According to his second autobiography published in 1981, Rocky Graziano was paid $200,000 for the rights to make this movie. Perry Como does a memorable job singing the theme while Sammy Cahn wrote the lyrics.The story portrays Rocco Barbella, a young Italian boy who grew up on the East Side of New York during the 1920's and 1930's. During this era life was extremely difficult for Italian immigrant families as they could not get decent jobs which were already taken by other ethnic nationalities who had preceded their arrival in America.Young Rocco was always loyal to his family and especially his mother (played by Eileen Heckart.) Long before his teen years, faced with an abusive alcoholic father and extreme poverty, Rocco learns the way of the streets. He becomes a bona fide hoodlum in the process. In reality, many of his friends and enemies from this era wound up in Sing Sing's electric chair.Eileen Heckart plays a superb role as Ma Ida Barbella, a religious, worry stricken mother who refuses to give up on her difficult son. Harold Stone plays an excellent role as Rocky's father Nick Barbella, whose main resolve is in a wine bottle.We see Rocky as he finally hits rock bottom, a point from which the only way is back up. Coupled with his girlfriend and future bride Norma (played by Pier Angeli,) Rocky takes on the world of professional boxing and shows a talent with great potential. (It should be noted that Rocky was rated as one of the best punchers in middleweight history by Ring Magazine.) I'm critical about some of the early fight scenes; but in all fairness the ones toward the end are extremely well done.The most important thing to remember about the story is that Rocky "turned the leaf" against huge odds; and not doing so might have landed him in the death house at Sing Sing. And so it follows that Somebody up there really did like him ! Great story.

Remember, before you judge this film harshly, it was a biopic, and that meant there were limits as to where the story could go. Unlike for example Rocky, where the only limits to what he could do or whom he could fight were self-imposed by Stallone himself. Late his career, Newman became known for his "H" series (Hud, Harper, Hombre) and tended to play every part the same way. But in this biopic, we see a very unique character emerge -- a guy with a natural knockout punch that will do whatever he has to do to avoid authority figures -- and right off the top of the film, the audience relates to the character and enjoys the exposition. Especially endearing are the courting scenes with Pier Angeli. Newman is so subtle in these that you almost feel like he would rather be in the ring with a brawler than trying to tell his girl how he feels. Not perfect but very few fight movies are. Well worth watching.

I've never been a fan of Paul Newman, although I know he's a good actor...just not my cup of tea. So, it was with little enthusiasm that I finally sat down to watch this film. Wow! What a great movie! So starkly real and compelling. And, although Newman gives a very fine performance, I'd have to say I give the credit, overall, to Robert Wise, the director. And oddly enough, when watching it, I saw obvious parallels in the opening scenes with "West Side Story', only to realize later that Wise directed that film, also.In particular, the early scenes of the film, where we learn what a juvenile delinquent Rocky was, are very powerful...although in this portion of the film, Newman is clearly too old for the part. However, I'm old enough to remember Rocky Graziano (although later when he had become a television star of sorts), and it was difficult to imagine Newman even portraying Graziano...but he did it extremely well. I walked away from this film more impressed with Newman than I had ever been in the past.Several other actors deserve mention here, also. Eileen Heckart as Graziano's "ma" turns in a stunning performance as a beaten down old woman living in the tenements. Sal Mineo as Graziano's young pal is always worth a mention. And, Everett Sloan, as the boxing manager is very good here.ANother thing worth mentioning here is that I am a bit of a boxing fan myself, and I watch most matches that are broadcast on HBO. The fight scenes here are the most realistic I have ever seen in a movie, and although we know they were throwing their punches, it's my guess that the actors were pretty sore after filming.And, last but not least, you have a superb Perry Como vocal -- one of his most powerful and dramatic performances -- in the opening and closing title song. What more could one want for that era?

"Somebody Up There Likes Me" is the second film Paul Newman starred as leading actor and the first to become a hit making him a great movie star. Here he plays the legendary boxer Rocky Graziano in his long and very difficult journey to be a recognized boxer. The movie begins showing his tough childhood in Bronx where he participated in robberies, and then went to prison because of his long list of crimes. After he went out of prison, he is drafted by the U.S. Army, but runs away. His luck seems to change when he discover that he can get fast money winning boxing fights. His first friend is Irving Cohen (Everett Sloane, the eternal Mr. Bernstein from "Citizen Kane"), who became his coach, arranging more and more fights to the young talented man. Just like Rocky Balboa who finds Adrienne, suddenly Graziano finds his first love, a young Jewish girl called Norma (Pier Angeli), who like him very much but can't stand his boxing.But the biggest challenge to Rocky isn't in the fighting but it's something more deep. A guy (Robert Loggia) that he met in prison reappears and then makes an offer to the boxer: he must lose a important fight. Why? Because his past on robbery and in the Army may be revealed to the public that really likes this guy. Rocky's always battling with himself trying to understand why bad things happens to him over and over again. OK, you might find the plot very obvious, something that you've seen before, but it has it's good moments and some originality. Newman's performance is a great asset to the film. He is conflicted, lost, sympathetic, angry and yet the audience always like him. Even that the boxing scenes doesn't work so well like in "Raging Bull" it's still worth watching the story of a man who's been beaten too much but don't give up so easily. Pier Angeli, Everett Sloane, Sal Mineo (Rocky's friend), Eileen Heckart and Robert Loggia (in his film debut) are very good in strong supporting roles. Pay attention to Steve McQueen participation as Fidel, one of the members of the gang in the beginning of the movie. Well directed by Robert Wise. 10/10