Last night, GITS reader-editor-writer-director and major movie buff Kevin Wild stopped by, so I asked him for a Great Scene. He said, “Hey, you should do some that came about because of budget issues.” And he immediately thought of the ice-skating scene in the movie Rocky (1976). As Kevin remembered it, the scene as written in the original script was supposed to include a bunch of skaters on the ice rink for Rocky (screenwriter, director and leading man Sylvester Stallone) and Adrian (Talia Shire) to circumnavigate. But Kevin said, “I think they had to cut the other skaters because they couldn’t afford the extras.” So I Googled “rocky ice skating scene budget extras,” and sure enough, Kevin was right. In this article from 2001, celebrating the 25th anniversary of the movie’s release, there’s this:

“It was like the independent movies of today — it was about taking a risk,” Shire said. “It wasn’t about having so much money at stake, where you tend to forfeit your ideas and solve your problems in a more formulaic way. In ‘Rocky,’ there wasn’t that much money. And because the risk factors were changed, little eccentricities were allowed to happen.”

One of those eccentricities, Shire said, was the memorable scene in which Rocky took her ice skating. The scene called for a crowd of people, but there wasn’t enough money in the budget to hire enough extras.

“That turned out to be something that just suited the scene beautifully,” she said.

Here is the scene as it was scripted without the extras.

               INT. ICE SKATING RINK - NIGHT

               Rocky and Adrian enter a deserted skating rink.

                                     ROCKY

                         Looks quiet, y'know.

                                     ADRIAN

                         I think it's closed.

                                     ROCKY

                         I think mebbe we're early or somethin' --

               From across the rink a CLEANING MAN yells at them.

                                     CLEANER

                         Hey, whatta ya doin' here -- we're 

                         closed... Yo, we're closed!

                                     ROCKY

                              (yells back)

                         Are ya closed to the General Public 

                         or to just everybody.

                                     CLEANER

                              (starts to walk over)

                         Hey, the rink is empty 'cause we're 

                         closed -- ya ain't allowed in here 

                         so do me a favor an' not stay here.

                                     ROCKY

                         Wait here, gotta smooth this guy 

                         out.

                                     ADRIAN

                              (softly)

                         We could go somewhere else an' --

               Rocky approaches the Cleaner.

                                     CLEANER

                         Yo, pal, what's with you -- The place 

                         ain't operatin'.

                                     ROCKY

                         Listen, I gotta problem. This girl 

                         ain't feelin' well, y'know -- The 

                         doctor says she should exercise, 

                         y'know once in awhile an' ice skatin' 

                         is the best thing --

                                     CLEANER

                         This a con?

                                     ROCKY

                         Look at her, ya can see she ain't 

                         feelin' good -- needs a few minutes 

                         exercise --

                                     CLEANER

                         Few minutes?

                                     ROCKY

                         ...Ten minutes.

                                     CLEANER

                         Ten minutes for ten dollars.

                                     ROCKY

                         ...Yeah, give 'er the Blades.

               INT. ICE SKATING RINK - NIGHT

               Adrian has on skates. Rocky follows her onto the ice. He 

               wears street shoes.

                                     ADRIAN

                         ...Aren't you skating?

                                     ROCKY

                         Ain't skated since I was fifteen -- 

                         That's when I started fightin' -- 

                         gotta watch the ankles. Yeah, fightin' 

                         use to be tops with me, but no more. 

                         All I wanted to prove was I weren't 

                         no bum -- That I had the stuff to 

                         make a good pro.

                                     ADRIAN

                         And you never got the chance?

               The Cleaner yells from the sideline.

                                     CLEANER

                         Nine minutes!

                                     ROCKY

                         Hey, I ain't cryin'... I still fight.  

                         Kinda do it like a hobby. See I'm a 

                         natural southpaw an' most pugs won't 

                         fight a southpaw 'cause we mess up 

                         their timin' an' look awkward -- 

                         Southpaw means lefthanded... But I 

                         guess in the long run things probably 

                         worked out for the best, right?

                                     ADRIAN

                         But you never had a chance to prove 

                         yourself.

                                     ROCKY

                         Absolutely.

                                     CLEANER

                         Eight minutes!

               Adrian slips and Rocky breaks her fall.

                                     ROCKY

                         I just dislocated my finger.

                                     ADRIAN

                         Ohh!

                                     CLEANER

                         Seven minutes!

                                     ROCKY

                         It ain't your fault -- I originally 

                         done it in the Baby Crenshaw fight.

                              (opens his wallet)

                         That's me fightin' Big Baby Crenshaw -- 

                         Big Baby was the size of an airplane 

                         an' I broke my hands on his head -- 

                         I lost, but it's a nice picture, 

                         don't ya think?

                                     CLEANER

                         Six!

                                     ROCKY

                         How 'bout some Cokes?

                                     CLEANER

                         Cost ya a buck.

                                     ROCKY

                         This guy is beautiful -- get the 

                         Cokes.

Adrian does a slight turn and Rocky has to speed up
and nearly falls.

                                     ROCKY

                              (continuing)

                         See, I ain't graceful, y'know -- I 

                         don't move good -- Stink as a dancer 

                         too -- But I can really swat, I hit 

                         hard, real hard, but I'm a southpaw 

                         an' nobody wants to fight a southpaw! -- 

                         Havin' a good time?

Adrian nods and is very nervous... The Cleaner moves carefully
across the ice.

                                     ROCKY

                              (continuing)

                         Y'know how I got started in the fight 

                         racket?

                                     ADRIAN

                         By accident?

                                     CLEANER

                         Here -- Three minutes.

                                     ROCKY

                         Yeah -- My ol' man who was never the 

                         sharpest told me -- I weren't born 

                         with much brain so I better use my 

                         body.

               For the first time, Adrian laughs.

                                     ROCKY

                              (continuing)

                         What's funny?

                                     ADRIAN

                         My mother told me just the opposite. 

                         She said, 'You weren't born with 

                         much of a body so you'd better develop 

                         your brain.'

                                     CLEANER

                         Time!

The Cleaner walks over as Rocky and Adrian get off the ice.

                                     CLEANER

                              (continuing)

                         That's ten bucks.

                                     ROCKY

                         I must be goin' deaf 'cause I thought 

                         ya said, 'ten cents.'

               Rocky hands him a dime.

                                     CLEANER

                              (weakly)

                         ...How 'bout for the Cokes?

                                     ROCKY

                         Charge it.

Rocky and Adrian start to leave. Rocky pauses at the door and
fishes into his pocket and hands over eleven dollars.

                                     ROCKY

                              (continuing)

                         Had ya goin', didn't I, huh?

               He grins and leaves.

That’s a great bit of business with the Cleaner calling out the minute count, then finally “Time!” It puts just enough comedy and edge in the scene to cut away any hint of schmaltz. And it adds a layer of tension on top of the scene which combines with the sexual tension playing under the scene. Wonderful stuff. Here’s the film version:

H/T to Kevin for the suggestion. How about you? Know of any great movie scenes that were inspired by or forced into being due to lack of funds?

And for all you Rocky fans, please feel free to add your stories — personal or otherwise — about this ‘small’ movie that created a huge sensation in 1976.