female friend alone:

You lay off that pet shop dame. Women weaken legs.

When he arrives home, Adrian ("lookin' very sharp") in a red coat and white beret is sitting on his front stoop with a surprise present - Butkus with a red ribbon around his neck - "to keep you company when you run."

The next morning, Rocky runs with Butkus to the meat-packing plant. He stops short when he notices a WAUC-TV News van. Rocky is angered and upset because opportunist Paulie has unexpectedly called the TV crew for "exposure" and as a "favor" - to show off Rocky's boxing ability and his "unique training method" against slabs of hanging beef in the meat icebox. The reluctant heavyweight challenger is interviewed for a feature item in the evening news. The TV reporter asks him to demonstrate how he pounds slabs of raw meat with bloody fists:

TV reporter: Is this a common training method? I mean, do other fighters pound raw meat?Rocky: No, I think I invented it.

The broadcast is witnessed by Creed's trainer Duke in his headquarters. He alerts an engrossed Creed, who is discussing financial figures and closed-circuit advertising and publicity with his public relations team, to the awesome, serious power of the challenger: "Looks like he means business."

That night as Adrian and Rocky watch a Christmas-related TV show (and holiday music plays), Paulie returns home drunk and overhears their talking about his pushiness to get involved in the fight ("I just don't know what he wants from me"). Paulie bitterly objects - "I don't want nothin' from you, this ain't no charity case," and then threatens "scum bum" Rocky (and Adrian) with a baseball bat for not being properly appreciative. During a tremendous argument, he orders them both out of the house:

Paulie: Get outta my house...You're no friend no more...Both of ya get out of my house...Now you're a big-shot fighter on the way up. You don't even throw a crumb to your friend Paulie. When I go and get your meat every morning, you forgot that, and then I even give you my sister too.Adrian: Only a pig would say that!Paulie: I'm a pig? A pig that seen you had the best. (He smashes a serving set on a side table)...I don't get married because of you. You can't live by yourself. I put you two together and you - don't you forget it. You owe me! You owe me.

Adrian: What do I owe you?Paulie: You're supposed to be good to me.

Adrian claims that she properly cooks and keeps house, and she forcefully stands up to her self-pitying brother: "I don't owe you nothin'. And you made me feel like a loser. I'm not a loser." To further humiliate and insult Adrian, the foul-mouthed Paulie accuses her of being "busted - you're not a virgin...Ya let him in your pants." And he feels short-changed and sorry for himself because Rocky hasn't given him a break with Gazzo: "I can't haul meat no more." After retreating to her room, Adrian decides to leave Paulie and live with Rocky:

Adrian: You want a roommate?Rocky: Absolutely.

In the gym the following day, Rocky furthers his training by sparring, and by listening to Mickey's boisterous claim that he waited fifty years to make him ready to fight the champ and win:

You'll be able to spit nails, kid. Like the guy says, you're gonna eat lightning and you're gonna crap thunder. You're gonna become a very dangerous person.

Paulie stops by the gym and asks Rocky's permission about advertising and working out "some angle to make some money off your name." Rocky agrees that if Paulie can think up some type of public relations tie-in to make money, he should go ahead: "If you can make money off my name, make it, OK?"

In the most memorable sequence of the film, a montage accompanied by the rousing song "Gonna Fly" (by Bill Conti), Rocky undergoes further grueling training and workouts. At dawn, he sprints beneath an overhead train, makes another run through the City of Brotherly Love's streets and marketplaces, punches a bag, does one-armed pushups, takes punches to his mid-section, executes endless situps, pounds more slabs of beef, and sprints along the city's waterway. He dashes (and flies) up the endless steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, taking many steps with each leap. He turns and faces the panorama of the city, with his hands triumphantly raised in the air. Although his first run up the endless steps was overwhelmingly difficult, this run is effortless. The cover story "Italian Stallion" in TEMPO Magazine (red-bordered like Time Magazine) displays his fighting stance.

The night before the fight, Rocky visits the deserted Philadelphia Spectrum, the setting for the Bicentennial bout. He climbs up into the ring, lined with thick red ropes, and stares at the two gigantic posters of the combatants facing each other at opposite ends. The arena is lined with red, white, and blue decorations and an American flag to accentuate the patriotic theme. Jergens is surprised to see him, especially when Rocky notes the inaccuracy of the color of his trunks (red pants with a white stripe) on his poster. His remark about the detailed oversight is ignored by Jergens - Rocky isn't taken seriously:

Rocky: Mr. Jergens, the poster's wrong.Jergens: What do ya mean?Rocky: Well, I'm wearin' white pants with a red stripe.Jergens: It doesn't really matter, does it? I'm sure you're gonna give us a great show. Try to get some rest, kid.

Back with Adrian in his apartment, he sits on the edge of the bed and then lies next to her. With jitters, doubts and misgivings, he confesses to her that he can't win and beat Apollo, but then explains his ultimate goals for the fight - to go the distance to prove that he isn't just a "bum from the neighborhood":

Who am I kiddin'? I ain't even in the guy's league...It don't matter, 'cause I was nobody before...I was nobody. That don't matter either, ya know...It really don't matter if I lose this fight. It really don't matter if this guy opens my head, either. 'Cause all I wanna do is go the distance. Nobody's ever gone the distance with Creed. And if I can go that distance, ya see, and that bell rings, ya know, and I'm still standin', I'm gonna know for the first time in my life, ya see, that I weren't just another bum from the neighborhood.

January 1, 1976

The night of the big fight arrives. Rocky's left hand is wrapped in tape in the locker room, as Adrian looks on. Preparations are also being made in Creed's dressing room. Vaseline is applied under the eyes. Nasal drops are sprayed into the fighters' nostrils to enhance their oxygen intake. Wearing a bright red robe with yellow hood and lining (and emblazoned on the back ITALIAN STALLION), Rocky kneels to pray in the bathroom. When it is time to enter the arena, Adrian

promises to wait in the locker room for him. Rocky jokes that she shouldn't leave town while he's gone, and then asks: "Wish me luck, I'm gonna need it."

One of the ring commentators speaks to the camera: "The electricity is all over the place tonight as Rocky Balboa....could be 'The Caveman against the Cavalier'." As Rocky moves toward the ring, Mickey asks him about the name of Paulie's meat-packing plant (Shamrock Meats, Inc.) sewn on the back of his robe, and he responds: "Paulie gets three grand, I get the robe." As Rocky enters the arena, Paulie complains to him about the costly $200 baggy robe. The announcer describes Rocky's dismal chances as he approaches closer to the ring: "A fifty-to-one underdog living a Cinderella story, but he's captured people's imaginations all over the world...And his record 44 victories - he's had 38 by knock-out, and he's lost 20 bouts." Speculation and Las Vegas odds say he hasn't the "stamina and the skill" to last more than three rounds.

The world heavyweight, show-boating champion Creed enters the Bicentennially-decorated ring with tremendous fanfare, dressed up in a George Washington wig and period costume and riding in a boat - supposedly impersonating the famous President who crossed the Delaware. Another of Creed's silly ideas is to toss silver dollars to the crowd. Once inside the ring, he reveals an Uncle Sam outfit while pointing and gesturing to the crowd and Rocky: "I Want You!" - a mockery of the famous US recruiting poster for WWI. "I want the Stallion," he taunts as he predicts finishing the bout in three rounds. With Bill Conti's trumpeted theme song, a microphone descends into the center of the ring for announcements from Jergens. Gazzo sits in the crowd with a blonde next to him, and Paulie also has a pretty date (Kathleen Parker) holding his arm at ringside. Former heavyweight "Smoking Joe" Frazier (Himself) is brought into the ring, where he advises Rocky: "Don't hurt him, OK? Go light on him." He also play-boxes with Creed, revealing that they're "friends." Introductions are made for the main event:

"the challenger wearing white trunks, weighing one hundred and ninety pounds, Philadelphia's favorite son, 'The Italian Stallion,' Rocky Balboa"

"wearing red, white, and blue, weighing two hundred and ten pounds, undefeated in forty-six fights, the 'Master of Disaster,' the undisputed Heavyweight Champion of the World, Apollo Creed"

After the referee covers the rules in the center of the ring, the much-anticipated bout begins. Determined, Rocky proves his worth in the ring for the title fight, in the fast-paced, highly-choreographed, exciting boxing match. In round one, Creed dances around and executes quick jabs at the slower challenger. The commentator notes that "Rocky was blocking the blows with his face." The Champion smiles and "toys" with his "outclassed" opponent until he is knocked flat to the canvas by a tremendous, upswinging, crushing left hook to Creed's jaw - his legendary southpaw punch. The disbelieving Champion is up after a standing count, but he would have been defeated if Rocky had immediately proceeded to his neutral corner. For the remainder of the round, the Champion fights more effectively by delivering multiple punches, but so does Rocky as he pounds combinations into Creed's mid-section and electrifies the crowd. Just before the bell rings, Creed breaks Rocky's nose.

In Rocky's corner, Mickey notes: "Your nose is broke" but then quips: "Ah, it's an improvement." Mickey also tells Rocky: "Go for the ribs. Don't let that bastard breathe." Duke tells his man to quit playing around and showing off - it's not an exhibition match: "I wantcha to stick and move...He doesn't know it's a damn show. He thinks it's a damn fight. Now finish this bum and let's go home."

In the second round, both fighters deliver barrages of lightning-fast punches and jabs. Rocky doesn't give up, but concentrates on hitting Creed's body and pounding him with ferocious counter-punches. A series of quick montages dissolve from round to round in the match that goes for fifteen grueling, punishing rounds. From various long-shot and closeup angles, the sounds of gloves striking their targets are magnified with grunts, commentary from ringside, and crowd noises. With his face swelling and bloody, a stubborn Rocky falters but doesn't give up ("What is keeping him up?" asks a commentator), while the battered Creed is stunned that the challenger refuses to fall or acknowledge being beaten. In the 14th round, Rocky is sent to the canvas, but he crawls to his corner and manages to pull himself up with the ropes. Ignoring Mickey's pleading "Down! Down! Stay down!", he manages to pull himself up with the ropes. And with a new burst of tenacious energy, he pounds Creed's ribs and sides with body punches as the bell rings. For the first time, Adrian creeps into the arena and watches in painful dismay.

In Rocky's corner before the 15th and final round, the boxer begs Mickey to cut open his swollen eye so he can see ("Cut me"). In the champion's corner, Duke suggests stopping the fight, but Apollo refuses ("You ain't stoppin' nothin', man"). In a parallel shot, Rocky tells Mickey, "You stop this fight, I'll kill you!" In the middle of the ring, the two combatants circle around each other before unleashing more blows. Creed protects his right side and injured ribs until Rocky finds an opening and assaults his opponent's mid-section. As the bell rings, Creed appears unconscious on the ropes, but he survives the flurry of blows when time runs out. As they hang exhausted on each other, they barely have enough energy to speak:

Creed: Ain't gonna be no rematch.Rocky: Don't want one.

Although he originally meant to go the distance, the self-respecting Rocky proves that he is more than a born loser and "another bum." Unable to see, he is surrounded by hordes of questioning reporters and interviewers, but he shows little concern about the fight's outcome. All he can do is shout for Adrian. His calls for her are drowned out by the eruptions from the crowd. Adrian calls back to Rocky as she struggles to reach ringside. She plunges headlong into the sea of people, as Jergens puts words to the monumental fight: "the greatest exhibition of guts and stamina in the history of the ring."

Rocky narrowly loses a split decision (the decision is difficult to hear, but it appears that two judges vote for the champ and one for Rocky) and the champ barely retains his title. Creed, who predicted an effortless victory, never could have expected the outcome. To provide perspective, the importance of the actual outcome of the fight is deliberately muted and in the background, emphasizing the profundity of the moral victory Rocky achieved by "going the distance" against overwhelming odds.

In the confusion following the fight, Adrian finally reaches Rocky - the real and true champion - in the ring, and she exclaims: "I love you." He lovingly hugs and embraces her and declares his own love for her: "I love you!" As they lovingly hug each other in a locking grip, they continue declaring their love for each other. As they celebrate their victory in the face of defeat, the final, heart-lifting image freeze-frames on Rocky's swollen, messy and battered face next to Adrian's.

New York Times Original Review of Rocky, 1976

MOVIE REVIEW

Film: 'Rocky,' Pure 30's Make-BelieveBy VINCENT CANBY

Published: November 22, 1976

NOT SINCE "The Great Gatsby" two years ago has any film come into town more absurdly oversold than "Rocky," the sentimental little slum movie that opened yesterday at the Cinema II. As a former head of Paramount Pictures said to me with some irritation at the time "Gatsby" came out, movies shouldn't be penalized for being effectively promoted. That's true. Yet the sort of highpowered publicity (most of it free, it seems) that's been attending the birth of "Rocky" must, in turn, subject the movie to impossible expectations that can boomerang. Be warned.

Sylvester Stallone, who had a role in "The Lords of Flatbush," another "sleeper" that never quite measured up as a hit, both wrote the original screenplay and plays the title role. Rocky is a young man who, by day, is a small-time Mafia collector, the sort of fellow who shows his heart of gold by hesitating to break a client's thumbs, and at night pursues a third-rate boxing career in fleabag sporting arenas.

Under the none too decisive direction of John G. Avildsen ("Joe," "Save the Tiger"), Mr. Stallone is all over "Rocky" to such an extent it begins to look like a vanity production. His brother composed one of the film's songs and appears briefly, as does his father, while his dog, a cheerful mastiff named Butkus, plays Rocky's dog. It's as if Mr. Stallone had studied

the careers of Martin Scorcese and Francis Ford Coppola and then set out to copy the wrong things.

The screenplay of "Rocky" is purest Hollywood make-believe of the 1930's, but there would be nothing wrong with that, had the film been executed with any verve.

It's the story of Rocky and his girlfriend Adrian (Talia Shire), when Rocky, due to circumstances too foolish to go into, is granted the opportunity of his lifetime. He is given a chance to fight the heavyweight champion of the world, a black fighter named Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers), modeled on Muhammad Ali so superficially as to be an almost criminal waste of character. It's not good enough to be libelous, though by making the Alilike fighter such a dope, the film explores areas of latent racism that just may not be all that latent.

That Mr. Weathers is no actor doesn't help things, though there are some very good actors in other supporting roles, and they don't help in any significant way. Burt Young is effective as Rocky's best friend, a beer-guzzling mug, as is Burgess Meredith as Rocky's ancient trainer.

The person who comes off best is Miss Shire, Mr. Coppola's sister who made brief, effective appearances in the two "Godfather" films. She's a real actress, genuinely touching and funny as an incipient spinster who comes late to sexual life. She's so good, in fact, that she almost gives weight to Mr. Stallone's performance, which is the large hole in the center of the film.

Mr. Stallone's Rocky is less a performance than an impersonation. It's all superficial mannerisms and movements, reminding me of Rodney Dangerfield doing a nightclub monologue. The speech patterns sound right and what he says is occasionally lifelike, but it's a studied routine, not a character.

It's the sort of performance that could have been put together by watching other actors on television. Most of the film was photographed on location in seedy, Philadelphia neighborhoods, and it's one of the film's ironies that a production that has put such emphasis on realism should seem so fraudulent.

The problem, I think, comes back to Mr. Stallone. Throughout the movie we are asked to believe that his Rocky is compassionate, interesting, even heroic, though the character we see is simply an unconvincing actor imitating a lug.