![]() Writer Troy Kennedy Martin was a master of quality tv for cinema, he pulled the stops out for an iconic chase sequence that’s still a marvel today. With no CGI and little back protection, Charlie Croker’s gang offload the gold bars into three Minis, small and agile enough to drive through tunnels, through waterfalls, across rooftop race-tracks and literally fly in the air above the Turin traffic jams that Charlie has created. The Italian Job has a big ramp to climb there’s lots of hints about what the robbery is going to look like, but when it arrives, it’s a cinematic blast-off. Getting finance from patriotic con Mr Bridger (Noel Coward) is the first obstacle, then building the team (somehow Benny Hill as Professor Peaches, the computer whizz), and finally executing the robbery one telling detail is that the gang disguise themselves from the eyes of the police as English football supporters, a disguise that would instantly arouse the attentions of Interpol today. All the iconic elements are present and correct a great movie requires a great star, and The Italian Job features peak-Michael Caine as Charlie Croker, breezing his way in and out of jail as he seeks to complete a planned bullion robbery in Turin. Peter Collinson’s film is one of Britain’s best-loved films, still screening on terrestrial tv on what remained of Christmas Day, 2020 the mystery is why US audiences didn’t take to this jovial caper. Several decades later, The Italian Job drops onto Amazon Prime in the UK sweet as a nut, and still feels like the same fun PG film, highly entertaining, tight as a well-fitted rear-differential, a perrenial classic. ![]() Sitting on my mother’s knee, the pre-school me saw it less as a heist movie as a film about three little cars, all Minis, red, white and blue and their wild adventure in Italy. I’ve been in a routine of watching at least two films a day for as long as I can remember it’s a habit that started young, and the first film I can consciously remember watching from beginning to end was The Italian Job during a 1970’s ITV screening.
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