The Italian Job

The Italian Job
Original theatrical release poster
Directed by	Peter Collinson
Written by	Troy Kennedy Martin
Produced by	Michael Deeley
Starring	Michael Caine Noël Coward Benny Hill Raf Vallone Tony Beckley Rossano Brazzi Maggie Blye
Cinematography	Douglas Slocombe
Edited by	John Trumper
Music by	Quincy Jones
Production company	Oakhurst Productions
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date	5 June 1969 [1]
Running time	99 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Budget	$3 million[citation needed]
Box office	[better source needed]

The Italian Job is a 1969 British comedy caper film, written by Troy Kennedy Martin, produced by Michael Deeley, directed by Peter Collinson, and starring Michael 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 of gold bullion being transported through the city of Turin, Italy, in an armoured security truck.

In addition to Caine, the cast also included Benny Hill, Raf Vallone, Tony Beckley and Noël Coward; the film was Coward's last before his retirement from acting. The soundtrack was composed by Quincy Jones, featuring the songs "On Days Like These", sung by Matt 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.^[2]

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. The Italian Job became a cult symbol of British filmography and was ranked favourably in the top 100 British films by the British Film Institute. Several elements became symbolic cult features, including a rare never-resolved cliffhanger ending,^[3][4] and Caine's famous line about only blowing the doors off.

The popularity of The Italian Job led to several parodies and allusions in other films and productions, including the 2005 episode of The Simpsons titled "The Italian Bob", and a re-enactment of the Mini Cooper car-chase in the MacGyver episode "Thief of Budapest".^[5][6][7] The film itself was later given a video game adaptation in 2001, before receiving a remake in 2003. A charity event titled The Italian Job, founded in 1990 and held annually, was inspired by the film; as of 2020, it had raised nearly £3,000,000.^[8] 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.^[9]

Plot[edit]

Driving through the Alps, thief Roger Beckerman is killed when his car crashes into a bulldozer parked in a tunnel by the Mafia, who dispose of him and his car by pushing it over a cliff and into the river below. Meanwhile, his friend and fellow thief Charlie Croker is released from prison, reuniting with his girlfriend Lorna to enjoy his first taste of freedom. Leaving her to meet with Beckerman for a job he was planning in Italy, Croker is shocked to meet his widow instead. She insists he continue her late husband's plan, which he had completed before his death, of an ambitious heist of $4 million in gold bullion from a security convoy intended as a down payment to Fiat by China for a car factory.

Croker breaks back into prison to ask British nationalist crime lord Mr. Bridger for financial backing. Initially unconvinced, Bridger soon offers support when he learns of the heist's target. With help from Bridger's organisation, run by his right-hand man Camp Freddie, Croker recruits a crew of specialists, including Lorna and computer expert Professor Peach – the latter needed for sabotaging Turin's traffic control system. After finalising preparations, Croker and his team are summoned by Bridger to a fake funeral ceremony, where he informs them that the Mafia killed Beckermann because of his planned heist, advising them to be careful, but not to return without the gold.

After leaving for Italy, Croker and some of his crew split off from the others while en route to Turin, to avoid raising suspicion. However, the small group soon encounters the Mafia, led by their boss Altabani, who ambushes them in the Alps and destroys their cars the same way he did to Beckerman's. Croker narrowly manages to talk his way out of getting him and his crew murdered. Later that night, his crew successfully infiltrates the Turin traffic control centre and Peach replaces one of the computer's magnetic-tape data storage reels with a duplicate designed to sabotage Turin's traffic control system on the day of the heist. The next day, as the gold arrives at the airport and the crew prepares for the heist, Croker sends Lorna to Geneva to protect her and the plan. At the same time, Peach absconds from the crew and is later arrested for molesting a woman on a tram.

With the city's CCTV cameras sabotaged and the Turin traffic control system malfunctioning, a massive traffic jam builds up. The crew intercepts the gold convoy outside the Museo Egizio as it is stalled by the traffic jam. They swiftly subdue the police, tow the armored car with the gold into a building, and divide the gold between the boots of three Mini Coopers. Most of the crew then escape the building disguised as football fans, while Croker leads the rest out of the city in the Minis--following an ingenious route designed by Beckerman, over stairs, pedestrian streets, rooftops and sewers. As Mr. Bridger gets word of the successful heist and then celebrates in prison with his fellow prisoners and prison staff, the crew escapes from Turin with the gold, and rendezvous with a modified coach to collect the Minis before they reach the Alps. Once aboard, the group unloads the gold, disposes of the Minis in the Alps, and collects the rest of the crew.

During a reckless celebration while driving through the Alps, the coach driver loses control of the vehicle and ends up spinning out, with the rear of the coach teetering precariously over a cliff. The crew stand at the front of the coach in an attempt to balance 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."

Cast[edit]