11/05/2026
Monday, Nov. 9th, 12:00 PM—Lunch and a Movie: Rocky (1976). Bring your lunch (beverages provided) and celebrate the 50th anniversary of Rocky by enjoying the best movies in the series! First up is the one that started it all...the story of the Philadelphia underdog who receives a million-to-one shot at fighting the heavyweight champion of the world. No signups required. Popcorn generously donated by Regal Cinemas. Here's the original trailer and some fascinating facts about this Best Picture winner...
-In 1976, Sylvester Stallone was a struggling actor. Not long before this, he'd been flat broke and homeless, which made him desperate enough to accept a part in a soft-core adult film A Party at Kitty and Stud's in 1970. This was his first film role...hardly an auspicious beginning. (Naturally, after Rocky's success, the film was re-released with a new title: The Italian Stallion!) He ended up moving in with this then-girlfriend, later-wife, even-later-ex-wife Sasha Czack, taking any job to pay the bills, self-educating himself at the library (yay Sly!) and looking for his big acting and writing break. He was turned down as an extra for The Godfather, which, of course, featured his future co-star Talia Shire. Most of his film roles up to that point were bit parts and extras, though he did star in the 1950s-set coming-of-age flick The Lords of Flatbush in 1974. But one night Stallone watched the boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Chuck Wepner, where the underdog Wepner went fifteen rounds with Ali, actually knocking him down once, before finally getting knocked down, at which time the referee ended the fight even though Wepner beat the count. This underdog story inspired Stallone, and in three days he'd written a rough draft script of a similar underdog boxer who has his own shot at the title, and whose victory isn't necessarily beating the champ, but simply going the distance. (Wepner would sue Stallone for apparently using his life story without permission, but they settled out-of-court.)
-Making the movie was an uphill battle in itself. Stallone's pal and Lords of Flatbush co-star Henry Winkler, Fonzie himself (aaaayyyy!!!) had tried to shop the script to ABC as a possible TV-movie, and they'd bought the script, but when they wanted to re-write it, Winkler used his influence to buy the script back. When producers Irwin Winkler (no relation to The Fonz) and Robert Chartoff at United Artists took an interest in it, the studio wanted someone like Robert Redford or Ryan O'Neal to play Rocky Balboa, but Stallone insisted the role was his, sweetening the deal by promising to keep the budget low. (Which he did--it was so low that when filming the scene where Paulie chucks the Thanksgiving turkey out of the back door, crewmembers were waiting to catch it...no point in wasting a perfectly good turkey!) John Avildsen was on as director. To save on the budget, Rocky and Adrian's first date, which was supposed to be in a crowded ice rink, took place after-hours with Rocky and Adrian the only ones on the rink...they couldn't afford all those extras. Moments like Rocky's famous run through Philly were shot "guerrilla-style"—no permits, no equipment but a Steadicam. And that's not even getting into sneaking into the meat warehouse to film Rocky punching sides of beef without alerting the meat packers' union...Much of this ground is covered in the upcoming biopic I Play Rocky, out later this month, which is already receiving good reviews.
-Earlier drafts were darker and more R-rated. In one of the earliest ones, Mickey was unapologetically racist, and Rocky deliberately threw the fight at the end, realizing the world of professional boxing was too corrupt for him. In another draft, available to read on the Internet Archive, Paulie and Adrian's surname was Klein, and they were both plagued with an overbearing mother, who was the one berating Adrian all the time (a role Paulie took in the finished film). Rocky had a great line when Mrs. Klein slapped Adrian and berated her for sleeping with Rocky: "Lady, you can say what you want to your daughter...but you better not say a word against my girlfriend," which caused Mrs. Klein to back down. Mickey had a daughter named Mike who helped him out at the gym, a stocky thirty-something woman. And as for those R-rated elements? Language was one of them...let's just say that Li'l Marie's parting shot to Rocky was NOT "Screw you, creepo!" Some of these elements survived in the novelization, such as Paulie and Adrian's surname Klein (quietly changed to the correct "Pennino" in the sequels' novelizations), and Li'l Marie's uncensored retort. (By the way, when Paulie and Adrian became Italians, they were dubbed "Pennino" because that's the surname of Talia Shire's grandfather.)
-Stallone was right to insist that he and no one else play Rocky. He gives the character a natural likability, despite his lack of education. (Stallone is actually a very intelligent man, a fact that surprises people who see him in interviews and only know him as Rocky or Rambo.) Long before the term "non-toxic masculinity" was coined, the screen had an example of it in Rocky Balboa...strong and tough, but good-hearted and generous, not afraid of showing his feelings or being tender and supportive towards those he cares about.
-Though Cher and Susan Sarandon were considered for Adrian Pennino, it's difficult to imagine anyone but Talia Shire in the role. She plays Adrian with both shyness and inner strength—someone who's been kept in the background all her life, but begins to see her own value, especially when she finally gives Paulie the verbal beatdown he so richly deserves. She'd come even more into her own in future movies, especially her big scene in the third one where she snaps Rocky out of his self-doubt. Talia's other most famous role was as Connie Corleone, daughter of Don Vito, in the Godfather movies, which were directed by her brother Francis Ford Coppola. But she wanted to break out of her brother's shadow and achieve something for herself, and we can all agree she did that marvelously here.
-Burt Young, who plays Adrian's ne'er-do-well brother Paulie, used to be a boxer himself! He boxed in the Marines, winning 32 out of 34 fights. It's a testament to his acting ability that he actually makes us feel something for this not-too-savory character, allowing us to see his vulnerability and frustrated dreams. This is something we'll see more of in future movies, especially Rocky Balboa.
-Burgess Meredith is a legend...he was in any number of movies and television shows. He first started making a name for himself in several appearances on the classic Twilight Zone series, including playing the lead in one of the most iconic episodes, "Time Enough at Last." After that, he shone as The Penguin on the 60s Batman series. But film fans really fell in love with him as crusty old Mickey Goldmill, owner of the gym Rocky trains at, who becomes Rocky's manager. The scene where he drops the tough facade and begs Rocky to let him manage him is one of the best in the movie.
-Carl Weathers plays Apollo Creed...a role he'd reprise in three more movies. He's great as a cocky, rather full-of-himself boxer, modeled on Muhammad Ali and other famous fighters. Before his untimely death in 2024, he was Greef Karga in the series The Mandalorian, who sent Mando on that fateful assignment to deliver the "bounty" that turned out to be little Grogu.
-Other supporting actors shine as well. Tony Burton plays Apollo's trainer Tony "Duke" Evers, who shows up in every film up to Rocky Balboa, where he delivers a memorable pre-training speech. Joe Spinell, playing loan shark Tony Gazzo, was an accomplished character actor and alumnus of two Godfather films. And Sly's brother Frank Stallone, an actor, composer, and musician, plays one of the street-corner singers warbling "Take You Back", a song he wrote and which shows up in other Rocky movies.
-One supporting actor made his mark on popular culture in another way. Michael Dorn plays one of Apollo's bodyguards in his screen debut. Eleven years later, he won fame as the Klingon Lt. Worf on Star Trek: The Next Generation, which took place decades after the original series and established that the Klingons and the Federation were now at peace. He'd reprise the role in Deep Space Nine. (Somehow, it seems apropos to bring up TNG right around now.)
-Even the non-human actors shine. In fact, it's very much a family affair! Butkus was actually Stallone's dog, billed as "Butkus Stallone." Stallone had to sell him during his low period, but when he sold the Rocky screenplay, he hunted down the new owners and bought him back. He also adopted the turtles Cuff and Link...not knowing about their long lifespan! Poor old Butkus Stallone passed away from cardiac issues in 1981 at the age of 12 (many large dogs have those issues), but Cuff and Link Stallone have a lifespan of about 150 years, guaranteeing that they will be the last living Rocky cast members.
-The city of Philadelphia is as much a co-star in this movie as anyone else...we South Jersey residents can easily recognize many landmarks. It's appropriate that in the first Creed movie, Adonis Creed and Ricky Conlan's fight takes place in Liverpool...as a friend of mine put it, Liverpool is the Philadelphia of England: both largely working-class cities full of very proud people. Somehow, I don't think Rocky would have been quite the same character if he'd come from Boston or New York.
-Of course, the most iconic scene in the movie is Rocky's run through Philly, culminating in his dash up the western steps of the Art Museum. These are now known as the Rocky Steps, and the bronze statue we see unveiled in Rocky III resides there. Naturally, you can see tourists posing on them every day.
-And what would that scene be without the iconic theme song, "Gonna Fly Now"? Bill Conti, the film's composer, gives us one of the most memorable movie theme tunes of all time. The fanfare that begins it is actually borrowed from a 17th-century baroque trumpet piece from an unknown composer, intended to be played at dinner at the Italian royal court. The fanfare is used to introduce Apollo when he enters the arena, but is repurposed as part of Rocky's theme, and is the first and last pieces of music we hear in each Rocky movie (aside from the end credits).
-So...did all of this pay off? Yo, you bet it did! Rocky, the movie about an underdog, was quite the underdog itself...United Artists thought their prestige pic New York, New York would offset any of Rocky's losses, but New York, New York (despite its iconic theme song) ended up underperforming while Rocky was a surprise hit, so it ended up the other way around! Audiences took the character and his unusual kind of victory to their hearts...Rocky wasn't necessarily in it to win, but just to go the distance and prove he could do it. And Rocky itself went the distance....it not only won the Best Picture and Best Director Oscars (though, unfortunately, no acting awards) but led to five sequels and a spin-off series that achieved just as much success. It's clear that this character, and this franchise, just can't be knocked out!
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