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Home , Gonna Fly Now, Rocky Balboa

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2016 lifestyle

MUSIC & MOVIES

In this March 26, 2007, file photo, actor andscreenwriter poses for a In this Dec 13, 2006, file photo, actor and screenwriter Sylvester Stallone, left, poses with Actor and screenwriter Sylvester Stallone holds actress photo during a news conference to promote the movie " Balboa" at a hotel in actress , center, who played his wife in the "Rocky" movie, and his wife Jennifer Talia Shire in a scene from the 1976 movie ‘Rocky.’ Tokyo. — AP photos Flavin Stallone, right, at the premiere of the movie "" in the Hollywood sec- tion of . Rocky: 40 years later, he's still a lovable underdog

n Nov 21, 1976, audiences met Rocky Balboa, proves himself and wins Adrian's heart, making him the the southpaw boxer from south . winner of much more than a title. OFour decades later, Sylvester Stallone's lovable The film itself was a long shot, made on a budget of character resonates with fans drawn to his underdog only $1 million and shot in 28 days, with a largely tale of determination, grit and sleepy-eyed charm. The unknown cast, including Stallone himself. And it was reach of "Rocky" is international, and the film serves as a shot in working-class Philadelphia, a city that - despite slice of Americana. It is shorthand for Philadelphia as its roots as the crucible of freedom - had long had a much as the Liberty Bell or Benjamin Franklin. "Anytime chip on its shoulder as second-tier as compared to more we are speaking to overseas visitors ... the conversation cultured East Coast metropolises like New York and always turns, at some point, to 'Rocky,'" said Julie Coker Boston. (It is worth noting that the film had its premiere Graham, president of the Philadelphia Convention and in New York.) Visitors Bureau. "They ask, 'Have you met Rocky?" A lot of them think it's an actual, real-life person." On the Cheers for rocky film's 40th anniversary, a few reasons for its enduring What the movie lacked in beauty, it made up for in legacy: heart, something that resonated with audiences world- wide. The film was the highest-grossing of the year, Lovable underdog earning $117 million at the North American box office Written by Stallone in three days, fans fell hard for and another $107 million overseas. "Rocky" received 10 the ballad of Rocky Balboa. For the uninitiated (SPOILER Oscar nominations in nine categories at the Academy ALERT): The small-time boxer from the heavily Italian Awards, winning three: best picture, best director (John neighborhood of South Philly stumbles into a bout with G. Avildsen) and best film editing. the heavyweight champion of the world, , Stallone, Burgess and Shire were all nominated in fighting in the city to celebrate America's bicentennial. acting categories, and Stallone was nominated for his To get him into fighting shape, Rocky (played by screenplay. "Rocky" is preserved in the Library of Stallone) is trained by the peppery Mickey Goldmill Congress' National Film Registry as being "culturally, (), whose many one-liners make him a historically, or aesthetically significant." It was also In this Nov 15, 1996, file photo, actor and screenwriter frequent scene stealer. Rocky also finds love in the film ranked one of the greatest sports films ever made and is Sylvester Stallone, left, poses with "Rocky" co-star Talia with sheepish neighborhood pet store clerk, Adrian the second-best film about behind "Raging Bull," Shire before a screening of the film to mark its 20th anniversary at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and (Talia Shire). Though he ultimately loses the fight, Rocky according to the American Film Institute. Sciences in Beverly Hills, Calif. In this Dec 18, 2006, file photo, actor and screenwriter The score for "Rocky," which was also nominated for Sylvester Stallone, left, and his "Rocky" co-star , right, attend a premiere of the movie "Rocky an Oscar, was penned by . The main song, Balboa" in Philadelphia. "Gonna Fly Now," was originally intended as filler for the training sequence marking Rocky's journey from ama- teur to contender. The opening fanfare is among the most recognizable in American culture, and the soaring melody that plays on the melancholic theme woven throughout the movie is the backdrop to Rocky doing impressive one-armed pushups, punching meat in his girlfriend's brother's butcher shop and running through Philadelphia's Italian Market, along the Schuylkill River and past the shipyards. Conti went on to win an Oscar for his score to 1983's "The Right Stuff" and made music recognizable to millions in theme songs to "Dynasty" and "Falcon Crest."

The and statue The montage climaxes in one of the film's most memorable scenes, as Rocky bounds up the 72 steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, raising his arms in tri- umph. Four decades later, the run and pose atop the steps are re-created daily in Philadelphia, mostly by tourists. In 1982, a statue of Rocky commissioned by Stallone for "Rocky III" was placed in the spot where he stood in the original film. Its current home is just to the right of the steps and is a selfie stop for visitors.

Rocky's next chapter The original movie was followed by six sequels. In 2015, Rocky was reborn in "Creed," the story of , the son of his nemesis-turned-best friend, Apollo. An aging and dying Rocky trains Adonis for a brawl not unlike the grizzled boxer's first fight nearly two generations earlier. The New York Times reviewed it as a "dandy piece of entertainment, soothingly old-fash- ioned and bracingly up-to-date."— AP In this Sept 22, 1977, file photo, actor and screenwriter In this Sept 8, 2006, file photo, actor Sylvester Stallone In this May 8, 2013, file photo, a tourist photographs a Sylvester Stallone poses with a terrazzo inlay to be placed poses at the top of the steps of the Philadelphia Museum statue of the movie character Rocky Balboa outside the in the streets of the Westwood section of Los Angeles. of Art before a statue of Stallone portraying boxer Rocky Philadelphia Museum of Art in Philadelphia. Balboa is unveiled in Philadelphia.

In this April 28, 2000, file photo, actor and screenwriter Sylvester Stallone, In this March 28, 1977, file photo, heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad In this March 28, 1977, file photo, actor and screenwriter Sylvester Stallone, right, and his "Rocky" co-star, former professional football player Carl Ali, left, makes a surprise appearance on the show, playfully left, poses with Eletha Finch, center, widow of actor Peter Finch, and actress Weathers, left, pose with producer Irwin Winkler at the Walk of Fame ceremony sparring with actor and screenwriter Sylvester Stallone, right, in Los Angeles. Faye Dunaway, right, at the Academy Awards in Los Angeles. for Winkler in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles.