Hi, I’m Jeff and welcome to A Million Movies. And did you know that Michael Caine, the star
of the 1969 classic, The Italian Job, which features one of the best car chase scenes
in movie history, did not know how to drive when that movie was being made? To be precise, Caine started taking driving
lessons while the movie was being shot, but never got comfortable enough behind the wheel
where we ever actually see him drive a car on screen. In fact, the only time his character
drives in the movie is when he picks up his Aston Martin from the garage and drives over
to a hotel. In both shots, whenever we see Michael Caine’s character, the car never
moves. And in every other scene for the rest of the movie, Michael Caine was always a passenger. And that’s just the first of fifty facts
about one of the greatest heist movies ever made that I’m going to be racing through
today, so fasten your seatbelts because we’re about to blow the bloody doors off The Italian
Job. You’re only supposed to blow the bloody
doors off! While The Italian Job helped define the heist
movie genre, the idea for the movie was originally pitched as a television show, not set in Italy,
but set in London. However, once the creators realized that the scope of the production
would be too much for a British television show’s budget, they began reworking the
story into a feature film instead. But if you’re like me and would still love to see
a weekly TV series about a gang of robbers driving Mini Coopers around town, don’t
give up hope just yet. NBC has been kicking around the idea of an Italian Job series for
more than three years. The idea is still in development, but there’s still a chance
The Italian Job could make an appearance on the small screen someday. When Paramount Pictures signed on to back
the production, studio chief Robert Evans originally suggested Robert Redford play the
part of Charlie Croker, but Charlie Bludhorn, who actually owned Paramount Pictures, had
been a fan of Michael Caine’s since Caine made Alfie for Paramount a couple of years
earlier, and Bludhorn wanted Caine in the lead role. Early on, the production team also
wanted Peter Yates to direct the movie. Fresh off of making Bullitt the year before, the
feeling was that Yates could bring that same style to The Italian Job. Once again though,
Charlie Bludhorm stepped in and picked Peter Collinson as the director. Collinson had made
The Long Day’s Dying for Paramount the year before, and Bludhorn felt he was ready to
make this movie. That’s not to say that Peter Collinson stayed
behind the camera all the time. In addition to directing the movie, he also cast himself
as a member of the gang. That’s him closing the gate as the Mini Coopers exit the sewer…
and that’s him hanging off the back of the bus guiding the Mini Coopers up the ramp. One of the perks of having an actor like Michael
Caine on the set is that he’s so quick on his feet that entire scenes could be shot
without a script. One example of this is the scene where Charlie goes to the garage after
getting out of prison to pick up his car. Michael Caine and John Clive improvised this
entire scene. The other lead role in the film is Mr. Bridger,
the crime boss who controls everything from his comfortable prison cell. Screenwriter
Troy Kennedy-Martin wanted Nicol Williamson for that role, since he knew they needed someone
who could play a tough no-nonsense crime boss. Peter Collinson had someone else in mind though,
and offered the role to Noël Coward instead. Coward shifted the role from the tough guy
Kennedy-Martin had envisioned, and made Bridger a sophisticated gentleman crook who was both
loved and respected by London’s criminal class. It also helped that in real life Noël
Coward was director Peter Collinson's godfather, and Collinson wanted to thank Coward for giving
him his start in the business. Unfortunately, Noël Coward was suffering
from arteriosclerosis during the filming of The Italian Job. His health was so poor that
it impacted production. For example, Coward was having trouble remembering his lines.
So to help him out, Coward’s longtime companion and partner, Graham Payn, was brought in to
play a new role as Bridger's assistant so he could be on hand to help Coward get through
his scenes. And, one of the more memorable scenes in the movie – Bridger’s triumphant
march through the prison – had to be filmed in short segments since Coward was unable
to walk more than a few feet at a time. In all, Noël Coward worked for ten days on
The Italian Job and earned £25,000 for his performance. When production ended, he announced
his retirement from acting, making The Italian Job Noël Coward’s final film credit. Noël Coward wasn’t the only friend or family
member to land a part in the movie though. Michael Caine’s brother, Stanley Caine,
appears as one of the members of the gang… And Peter Collinson's wife, Lisa Shane, was
Collinson’s lucky charm and appeared in all of his movies, including, of course, The
Italian Job. In this film, she plays the part of the blonde wife of the visiting American
gangster during the mob men’s dinner. Collinson cast her for that part because the casting
directors were only sending him tall, dark, Italian models, and he wanted a short, blonde
woman to counter the Italians in the room. One final casting note… Benny Hill plays
Prof. Peach, the computer expert who hacks into Turin’s traffic system. Benny wasn’t
the only star of The Benny Hill Show to appear in The Italian Job. Longtime Benny Hill Show
cast member Henry McGee also appears in a cameo as Michael Caine’s tailor. Of course, many would argue that the real
stars of The Italian Job are not the actors, but are the Mini Coopers used in the getaway
scenes. Unfortunately, British Motor Corporation, the makers of the Mini, didn’t want to donate
any cars for the production. Fiat, on the other hand, wanted to be involved as much
as they could be. They offered to donate as many cars as were needed, including top-of-the-line
Lamborghinis and Ferraris, plus $40,000 if they used Fiat 500s in place of the Minis.
Peter Collinson felt that this needed to be a truly British movie, and he pushed for using
Minis instead. In the end, Fiat still donated dozens of cars, as well as allowing the production
to use the factory grounds. In fact, the rooftop racetrack we see during
the getaway sequence was an actual working part of the Fiat Lingotto factory in Turin.
Built in 1923, the track sits on top of a five-story building that was once the workplace
for 6,000 Fiat employees. And, nearly 100 years later, the track is still there. One line in the movie that Mini owners really
appreciate was in the scene where Michael Caine is walking through the garage and we
hear that "Rozzer's having trouble with his differential.” "Rozzer's having trouble with his differential
there.” “Tell him to hurry up.”
“Hurry up.” Mini Coopers are front-wheel drive cars, so
they don’t have a rear differential. However, in the 1960s, most cars were rear-wheel drive,
so asking a mechanic to check out the rear differential on a Mini was a popular prank
to pull – and one that made it into the movie. Another thing to keep an eye out for the next
time you watch The Italian Job are the license plates on the three Minis. The red Mini has
the number "HMP 729G". This plate referenced "Her Majesty's Prison" and Charlie Croker's
prison number. The white Mini is "GPF 146G". GPF references Grand Prix flag. And the blue
Mini is "LGW 809G". This references the flight the gang would have taken had they been successful.
"LGW" refers to London Gatwick – their destination – and 809 was the flight number. Speaking of license plates, the plate number
of Mr. Bridger’s limo reads "HMP 1", which, like the plate on the red Mini, stands for
"Her Majesty's Prison". Of course, prison vehicles wouldn't have personalized plates,
and Daimlers would not have been used to move prisoners around, but that’s all part of
the fun of the movies. Continuing with car facts… When Michael
Caine’s character, Charlie Crocker, gets out of jail, he’s picked up by his girlfriend
in a stolen car. She tells him the car belongs to the Ambassador of Pakistan. In real life,
the car they’re using was actually owned by the Ambassador of Pakistan at the time. And one of my favorite vehicles from the movie
was the bus used to transport the gang and gold out of Turin. That’s a 1964 Bedford
VAL with the Harrington Legionnaire body. One unique feature of this bus is that it
has twin front steering axles. For filming, the bus was modified to reinforce the partition
behind the driver so that the Minis wouldn’t crush him as they were driven into the back.
Even with that reinforcement though, the cars did move the driver’s seat forward a few
inches pushing the driver up so that his stomach touched the steering wheel. After the movie
was finished, this bus went back into commercial use in Scotland, before being broken down
for scrap in the 1990s. Some quick notes on some of the other cars
used in the movie… Michael Caine’s Aston Martin that we see
being pushed off a cliff by the Mafia – that was a fake car. The real Aston Martin survived
and can still be occasionally seen at car shows.
The two Jaguar E-Types that were smashed in the same scene have both been restored, and
also make appearances at car shows from time to time.
And finally, the Lamborghini Miura that we see during the opening credits was recently
found in a secret car park in Paris. A collector from Wales now owns it. Note that this Miura
is not the one tossed down the cliff. That one was already wrecked before it went over
the edge. Aside from the cars, one other vehicle to
take note of is the Chinese plane that brings the gold to the Turin airport. This plane
is a Douglas C-74 Globemaster transport plane, and is one of only fourteen made. Also, those
Chinese characters on the plane are basically gibberish. They characters say "China Government
Fly". Originally, the producers thought that Milan
would be the best place to shoot the movie, but ultimately decided to shoot in Turin instead.
First, they didn’t think they’d get a permit to film in Milan that gave them as
much freedom as they’d get in Turin, and second, Turin actually had the most extensive
computer-controlled traffic system like the one they describe in the movie. Great locations,
a working traffic system they didn’t need to create, and permits to shoot all added
up to an ideal location to make this movie. That’s not to say the production didn’t
have challenges. One drawback to shooting in Turin was that the local authorities would
sometimes refuse to close the roads for filming. When that happened, reportedly, the Italian
Mafia would step in and cause traffic jams that shut down whole sections of the city.
The result is that many of the traffic jams seen in the movie are real, including the
reactions of the frustrated drivers stuck in them. There are a handful of iconic shots in the
getaway chase scene. The Minis going down the stairs in the palazzo is a great example.
Getting this shot took a little bit of a lie by omission to make happen. When Peter Collinson
was requesting permission to shoot in the palazzo, he only told the palazzo managers
that “machinery” would be used on the stairs. He never told them he’d be driving
cars down the stairs. Another great shot was perhaps the most dangerous
stunt of the entire movie – when the three Mini Coopers jump from one roof to another.
The stunt was considered so dangerous that some of the crew members walked off the set
in protest, and nearby Fiat workers made the sign of the cross for the stuntmen to bless
them before they made the jump. Adding onto the stress was an Italian law that said that
if there was a death, the person responsible for the production would be charged with manslaughter.
All of that added up to nerve-racking day for producer Michael Deeley, but in the end,
he ok’d the shot and fortunately, all three cars made it safely across. One sequence from that final chase that didn’t
make the final edit was a faceoff in an exhibition hall where the Mini Coopers try to avoid the
police while The Blue Danube plays. Unfortunately, the scene was cut for time, but can still
be found in the DVD bonus features. The chase scene was shot throughout Turin,
with the exception of the scenes in the sewer tunnel. This part of the sequence was shot
in the Sowe Valley Sewer Duplication System in Coventry in the UK where several miles
of the Birmingham-Coventry sewer were under construction. To get the shots in the sewer, the crew mounted
the camera onto the rear of another Mini vehicle – a Mini Moke – that drove in front of
the Coopers. Stunt coordinator Rémy Julienne was excited
about shooting the sewer scenes since he wanted to complete a 360 degree barrel roll on camera.
Remy tried to do the roll three times, but the slippery walls prevented him from getting
around and he landed the car on its roof three times. There are reports for other members
of the crew that Remy did make the roll once during rehearsal, but it was never captured
on film, so it’s not in the final movie. Mini Coopers and The Italian Job will always
be connected… and that connection is often reinforced by recreations of key scenes. For
example, to mark the completion of 10 new kilometers of sewer in Hull, England in 2001,
Yorkshire Water re-created the sewer scene, this time using the recently-released new-shape
BMW Mini Cooper. One note about the gold that they loaded into
those Mini Coopers. Gold cost almost $39 per ounce in 1968, so four million dollars in
gold bars would have weighed about 7,000 pounds. Dividing that weight up between the three
Minis meant that each car was carrying about 2,300 pounds plus the weight of the driver
and the passenger. A 1968 Mini only weighs about 1,400 pounds, so each of these vehicles
would have had to carry more than 1½ times its own weight in gold. The Italian Job has had an impact on pop culture
– which I’ll cover a little later on – but pop culture also had an impact on The Italian
Job. Popular athletes, in particular, became part of the story when the gang disguised
themselves as England soccer fans to get out of Turin unnoticed. Their Dormobile van is
decorated with the names of popular English players from the time, including Bobby Moore,
the English captain of the 1966 and 1970 World Cup squads, and photos of Alan Ball and Roger
Hunt. On the driver’s door is "Osgood is good", a reference to Peter Osgood, and Colin
Bell’s name is on the right side along with photos of Bobby Charlton and Bobby Moore. And of course, I have to mention the soundtrack,
which was composed by the great Quincy Jones. It starts off with "On Days Like These" sung
by Matt Monro over the opening credits, but the most memorable song of the movie has to
be "Getta Bloomin' Move On", which most people simply call "The Self-Preservation Society"
song. One of the singers we hear on that song is none other than Michael Caine himself. Alright, so one of the things that I think
makes The Italian Job such a fun and interesting movie is its ending. Which is great since
when production on the movie started, there wasn’t an ending ready to go. Paramount
Pictures still hadn’t come up with one. A novelization of the film, written by Troy
Kennedy Martin and Ken Wlaschin, ended with the bus making it into Switzerland without
any issues, and two days later, the gang and the gold arrive on a beach near Dover in a
landing craft where they are met by Mr. Bridger and Luigi Altabani. As they come ashore, Mr.
Bridger tells Charlie Croker that they have come to an agreement to "divide Europe" and
that the gold must be given back to the Italians. Another ending that had been proposed was
one that left the open the option for a sequel. According to the DVD commentary, although
never formally planned, the first movie would end with the bus teetering over the edge,
and the sequel would start with the Mafia arriving in helicopters and lifting the bus
back onto the road, saving the gold and Charlie’s gang. The rest of the movie would then involve
Charlie's crew pulling a second heist to steal the gold back from the Mafia. In a 2003 BBC documentary, Michael Caine revealed
what Charlie’s "great idea" was to get the bus off the edge of the cliff. “Hang on a minute, lads. I’ve got a great
idea.” He suggested that they would have turned the
engine back on. Everyone would stay exactly where they were, but as the gasoline burned
off, the rear of the bus would lighten up and the front end would come back down. The
gang would then begin to move to the front of the bus and jump out all at the same time.
The bus would then go over the cliff. Caine also suggested that the Mafia would be waiting
at the bottom of the cliff, ready to recover the gold. Caine also confirmed on The Graham Norton
Show that the movie ended with this literal cliffhanger because censors at the time wouldn’t
approve a movie where the criminals successfully got away with the crime. Interestingly, The
Italian Job was made right as these codes were ending, so technically, that restriction
wouldn’t have been in place, but filmmakers still had the rules in mind and didn’t want
to risk getting denied. Caine’s version of how they would have solved
the problem with the bus on the edge of the cliff is rumored to be the explanation used
for one of the drafts for a sequel, called "The Brazilian Job". In 2008, the Royal Society of Chemistry held
a competition trying to find the best science-based solution for the ending of The Italian Job
that allowed the gang to keep the gold. They also prohibited the use of a helicopter and
required that the solution could not take more than 30 minutes to implement since, of
course, the police might find them if they took longer than that. The winning entry suggested
that the gang break two of the larger side windows toward the rear of the bus and let
the glass fall outside the bus, and break two front windows keeping that glass inside
the bus for extra weight. One man would climb outside the bus and drain the fuel tank. Once
it was drained enough for him to get off the bus entirely, he would toss rocks into the
front of the bus until the bus was stable. Then, the gang would hijack a passing vehicle
and escape with the gold. If the solutions to the ending of The Italian
Job sound difficult, just filming that final scene was as hard for the crew. The site they
selected for this shot only had a single restaurant at the end of it, and on the first day of
shooting, weather was great and very few cars came through. The second day was a Sunday
though, and that restaurant at the end of the road was very popular on Sundays. Pretty
quickly, a long line of cars started backing up downhill from the location. Some upset
drivers even broke through the roadblocks and shooting ultimately had to be postponed
for the day. Local traffic wasn’t the only issue the
crew had to worry about. The final shot of the movie is a helicopter shot pulling away
from the bus. As they were practicing this shot, the downdraft from the helicopter started
to tip the bus over. Members of the stunt crew rushed onto the set and hug onto the
front of the bus to keep it from going over the edge. With the movie finally finished, it made its
way into theaters, where in the US at least, it performed poorly. Michael Caine blamed
the bad box office on a misleading advertising campaign. The U.S. poster featured a scantily-clad
woman with a map on her back kneeling in front of a Mafioso holding a machine gun. And while
the movie did get a Golden Globe nomination for "Best English-Language Foreign Film",
the ticket sales were so poor that any idea for a sequel were shelved. Even though we haven’t seen a sequel, there
have been two remakes of The Italian Job. The first came in 2003 and was set in Los
Angeles with Mark Wahlberg as Charlie Croker and Donald Sutherland as John Bridger. The
other remake is an unofficial Bollywood remake called Players, which was released in 2012.
And, like the original, both remakes feature Mini Cooper chase scenes. Even with its poor US box office, The Italian
Job is still a favorite for many, and was voted number thirty-six on the BFI's 100 Greatest
British Films of the twentieth century. And, in a 2003 U.K. movie survey, Charlie
Croker's line, "You're only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!" was voted the most
memorable line in any movie. It’s such a well-known, and well-loved, line that Michael
Caine titled his third memoir Blowing the Bloody Doors Off. Michael Caine's performance and his 'bloody
doors' line has been parodied in several British comedies over the years… “You’re only
supposed to blow the bloody doors off!” … and was even mixed into the music video
for Pick a Part That's New by Stereophonics. There’s even a video game based on the 1969
film that was released in 2001… and a play performed at the 2003 Edinburgh Fringe Festival
retold the story of The Italian Job using dialogue pulled from Shakespeare’s plays. Music videos, video games, and stage plays
aren’t the only paces where you can see elements of The Italian Job. Several shots
from the chase scene were used in a MacGyver episode… And during the 2012 Summer Olympics held in
London, the “bloody doors” line and a car being blown up were included as part of
the closing ceremonies. Not only that, but as part of the Olympics’ celebration of
British culture, a replica of the bus was exhibited balanced on the edge of the roof
of The De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill-on-Sea. And finally, The Italian Job has done its
part for charity thanks to an annual event where Minis and other vehicles featured in
the original film drive from the UK to northern Italy and back to raise money for children's
charities. Since 1990, the event has raised nearly £2,600,000. And there’s the finish line… 50 facts
about the 1969 classic, The Italian Job. If you enjoyed this video, please subscribe and
watch some of my other episodes. In particular, you might like my video comparing Peter Yates’
chase scenes in Bullitt and in Breaking Away, or my deep-dive into movies like The Italian
Job that end with ambiguous, but potentially deadly, endings – a trope called a Bolivian
Army Ending. So, until next time, thanks for watching A
Million Movies.
