The Italian Job (1969)

Director:

Peter Collinson

Writer:

Troy Kennedy-Martin (writer)

Release Date:

3 September 1969 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Crime

Tagline:

Introducing the plans for a new business venture: "The Italian Job."

Plot:

Comic caper movie about a plan to steal a gold shipment from the streets of Turin by creating a traffic jam.

Plot Keywords:

Home Movie | Heist Movie | Cliffhanger | Caper | Car Carrier

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe.

Cast

Michael Caine	...	Charlie Croker
Noel Coward	...	Mr. Bridger (as Noël Coward)
Benny Hill	...	Professor Simon Peach
Raf Vallone	...	Altabani
Tony Beckley	...	Freddie
Rossano Brazzi	...	Beckerman
Margaret Blye	...	Lorna (as Maggie Blye)
Irene Handl	...	Miss Peach
John Le Mesurier	...	Governor
Fred Emney	...	Birkinshaw
John Clive	...	Garage Manager
Graham Payn	...	Keats
Michael Standing	...	Arthur
Stanley Caine	...	Coco
Barry Cox	...	Chris
Harry Baird	...	Big William
George Innes	...	Bill Bailey
John Forgeham	...	Frank
Robert Powell	...	Yellow
Derek Ware	...	Rozzer
Frank Jarvis	...	Roger
David Salamone	...	Dominic
Richard Essome	...	Tony
Mario Valgoi	...	Manzo
Renato Romano	...	Cosca
Franco Novelli	...	Altabani's Driver
Robert Rietty	...	Police Chief
Timothy Bateson	...	Dentist
David Kelly	...	Vicar
Arnold Diamond	...	Senior Computer Room Official
Simon Dee	...	Shirtmaker
Alastair Hunter	...	Warder (Cinema) (as Alistair Hunter)
Lana Gatto	...	Mrs. Cosca
John Morris	...	Standin
Louis Mansi	...	Computer Room Official
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Hazel Collinson	...	Blonde scrubber at Diner party (uncredited)
Lelia Goldoni	...	Mrs. Beckerman (uncredited)
Frank Kelly	...	Prisoner in cell (uncredited)
Valerie Leon	...	Receptionist, Royal Lancaster (uncredited)
Henry McGee	...	Tailor (uncredited)

Directed by
Peter Collinson

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Troy Kennedy-Martin		writer (as Troy Kennedy Martin)

Produced by
Michael Deeley	....	producer
Robert Porter	....	associate producer (as Bob Porter)
Stanley Baker	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Quincy Jones

Cinematography by
Douglas Slocombe		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
John Trumper

Casting by
Paul Lee Lander

Production Design by
Disley Jones

Art Direction by
Michael Knight

Makeup Department
Gordon Bond	....	chief hair stylist
Freddie Williamson	....	chief makeup artist

Production Management
Derek Kavanagh	....	production manager
Giorgio Migliarini	....	production supervisor: Italy

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
David Munro	....	assistant director: second unit
Mauro Sacripante	....	assistant director: Italy
Scott Wodehouse	....	assistant director
Philip Wrestler	....	second unit director (as Phillip Wrestler)
John Glen	....	second unit director (uncredited)
Antal Kovacs	....	second unit director (uncredited)

Art Department
Terry Apsey	....	construction manager

Sound Department
John Aldred	....	sound mixer
John Glen	....	additional sound editor
Gerry Humphreys	....	dubbing mixer
Stephen Warwick	....	sound editor

Special Effects by
Pat Moore	....	special effects

Stunts
Claude Carliez	....	stunts (uncredited)
Rémy Julienne	....	stunt coordinator (uncredited)
Rémy Julienne	....	stunt driver (uncredited)
Rémy Julienne	....	stunts (uncredited)
Nosher Powell	....	stunts (uncredited)
Robin Webb	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Ronnie Maasz	....	director of photography: second unit
Norman Warwick	....	camera operator: second unit
Chic Waterson	....	camera operator
Michael Browne	....	gaffer (uncredited)
David Wynn-Jones	....	clapper loader (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Dulcie Midwinter	....	wardrobe supervisor
Roy Ponting	....	wardrobe master

Music Department
Keith Grant	....	music scoring engineer (uncredited)

Other crew
Barbara Allen	....	production secretary
Al Burgess	....	location manager
Douglas Hayward	....	suits: Mr. Caine
Helen Whitson	....	continuity

Production Companies

• Oakhurst Productions

Distributors

• Paramount British Pictures (1969) (UK) (theatrical)
• Paramount Pictures (1969) (USA) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1974) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• CIC Video Ltd. (1988) (UK) (VHS) (pan/scan)
• CIC Vídeo (Brazil) (video)
• Hollydan Works (2004) (Yugoslavia) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2002) (UK) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2004) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (1999) (UK) (theatrical) (re-release)

Other Companies

• Bermans  costumes
• Fiat  special thanks
• L'Équipe Rémy Julienne  stunt driving
• Lee Lighting  grip and lighting equipment
• Olympic Studios  music scoring

Also Known As:

Charlie staubt Millionen ab (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
Colpo all'italiana, Un (Italy) [it]
Dobar posao u Italiji (Serbia) [sr]
Listeia... ala italika (Greece) [el]
Olsz meló, Az (Hungary) [hu]
Or se barre, L' (France) [fr]
Riehakas ryöstö (Finland) [fi]
Trabajo en Italia, Un (Spain) [es]
Um Golpe à Italiana (Brazil) [pt]
Vilda biljakten, Den (Sweden) [sv]
Ville biljakten, Den (Norway) [no]
Wloska robota (Poland) [pl]

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | Italian

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

South Korea:15 | UK:PG (video rating) (1988) | Australia:PG | Canada:PG | Finland:K-11 (DVD rating) | Finland:K-12 (original rating) | Ireland:PG | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 | Norway:16 (cinema version) | Singapore:PG | Sweden:11 | UK:U (original rating) | USA:G | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland

Company:

Oakhurst Productions

Trivia:

Cilla Black was offered the role of Lorna.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Croker et al confront the Mafia on the mountain road and have their fast cars destroyed, the red Jaguar is already damaged. Even before the truck hits it, you can see that the left-hand headlight is missing.

Quotes:

Garage Manager: You must have shot an awful lot of tigers, sir.
Charlie Croker: Yes, I used a machine gun.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "ShakespeaRe-Told: A Midsummer Night's Dream (#1.4)" (2005)

Soundtrack:

It's Caper Time

Just the job!

Troy Kennedy Martin, its scriptwriter, has described the central significance of the mini cooper in Peter Collinson's cult heist movie. Perkily speeding through the streets of Turin, it represents the then New Britain: `laddish, self-confident and not taking itself too seriously'. The image of the weaving, dodging, red white and blue cars is the film's abiding one. Outside of their use in the prolonged escape scenes, and several splendid comic moments elsewhere, it remains entertaining, even if surprisingly slight.

Often seen as a quintessential sixties' movie, ‘The Italian Job' is more precisely a definition (or one definition) of Britishness as an optimistic nation at the height of a chic decade. In this atmosphere, pulling a job – or a bird – is practically a national duty. Robbery is considered by Croker and Bridger as a means to `help with the country's balance of payments'. The ultra-patriotic Mr Bridger (a splendidly aristocratic Noel Coward, his cell walls pasted with pictures of royalty) sees the job as much a matter of national pride, a means to demonstrate the efficiency of the British system of work, than a route to amass loot. Characteristically Bridger is more interested in studying balance of payment statistics than examining escape routes for his operatives who appropriately enough travel to their ‘work' on the Free Enterprise 1.

The reference to football is significant and parallels with the sport are deliberate. Most obviously, the robbery is planned for the time of an England-Italy match maximising confusion and even,(as Bridger suggests at one point), possible help from their compatriots. Croker's men at one point assume the identity of a van full of fans, while the impromptu beer celebration in the back of the coach, after ditching the minis, is the team's victory drink. It is clear that the Italians, whether the police or the Mafia, are as much their opponents as the national team playing in the stadium. Back in prison, upon news of the triumph by his ‘team', Bridger descends the stairs, like a penal Alf Ramsey, acknowledging the chants of ‘England!' by celebrating fans.

Caine's cockney player is very much the main character of the film (a role apparently – and amazingly – originally offered to Robert Redford). The actor, who had earlier played the soliliquising womaniser Alfie in the 1966 film of the same name, reprises some elements of that character's optimism and assumptiveness. In the present film he is less of cynical loner, studiously subservient to his criminal employer, though still on the look out for a good thing both professionally and sexually. Like his more famous compatriot, James Bond, he drives an Aston Martin although quickly reduced to a bicycle and then a mini. The Mafia's cliff-side warning dents some of his self assurance, presumably also shaken by the roughing up from Bridger's men (although interestingly the beating is never referred to again, and leaves no physical marks.) Away from his boss he remains very much his own man, although his loyalty is never in doubt: `From now on we work as a team. Which means you all listen to me.' Crocker is always in control, never sentimental, being content to pack his girlfriend off with the minimum of ceremony at the airport. Emotion will slowly filter through Caine's screen persona. His watching of Beckermann's footage early on, to explain the big idea, anticipates Jack Carter's less dispassionate viewing of celluloid in Hodges' gangster film two years later.

Before the long, final chase ensues, the gang's Aston and two Jags are ceremoniously wasted by the Mafia. While making a simple point about the threat and power of the Italian underworld, the removal of ‘competing' vehicles also reaffirms the status of the remaining minis. Ironically if the film has a weakness, it lies in the mini's prominence, which reduces tension during the last part of the film. The stunts remain eye-catching today (the notable roof top jump being filmed on the roof of the Fiat factory), but very often one is aware of watching a demonstration of the vehicle's versatility rather than any dramatic bid for freedom. In one scene filmed, later deleted from the release print, the minis and their Italian pursuers performed gracefully together on an ice rink choreographed to a waltz, slowing the action even further. That such a scene was considered, and filmed, gives an indication of how taken the makers had been with the car, and with the *means* rather than the *process* of urgent escape.

Another less satisfactory element of the plot is the disappearing Mafia. Initially presented as a formidable, organised force (as in their synchronised appearance on the hill side for instance), the Italian hoods are sidelined as events unfold, criminal impotents. Their absence from the finale seems odd. With or without the Cosa Nostra's malign shadow, the existing conclusion of the film has excited much comment. With its famous shot of the coach balanced out over the precipice, the gold sliding towards its back end, and Croker's closing `I've got a great idea..', it is a literal cliff hanger. The original script tailed off with the escape, and another twist in the tail was clearly needed. After some debate a studio executive added the existing close, which could easily have appeared lame, but in the event proves a satisfying conclusion. By leaving the coach – and the viewer – hanging, the film has it both ways: the crooks get away with it and yet they don't; a group of white British lads triumph in their cool minis, only to have their plans derailed by a careless black driver of their coach. If the film has been about the state of ‘Britishness' at the time then the uncertainty of its conclusion anticipates, perhaps, the doubts and strife of the ensuing decades.