Rocky IVwas the highest-grossing film of the entire franchise series (and the most financially successful sports film of all-time), while the most profitable film in the series was the original film in 1976.Their brief, nearly one-sided conversation expresses their volatility, their small-mindedness, their opposite natures (one eerily silent, the other hyper-talkative) and their quick-to-anger potential:Carl: Hey, look at that.He was energized for finding a new purpose in life after 16-17 years: "But now I feel that if I could only do something, some little thing for - before I die, some little thing for progress - uh, for people, maybe.Arlington comments on the difficult rip: "It promises to be something more than a pleasure jaunt, eh?" Holt is infuriated when he is told that rival explorers Pierce and Van Ness have left before them, suspecting that they are also searching for the ivory fields.Originally, it was to have been directed by Ernst Lubitsch.The film was devoid of any Academy Award nominations.The outrageous film was both a critical and commercial failure at the time of its release - audiences were taken aback by such preposterous political disrespect, buffoonery and cynicism at a time of political and economic crisis, with Roosevelt""s struggle against Depression in the US amidst the rising power of Hitler in Germany.