What You Probably Didn't Know About Rocky (1976)

That's right it's another edition of What You Probably Didn't Know About and this time I tackle what some have called the greatest sports movie ever made. So let's get into it.









1. Rocky's dog Butkus was actually Sylvester Stallone's dog in real life.









2. Although Stallone wrote the first draft of the script in three days, it got nine sizable rewrites before Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff bought it. The original script was also much darker than what was on screen. Micky was going to be a bitter old racist and the film would have ended with Rocky giving up the fight after realizing he did not want to be part of the pro boxing world.








3. According to Burt Young, during filming of a scene when Paulie walks home drunk, an actual drunk walked onto the location of where they were filming and told him he wasn't acting drunk convincingly. So Young asked the man to demonstrate. Burt then copied the man's actions for the scene.







4. Rocky was the first sports movie to win an Academy Award for Best Picture.








5. Originally, the filmmakers wanted several former heavyweight champions to appear at the beginning of the fight between Rocky and Apollo. They put a call for all former champions to show, but on they day of the shoot only Joe Frazier showed up. The filmmakers thought it would work well because Frazier is a resident of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania were the movie was shot and took place.









6. In the film, a poster above the ring for the Rocky and Apollo shows Rocky wearing red shorts with a white stripe on them. However in the actual movie he wears white shorts with a red stripe on them. This was a mistake made by the props department and they couldn't afford to fix it, so Stallone came up with the idea for a scene where Rocky himself points out this mistake. The same thing happened with Rocky's robe where he states that it's too baggy, so rather than hope people wouldn't notice the title character simply points this stuff out.








7. The whole film was shot in 28 days.









8. The film had such a low budget that according to Carl Weathers, he and Burgess Meredith shared a cramped dressing room.










9. The photos on Rocky's mirror are actual pictures of Stallone when he was a kid.









10. The boxing gloves used in the championship fight were called "Casanovas". They were illegal in the U.S., but Stallone said the producers chose them because they had a sleek appearance.









11. The actors were encouraged to provide their own props and wardrobe as a cost-cutting measure since the film had as small budget. For example some of the clothes that Adrian wore were from Talia Shire's own closest.









12. Adrian's last name was Klein in the original script.










13. Paulie is a retired Navy Chief Petty Officer, which was alluded to by a photo of him in a Navy Chief's uniform. Which also appears to be him at a retirement ceremony. This would explain why he can afford a house despite having a low-paying job as a meat-packing facility. He's drawing a pension after serving in the Navy for 20+ years.









14. Rocky's old injury to his finger which makes it look like he had broke it, is an actual injury Stallone got when playing college football.










15. Sylvester Stallone and Carl Weathers suffered injuries during their shoot for the big fight between Rocky and Apollo. Stallone suffered bruised ribs and Weathers got a damaged nose. The opposite injuries that their characters received.









16. When shooting the meat locker scene Stallone punched the meat so hard for so long that he flattened his knuckles. To this day when Stallone makes a fist all of his knuckles are leveled.









17. The monologue between Rocky and Mickey where Rocky turns down Mickey's offer was completely improvised by Stallone. He has since explained that he was heavily influenced by the fact that the toilets in the apartment actually stunk.








Well folks that's going to do it for this edition of What You Probably Didn't Know About. The next time I have one of this will be in September.

State of The Project (Aug 4th - Aug 30th)




Aug 4th - Christopher Robin Review



Aug 11th - The Meg Review



Aug 13th - A Rant on The Childhood Ruined Hyperbole



Aug 16th - I've Cancelled My Aquaman Easter Eggs Post



Aug 25th - Sorry There's No Happytime Murders Review



Aug 27th - What You Probably Didn't Know About Rocky (1976)



Aug 30th - Raiders of The Lost Media - Mortal Kombat HD Arcade Kollection





NOTE: IF ANYTHING CHANGES I WILL TELL YOU!