The Italian Job (1969)

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. ~ Aubry Anne D'Arminio, All Movie Guide