Rocky is a 1976 American sports drama directed by John G. Avildsen and written by Sylvester Stallone, who also stars as Rocky Balboa, a small-time Philadelphia boxer and debt collector who unexpectedly gets a shot at the world heavyweight champion, Apollo Creed. What makes the film endure is that it is not really about winning a title, but about dignity, resilience and proving something to oneself. Made on a very modest budget, it became a massive success, won the Academy Award for Best Picture, and turned Rocky Balboa into one of the most iconic characters in American cinema.
The film is inseparable from Philadelphia, and it uses the city as a real working-class environment rather than a polished backdrop. Many of the most famous scenes were shot in Kensington, where Rocky’s home was located at 1818 East Tusculum Street, and along his training route through the Italian Market on Ninth Street, past Philadelphia City Hall, and up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The film also uses other recognisable parts of the city, including the Schuylkill River area, Broad Street near City Hall, Rittenhouse Square and the Navy Yard, all of which help build a very specific sense of place. Although Rocky is strongly identified with Philadelphia, some scenes were also filmed in Los Angeles, but it is Philadelphia’s rowhouses, markets, civic landmarks and streets that give the film its identity and make the city feel just as important as the characters.
Philadelphia Museum of Art Steps
Philadelphia Museum of Art Steps appear most famously in Rocky (1976), and later returned in several other Rocky and Creed films. They also appear in Shazam.
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