There never would have been a RagingBull without RockyII. Legendary producer Irwin Winkler agreed to the “Rocky” sequel only if United Artists would greenlight De Niro’s passion project.
Before the screening, TCM host Ben Mankiewicz conducted a Q&A with four key players from the United Artists production: De Niro, Scorsese and his longtime editor Thelma Schoonmaker and Irwin Winkler. Winkler, the legendary 90-year-old producer, was on hand with Mankiewicz while the other three participated via video conference call.
So yes, Mankiewicz could be forgiven for holding the “Raging Bull” quartet on stage while he had them. “It’s late in New York, Ben,” Scorsese chided at one point.** “Raging Bull” was a long-gestating project. Scorsese and De Niro first began talking about it in 1974 but it took Scorsese some time to understand the character, and both of them were busy. De Niro recalled that he was working on Bernardo Bertolucci’s “1900” when he first read La Motta’s biography.
** Scorsese admits he had to get over his natural bias of being generally uninterested in sports. Before “Raging Bull,” boxing to the filmmaker was “two small figures on a 12-inch screen hitting each other. And it went on for hours,” he said. His understanding of the material “came through Bob’s interpretation of the character.” Added Winkler, “I never saw a relationship that was as comfortable and as easy as Marty and Bob.