FILMS OF THE WEEK

THE BIG MOVIE

Rocky (1976) 12 Saturday, 11.15pm, ITV The journey of Rocky Balboa from gutter to glory has been parodied often. It’s a simple story – timeless, moving and inspirational – written by its star, Sylvester Stallone, while his career was still in the doldrums. It was Stallone’s idea to play the lead, and it was a move that paid off, launching his career on to the international stage, where it has stayed for four decades. Filmed on a tiny budget, Rocky has become one of cinema’s most enduring franchises, with Stallone himself returning for six sequels (and counting) to play the character that made him. Wisely, in 2015’s Creed, he handed over the gloves to Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan), son of Apollo – the title-holding fighter Rocky must beat in this first film

(and played here by Carl Weathers), before their rivalry turns to friendship.

CLASSIC FILM CHOICE

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) PG Monday, 4.05pm, Film4 In 1962, Alfred Hitchcock confessed to Francois Truffaut during their famous interviews that he thought his 1934 film The Man Who Knew Too Much was ‘the work of a talented amateur’. Some 20 years later, Hitch got the chance to improve on his earlier film with this full-blooded, full-colour remake. In the later film, James Stewart stars as the ‘everyman’ – on holiday in Morocco – who learns the details of an assassination plot, and puts his family in grave danger. But putting Stewart in the shade is Doris Day (above, with Stewart), who steals the film as the mother holding it together while she determines what to do to save both her son and the gunman’s target. Day never becomes the blank ice maiden the director favoured – she’s the warmest, most melodic of all of Hitchcock’s blondes.