| The Italian Job | |
|---|---|
 Original theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Peter Collinson |
| Written by | Troy Kennedy Martin |
| Produced by | Michael Deeley |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Douglas Slocombe |
| Edited by | John Trumper |
| Music by | Quincy Jones |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 99 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $3 million[2] |
| Box office | $9 million[3] |
The Italian Job is a 1969 Britishcomedycaper film written byTroy Kennedy Martin, produced byMichael Deeley, directed byPeter Collinson, and starringMichael Caine. The film's plot centres on Cockney criminal Charlie Croker, recently released from prison, who forms a gang for the job of stealing a cache ofgold bullion being transported through the city ofTurin,Italy, in an armoured security truck.
In addition to Caine, the cast also includedBenny Hill,Raf Vallone,Tony Beckley andNoël Coward; the film was Coward's last before his retirement from acting. The soundtrack was composed byQuincy Jones, featuring the songs "On Days Like These", sung byMatt Monro over the opening credits, and "Getta Bloomin' Move On" (usually referred to as "The Self-Preservation Society", after its chorus) during the climactic car chase, which featured Caine among its singers.[4]
The film proved a success upon its release, earning critical acclaim amongst critics for the performances by Caine and Coward, the film's reflection of British culture from the period, and the climactic car chase. It became a cult symbol of British filmography and was ranked favourably in the top 100 British films by theBritish Film Institute. Several elements became symbolic cult features, including a rare never-resolvedcliffhanger ending,[5][6] and Caine's famous line "you were only supposed to blow the bloody doors off".
The popularity ofThe Italian Job led to several parodies and allusions in other films and productions, including the 2005 episode ofThe Simpsons titled "The Italian Bob", and a re-enactment of theMini Cooper car-chase in theMacGyver episode "Thief of Budapest".[7][8][9] The film itself was later given avideo game adaptation in 2001, before receivinga remake in 2003. A charity event titledThe Italian Job, founded in 1990 and held annually, was inspired by the film; as of 2020[update], it had raised nearly £3,000,000.[10] Marking the 50th anniversary of the film in June 2019, stunt drivers in red, white and blue Coopers recreated parts of the film's car-chase around Turin at the grounds of Mini's Oxford factory.[11]
While driving through theAlps, thief Roger Beckerman is murdered by the localMafia and his body disposed of in the river below. In the United Kingdom, his friend and fellow thief, Charlie Croker, is released from prison. After reuniting with his girlfriend, Lorna, to celebrate his freedom, Croker goes to meet Beckerman to discuss a heist, but is shocked to find only his widow. She insists that Croker continue with Beckerman's final masterpiece: an ambitious heist of $4 million ingold bullion,[a] from a convoy transport in the city ofTurin, Italy.
Croker breaks back into prison to request financial backing from British nationalist crime lord Mr. Bridger. Initially unconvinced, Bridger soon offers support after confirming the scheme's potential. With Bridger's right-hand man, Camp Freddie, Croker recruits a crew of specialists, including Lorna, professional drivers, and lecherous computer expert Professor Simon Peach. With preparations complete, Bridger stages a funeral ceremony to meet the team in person. He discloses that the Mafia are expecting them, as they killed Beckerman over his planned heist and see the prospect of foreigners stealing Italian gold as an insult to their pride.
Traveling through the Alps, Croker splits the team up to avoid raising suspicion. However, Croker's group are confronted by Mafia boss Altabani and his men, who destroy their backup escape cars and warn against continuing the plan. Croker and his men narrowly avoid being killed by threatening Bridger's reprisal against Italians living in the United Kingdom. Undeterred, the team continue to Turin. That night, the team infiltrate the Turin traffic control centre and Peach replaces amagnetic-tape data storage reel with a duplicate designed to sabotage thetraffic control system.
On the day of the heist, as the gold arrives atTurin airport, Croker sends Lorna toGeneva to keep her safe, promising to meet her there later. Meanwhile, Peach is arrested for molesting a woman on a tram.
The convoy begins its journey through Turin, followed by Altabani. One of Croker's men sabotages the city'sCCTV surveillance while the traffic control system malfunctions, disabling traffic lights and causing city-wide traffic jams that eventually force the convoy to stop outside theMuseo Egizio. The crew intercept the convoy, subdue its police escort, and tow the armored van carrying the gold into a building. While police ram the door, the crew breach the van and divide the gold between the boots of threeMini Coopers. The remaining crew escape disguised as British football fans, while Croker leads the Mini Cooper drivers out of the city, evading the police and the Mafia using an ingenious route designed by Beckerman that avoids the stalled traffic by taking them over stairs, pedestrian streets, rooftops, and through sewers.
Mr. Bridger receives word of the successful heist and celebrates with his fellow inmates and prison staff, as the crew escapes Turin and conceals the Minis in the back of a modified coach. Driving through the Alps, they unload the gold and dispose of the Minis before collecting the remaining crew. During a reckless celebration, the coach driver loses control of the vehicle, resulting in the rear of the coach teetering precariously over a cliff. The crew stands at the front of the coach in an attempt to counterbalance the weight of the gold at the rear. Croker slowly crawls towards the gold which slides ever further from him. Finally, he turns to the crew and declares: "Hang on a minute lads. I've got a great idea."
The Italian Job also featuresIrene Handl as Miss Peach, Professor Peach's sister;John Le Mesurier as the Prison Governor, who works for Bridger;Fred Emney as Birkinshaw, a gang member who is sent to jam the Turin CCTV;Michael Standing as Arthur, one of Charlie's thieves;John Forgeham as Frank, one of Charlie's thieves;George Innes as Bill Bailey, Charlie's deputy during the heist;Harry Baird as Big William, the imposing coach driver for the heist;Robert Powell as Yellow, one of Charlie's thieves;Derek Ware as Rozzer, one of Charlie's thieves;Frank Jarvis as Roger, one of Charlie's reserve getaway drivers; andStanley Caine as Coco, one of Charlie's thieves.
Other cast includesJohn Clive as a garage manager who Charlie sees after being released from prison;Graham Payn as Keats, Bridger's sycophantic right-hand man in prison; Barry Cox as Chris, one of the Mini drivers for the heist; David Salamone as Dominic, one of the Mini drivers for the heist; Richard Essame as Tony, one of the Mini drivers for the heist; Mario Valgoi as Manzo,Renato Romano [it] as Cosca, Franco Norvelli as Altabani's driver,Robert Rietti as the Police chief,Timothy Bateson as the Dentist,David Kelly as the Vicar at the fake funeral;Arnold Diamond as Senior computer room official,Simon Dee as the Shirtmaker who Charlie sees after being released from prison; Alistair Hunter as Warder, Lana Gatto as Mrs. Cosca,Louis Mansi as Computer room official,Henry McGee as the Tailor who Charlie sees after being released from prison;Lelia Goldoni as Mrs Beckerman, Roger Beckerman's widow; andValerie Leon as Hotel Receptionist.
According to producer Michael Deeley the film started "as a modest concept for a TV drama concerning a robbery set in and around a traffic jam in London's hectic Oxford Street thoroughfare", that was originally conceived byIan Kennedy Martin. Ian's brotherTroy would eventually buy the idea from him "with the vision of creating a feature film set in Italy."[12]
The script was optioned by Oakhurst Productions, the company of Deeley and Stanley Baker.[13]
According to a "Making Of" documentary,[14] producer Deeley was unsatisfied with the four written endings and conceived the current ending as a literalcliffhanger appropriate to an action film which left an opportunity for asequel. The documentary describes howhelicopters would save the bus seen on the cliff at the end of the first film. In interviews in 2003 and 2008, Michael Caine revealed that the ending would have had Croker "crawl up, switch on the engine and stay there for four hours until all thepetrol runs out ... The van bounces back up so we can all get out, but then the gold goes over."[15] In Deeley's own memoirs, he stated that a sequel would have had an opening involving helicopters lifting the bus up to separate the men and the gold that then sees it taken by the Mafia, who proceed to push the bus off into the ravine.[16]
In 2008, theRoyal Society of Chemistry held a competition for a solution that had a basis in science, was to take not more than 30 minutes and did not use a helicopter.[17] The idea was to promote greater understanding of science, and to highlight the 100th anniversary of theperiodic table, on which gold is element number 79.[15] The winning entry, by John Godwin of Surrey, was to break and remove two large side windows just aft of the pivot point and let the glass fall outside to lose its weight; break two windows over the two front axles, keeping the broken glass on board to keep its weight for balance; let a man out on a rope through the front broken windows (not to rest his weight on the ground) who deflates all the bus's front tyres, to reduce the bus's rocking movement about its pivot point; drain the fuel tank, which is aft of the pivot point, which changes the balance enough to let a man get out and gather heavy rocks to load the front of the bus. Unload the bus. Wait until a suitable vehicle passes on the road, hijack it, and carry the gold away in it.[18]
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The opening scenes with the Lamborghini Miura were shot atGreat St Bernard Pass, and have been recreated by the owner of the car. The interior of the prison that held Bridger wasKilmainham Gaol inDublin, Ireland. The exterior, seen when Croker leaves, isHM Prison Wormwood Scrubs in west London. Upon his release, Croker stays at theRoyal Lancaster Hotel in Bayswater, London, where he celebrates with what is implied to be an orgy; his room became a favourite haunt of rock stars after the release of the film.[19] Denbigh Close,Notting Hill, London W11, was used as the location for Croker's home.[20][unreliable source]
The training sessions shown for the Mini drivers were at theCrystal Palace race track inUpper Norwood, south London. The attempt to blow off the doors of the bullion van, which caused its total destruction and produced Croker's line "You're only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!", took place at Crystal Palace Sports Centre. TheCrystal Palace transmitter can be seen in the background. The meeting at the misty funeral was filmed inCruagh Cemetery, in the foothills of the Dublin Mountains. Theoffice block that doubled as the Turin traffic control centre was Apex House inHanworth,Middlesex, the then head office of the television rental chain Thorn (DER).[14]
The chase sequences were filmed in Turin, except for the chase through the sewer tunnel, which was shot in theSowe Valley Sewer Duplication system in theStoke Aldermoor district ofCoventry in the English Midlands, filmed from the back of aMini Moke.[14] The person on the far side who closes the gate at the end of the sewer tunnel is the director, Peter Collinson. Collinson also appears in the scene on the highway when the ramps get jettisoned, clinging to the right-hand rear door of the coach as the Minis enter at speed.[14]
A portion of the car chase was filmed as a dance between the Minis and police cars with a full orchestra playing "The Blue Danube" insidePier Luigi Nervi's Palazzo Esposizioni, usually used for the Turin Motor Show (and now a hospital library). The sequence was deleted from the final cut but is readily available to view.[14]
The final escape from Turin was filmed on the road fromCeresole Reale viaLago Agnel toNivolet Pass (the highway does not lead to France or Switzerland because it is a dead end).
Roger Beckerman's orangeLamborghini Miura in the opening scene is actually two cars. The first was a Miura P400 that was sold as new afterwards. In 2015, it was located and authenticated by classic car expert Iain Tyrrell.[21] The second car, tumbled down the chasm by the Mafia bulldozer, was another Miura that had previously been in a serious accident and was not roadworthy. Lamborghini confirmed in May 2019 that theItalian Job Miura (the roadworthy one) had chassis number 3586.[22]
The Minis featured in the climactic chase were 1275ccAustin Mini Cooper S models. Production took place just as the manufacturer, theBritish Motor Corporation, was preparing for the introduction of theMk2 Mini, which was launched just before the film's public release. The Minis used were 1967 Mk1 models, fitted with future-dated 1969G-suffix number plates to match the year of the film's intended release, despite that any 1969-registered Mini would be a Mk2, not a Mk1. BMC provided six new Minis (two of each colour) to the production at cost price. A further 25 were bought on the secondhand market via BMC's agent in Switzerland. Ten of these secondhand cars were Cooper S models and the remainder were standard 848cc models which were modified to various degrees to match the genuine 'star cars' as required for filming. All 16 Mini Coopers were destroyed or rendered unroadworthy in the course of filming, along with nine of the replica cars, leaving six 848cc replicas surviving intact. These were abandoned in the film crew's storage unit in Turin when filming concluded and their subsequent history is unknown.
Gold cost $38.69 pertroy ounce in 1968,[23] so four million dollars in gold bars would have weighed about 3,200 kg (7,100 lb), requiring each of the three Minis to carry about 1,070 kg (2,360 lb) in addition to the driver and passenger. Since a 1968 Mini only weighs 630 kg (1,390 lb), each of these vehicles would have had to carry1+1⁄2 times its own weight in gold.[24]
The originalAston Martin DB4 belongs today to a private English collection. According to several sources, the "Aston" pushed off the cliff was aVignaleLancia Flaminia mocked up as an Aston. The twoJaguar E-Types that suffer from the Mafia's revenge were restored to original condition.[25]
ALand Rover Series IIa Estate, registration BKO 686C, is used to get to the convoy before attacking and is modified with window bars and atowbar. AFord Thames 400E is used for the football fans' decorated van; this has been referred to as theDormobile, the name of a commoncamper-van conversioncoachbuilder. The cross-Channel ferry featured in one scene is theMS Free Enterprise I. The ship spent many years as a day cruise ship in Greek waters before being scrapped in 2013. The "Chinese" plane delivering the gold to Turin is a rareDouglas C-74 Globemaster, of which only 14 were built and only four passed into private ownership. It had been abandoned in Milan by its owners and was moved to Turin for filming. It was destroyed by fire in 1970.[26]
The blackFiat Dino coupé of Mafia boss Altabani was bought by Peter Collinson but became so rusty that only its doors remain.[27]
The bus used to transport the three Mini Coopers is aBedford VAL withHarrington Legionnaire bodywork, registration ALR 453B, new in April 1964 and specially converted for the film.[28]
The music for the soundtrack was written byQuincy Jones. The opening theme, "On Days Like These", had lyrics byDon Black and was sung byMatt Monro. The closing theme, "Get a Bloomin' Move On" (a.k.a. "The Self Preservation Society"), was performed by the cast and had lyrics featuringCockney Rhyming Slang. Many incidental themes are based on British patriotic songs, such as "Rule, Britannia!", "The British Grenadiers" and "God Save the Queen".
The film opened at the Plaza Cinema in London on 5 June 1969.[1]
Onreview aggregatorRotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 82% and an average rating of 7.5/10, based on 33 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "The Italian Job is a wildly fun romp that epitomizes the height of Britannia style."[29] OnMetacritic it has a score of 70% based on reviews from 10 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[30] Most positive reviews focus on the climactic car chase and the acting of bothMichael Caine andNoël Coward, complementingPeter Collinson's directing. It is considered highly evocative of1960s London and the era in Britain as a whole.[31] In a modern review Nik Higgins of Future Movies claims that the film makesAustin Powers's wardrobe appear "drab and grey". He compliments Michael Caine's ability to effectively portray the character of Charlie.[32]
In 1999, it was ranked No. 36 on theBFI Top 100 British films by theBritish Film Institute. In November 2004,Total Film namedThe Italian Job the 27th greatest British film of all time.[33] In 2011, it was voted the best British film in a poll of film fans conducted bySky Movies HD.[34] The line "You're only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!" by Caine was voted favourite film one-liner in a 2003 poll of 1,000 film fans.[35] One of the most discussed end scenes in film, what happened to the coachload of gold teetering over the edge of a cliff, has been debated in the decades since the film was released.[36][37]
Vincent Canby, writing at the time of the film's release, felt that the caper film had been made before and much better as well. He complimented the film's technological sophistication, only criticising what he saw as an "emotionally retarded" plot. Canby also expressed concern that Coward's appearance in the film, although intended to be kind, "exploits him in vaguely unpleasant ways" by surrounding his character with images of the royal family, which had not knighted him at the time. A contemporary review inTime magazine felt that the film spent too much time focusing on the film's caper as opposed to building the characters; it also criticised the car chases as "dull and deafening".[38]
The movie was the 14th most popular at the UK box office in 1969.[39] Although it received aGolden Globe nomination for "Best English-Language Foreign Film", the film was not a success in the US. The film remains popular, however. James Travers of Films de France believes that the film's enduring appeal rests in the "improbable union" of Michael Caine, Noël Coward andBenny Hill, whom he considers "three of the best known [British] performers [...] in the late 1960s". He states that the film has acult status and stands as a "classic of its genre".[31]
Since 2000, there have been two remakes of the film. The first was released in 2003 and also calledThe Italian Job, set inLos Angeles and starringMark Wahlberg as Charlie Croker. It featuresDonald Sutherland as John Bridger, played as more of a father figure to Croker. It employs the updatedMini Cooper for a chase towards the end. An officialBollywood remake of the 2003 film, calledPlayers, was released in 2012.[40]
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The film was adapted into avideo game released for thePlayStation in 2001 andMicrosoft Windows in 2002 and published byRockstar Games. The film was also the subject of a play,Bill Shakespeare's "The Italian Job", written by Malachi Bogdanov, who used lines from Shakespeare plays to tell the story. It was performed in 2003 at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.[41]
As part of a celebration of British culture at2012 Summer Olympics, which were held in London, a replica of the bus was made and was exhibited balanced on the edge of the roof ofThe De La Warr Pavilion inBexhill-on-Sea.[42][43] The dialogue and car blowing up scene were shown at theclosing ceremony.[44]
In September 2016,NBC andParamount Television began work on a TV series inspired by the original and theremake,[45] though this never surpassed the development stage.[46] In 2001, author Matthew Field released a bookThe Making of The Italian Job,[47] and to celebrate 50 years since the film's release he has published a new and updated version,The Self Preservation Society.[48]
In February 2021, it was announced that a sequel TV series would be released onParamount+. It is set to revolve around Croker's grandchildren, who inherit his old safety deposit box, and a quest to find theItalian bullion is reignited.Matt Wheeler will write and executive produce the series, whileDonald De Line will produce, after previously doing so for the 2003 remake.[46]
The film depicts an early example of an attack against a computer system, or "hacking", as a major part of a plot.[49] Key elements of the attack include the insertion ofmalicious software ontomagnetic-tape data storage. Aphysical security breach allows the tape to be inserted into the computer which controls the traffic system (SCADA) for Turin; at the same time several cameras are deactivated during the course of the film by devices which cause interference. The result is a focuseddenial-of-service attack which allows the characters to escape with the stolen gold.
