The Italian Job [Blu-ray]

Director: Peter Collinson Peter Collinson

Overview

The quintessential British caper film of the 1960s, The Italian Job is a flashy, fast romp that chases a team of career criminals throughout one of the biggest international gold heists in history. Michael Caine is Charlie Croker, a stylish robber and skirt-chaser just out of British prison. Shunning rehabilitation for recidivism, Croker takes over "The Italian Job," a complicated plan to hijack gold bullion from Italy -- right from underneath the noses of the Italian Police and the Mafia. The job, whose original mastermind was murdered, clearly requires the sponsorship of a richer, more established criminal than Croker. He turns to the auspices of the eccentric Mr. Bridger (No?l Coward in his last film role), a suave, regal, incarcerated English crime boss with a peculiar fascination with the Queen. Bridger provides Croker with a quirky group of Britain's most infamous computer hackers (including a lascivious Benny Hill), bank robbers, hijackers, and getaway drivers -- the ex-con is soon well on his way to relieving Italy of the gold.

Product Details

Release Date:	01/31/2023
UPC:	0738329261412
Original Release:	1969
Rating:	G
Source:	Kl Studio Classics
Language:	English
Time:	1:39:00
Sales rank:	7,330

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Michael Caine	Charlie Croker,Coco
Noel Coward	Mr. Bridger
Benny Hill	Professor Simon Peach
Maggie Blye	Lorna
Raff Vallone	Altabani
Tony Beckley	Camp Freddie
Rossano Brazzi	Beckerman
Irene Handl	Miss Peach
John Le Mesurier	Governor
Fred Emney	Birkinshaw
John Clive	Garage Manager
Graham Payn	Keats
Michael Standing	Arthur
Barry Cox	Chris
Harry Baird	Big William
John Forgeham	Frank
Derek Ware	Rozzer
Frank Jarvis	Roger
David Salamone	Dominic
Mario Valgoi	Manzo
Renato Romano	Cosca
Franco Novelli	Altabani's Driver
Robert Rietty	Police Chief
Timothy Bateson	Dentist
Arnold Diamond	Senior Computer Room Official
Simon Dee	Shirtmaker
Alastair Hunter	Cinema Warder
Lana Gatto	Mrs. Cosca
John Louis Mansi	Computer Room Official
Henry McGee	Tailor
Leila Goldoni	Mrs. Beckerman
Valerie Leon	Receptionist, Royal Lancaster
John Morris	Actor
David Kelly	Vicar,Prisoner in cell

Technical Credits

Peter Collinson	Director
Stanley Baker	Producer
Michael Deeley	Producer
Pat Moore	Special Effects

Editorial Reviews

The Italian Job is a quick, fun celebration of British ingenuity and wit. Its style is fast, gaudy, and hilarious; its players are clever, flippant, and rakish. Michael Caine's Croker is handsome, natty, and has a mischievous penchant for orgies, plotting, and international escapades. Caine gives Croker a cocksure panache that is skillfully matched by Noël Coward's command as the odd Mr. Bridger. Their scheme to steal gold bullion while distracting the police with a traffic jam proves excellent fodder for antics and car chases, allowing the film to end in the patriotic flair of the British flag as red, white, and blue Mini-coopers race through Italy, driving over buildings and waterfalls and into the Italian hillside. For this sequence, director Peter Collinson enlisted Quincy Jones and Beatles producer George Martin to create the pop anthem "Getta Bloomin' Move On" (more commonly known as "Self-preservation Society"), a tune that jokingly adds to the atmosphere of a "British Invasion." The Italian Job was a smash in Britain and abroad, and is remembered as an archetypal and influential British caper film; compare the last few frames of Guy Ritchie's modern hit Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels to the final moments of The Italian Job to find an homage to the earlier picture.