Year Released: 1976
Directed by: John G. Avildsen
Written by: Sylvester Stallone"
Starring: Sylvestor Stallone, Talia Shire , Burt Young, Burgess Meredeth, Carl Weathers
( PG, 119 min.)
Genre: Drama
Oscar: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Editing

“Hey, champ, you oughta come and look at this boy you're gonna fight on TV. It looks like he means business.” Apollo Creed’s trainer

Rocky is the epitome of the American Dream. Nominated for 10 Oscars and winning 3. A modest $1 million budget that grossed over $200 million at the box office.

But maybe the story of how Stallone created this almost 50-year-old franchise might just be better than the film itself:

After watching an unknown fighter take on Muhammad Ali, actually knocking down the champ and going the distance. Stallone saw it as a “metaphor for life.”

That was the catalyst for his idea: A man who was going to stand up to life, take a shot, and go the distance. He started writing and in three days had the script done. It was only 90 pages, and only about a third of it was used in the movie, but it was done.

They (ultimately) offered Stallone $360,000 for the script, with the condition that he wouldn’t play Rocky. Remember that he had no car, $106 in the bank, and sold his dog to pay the bills. –Tom Ward

Actually, Stallone credits Butkus, the Bull Mastiff he sold, whose unconditional love “helped” Stallone write the 1976 movie Rocky, which propelled him into Hollywood.

Sylvester then revealed he was forced to sell Butkus for $40 (Some stories say it was a measley $25) to help him survive.

Alongside a picture of him holding his furry friend on his lap when he was just a puppy, he wrote: “1971… Since we’re on the subject of “man’s best friend” this is myself and Butkus as a puppy , we were both, thin, hungry and living in a flophouse above a subway stop, I used to say this apartment had ‘ … Hot and cold running roaches.’” – Gallagher

He ultimately bought back his best friend for $15,000, using the money they offered for his script. It was not the $350,000 they offered for the script without him as the lead. It was now just $35,000 without Burt Reynolds, James Caan, or Ryan O’Neal, who the studio wanted.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

***

The 1976 film begins much as Stallone’s life was at the time. Rocky Balboa is at his lowest. He’s working for a small-time loan shark, his take about 20 bucks. Yes, he does win a small fight, mostly through sheer will and not necessarily skill, and that gets him $40.

But the Mickey( Burgess Meredith ) the trainer at the gym gives him the ultimate insult. After 6 years there, Rocky finds his locker taken away, his belongings bagged up and hung on the wall, or “skid row” as Rocky calls it.

“You’re a tomato. You fight like an ape,” the curmudgeon Mick spews at him

Rocky: I been comin' here for six years, and for six years ya been stickin' it to me, an' I wanna know how come!
Mickey: Ya don't wanna know!
Rocky: I wanna know how come!
Mickey: Ya wanna know?
Rocky: *I wanna know how*!
Mickey: OK, I'm gonna tell ya! You had the talent to become a good fighter, but instead of that, you become a legbreaker to some cheap, second rate loanshark!
Rocky: It's a living.
Mickey: *It's a waste of life*!

The there’s Adrian (Talia Shire), the shy bespeckled girl who works at the pet shop. Rocky stops there daily and tells her his stupid jokes, and he always pets the dog they are boarding there, Butkus. (Yes, the real Butkus, the one Rocky sold for $40 and then bought back for $15000.)

Even her brother demeans Adrian, just as everyone belittles Rocky, and not too long before, Sylvester Stallone himself. Paulie (Burt Young ) , upset that Rocky will not get him a job with this loan shark, calls her retarded, but Rocky insists Adrian is just shy.

Their courtship finally begins, if we can call the Thanksgiving turkey her brother throws into the alley – the loan shark thing still stinging – ending the planned family dinner, the slip-sliding Rocky next to her on the closed ice rink he “rents” for $10 for 10 minutes. Then his final persuasion to come into his apartment, where he offers Adrian doughnuts., and a few other assorted junk food delicacies.

His cries of “Yo, Adrian,” echo Marlin Brando’s “Stella” from A Streetcar Named Desire as well as Brando again from On the Waterfront.

As Different Drummer said about Brando’s Terry Malloy then:

“Hey, you wanna hear my philosophy of life? Do it to him before he does it to you,” he tells Edie Doyle (Eva Marie Saint).

But the same guy dotes on the pigeons he raises on the roof, and he is almost shy and tongue-tied in Edie’s presence. There’s a kind of Rocky humility, self-deprecation, and sweetness under the rough exterior. In fact, I’d bet Sylvestor Stallone channeled Brando’s Terry Malloy for his Italian Stallion role. (Too bad Terry had to please his big brother; he might have been more than just a contender.)

And speaking of the Italian Stallion moniker, we find out the power of branding, first from Appollo Creed (Carl Weathers) himself, looking to market himself after the hyped match between him and a well-known challenger has to be scrapped because the guy has broken his arm. He’s the one who dreams up the scheme to open up the fight to a local challenger, and he chooses Rocky Balboa for no other reason than the daunting name, which Creed pronounces as Eye Talian.

Rocky himself later comments that he made up the name himself “one night when I was eating dinner.”

Thus, behind the hard luck underdog story, we have a peak of some underlying cynicism about the fighting world itself. And that is perhaps what separates Rocky from so many other films.

Apollo Creed dresses himself up for the fight is a garish costume supposed to be George Washington crossing the Delaware. Cheesy with a capital C.

And then during the fight, he is astonished that Rocky “… doesn’t know it’s a damn show. He thinks it’s a damn fight.”

But Rocky is in his own zone. He just wants to go the distance.

Nobody's ever gone the distance with Creed, and if I can go that distance, you see, and that bell rings and I'm still standin', I'm gonna know for the first time in my life, see, that I weren't just another bum from the neighborhood.

But the cynicism is just there to clear our palate for the sweet love story and the fight that astounds everyone. And who can forget Rocky’s training and that wonderful “Gonna Fly Now” music. Here are a few fun facts about the video

Fun Fact: Most of the scenes of Rocky jogging through Philadelphia were shot guerrilla-style, with no permits, no equipment, and no extras. The shot where he runs past the moored boat for example, the crew were simply driving by the docks, and John G. Avildsen saw the boat, and thought it would make a good visual, so he had Sylvester Stallone simply get out of the van and run along the quays, while Avildsen himself filmed from the side door. A similar story concerns the famous shot of Rocky jogging through the food market. As he runs, the stall keepers and the people on the sidewalks can clearly be seen looking at him in bemusement. While this works in the context of the film to suggest they're looking at Rocky, in reality, they had no idea why this man was running up and down the road being filmed from a van. During this scene, the famous shot where the stall owner throws Rocky an orange was completely improvised by the stall owner, who had no idea that a movie was being filmed and that he would be in it.

This crazy world getting you down? Are you living paycheck to paycheck or thinking about having to sell your dog to make ends meet?

Forget about this cruel world and watch Rocky go the distance for you. Or maybe inspire you to do it yourself.

–Kathy Borich
🥁 🥁 🥁 🥁🥁

Trailer

Film-Loving Foodie

Ribs play an important part in Rocky. First, there are the frozen one he hits, first out of frustration when dealing with Paulie, who wants to get out of his meat locker job and rake in the “easy money “ with Rocky’s sometime loan shark employer. Then as a unique training technique.

And finally, it is Apollo Creed’s ribs that take the same beating as Rocky finds out how to defeat the towering champ.

I hope I haven’t ruined your appetite. Just fuhgeddaboudit and go ahead enjoy these delicious Philly Ribs anyway.

Philly Ribs

Ingredients

· 2 slabs pork spare ribs (baby backs can work too, but the larger spare ribs are easier on a smoker)

· 1/4 cup Philly Grit (Not that Spicy or Pretty Spicy - or a mix of the two!)

· 3-4 chunks wood for smoking (Apple or cherry work best for ribs)

· Favorite BBQ Sauce (Optional)

Instructions

1. Always start ribs by removing the membrane on the bottom side of the slab of ribs. It's a little bit of a chore, but they will come out more tender, and it will allow the rub to contact the meat on both sides

2. Cover the ribs with a good coating of Philly Grit on both sides. Exactly how much is up to you, but there should be a pretty even coating on the entire slab at least.

3. Let the ribs sit while you prepare your smoker. I use a charcoal smoker, so I will start the fire in the middle and scatter wood chunks at a few distances from the center so as the fire grows, there will be wood smoke during the entire cook. If you're using an electric smoker, they're great too, you'll just be loading up wood chips instead. Apple and Cherry wood are some of the best for ribs. Hickory is usually too faint of a flavor, and mesquite smoke can be overwhelming. If you're really lucky and find other fruit tree wood like peach, give them a try too!

4. Get your smoker to 225°F, and then put the ribs on, unwrapped. Smoke for 3 hours at this temperature.

5. At the end of the 3 hours, increase the smoker temperature to 250 - 275°F and continue to cook for 1 - 2 more hours. This is the time where you have to start checking on the ribs to determine when they are done. Unlike larger cuts of meat, it's difficult to use internal temperature to know when ribs are ready. You'll want to look at the meat starting to shrink away from the ends of the bones. Also, pick up the ribs from one end of the slab with a pair of tongs, the meat on the top should flex and start to split under the weight. If it doesn't split at all, you should give it more time. If the slab completely falls apart under the weight, it's too done. (The good thing about ribs is they'll still taste great if they're over done, but they just might be a little harder to handle when getting them off)

6. This last step is optional - I like to serve the ribs with just the dry rub and let people put BBQ sauce on themselves when eating. If you like ribs with sauce on them, you can brush sauce on the ribs at this point, and either leave them on the smoker for a bit longer, or you can transfer them to a regular grill to cook the sauce on. You just need to cook long enough to thicken the sauce and make an overall glaze, be careful not to burn the sauce, especially if it's a sugary one

Philly Grit.com