A very British film called The Italian Job (1969)

(This post is part of the 11th annual Rule, Britannia Blogathon hosted by A shroud of thoughts)

If there was ever a Golden Age for caper films, it was the 1960s. That decade saw the release of classic caper films like Topkapi (1964), Gambi (1966), and How to Steal a Million (1966). One of the best caper films of the 1960s was The Italian track (1969). And while the United Kingdom produced a number of caper films in the 1960s, The Italian track was the most British of them all.

The Italian track revolves around professional thief Charlie Croker (Michael Caine). Charlie, recently released from prison, sets out to meet fellow thief Roger Beckerman (Rosano Brazzi) for a job Beckerman had planned in Italy. Charlie instead meets Beckerman’s widow (Lelia Goldoni), who has been murdered by the mafia. Beckerman’s widow insists that Charlie go through with Beckerman’s plan, which involves stealing $4 million in gold bars from a convoy as payment to Fiat from the Chinese for a car factory. Charlie must secure financial backing for the heist from crime boss Mr. Bridger (Noël Coward), and assemble a crew to carry it out. Of course, not everything goes as planned, as expected.

The origin of The Italian track go back to a teleplay that Ian Kennedy Martin had submitted to the BBC. The play revolved around a robbery that was to take place in central London during a traffic jam. The BBC never turned Ian Kennedy Martin’s teleplay into a television film, his brother Troy Kennedy Martin believes because the BBC thought it would be too expensive to do. Troy Kennedy Martin subsequently bought the teleplay from his brother and changed the location of the robbery from central London to Turin, Italy. As for the Martins, Ian Kennedy Martin was the story editor of the police drama Little Red Riding Hood and had written for British TV shows such as The Holy, The ProtectorsAnd The Problem Solvers. Troy Kennedy Martin was then best known as the creator of the TV show Z-cars and written for shows like Little Red Riding Hood And ITV Play of the Week, and did some uncredited rewrites for the feature film Darling (1965).

From the beginning, Troy Kennedy Martin wanted Michael Caine for the role of Charlie Croker. It took several attempts to get Mr. Caine when heavy fog caused all flights from Los Angeles International Airport to be diverted to a small airstrip near San Diego. Troy Kennedy Martin managed to interest Paramount in the project, but then Paramount head Robert Evans wanted Robert Redford for the lead role. Troy Kennedy Martin stood his ground and Robert Evans accepted Michael Caine for the role of Charlie Croker.

As for the rest of the cast, the all-important role of Mr. Bridger was offered almost immediately to Noël Coward. Several well-known British actors filled many of the roles, including comedian Benny Hill as Professor Peach, character actress Irene Hnadl as his sister, Fred Emney as Birkinshaw, and actor and author John Clive as the garage owner. Charlie’s crew included actors such as Tony Beckley (who had done much work with director Peter Collinson), George Innes (who had appeared in Billy Liar), Harry Baird (who had already appeared in many films and in The oblong boxalso from 1969), and Robert Powell (who would later appear in Jesus of Nazareth), among others. A notable cast member is Stanley Caine, who was the brother of Michael Caine and also appeared in his brother’s film A billion dollar brain (1967).

Four endings were written for The Italian trackBut producer Michael Deeley wasn’t happy with any of them. He then came up with the idea of ​​the now famous cliffhanger ending to the film. Over the years, many have guessed how the cliffhanger would have been resolved.

The Italian track was filmed in several locations. The prison Charlie was in was actually a combination of two different prisons. The interior was Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin, Ireland. The exterior was sHM Prison Wormwood Scrubs in West London. The famous chase scene was largely filmed in Turin, with the section through a sewer in the Sowe Valley Sewer Duplication system in the Stoke Aldermoor district of Coventry. Other locations included the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London, Crystal Palace Racecourse and the Dover Ferry Terminal at Easter Docks in Dover, Kent. Filming also took place at Isleworth Studios in Isleworth, Middlesex and Twickenham Film Studios in Twickenham, Middlesex.

Of course, as mentioned before, The Italian track is a very British film, despite the fact that much of the action takes place in Italy. Indeed, it’s hard to be more British than a cast that includes Michael Caine, Noël Coward, Benny Hill and Irene Handl. Much of the film’s Britishness comes in the form of Mr. Bridger, who is openly nationalistic. His room is filled with photos of the Queen and magazines about the Queen, and “Rule, Britannia” or “God Save the Queen” often plays when he’s on screen. In addition to Mr. Bridger, there’s also the fact that the heist itself takes place towards the end of a football match between England and Italy. The getaway vehicles of much of Charlie’s crew are also very British. They’re Mini Coopers in the national colours of the United Kingdom: red, white and blue. Of course, the British iconography of The Italian track shouldn’t come as a surprise, given that much of the film plays out as a battle between the British and the mafia.

The Italian track premiered at the Plaza Cinema on June 5, 1969. Given its status as a classic today, it may come as a surprise that some critics were unimpressed with the film upon its release. In Today’s cinemaMarjorie Bilbow wrote: “Without the thrilling chase that climaxes, this would be little more than a run-of-the-mill comedy thriller….” In The New York TimesVincent Canby who reviewed the Spaghetti Western Ace High (1968) and The Italian track as a double feature, noted: “Both Giuseppe Colizzi’s Ace Highan Italian western, and Peter Collinson’s The Italian tracka British comedy set largely in Italy, are films that have been made before, often much better, by others.”

While some critics may not have been impressed by The Italian trackThe British public loved the film and it did well at the box office in the UK. It also did well in Europe. For some reason it did not do so well in the United States, although it would gain a cult following in the colonies. It made its American television debut on 9 June 1974 on ABC and has been building an American fan base ever since.

While critics may not have been impressed with The Italian track in 1969 and it may have had a disappointing box office performance in the United States, but it has since been highly regarded. In 1999, the British Film Institute ranked The Italian track at No. 35 in the BFI Top 100 British Films list. In 2004 Total movie named it the 27th best British film of all time. In 2011, film fans voted The Italian track the best British film of all time in a poll conducted by Sky Movies HD. The film currently holds an 82% rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. The Italian track has also permeated popular culture in the Anglo-Saxon world, with Michael Caine’s line, “You’re only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!” often quoted. Michael Caine even titled his memoir, Blowing Open the Bloody Doors: And Other Life LessonsCritics in 1969 and American audiences in 1969 may not have been impressed with this very British film, but The Italian track has become an undisputed classic.