Sly

"Why couldn't you have been here when I needed you?" 594 00:33:39,851 --> 00:33:44,689 If I can take my frustration and voice it, 595 00:33:45,398 --> 00:33:49,986 I have a funny feeling that there's millions of people 596 00:33:50,611 --> 00:33:54,365 that have that same frustration, that were passed over. 597 00:33:55,074 --> 00:33:56,074 Overlooked. 598 00:33:56,117 --> 00:33:57,368 I'm gonna get that! 599 00:33:58,870 --> 00:34:00,872 And you wanna be ringside to see it? 600 00:34:00,955 --> 00:34:02,832 Do you? You wanna help me out? 601 00:34:02,915 --> 00:34:04,625 Do you wanna see me get my... 602 00:34:04,709 --> 00:34:07,462 [Sly] I could never say that to the man's face. 603 00:34:07,545 --> 00:34:10,798 It would have been so disrespectful. 604 00:34:10,882 --> 00:34:13,801 And you don't want a dialogue. 605 00:34:13,885 --> 00:34:16,220 [somber music playing] 606 00:34:17,930 --> 00:34:22,643 [Sly] Everyone is going to assume this old man is done. 607 00:34:22,727 --> 00:34:24,729 - And then, bang... - [claps hands] 608 00:34:24,812 --> 00:34:28,316 That door opens, Bill Conti's cue comes in, 609 00:34:28,399 --> 00:34:30,443 and there's hope. 610 00:34:31,319 --> 00:34:35,156 There it is, there is what everybody ever wanted 611 00:34:35,239 --> 00:34:38,284 that was shunned or denied an opportunity. 612 00:34:38,826 --> 00:34:40,787 "Come on. Come on back." 613 00:34:40,870 --> 00:34:45,208 [discordant electric guitar music builds] 614 00:34:49,253 --> 00:34:53,299 Oh my God. This is the theater where <i>Rocky</i> premiered. 615 00:34:54,133 --> 00:34:56,177 The same theater I ushered at. 616 00:34:56,260 --> 00:35:00,181 The first review we got out of New York by Vincent Canby was scathing, 617 00:35:00,264 --> 00:35:02,225 so I didn't know what to expect. 618 00:35:04,310 --> 00:35:07,438 We screen <i>Rocky</i> five days before the release. 619 00:35:07,522 --> 00:35:09,649 It was an afternoon matinée. 620 00:35:09,732 --> 00:35:13,027 I was sitting there with him, and all of a sudden he's going, "Oh shit." 621 00:35:14,779 --> 00:35:18,199 Twenty minutes into it, the audience, three-quarters were gone. 622 00:35:19,826 --> 00:35:21,536 And the studio heads are going... 623 00:35:22,870 --> 00:35:25,456 And I'm getting lower in the seat. I'm going, "Oh shit." 624 00:35:25,540 --> 00:35:28,167 Talk about a crestfallen look. He said, "Oh God." 625 00:35:28,251 --> 00:35:30,837 He thought, "Man, this is going to be a bomb." 626 00:35:33,297 --> 00:35:37,135 So, when it did open, my confidence was not soaring. 627 00:35:38,094 --> 00:35:41,514 In here is where they had the premiere of <i>Rocky.</i> 628 00:35:41,597 --> 00:35:44,725 I remember I was standing across the street over there in a trench coat. 629 00:35:44,809 --> 00:35:46,352 My brother goes, 630 00:35:46,435 --> 00:35:49,522 "This could be the best day or the worst day of your life." 631 00:35:49,605 --> 00:35:51,774 - I go, "Yeah, this is it." - [flashbulb pops] 632 00:35:51,858 --> 00:35:54,610 [Sly] And if this didn't go, there was no second chance. 633 00:35:54,694 --> 00:35:55,820 [thundering boom] 634 00:35:55,903 --> 00:35:58,156 [grunting] 635 00:35:58,239 --> 00:35:59,365 [camera shutter clicks] 636 00:35:59,448 --> 00:36:03,494 [Sly] When everyone's inside, I go to the back, and I'm standing there. 637 00:36:04,537 --> 00:36:07,290 It's almost like it's a still painting. 638 00:36:07,373 --> 00:36:08,541 [subway tracks screeching] 639 00:36:08,624 --> 00:36:12,461 No one is moving. Everyone is listening to every word. 640 00:36:12,545 --> 00:36:15,256 [thudding and grunting] 641 00:36:15,339 --> 00:36:17,175 [Sly] Like, boom. Riveted. 642 00:36:17,258 --> 00:36:19,760 [subway tracks screeching and rattling] 643 00:36:20,887 --> 00:36:22,555 [echoing thud] 644 00:36:23,723 --> 00:36:27,727 [audience roars, fades] 645 00:36:28,561 --> 00:36:30,313 [Sly] When he knocks Apollo down, 646 00:36:31,981 --> 00:36:33,524 whole theater went up, 647 00:36:33,608 --> 00:36:36,903 and the producers all look, and it's like, "Holy shit." 648 00:36:37,612 --> 00:36:41,449 The audience is participating like it's a real sporting event. 649 00:36:41,532 --> 00:36:43,326 We blurred the lines. 650 00:36:44,535 --> 00:36:47,330 You could hear the cheers from the inside 651 00:36:47,413 --> 00:36:49,332 outside on the street from the theater. 652 00:36:49,415 --> 00:36:55,004 We just assumed he would be a joke out there fighting against Creed. 653 00:36:55,755 --> 00:36:58,507 But when he knocks him on his back in the first round, 654 00:36:58,591 --> 00:37:02,595 that kind of excitement, it was almost unheard of. 655 00:37:02,678 --> 00:37:05,681 - [audience cheering loudly] - ["To Hell With Poverty" plays] 656 00:37:05,765 --> 00:3