MICKEY
Let’s call it off.
ROCKY
Oh come on, it’s for charity.
MICKEY
Nobody else does this much for charity.
ROCKY
Bob Hope would.
MICKEY
That’s true.
PAULIE
You better call Bob Hope.
Bob Hope finally came through but this amusingly weird Rocky parody may be a charity case in itself!
In this clip from Bob Hope’s All Star Comedy Spectacular from 1977, Hope leads a mismatched gang of Hollywood stars in a comedy spoof based called “Son of Rocky” which is based on Rocky, a movie which at the time was just two months away from winning the Academy Award for Best Picture.
The comedy legend stars as Rocky Haponi, Ann Margret as Angie (Adrian), Sammy Davis, Jr. as Colussus (Apollo Creed) and features famed sports announcer Howard Cosell as the fight commentator.
Ann-Margret may be the highlight of this skit, with an exaggerated New York accent, cat-eye glasses and a false nose which Rocky removes to reveal Angie/Adrian as a stunning beauty. Sammy Davis, Jr. as the Apollo character is dressed in gold as a sultan and is carried into the arena by two strongmen, both of whom he proceeds to knock out.
In a surprise ending, boxing great Muhammad Ali himself busts into the boxing ring to break up Rocky and Colussus’ fight and unashamedly promote his own project, his Columbia Pictures film ‘The Greatest’.
“I’m not gonna let you stand here and destroy the name of me and my profession.” Boxing? The others ask. “No,” Ali replies, “acting.”
