I watched the original 1969 Peter Collinson-directed version of ‘The Italian Job‘ 19 years after seeing the 2003 remake. I don’t remember much about the remake and the 5/10 rate that I gave it then on IMDB probably explains the reasons. The 1969 film is certainly not the best of the heist genre that was very popular in those days, but there are still some good reasons for a viewing more than half a century after its production and release. By seeing it, today’s viewer can get an idea of the recipes for cinematic success of the late 60s. And the IMDB rating is also higher.
The film starts from a rather original idea that locates it in a special place in the category of films that describe in detail the planning and organization of the most sophisticated robberies. The gang of British villains led by Charlie Crocker (Michael Caine) and financed by Mr. Bridger (Noël Coward) will rob a convoy containing gold bars that Communist China (we are in 1969!) intents to pay for a factory Italian cars. He will do it with the help of a computer expert, in the role of none other than the famous comedian Benny Hill, who will sabotage the computerized traffic management system in Turin (again – it’s 1969!) and create a huge traffic jam. As in all these films, the most sophisticated plans get bogged down by unpredictable details. Everything is treated here with an immoral humor that would not be possible today. In 1969 correctness and politics had not been united in the same sentence.
The comedy part is the strongest part of the film, but viewers should be warned that this is a British comedy and that some of the jokes may get lost in translation even for the English-speaking audience. This film was received very differently in England than in the rest of the world, and I think this difference in perception continues to this day. In the eyes of most viewers, 1969’s ‘The Italian Job‘ is a heist comedy with some good moments and some not so good moments, with a car chase that climbs stairs, flies between buildings and accelerates into sewer systems, with a few likeable actors and with some jokes that can be about half understood, with a memorable retro tech scene from a time when computers were bigger than refrigerators and music by Quincy Jones. For British viewers and film critics it is a film that repeatedly shows up in the rankings of the best British films of all times. Michael Caine, Noël Coward (for whom this is his last film as an actor) and Benny Hill each represent a different kind of star and English humor, and the very act of bringing them together on the same screen is a feat. Even if today’s viewer risks losing his enthusiasm for this film, he can be sure that he has watched the best version of ‘The Italian Job‘ produced so far.