A short biography of the life of Stallone and the success of Rocky.  This is a good resource for one looking for quick information on the successes and failures of Stallone.  By D. Goldstein

Ryan and Kellner contextualize Rocky within the culture and society of its time.  The authors state that the movie was made during “the second major recession of the decade” and that the film’s story barely hides its elements of working class racism.  Ryan and Kellner see Rocky’s attack against the African-American Creed as a metaphor for the white working class’s resentment for the rising status of the African-American in 1970’s society.  By D. Goldstein

This criticism offers a small synopsis and background history of the film and its creation.  Like Rocky’s other critics, Leab describes the title character as “The Great White Hope.”  He claims that the success of the film rested on its reception by America’s White working class and that the film rejected the prejudices and fears of the Black movement toward equality in the 70’s.  It is interesting that the move to a “Bicentennial America” meant a move toward racism.  Again, I assume Stallone did not intend for this connection when he wrote Rocky’s script, but I’m sure the culture of the era influenced Stallone to unintentionally include the racist elements of the film such as Rocky’s degradation at the hands of an arrogant Black reporter.  By D. Goldstein

O’Brien notes the misrepresentation of Black boxers in the film Rocky.  He states that “in the last half century,” there has been only one great white boxer.  The rest have been black.  However, Rocky presents a White boxer as the great boxing champion.  Implicit in the Rocky films is racism.  Only after the Italian-American Rocky defeats Apollo in Rocky II does the African-American former champion choose to join his side and help him train.  In this article, O’Brien posits that racism in society may have shaped how Rocky was written.  By D. Goldstein

Martin posits that Rocky is a film rich with “ideological and mythical meanings” and conservative values.  Martin sees Rocky not as a symbol of hope for the oppressed poor, but as retaliation against the Civil Rights movement of the late 1960’s which challenged the dominant power of European-American male.  Martin implies that the theme of the oppressed white man may have conservatively shaped public attitudes in the late 70’s, leading to Reagen’s “New Right” of the 1980s.  It is very interesting to see how a film such as Rocky may have had political implications as well as cultural ones.  Martin interprets the portrayal of Rocky as the poor, oppressed white man fighting against the dominating Black man as a way of scapegoating African-Americans as the cause of financial difficulties at the end of the 70’s.   Given the film’s popularity, it is reasonable to think that this message could have affected the views of many Americans.  By D. Goldstein

Camby expresses his distaste for optimism in movies such as Rocky.  He satirizes the optimism of Rocky and a number of other ‘feel good’ films through extrapolation of the events in the movie to a pessimistic outcome.  For example, he claims that Rocky should end with Rocky being exposed as a pedophile.  It is interesting to note that this is exactly the type of movie that Sylvester Stallone didn’t want to make when he wrote Rocky.  By D. Goldstein

This article is a preview of upcoming films in November, 1976.  The author states that 1976 (up to and including October of that year) was the “year of the bomb” and expresses his worriment over having a year of complete “blahs.”  Rocky, the future recipient of the Oscar’s Best Picture Award recieves no more attention in this article than any other forthcoming movie.  By D. Goldstein

Stallone writes a very detailed synopsis of the training for his part as a boxer in Rocky.  The article explains how Stallone learned the art of boxing, the pain of filming his intense training sequences in Philadelphia, and how he came upon Carl Weathers for the role of Apollo Creed.  Stallone also details the arduous process of writing and choreographing the nine-minute final fight scene, which he claims took 35 hours of practice.  Obviously, the time spent in producing a film does not correlate to the length of the final product.  By D. Goldstein

This article previews Rocky two months before its debut in November.  The article details Stallone’s background from the “sleazy sections” of Philadelphia and notes Stallone’s opposition against the “realistic,” cynical movies that dominated the 1970s Vietnam war era.  This article also quotes Stallone saying that an actor needed to look his/her part as much as be able to act it.  By D. Goldstein

This article describes some of the work of John Alvidsen.  It describes his method of directing and his reactions to Times Critic Vincent Camby calling his movie “corny.”  The article also discusses some of Alvidsen’s improvisational skills for working with a limited budget in Rocky.  It seems as if directors working with low budgets could not film according to standard operating procedure, but had to develop techniques as they went along.  By D. Goldstein

This is a list of the filming locations for Rocky.  The list includes specific places such as Pat’s King of Steaks and the Philadelphia Art Museum.  Since Pat’s Steaks is such a landmark of Philadelphia, it makes sense that Alvidsen included it in the film.  By D. Goldstein

This article describes a number of things including:  Audience reception of Rocky as a classic underdog story, Alvidsen’s acceptance speech for Best Director at the 1977 Oscar Awards, comparisons between Stallone and Marlon Brando, to a moderately long biography of Stallone’s life.  Kasindorf’s opinion of Stallone’s acting contrasts with New York Times critic Vincent Camby, showing that Stallone’s acting was well received by some within the critics’ circle.  By D. Goldstein

This is the original trailer for Rocky in WMA format.  It includes many shots of the streets of Philadelphia and showcases the movie’s gritty, documentary-style appearance.  By D. Goldstein

This article gives a brief history of Stallone’s creative inspiration for creating Rocky.  It also discusses the numerous problems that Alvidsen and his team ran into while filming the movie in Philadelphia, such as lack of a sufficient budget, extreme weather conditions, and lack of equipment.  The article describes how people threw food at Stallone while Alvidsen filmed Rocky jogging through the streets of Philadelphia.  It is apparent that most people did not know they were witnessing the production of a future blockbuster.  By D. Goldstein

This article includes some background history on the production of the film. The article discusses the director’s motivations for filming in Philadelphia and mentions some of the specific location in the city where the movie was filmed. The most interesting section of the article talks about the dilemma that arose out from filming the famous Philadelphia Art Museum steps scene. Rickey notes the use of the Steadicam as a suitable solution to this problem and gives a brief description of how the camera operated. The article also notes how much the audience loved the grittiness of the film that came as a result of its filming on the streets of Philadelphia. By D. Goldstein

This short article discusses the use of the Steadicam in the famous Philadelphia Art Museum steps scene in Rocky.  The article also notes that the use of the Steadicam in the fight scenes made the movie a sensational sports film.  It also reveals a production mistake in the film where the audience can see Garrett Brown filming the fight scene with the Steadicam.  By D. Goldstein

This webpage offers an extremely long and detailed summary of the movie Rocky.  It includes dialogue exchanges and detailed descriptions of setting, characters, props, etc. and would be a good tool for anyone who wants to look at important scenes and dialogue from the film without watching the movie or reading the script.  By D. Goldstein

An ad for the premier of Rocky at Cinema 2 in New York City.  The ad notes only one theater showing Rocky on its opening night.  This could either be due to the fact that other theaters initially didn’t want to carry Rocky because they thought that it would not be a successful film or there simply weren’t many theaters in Manhattan in 1976.  By D. Goldstein

This article is the original Philadelphia Inquirer review of Rocky.  The article praises the film thoroughly.  It interestingly notes that much of Rocky was filmed in the “Fishtown” section of Philadelphia and also that Stallone chose the city for its Bicentennial theme.   The fact that the review comes from a Philadelphia newspaper probably explains why every aspect of the film was praised.  By D. Goldstein

This is Sports Illustrated’s original review of Rocky.  Coursen criticizes Rocky’s unrealistic boxing scenes and concludes the movie is purely fantasy.  He finds the scene of Apollo Creed’s entrance as George Washington crossing the Delaware particularly amusing.  From what I have read of Stallone’s interviews, his motive to create Rocky was not as an homage to the sport of boxing but rather as a Cinderella story of hope.  By D. Goldstein

This is Ebert’s original review of the film Rocky.  Most of the review is a synopsis of the movie.  Ebert compares Stallone to Marlon Brando from On The Waterfront and points out that Alvidsen purposely filmed Stallone in conspicuously deserted streets in Philadelphia in order to detract from the sensation of the film feeling like a documentary.  By D. Goldstein

Camby basically writes a negative review of the film Rocky.  Like Ray Elson, Camby points out the anachronistic qualities of the film and calls it “make-believe of the 1930’s.”  For the most part, Camby lambastes Stallone and Weather’s acting and praises Shire’s portrayal of Adrian.  Again, the acting in Rocky wasn’t what made it a success but rather it’s “feel good” message at a time when the country was cynical after Vietnam and Watergate.  By D. Goldstein

Shire talks about her experience playing Adrian in the movie Rocky.  She describes her methods for understanding her character.  Shire also discusses her relationship with her brother, Francis Ford Coppola who thought “women should be at home making babies” and who didn’t want Shire acting in the Godfather movies.  It is interesting to see how women were marginalized in the world of Hollywood even in the 1970s.  The role of the woman, Adrian, in Rocky is pivotal for the success of the male, Rocky Balboa.  By D. Goldstein

Stallone discusses the artistic processes that went into writing Rocky.  Klemesrud also describes the history of the movie from its conception and the debate over who should play Rocky to the details of the script and the choreography of Rocky’s final fight with Apollo Creed.  Klemesrud also reveals Stallone’s adamancy against the protest culture of the post-Vietnam war era.  I’m sure such a popular film as Rocky with an upbeat, optimistic ending would have had effects on films made afterwards.  By D. Goldstein

In this article, Elson categorizes Stallone’s portrayal of Rocky as an anachronistic boxer from the 1930’s or 40’s.  He claims that the fighter’s persona as a slow-talking, dimwitted boxer from the dirty streets of Philadelphia has tainted the ways people perceive boxers.  By D. Goldstein

This article describes how Rocky increased levels of self-pride for Philadelphians.  The article discusses a number of Philadelphia’s problems in the late 1970s.  The article also states that Philadelphians were proud of the example Stallone set for the city when he made Rocky and that he is a symbol of hope for the city.  The photograph of the man jogging the steps at the Art Museum is perhaps a reference to the influence Rocky had on citizens’ awareness for the need to exercise.  By D. Goldstein

 A review of Stallone’s acting in the movie Rocky.  Camby basically states that Stallone’s acting is not up to par with the other actors of his era, saying that Stallone is basically “impersonating” rather than “acting.”  By D. Goldstein

Ad for Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky, playing at the Eric Twin Rittenhouse Square at 1907 Chestnut; ad for Network, playing at the Eric Mark 1 at 18^th and Market.  By A. Solether