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The New York Times: Best Pictures

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A year ago, Sylvester Stallone had $106 in the bank. His wife was pregnant, his bull mastiff was starving and he couldn't pay the rent on his seedy Hollywood apartment. What to do? Well, one answer was that Stallone, a sometime actor-turned-screenwriter, could sit down and in 3 1/2 days write a screenplay with a meaty starring role in it for himself, persuade someone to film it, and wind up a millionaire. Improbable? Pessimists might say so, and advise Stallone to try something more sure, like the Irish Sweepstakes. Impossible? Well, no, because you see, there's this new movie, called ''Rocky.'' That's Stallone up there as ''Rocky,'' Rocky Balboa, a tender-hearted, down-and-out Philadelphia club fighter known as ''The Italian Stallion,'' who almost becomes heavyweight champion of the world. And the words Stallone is mouthing on screen are the words he wrote in 3 1/2 days and sold to producers Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff on the condition that he would play ''Rocky,'' and not Burt

The New York Times: Best Pictures Introduction Browse by Decade 1929-1939 1940-1949 1950-1959 1960-1969 1970-1979 1980-1989 1990-1999 2000-2002 Past Winners Actors Actresses Supp. Actors Supp. Actresses Directors Photos & Posters Help About "Best Pictures" November 1, 1976 'ROCKY' 'Rocky Isn't Based on Me,' Says Stallone, 'But We Both Went the Distance' A year ago, Sylvester Stallone had $106 in the bank. His wife was pregnant, his bull mastiff was starving and he couldn't pay the rent on his seedy Hollywood apartment. What to do? Well, one answer was that Stallone, a sometime actor-turned-scr

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