Rocky 1976

The Film:

Rocky is an unusual winner, in that it's the only one that was the first in a long (and still growing) franchise of populist box-office-friendly films. We have sequels that have won (Godfather 2, Return of the King), winners that have spawned sequels (Mrs Miniver, Going My Way, In The Heat of the Night, The French Connection, The Godfather - have I missed any?) along with a fair few that were remakes, remade, spawned TV series etc. There were also several Broadway Melody films, but I'm not counting those, as the only link between them was a lack of imagination in naming 1930s musicals! (btw the last one - 1940 - is the best one, because of the Astaire/Powell partnership, with 1938 a close second, because of Judy Garland!).

At the time of writing there have been seven Rocky films, with the eighth in post-production and due out for Christmas. Stallone has written (or co-written) and starred in all of them, and directed half of them. I have to admit that I gave up after number 4 (which was as much a rock soundtrack as it was a film!) and I've been told that Creed is really good so I should probably watch it (not least because some of it was filmed at Goodison - apparently Sly is a big Everton fan!).

I'm not a big fan of boxing - at all! - but I remember really liking Rocky. It's a while since I've seen it so I'm looking forward to seeing it again. Andy's not seen it and is not a fan of the sequels he has seen, but I think he'll be pleasantly surprised....

The Ceremony:

Monday March 28th 1977 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. The broadcast rights moved back to ABC this year, and the ceremony was up against a big basketball game (something that would never happen today with all the concerns about ratings!)

The ceremony ran for 3 hours 38 minutes and was presented, yet again, by several hosts - the interesting quartet of Richard Pryor, Ellen Burstyn, Jane Fonda and Warren Beatty.

The Best Supporting Actress Award was presented by Muhammed Ali, alongside Sylvester Stallone. It's a nice touch that Ali was there the night that Rocky won - although it wouldn't have worked quite as well if one of the others won. (Had someone being doing some selective leaking at Price Waterhouse??)

Other Notable Winners That Night:

Faye and Oscar

The big acting prizes went to the big "serious" films that were nominated this year - three to Network and one to All The President's Men. It was also the first year that an Acting award was given posthumously - to Peter Finch, who had died of a heart attack earlier in the year. Beatrice Straight won her Supporting Actress award for the shortest performance ever to win - just over five minutes (a good few minutes shorter than Judi Dench's win!) These two films also took a Screenplay award each (and they both received more awards than Rocky).

The other notable nominee this year didn't actually win, but is definitely worth remembering. Lina Wertmuller was nominated as Best Director for the Italian film Seven Beauties, becoming the first (of only five to date) female director to be nominated. This came as a big surprise to me as I always thought it was Jane Campion first - with Sofia Coppola, Kathryn Bigelow and Greta Gerwig following. How is her name not mentioned more?

Best Song:

Three versions of "A Star Is Born" and only two Oscars between them (I'm not holding out much hope that Lady Gaga will change that, but I'd be delighted to be proved wrong!). Here's Barbra, soft as an easy chair, getting all soppy with hairy Kris:

What We Could/Should Have Been Watching:

I'm going to defend Rocky to the hilt here, for sentiment and appropriate cheering for the underdog as
much as anything else. I have far less problem than most film buffs with it winning Best Picture. The complaining from others tends to lead people to think Rocky is as unimportant as its many sequels - but its more down to the heavyweight (no pun intended) classics that it knocked out (that one was intended!).

Are we talking to him???

Rocky was up against "All The Presidents Men", "Network" and "Taxi Driver" (along with lesser-remembered Woody Guthrie biopic "Bound For Glory"). Any of those first three could have taken the prize and all are still critically acclaimed today. I can't argue with how good each of them are - but surely a lot of that depends on what you mean by a "good" film. Rocky is also a really good film and people really enjoyed watching it. So there.

If I was to go another way, it would depend entirely on what mood I'm in. "Network" and "All The Presidents Men" were the bigger winners on the night, but I'm still thinking of De Niro from a couple of years back, so let's have Taxi Driver (which shockingly didn't get Marty S a nomination for Best Director!)

Our Verdict:

Obligatory sports-film trainer/trainee shot

It's been a while between us watching this film and me finally writing up this review - I'll blame exam marking, holidays and general inertia! (At the time of writing, we've already watched 1983 - I have quite a backlog!)

For my second time of watching this film I wasn't even slightly disappointed. In really appreciating Rocky, it's important to try and forget the forty-something years that have passed since, the increasing list of really dreadful films that Sly has been a fairly dreadful part of and the gradual melting of his face. He made his masterpiece relatively early in his career!

Filling each other's gaps

One of the best things about Rocky is the fact that it isn't really a Sport Film at all - certainly not in the way that Chariots of Fire is, and not even as much as Million Dollar Baby is. The boxing is the backdrop, not the driving force. Ultimately, Rocky is part drama, part romance. With its gritty, city, working class setting it has some things in common with Midnight Cowboy, French Connection, even The Godfather - although here we're in Philly rather than NYC. Rocky is down on his luck, flawed but ultimately decent and just trying to get through a disappointing life.

Poor cow....

Two key things give him the chance to make things better. One is the big story of the film - although he's pretty much all washed up as a boxer he gets a freak chance to fight the champion. No one thinks he stands a chance, but he gives it his all with one goal - not to win, but just to go the distance. This leads to the iconic scenes in the film - using the hanging carcasses at the meat packing depot where his friend Paulie works as punch bags, and running up the steps as dawn breaks over Philadelphia (as imitated by pretty much everyone who's visited Philly since). These scenes are great. The montages are well shot and edited and the music is superb.

Go the distance!

The other, more subtle but equally important, change in Rocky's life during the story is his developing romance with Paulie's sister, Adrian (Talia Shire being given a lot more to do than in either Godfather film!). She works in a pet store, she's timid and shy - and the gradual development of her relationship with Rocky is beautifully and realistically portrayed. They are both shown to be flawed but basically good and decent people who deserve love, deserve a chance and, ultimately deserve each other - as Rocky says, they both have gaps, together they fill gaps.

Seven films on it's probably not too much of a spoiler to reveal that Rocky does, indeed, go the distance. But one of the best things about the film is that he doesn't win (yet - the sequels exist to spoil that!). The film isn't about winning - it's about trying. Ultimately that's what makes it such a good film.