Rocky was written by Sylvester Stallone and he released the rights to the film providing that he plays the lead. Here was an unknown actor that no one heard of until this Picture won Best Picture in 1976. The Director and Producer both took a gamble on the acting ability of Sly and for all three it paid off BIG TIME ! By the way if you need another FEEL GOOD MOVIE the this is it ! The following ROCKY'S were pretty good as well but they don't compare to the FIRST ONE !