At least he seemed nice to Rocky. He gave him $50 for his date. He gave him $500 to train for the big fight. He bought ringside seats and cheered Rocky on. Are loan sharks nice guys at first, then turn on you when you don’t pay back?
shareOf course. The devil will always greet you with a smile.
He got to be the nice guy because he had guys like Rocky around to handle the not nice stuff for him.
He took a liking to Rocky. He saw something in him. Maybe Rock reminded him of a childhood friend. Who knows?
Real world mobsters could be generous like that, too. Maybe it/s their way of making up for the terrible things they do.
Well, he was a nice loan shark.
shareCriminals can sometimes appear generous when tossing money around, but that did not make him nice. He would have had Rocky shot in the blink of an eye if Rocky got out of line.
shareRock did get out of line.
Remember he didn't carry through with the threat like he was told to when we see him collect?
He just got a scolding.
"Are loan sharks nice guys at first, then turn on you when you don’t pay back?"
Remember what Paulie told Rocky in the slaughterhouse as he was playfully tossing him the dangling pieces of meat. "That's what happens when you don't pay Mr Gazzo! You end up on the hooks" 😄
"Are loan sharks nice guys at first, then turn on you when you don’t pay back?"
I imagine they would be.
Not sure if this is true or not as I have never read it, but it is revealed in the novelisation of Rocky II that Gazzo and Rocky are childhood friends.
And in the Rocky IV novelisation, Gazzo is killed sometime before Rocky travels to Russia to prepare for his fight with Drago.