DAVID BRINKLEY'S JOURNAL {ANTONINO ROCCA, WRESTLER} (TV)
Summary
One in this series of public affairs programs hosted by David Brinkley. In this edition, Brinkley profiles professional wrestler Antonino Rocca, whom he calls the foremost hero of New York City's Puerto Rican community and one of the highest-paid athletes in the country. The program includes the following segments: footage of Rocca's rigorous workout regime at the gym; the wrestler walks barefoot through Central Park while commenting on the feeling of positive energy this ritual gives him; Rocca is mobbed in a Puerto Rican neighborhood at Columbus Avenue and 106th Street by autograph seekers and people who simply want to touch him; he is seen enjoying himself and dancing at his favorite restaurant; the wrestler -- who is often invited to lecture at schools -- speaks to the students of P.S. 117 in Spanish Harlem about the importance of respecting their parents and excelling in school; Brinkley talks with Rocca backstage at a wrestling match where the athlete discusses the strong identification factor that allows the Puerto Rican people to "live with him in the ring," and he also discusses his approach to romancing women; Rocca and a partner take on an Australian team at a tag-team match, and Brinkley comments on the scripted nature of these matches (Rocca has never lost a match) which generally pit the Puerto Rican team against "dirty-fighting" Anglo-Saxons, creating a kind of nationalistic morality play; a look at Rocca's relatively modest West Side apartment where he entertains friends after the match and is serenaded by an appreciative Puerto Rican band from the street below; and Brinkley makes some final comments about how this man, who has the power to behave like a demagogue, chooses instead to stick to wrestling and boosting the morale of inner-city youth. Includes black-and-white commercials.
Cataloging of this program was made possible by The Marc Haas and Helen Hotze Haas Foundation, 1995.
Details
- NETWORK: NBC
- DATE: January 3, 1962 Wednesday 10:30 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:29:07
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:35268
- GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries
- SUBJECT HEADING: Puerto Ricans -- United States; Sports; Wrestling
- SERIES RUN: NBC - TV series, 1961-1963
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV - Commercials - Schick razor blades
- TV - Commercials - Schlitz beer
- TV - Commercials - Singer portable typewriters
CREDITS
- Ted Yates … Producer
- Stuart Schulberg … Co-Producer, Director, Documentary footage directed by
- Robert Asman … Associate Producer
- Steve Bono … Production (Misc.)
- Maggie Weil … Research Editor
- David Brinkley … Host, Interviewer
- Rocca, Antonino (Tony)