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misbehave, in infinite ways, but always for the same reason: They do it because they can. . . .
    REYNOLDS, EASTWOOD, AND STALLONE
    Burt Reynolds and Clint Eastwood are not just the biggest stars in America (and probably the world), they are a good deal more. With the results of the '81 Quigley poll, they are setting popularity records that far exceed Gable or Cooper or Grant or just about any other movie star.
    Reynolds was voted the top star for the fourth consecutive year. Only Bing Crosby had held the number-one spot lon- ger-he had lasted five years-and the way Reynolds's career is going, I will be surprised if he doesn't tie Crosby when the '82 results are available.
    Eastwood's record is equally remarkable: He has now been one of the top ten stars tor fourteen years in a row. John Wayne has held a consistent hold on the public's fancy longer--sixteen years. But since Eastwood seems more at ease with himself than any other star, again, I will be surprised if he doesn't surpass Wayne three years down the line. Reynolds and Eastwood are genuinely phenomenal.
    So, in a somewhat different way, is Sylvester Stallone. The success of Rocky (then without the roman numeral) lifted him from as much obscurity as any talented actor wants to deal with, to the top popularity spot in the country-he was number one in 1977.
    Then came F.I.S.T., a big-budget film and a disappointment. Followed by Paradise Alley (which he also directed)-a disaster, but at least a low-budget one. Then Rocky II. And this past year, two films: Nightfiawks was another big-budget film and another disappointment. Most recently. Victory-"expensive and a total wipeout This year's Quigley poll doesn't even list Stallone in the top twenty-five stars, much less the top ten. And what is his reward for this calmer in which he has demonstrated four times in his last five outings that there are no multitudes waiting out there to receive him? Ten-million-dollars.
    For that is the amount Stallone is being paid to write, direct, and star in Rocky III. Have you ever heard such madness? Can you believe that figure? Probably the largest amount of money ever paid a performer in the entire history of the civilized world. Isn't that insanity?
    Me, I think it's a steal.
    To try and make sense of that, I must now deal with the major exception that I mentioned in the first sentence of this discussion on stars. WHAT IS THE MAJOR EXCEPTION?
    Well . . . it's - - . it's something.
    I mean it's there, it's just hard to isolate. And "something" may be about as close as I'm going to come.
    Paul Newman, in discussing the careers of European versus American stars, put it this way: "One of the difficult things is that American filmgoers seem less able and willing to accept ac- tors or actresses in a wide variety of roles-they get something they hook on to and they like, and that's what they want to see."
    In the case of Slallone, they could care less about him as a labor leader or a soccer goalie. But let him be Rocky Balboa, the pug, and they'll stand happily in line for hours.
    As I am writing this chapter, it is March and Rocky III won't be out till summer. I haven't seen it, haven't heard boo about it. But I don't just think it's going to be a hit, I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out to be bigger than the original. My reason isn't logical, but of all the sequels of recent years, Rocky II came closer to being a remake than any other. It was the same song, second verse, except this time the final decision of the fight was different. My guess is that Stallone, being the shrewd and skilled writer that he is, will ring in some innovations this time. (By the time this book comes out. Rocky III will probably be on cable, but I won't change this paragraph under any conditions. So we'll see what kind of studio executive I'd make.)
    And though Stallone may be an extreme example, the same kind of point can be made about our two biggest stars. Eastwood has to beat up on people. When he doesn't,