“Don’t worry ’bout a thing ” – Rocky
Number of Times Seen – 1 (11 Mar 2018)
Brief Synopsis – Biography of Rocky Graziano as he went from being a small town hood to eventually one of the greatest middleweight boxers of all time.
My Take on it – This is actually a film that I had heard of before but never really knew much about it.
After completing to watch all of the credited appearances in films bu Steve McQueen, it was pointed out to me that I should see this film since he has an uncredited cameo here.
The truth is that if you blink, you’ll miss him because it really is quite short.
It’s ironic that this was the start of both his career and of Paul Newman’s and just 18 years later, the two of them would fight over billing credits when they starred together in The Towering Inferno (1974).
This film is a great rags to riches story that truly shows how one can find the strength from within to succeed when the “chips are down”.
This isn’t a glamorous story and there are some pretty gritty scenes along the way to emphasize that.
It’s a bit surprising that a film like this was what propelled Newman to stardom because he usually played good looking characters with some issues but he usually isn’t such a gritty delinquent like the character he portrays here.
This film really has a lot of parallels to Rocky (1976) an must have been an inspiration to Sylvester Stallone when he wrote it.
Bottom Line – Great rags to riches story that shows how a person can find the strength inside to turn themselves around when they see a chance to do so. This is not a glamorous story and it’s really interesting watching it all unfold. Surprised that this is the kind of film that propelled Newman to success since he is usually seen as a good looking actor who plays complex characters but not ones like this real life boxer who starts off as a true delinquent. McQueen has an uncredited cameo here but if you blink you’ll miss it. Ironic that 18 years later, both he and Newman fought for screen credit in The Towering Inferno (1974). Recommended!
MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – Al Silvani, who played Rocky Graziano’s cut man, played the cut man in Rocky (1976). Rocky was played by Sylvester Stallone, and was considered his breakthrough role, just like this movie was for Paul Newman. (From IMDB)
Rating – Globe Worthy (7/10)
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