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FULL SYNOPSIS

In 1941, at a boxing match in Cleveland, Ohio, pandemonium breaks out when Jake La Motta, an up-and-coming young boxer, loses a decision to Jimmy Reeves, suffering his first loss and igniting a brawl in which audience members are trampled underfoot. Following Jake's defeat, Salvy Batts, who works for boxing racketeer Tommy Como, informs Jake's brother and manager Joey that an association with Tommy could advance Jake's career. Although Joey agrees with Salvy, he observes that his stubborn brother, whom he affectionately calls "Jack," has "a head like concrete" and insists upon remaining independent. Nevertheless, Joey promises to present Salvy's offer to Jake, and proceeds to his brother's dreary, run-down apartment, where Jake is in the middle of a screaming match with his wife Irma. Once Joey mollifies his enraged brother, the mercurial Jake laments that his small, girlish hands limit his ability to rise to the top. Suddenly hostile, Jake provokes Joey into hitting him in the face. Later, when Salvy comes to watch Jake in a sparring match with Joey, Jake becomes so angered by Salvy's presence that he pummels Joey. At the neighborhood swimming pool one day, Jake spots blonde, fifteen-year-old Vickie Thailer, who piques his interest and passion. When Jake questions Joey about Vickie, Joey reminds him that he is a married man. Leaving Irma at home one night, Jake attends a church charity dance with Joey, where he sees Vickie seated across the room with Salvy. Watching Vickie drive off with Salvy, Jake sends Joey to the pool the next day to arrange an introduction to her. When Vickie admires Jake's shiny convertible, he invites her for a ride, and after changing from her swimsuit into a virginal white outfit, she joins him. After a visit to a miniature golf course, Jake takes her to the apartment he purchased for his father and ushers her into the bedroom, where a crucifix perches above the headboard. He nudges her onto the bed, but she quickly rises and walks to the bureau, where she looks at a photo of Jake and Joey sparring, a rosary dangling over its frame. In 1943, Jake scores a major victory against Sugar Ray Robinson, Robinson's first loss and the beginning of a life-long rivalry between the two boxers. Following the fight, Vickie, who is now living with Jake, kisses his blackened eye, but when he becomes sexually aroused, he pours a pitcher of ice water down his crotch in order to preserve his energy for the next match with Robinson, which is to take place three weeks later. Although Robinson is named winner of the bout by the unanimous decision of the judges, Jake's career takes off when he wins a series of victories and, now successful, he marries Vickie and buys a new home in the Bronx. Joey has also married and moved into a nearby house with his wife Lenore. In 1947, after having had three babies and living a relatively quiet life in the suburbs, Jake has gained weight and bristles when Joey enters him into a match with newcomer Tony Janiro, for which Jake will have to lose fifteen pounds. When Joey explains that he set up the match because established boxers are afraid to face Jake, Vickie supports Joey, noting that Janiro would be an apt opponent because he is so good-looking and popular. Vickie's comment triggers Jake's obsessive jealousy, and he balks at going to training camp and thus leaving Vickie alone. When Jake asks Joey to keep an eye on Vickie while he is gone, Joey suggests taking her out for a night on the town before he leaves. They all go to the Copacabana nightclub, and when Vickie excuses herself to go the ladies room, Salvy, who is there with Tommy, invites her to join them for a drink. Jake warily watches their encounter, and when Vickie returns to the table, accuses her of flirting with Salvy and Tommy. During his match with Janiro, Jake viciously pummels his opponent in the face, destroying his good looks and winning the bout. Following his victory, Jake returns to training camp, and one night while at a nightclub, Joey spots Vickie enter with Salvy and his friends. Pulling her away from Salvy's table, Joey orders Vickie to leave with him, then smashes a glass in Salvy's face. When Salvy follows Joey outside, Joey kicks him, then bangs him in the head with a taxicab door. Afterward, Tommy summons Joey and Salvy, his arm in a sling and his face bandaged, to his headquarters at the Debonair Social Club and orders them to forget their argument and shake hands. After Salvy departs, Tommy warns Joey that Jake is embarrassing him by not accepting his patronage. Although Joey argues that Jake wants to make it on his own, Tommy counters that Jake will never get a chance at the title without his help. Upon Jake's return from training camp, Joey reports that Tommy has offered him a shot at the title in exchange for throwing a match with Billy Fox. During the fight, Jake offers no resistance to Fox, allowing his opponent to strike him at will until being declared the victor. As Jake later tearfully relates to his cornermen, he did not know any other way to lose. Following the fight, Jake is suspended by the boxing board while the district attorney probes into the possibility of a fixed fight. Two years later, in 1949, Jake faces middleweight champion Marcel Cerdan in a title bout. Before the match, Tommy comes to Jake's hotel room to wish him good luck, but after Tommy kisses Vickie goodbye and leaves, Jake slaps her and demands to know why she is so friendly with Tommy. After Jake wins the bout on a technical knockout in the tenth round, the referee straps the championship belt around his waist. By 1950, Jake has developed a paunch from his extensive binges of eating and drinking, although he is set to defend his title in a month. Still insanely jealous of Vickie, Jake suspects that she and Salvy had an affair, and when Joey denies it, Jake irrationally accuses him of having an affair with her. In response, Joey advises Jake to indulge in more sex and less food. Jake then goes to Vickie's bedroom to ask if she had sex with his brother. Offended, she locks herself in the bathroom, after which he breaks down the door and slaps her. Proceeding to Joey's house, Jake pulls his brother away from dinner with his family and begins to beat him, accusing him of adultery with Vickie. When Vickie arrives, he punches her, prompting her to go home and pack her things. She later tells Jake that she is leaving him, but his more subdued, contrite demeanor causes her to relent and she agrees to stay, although the brothers remain estranged. In 1951 Jake faces Robinson to defend his championship title in the "fight of the year." As Joey watches the bout on television, Robinson viciously pounds Jake, sending streams of blood trickling down his legs and spewing from his mouth. Even though Robinson is declared the new champion, Jake remains cocky and defiant. Five years later, in 1956, Jake, now living in Florida and grown fat and bloated, announces his retirement from boxing and the opening of his eponymous nightclub. As emcee, Jake tells crude jokes and flirts with underage women customers. Tired of Jake's abuse, Vickie finally files for divorce and takes custody of the children. One evening, while sleeping in his office, Jake is arrested for pandering to underage customers. To pay his legal fees, Jake smashes his championship belt to pry out the jewels, only to be informed by the pawnbroker that the belt was worth much more intact. Unable to raise the money for his defense, Jake, bellicose and belligerent, is thrown into solitary confinement, where he slams his head against the wall and sobs that he is not an animal. By 1958, Jake, now out of jail and living in New York, has been reduced to introducing his new wife, Emma, a stripper known as "Miss 48's," in a dive bar. One night, he spots Joey walking down the street and runs after him. Although Jake smothers him with hugs and kisses, Joey, still angry, shrugs him off. In 1964, Jake rehearses his lines for his one-night show at the Barbizon Plaza Hotel. As he stands in front of his dressing room mirror, Jake recites the famous speech from On the Waterfront in which "Terry Malloy" accuses his brother, "Charley," of betraying him, saying "I could have had class. I could've been a contender, I could've been somebodyÂ¿instead of a bum, which is what I am." Before going on stage, Jake gazes into the mirror and sparring with his reflection, declares, "Go get `em champ. I'm the boss."

CAST AND CREW/FULL CREDITS

NOTES

Although some modern sources list a working title of The Life of Jake La Motta, and a 1976 Los Angeles Times news item referred to the film as The Prizefighter, all other sources from 1975 onward used the title Raging Bull or, occasionally, The Raging Bull. The opening credits are presented in black-and-white, except for the film's title, which appears in bold red letters. The credits roll over shots of "Jake La Motta" (Robert De Niro) as he shadowboxes in the ring before La Motta's 1949 middleweight championship victory against Marcel Cerdan.
       In the opening cast credits, Floyd Anderson, Johnny Barnes, Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, Kevin Mahon, Louis Raftis and Johnny Turner are all listed under the heading "Fighters," with their respective character names. In the end credits, each name is listed alongside its respective character name, grouped, along with other actors, under headings for specific fights.
       Just before the end credits, a quotation from The New English Bible John IX, 24-26 is presented, with each line illuminated as it appears onscreen: "So, for the second time, [the Pharisees] summoned the man who had been blind and said: 'Speak the truth before God. We know this fellow is a sinner.' 'Whether or not he is a sinner, I do not know,' the man replied. 'All I know is this: once I was blind and now I can see.'" The quotation is followed by a written remembrance to Haig P. Manoogian, "with love and resolution, Marty." Manoogian, who died on May 26, 1980, was director Martin Scorsese's film professor at New York University. The credit for The Big Fights, Inc. was an acknowledgment for providing "Jake La Motta screening material and the voice of Ted Husing announcing the actual La Motta-Robinson fight (February 14, 1951)." The end credits also acknowledge the use of excerpts from the soundtrack of the 1939 Hal Roach production of Of Mice and Men, directed by Lewis Milestone, with music by Aaron Copland and excerpts from the screenplay for On the Waterfront (1954, ) written by Budd Schulberg.
       Following the opening credits, a title card reads "New York City 1964," during which a visibly overweight De Niro, as La Motta, is rehearsing for a performance at the Barbizon Plaza Hotel in New York City. After the words "Jake La Motta, 1964" are superimposed over a freeze frame of De Niro's face, the frame dissolves into a thinner, younger looking De Niro, with a superimposed title reading "Jake La Motta, 1941." The action then proceeds in chronological order, with frequent inter-titles announcing the year and place. Throughout the film, the various boxing matches are preceded by title cards announcing the respective fights, as well as the city and year in which they took place.
       For the years between 1943 and 1947, the passage of time is presented through a montage of title cards, still photographs of various boxing matches and grainy color "home movies" of La Motta, his brother "Joey" (Joe Pesci), Jake's second wife "Vickie" (Cathy Moriarty) and their respective families. The home movies are the only color sequences in the otherwise black-and-white film. At the end of the film, the action returns to 1964, when La Motta is once again in his dressing room, rehearsing for his Barbizon Plaza act, which is advertised as dramatic readings from "Paddy Chayefsky, Rod Serling, Shakespeare, Budd Schulberg and Tennessee Williams." Sitting at his dressing table, he looks at himself in the mirror and begins to recite the "I could've been a contender" speech from Schulberg's screenplay for On the Waterfront. The scene ends with La Motta shadowboxing in front of the mirror before going onstage.
       New York boxer Jake La Motta (1921-), a tough, former juvenile delinquent known as the "Bronx Bull," fought over 100 professional fights and was the Middleweight Champion of the World from June 16, 1949 to February 14, 1951. As shown in the film, La Motta took the title from Marcel Cerdan when the French champion was unable to start the 10th round of their match. La Motta lost the title to famed boxer and frequent opponent Sugar Ray Robinson in the 13th round of their 1951 bout. Although technically knocked out, La Motta never fell to the mat, a feat he often bragged about and which was recreated in the film.
       After La Motta quit the ring in 1954, he had several unsuccessful business ventures, including a Florida nightclub, and eventually became a stand-up comedian and nightclub performer. As depicted in the film, he had a violent marriage to his second wife, Vickie Thailer La Motta (1930-2005), which was characterized by jealousy and physical abuse that eventually led to their divorce. In his 1970 autobiography, written by Joseph Carter and Peter Savage (who also served as the film's associate producer), La Motta publicly admitted what he often had denied over the years, that he threw his 1947 match against Billy Fox. As in the film, La Motta stated that the reason he threw the fight was to have a chance to go against reigning champion Cerdan.
       According to several contemporary sources, the idea for a film based on La Motta's life began in 1973 while De Niro was filming The Godfather, Part II (1974, ) in Sicily. When the actor read La Motta's autobiography, he thought that it would make an engrossing movie and brought the book to Scorsese, with whom he had worked on Mean Streets (, 1973), and suggested that he direct it. According to a May 1, 1975 Daily Variety news item, Dino De Laurentiis initially planned to produce the film, but by 1976, Robert Chartoff and Irwin Winkler were the producers. In an interview for a November 15, 1996 Los Angeles Times article on the 20th anniversary of another successful Chartoff-Winkler production, Rocky (see below), Winkler stated that he and his partner agreed to produce Rocky II (1979) for United Artists only if UA also agreed to finance Raging Bull.
       Various news items from 1976 through 1978 referred to several announced production dates, with shooting initially scheduled for late 1976, after Scorsese completed New York, New York (1977), then November 1978 and finally, spring 1979. A April 19, 1978 Daily Variety news item reported that the film's budget was to be in the "$6,000,000 range" and that screenwriter Paul Schrader was at that time in the process of rewriting the script prepared by Mardik Martin. Numerous contemporary and modern sources confirm that Schrader extensively re-wrote the script submitted to Scorsese by Martin, who shared screenwriting credit with Schrader. According to modern sources and interviews with the filmmakers, the production was nearly dropped by Scorsese, who had initially expressed disinterest in doing a boxing movie. However, when De Niro visited Scorsese while he was hospitalized in 1978, he convinced his friend to re-start the project, and the two spent three weeks together working on the script's dialogue and characterizations, according to modern interviews.
       Prior to the start of filming, as reported in a November 23, 1980 New York Times feature article, De Niro trained for over twelve months [other sources reported six or eight months] with La Motta at the Gramercy Gym in New York City. In various interviews, La Motta complimented De Niro for his tenacity and mastery of boxing techniques. According to many sources, because he had trained so well, De Niro did not need a boxing double for any of the picture's fight scenes.
       Principal photography began on the MGM lot in Culver City on April 16, 1979, where interiors were shot. According to trade publication news items, the production moved to New York City in Jun, where the exteriors and some additional interiors were shot. The production went on hiatus in early August to allow De Niro to gain weight for the later portions of the film in which he portrayed La Motta as older and much heavier. Contemporary and modern sources variously report De Niro's weight gain as 40, 50, 55 and 60 pounds, with most reporting it as 55. Virtually all reviews of Raging Bull commented on De Niro's weight gain, which through the years has remained a touchstone for an actor's dedication to realism.
       Production resumed on December 3, 1979 in Los Angeles, where both interior and exterior scenes set in Florida were shot, as were the dressing room and some additional interiors. The company then moved back to New York City, where some interiors and the night scenes of the older La Motta were shot. Filming wrapped in New York in late December 1979, more than eight months after principal photography began.
       Although news items reported that the picture was to be released in time for Memorial Day weekend 1980, according to a January 9, 1980 Hollywood Reporter news item, editing and post-production delays caused it to be pulled from UA's summer releasing schedule. A November 4, 1980 Hollywood Reporter article reported that the picture was to have been the closing night event for the November 1980 London Film Festival, and had already been included in the festival's printed program, but was withdrawn at the last minute. The picture eventually opened in three cities, New York, Los Angeles and Toronto, on November 14, 1980. Several trade paper news items in January 1981 reported that the J. Arthur Rank Organisation circuit refused to book playdates for Raging Bull in its London cinemas so that, when the picture was finally released in Britain, it played in only a few independent houses in London. The picture was, however, the opening night feature for the Berlin Film Festival on 13 February 1981.
       Music and sound are prominent aspects of the film, as acknowledged by Scorsese and many contemporary and modern critics. The only sound during the credits is the film's primary thematic music, the "Intermezzo" from the 1890 opera Cavalleria Rusticana by Pietro Mascagni, played by the Orchestra of Bologna Municop Thetra, conducted by Arturo Basile. The film's score did not include any original music, but consisted of various musical passages from the works of Mascagni, interwoven with popular songs and melodies that represented the passage of time, as well as the picture's various moods.
       Many of the songs included in the screen credits are barely audible within the film, with some numbers heard in the background as if being played on radios or in clubs as the characters pass in and out of a scene. Many critics commented on the effectiveness of the score, which film historians have pointed to as a pioneering work in the effective mix of classical and contemporary music. As noted in a feature article in Hollywood Reporter in January 2005, the Raging Bull soundtrack was not released until 2005. According to Robbie Robertson, who was the music producer for the score, the soundtrack release was delayed because of rights and clearances issues complicated by the large number of songs and performers.
       In addition to the music track, various tracks of sound enhanced the film's overall impact. In many scenes background noises almost overpower the dialogue spoken by the main characters. In other scenes, especially the fight scenes, there is no sound, followed by intermittent bursts of sound. During some more intimate scenes, the dialogue is low, with additional, ambient sounds reflecting outside noises or, in one scene, the hum of static on a television set.
       Michael Westmore, a member of the famous Westmore of Hollywood family of cosmeticians, created the makeup for the film. Reviews and feature articles praised Westmore's work, which transformed De Niro's face to resemble La Motta's, including the characteristic broken fighter's nose, and aged him from the fit young man of the early 1940s to the haggard, overweight man of the mid-1960s. Westmore also created the prosthetic nose for actor Kevin Mahon, who portrayed Tony Janiro, a boxer whose face was mercilessly battered by La Motta in one of the film's most brutal scenes, the result of La Motta's unwarranted fit of jealousy over a casual remark made by Vickie about Janiro's good looks.
       Critical praise was also high for editor Thelma Schoonmaker, as well as for cinematographer Michael Chapman, a frequent Scorsese collaborator. In an article in Millimeter, Chapman described the various techniques he used to give the film both its period feel and realism, particularly in the boxing scenes which are central to the story but encompass little more than ten minutes of screen time. Among other things, Chapman described building a device that could be used to hold numerous old-fashioned flashbulbs that would give the distinctive "pop" and flash of light needed for the scenes in the ring.
       In interviews, Scorsese stated that the original idea to film in black-and-white was actually the result of a discussion Scorsese had with famed British director Michael Powell, who watched 8mm rehearsal shots of a fight scene and suggested that the color of the boxing gloves looked wrong. According to Scorsese, it was then that he decided to have the film shot in black-and-white.
       Raging Bull marked the motion picture debut of Moriarty, who was only twenty at the time of the film's production and had never acted before. Some feature articles reported that she was selected after Pesci, who had worked in New York's garment district, where she was a model, brought her to Scorsese's attention. Her selection followed a pre-production publicity campaign to fill the role of Vickie that included, according to a August 21, 1978 Hollywood Reporter ad, an open casting call for "Young woman to play 15-30 years old. Must be blonde and have excellent figure. No regional accents except New York." Raging Bull was only the second film role for Pesci, who had been a theatrical child actor, but had quit acting after appearing in the 1976 film The Death Collector. Raging Bull also marked the screen debut of actor John Turturro, who had a bit role as one of the young men sitting with Jake and Joey at the dance when the priest comes to their table. Modern sources add Joseph Bergmann, Bruno DiGiorgi, Marty Farrell, Tony Lip, Dennis O'Neill, McKenzie Westmore and Jimmy Williams to the cast.
       Reviews were mostly laudatory, with critics lavishing praise on De Niro's performance and the film's startlingly realistic and violent fight scenes. The Variety critics wrote that "Not since The Harder They Fall in 1956 have boxing scenes been filmed with such terrific intensity," a sentiment that was echoed in many contemporary reviews, which frequently wrote about the numerous slow motion shots that added to the brutality of the fight sequences. Contemporary critics had mixed opinions of the overall effectiveness of Scorsese's direction, although Los Angeles Times critic Charles Champlin, one of the film's principal supporters, called it "Scorsese's most perfectly shaped film."
       The film was one of the top box-office films of 1981, having gradually opened in a greater numbers of cities in North America in early 1981. News items reported that, following the picture's eight Academy Award nominations, UA released it in many additional venues.
       Raging Bull received two Academy Awards, one for De Niro as Best Actor and the other for Schoonmaker for Film Editing. The film also received the following six nominations: Best Picture, Directing, Supporting Actor (Pesci), Supporting Actress (Moriarty), Cinematography (Chapman) and Sound (Donald O. Mitchell, Bill Nicholson, David J. Kimball and Les Lazarowitz). In addition, De Niro won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Dramatic role, as well as being named Best Actor by many major critics. Scorsese was nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Director and for the Best Director award by the Directors Guild of America, but failed to win either award, which, like the Oscar for Best Director, eluded him until 2007, when he won for The Departed.
       In the wake of the popularity of Raging Bull, La Motta and ex-wife Vickie became celebrities, often appearing at New York social gatherings, occasionally together. According to contemporary articles about the film, they went to one screening of the film together and when La Motta asked his former wife if he was as bad as he appeared in the movie, she replied that he was worse. According to a January 6, 1981 Hollywood Reporter news item, Stephanie La Motta, one of Jake and Vickie's three children, disliked the film's violent portrayal of her father, whom she was quoted as calling "a very meek and mild-mannered man."
       In December 1981, Vickie, who was then fifty-one, appeared in a nude centerfold spread in Playboy, and in 1986, another La Motta autobiography, Raging Bull II, was ghostwritten by Chris Anderson and Sharon McGhee. A New York magazine article on December 8, 1980 reported that La Motta's brother Joey was planning a multi-million dollar lawsuit against Scorsese, De Niro and United Artists, charging defamation of character, but no additional information about such a suit has been located. July 1981 news items in Los Angeles Times and Daily Variety reported that Joseph Carter, who co-authored La Motta's autobiography, was suing him for nonpayment of revenues based on La Motta's profits from the movie rights to the book, but the disposition of that dispute is undetermined.
       Over the years since its release, the critical reputation of Raging Bull has increased. It was re-released in 1990 on the heels of several polls of national film critics, including Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel, and the staffs of Premiere and American Film magazines, who named it the best film of the decade. On the film's 25th anniversary, it had a gala anniversary screening at New York's Ziegfeld Theatre that was attended by Scorsese, De Niro, La Motta and many of the film's principals. A two-disc 25th anniversary DVD was also released a few weeks later. In 2007, Raging Bull was ranked 4th on AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies-10th Anniversary Edition list of the greatest American films, moving up from the 24th position it occupied on AFI's 1997 list.

1980 Academy Award Nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Pesci), Best Supporting Actress (Moriarty), Best Cinematography, and Best Sound.

1980 Academy Award Winner for Best Actor (De Niro) and Best Film Editing.

1980 Golden Globe Award Winner for Best Actor (De Niro).

1981 British Academy Award Winner for Most Promising Newcomer (Pesci) and Best Film Editing.

In recent American Film Critics' Surveys "Raging Bull" was voted "Best Film of the Decade" (1980-1989).

Martin Scorsese was nominated for outstanding directorial achievement by the Directors Guild of America.

Voted Best Actor (De Niro) and Best Supporting Actor (Pesci) by the 1980 New York Film Critics Circle.

Voted Best Actor (De Niro), Best Supporting Actor (Pesci), and One of the Year's Ten Best Films by the 1980 National Board of Review.

Voted Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Pesci), and Best Cinematography by the 1980 National Society of Film Critics.

Voted Best Picture and Best Actor (De Niro) by the 1980 Los Angeles Film Critics Association.

Voted One of the Year's Ten Best Films by the 1980 New York Times Film Critics.

Released in United States Fall November 1980

Released in United States November 1980

Re-released in United States August 4, 2000

Re-released in United States January 5, 1990

Released in USA on video.

Shown in New York City (American Museum of the Moving Image) as part of program "Martin Scorsese" February 17-25, 1996.

Shown in New York City (American Museum of the Moving Image) as part of program "Scorsese/De Niro Retrospective) April 13 & 14, 1991.

Shown in New York City (Anthology Film Archives) as part of program "Best of the Indies" September 5-15, 1996.

b&w and c Technicolor

In the 1992 "Sight & Sound" Filmmakers' Survey "Raging Bull" was voted the Second Best Film of All Time (tied with "8 and 1/2").

11588 feet

rtg BBFC X

rtg MPAA R

Selected in 1990 for inclusion in the Library of Congress' National Film Registry.

Re-released in Paris June 20, 1990.

Re-released in Tel Aviv June 1990.

Re-released in United States January 5, 1990 (Los Angeles)

Re-released in United States August 4, 2000 (Film Forum; New York City)

Released in United States Fall November 1980

Released in United States November 1980

MUSIC

SCREENPLAY INFO

AWARDS

CERTIFICATION	R
DIRECTOR	Martin Scorsese
ACTOR(S)	Robert De Niro, Cathy Moriarty, Joe Pesci, Frank Vincent, Nicholas Colasanto more....
COLOR	N/A
SOUND	N/A
ASPECT	none available
YEAR	1980
DURATION	127-129 mins.
GENRE	Biography (Boxing )

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Director:
Martin Scorsese	Director
Jerry Grandey	1st asst dir
Allan Wertheim	1st asst dir
Joan Feinstein	2d asst dir
Elie Cohn	2d asst dir
Robert Barth	2d asst dir
Henry Bronchtein	DGA trainee

Cast:
Robert De Niro	as Jake La Motta
Cathy Moriarty	as Vickie [Thailer] La Motta
Joe Pesci	as Joey [La Motta]
Frank Vincent	as Salvy [Batts]
Nicholas Colasanto	as Tommy Como
Theresa Saldana	as Lenore [La Motta]
Mario Gallo	as Mario
Frank Adonis	as Patsy
Joseph Bono	as Guido
Frank Topham	as Toppy
Lori Anne Flax	as Irma [La Motta]
Charles Scorsese	as Charlie--Man with Como
Don Dunphy	as Himself
Bill Hanrahan	as Eddie Egan
Rita Bennett	as Emma--Miss 48's
James V. Christy	as Dr. Pinto
Bernie Allen	as Comedian
Floyd Anderson	as Jimmy Reeves
Gene LeBell	as Ring announcer
Harold Valan	as Referee
Victor Magnotta	as Fighting soldier
Johnny Barnes	as Sugar Ray Robinson
John Thomas	as Trainer
Kenny Davis	as Referee
Paul Carmello	as Ring announcer
Jimmy Lennon	as Ring announcer
Bobby Rings	as Referee
Kevin Mahon	as Tony Janiro
Martin Denkin	as Referee
Shay Duffin	as Ring announcer
Eddie Mustafa Muhammad	as Billy Fox
"Sweet" Dick Whittington	as Ring announcer
Jack Lotz	as Referee
Kevin Breslin	as Heckler
Louis Raftis	as Marcel Cerdan
Frank Shain	as Ring announcer
Coley Wallace	as Joe Louis
Fritzie Higgins	as Woman with Vickie
George Latka	as Referee
Fred Dennis	as Cornerman #1
Robert B. Loring	as Cornerman #2
Johnny Turner	as Laurent Dauthuille
Don Dunphy	as Radio announcer
Jimmy Lennon	as Ring announcer
Vern De Paul	as Dauthuille's trainer
Chuck Bassett	as Referee
Ken Richards	as Reporter at phonebooth
Peter Fain	as Dauthuille corner man
Count Billy Varga	as Ring announcer
Harvey Parry	as Referee
Ted Husing--TV announcer	as Himself
Michael Badalucco	as Soda fountain clerk
Thomas Beansy Lobasso	as Beansy
Paul Forrest	as Monsignor
Peter Petrella	as Johnny
Sal Serafino Tomassetti	as Webster Hall bouncer
Geraldine Smith	as Janet
Mardik Martin	as Copa waiter
Maryjane Lauria	as Girl #1
Linda Artuso	as Girl #2
Peter Savage	as Jackie Curtie
Daniel P. Conte	as Detroit promoter
Joe Malanga	as Bodyguard
Sabine Turco Jr.	as Bouncer at Copa
Steve Orlando	as Bouncer at Copa
Silvio Garcia Jr.	as Bouncer at Copa
John Arceri	as Maitre'd
Joseph A. Morale	as Man at table #1
James DiModica	as Man at table #2
Robert Uricola	as Man outside cab
Andrea Orlando	as Woman in cab
Allan Malamud	as Reporter at Jake's house
D. J. Blair	as State Attorney Bronson
Laura James	as Mrs. Bronson
Richard McMurray	as J. R.
Mary Albee	as Underage I.D. girl
Lisa Katz	as Woman with I.D. girl
Candy Moore	as Linda
Richard A. Berk	as Musician #1
Theodore Sauners	as Musician #2
Noah Young	as Musician #3
Nick Trisko	as Bartender Carlo
Lou Tiano	as Ricky
Bob Evan Collins	as Arresting deputy #1
Wally Berns	as Arresting deputy #2
Allan Joseph	as Jeweler
Bob Aaron	as Prison guard #1
Glenn Leigh Marshall	as Prison guard #2
Martin Scorsese	as Barbizon stagehand
John Turturro	as Young man sitting with Jake and Joey at the dance
Ed Gregory	as Fighter
Bill Mazer	as Reporter
Mike Miles	as Sparring partner
Angelo Lamonea	as Cornerman
Chuck Hicks	as Cornerman
Walt LaRue	as Cornerman
Gil Perkins	as Cornerman
Gene Borkan	as Cornerman
Gene Allan Poe	as Audie Murphy
Thomas Murphy	as J. R.'s friend
Leonard B. John	as New Yorker
Bobby Giordano	as New Yorker
Charles Guardino	as New Yorker
Vincent Barbi	as New Yorker

Cinematography:
Michael Chapman	Director of Photography
Joe Marquette	Camera Operator
Eddie Gold	Camera Operator
Dustin Blauvelt	1st asst cam
Ed Ramirez	1st asst cam
Richard Fee	2d asst cam
Bruce McCallum	2d asst cam
Christine Loss	Still photog
Brian Hamill	Still photog
Richard Quinlan	Gaffer
Ray Mendez	Gaffer
Robert Conners	Best Boy
Henry Fusco	Best Boy
Tom Gilligan	Best Boy
Barry Ping	Best Boy
Ed Quinn	Key grip
Robert Miller	Key grip
Peter J. Breen	Dolly grip

Writer:
Paul Schrader	Screenwriter
Mardik Martin	Screenwriter

Producer:
Irwin Winkler	Producer
Robert Chartoff	Producer
Hal W. Polaire	Associate Producer
Peter Savage	Prod in assoc with

Editing:
Thelma Schoonmaker	Editing
George Trirogoff	Assoc ed
Yoshio Kishi	Assoc ed
Erik T. Ramberg	Assoc ed
Mark Warner	Assoc ed
Susan E. Morse	Assoc ed
Sonya Polonsky	1st asst ed
John Mavros	Assistant Editor
Michael Miller	Assistant Editor
Craig Bassett	Assistant Editor
Karen Stern	Assistant Editor
Jeff Friedman	Assistant Editor
Mary Scott	Assistant Editor
Lisa Churgin	Assistant Editor
Mellissa Bretherton	Assistant Editor
Donah Bassett	Negative cutter

Music:
Pietro Mascagni	Music
Orchestra of Bologna Municop Thetra	[Mus performed by]
Arturo Basile	Cond
Jim Henrikson	Music Editor
Walter Gest	Recordist
Gary Ritchie	Recordist
Leo Robin	Composer
Harry Warren	Composer
Harry James	Composer
Al Hoffman	Composer
Alberto Dominguez	Composer
Pietro Mascagni	Composer
Pierre Norman	Composer
Ray Bauduc	Composer
Ben Bernie	Composer
Spencer Williams	Composer
Ray Evans	Composer
Robert Haggart	Composer
Carroll Loveday	Composer
Larry Clinton	Composer
Bobby Worth	Composer
Bobby Plater	Composer
Arthur Altman	Composer
Leonard Whitcup	Composer
Lee Morris	Composer
Bernie Wayne	Composer
Benny Carter	Composer
Mack Gordon	Composer
Dave Peyton	Composer
Doris Fisher	Composer
Edward Johnson	Composer
James Van Heusen	Composer
Count Basie	Composer
Don Raye	Composer
Jay Livingston	Composer
Roger Graham	Composer
Irving Kahal	Composer
Robbie Robertson	Composer
Gil Rodin	Composer
Gene Krupa	Composer
Robert B. Wright	Composer
Sammy Fain	Composer
Roy Eldridge	Composer
Fernando Albano	Composer
Fred Fisher	Composer
Jack Lawrence	Composer
Walter Hirsch	Composer
Helmy Kresa	Composer
Pacifico Vento	Composer
Stanley Cowan	Composer
Garth Hudson	Composer
Bob Crosby	Composer
George DePaul	Composer
Frederick W. Hendricks	Composer
Edward Seiler	Composer
Guy B. Wood	Composer
John Kleaner	Composer
Al Georing	Composer
Jule Style	Composer
Max Bulhoes	Composer
MÃlton de Oliveira	Composer
Zell Sanders	Composer
Lowman Pauling	Composer
Cesere Andrea Bixio	Composer
Orazio Strano	Composer
S. Bella	Composer
Sammy Cahn	Composer
Tiny Bradshaw	Composer
Sol Marcus	Composer

Art Director:
Gene Rudolf	Prod des in New York
Sheldon Haber	Art dir in New York
Alan Manser	Art dir in Los Angeles
Kirk Axtell	Art dir in Los Angeles
Gene Rudolf	Visual consultant in Los Angeles

Visual Effects:
Raymond Klein	Special Effects
Max E. Wood	Special Effects
Dan Perri	Title des
Modern Film Effects	Opticals by
Movie Magic	Opticals by
EFX Unlimited	Opticals by

Make-Up:
Michael Westmore	Makeup created by
Mike Maggi	Makeup Artist
Jean Burt Reilly	Hairstylist
Verne Caruso	Hairstylist
Mary Keats	Hairstylist
Mona Orr	Hairstylist

Costume-Wardrobe:
Richard Bruno	Costume Design
John Boxer	Costume Design
Bill Loger	Costumes
Andrea Weaver	Costumes
Betty M. Nowell	Costumes
Marilyn Putnam	Costumes
Dean Skipworth	Costumes

Art Department:
Fred Weiler	Set Decoration
Phil Abramson	Set Decoration
Carl Biddiscombe	Set Decoration
Jack Mortellaro	Set Dresser
Emily Ferry	Prop Master
Tom Saccio	Prop Master
Terry L. Adams	Asst prop master
Hans Swanson	Asst prop master
Eugene Powell	Scenic artist
Gene Ludvigsen	Const foreman
Hank Bauer	Chief carpenter
Lou Toth Jr.	Head const grip
William J. Lowry Sr.	Const grip

Sound:
Frank Warner	Sd eff supv ed
William J. Wylie	Sd eff ed
Chester Slomka	Sd eff ed
Gary S. Gerlich	Sd eff ed
Victoria Martin	Asst sd eff ed
Les Lazarowitz	Sound Mixer
Michael Evje	Sound Mixer
Richard Guinness	Boom Operator
Pat Suraci	Boom Operator
Murray Siegel	Cableman
Robert Sciretta	Cableman
Donald O. Mitchell	Re-rec eng
Bill Nicholson	Re-rec eng
David J. Kimball	Re-rec eng

Film Production - Main:
Jake La Motta	Consultant
Cis Corman	Casting
Sylvia Fay Casting	Bits and extras [casting] in New York
Independent Casting	Extra casting in Hollywood
Gail Kaszynski	Casting asst
James D. Brubaker	Production Manager
Hannah Scheel	Script Supervisor
Dale Benson	Loc mgr
Chris Cronyn	Loc mgr
Al Silvani	Boxing tech adv
Frank Topham	Technical Advisor
Bud Conley	Craft service
Marie Sorell	First aid
Tom O'Brien	Transportation capt
Edward D. Arter	Transportation capt
George Alden	Transportation capt
Janet Crosby	Asst to prod
Lori Imbler	Asst to prod
Kyle McCarthy	Asst to assoc prod
Lenay Drucker	Asst to assoc prod
Donna Gigliotti	Asst to Mr. Scorsese
Deborah Schindler	Asst to Mr. Scorsese
Johanne Todd	Asst to Mr. De Niro
Shawn Slovo	Asst to Mr. De Niro
Gloria Norris	Research
Marion Billings	Pub
Donna Smith	Prod office coord
Helene Spinner	Prod office coord
Moira Kelly	Prod office coord
Meryle Selinger	Prod accountant
Lydia Resurreccion	Prod accountant
Tim Athan	Production Assistant
Billy Chartoff	Production Assistant
Jean De Niro	Production Assistant
June Guterman	Production Assistant
Mary Hickey	Production Assistant
Janice Peroni	Production Assistant
Mark Rubin	Production Assistant
Steve Schottenfeld	Production Assistant
David Ticotin	Production Assistant
Rachel Ticotin	Production Assistant
Charles Winkler	Production Assistant
Emmet Murphy	Spec assistance
Rob Hummel	Spec assistance

Post Production:
Jim Henry	Black and white timing

Misc. Crew:
Jim Nickerson	Stunt Coordinator