THE ITALIAN JOB [1969 / 2009] [40th Anniversary Special Edition] [Blu-ray] [UK Release] A Film That Exuberantly Celebrates The Fact That It’s Ace Being British!
Join Sir Michael Caine and his gang of crooks for the ultimate British caper movie packed with fast cars, beautiful girls and swinging 1960s action. In his final screen appearance, Sir Noël Coward joyfully sends up his own patriotic persona, and there are small though priceless cameos from the likes of Irene Handl and John Le Mesurier.
‘THE ITALIAN JOB’ 40th Anniversary Special Edition blows the doors off with astonishing array of BRAND NEW extras, including EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS WITH SIR MICHAEL CAINE, QUINCY JONES and others, as the tell us what really happened making ‘THE ITALIAN JOB.’ PLUS HOST OF STUNTS, MINIS and MORE, in this thrilling set of DEFINITIVE DOCUMENTARIES and AUDIO COMMENTARIES.
FILM FACT No.1: Awards and Nominations: 1970 Golden Globes: Nominated: Best English-Language Foreign Film [UK].
FILM FACT No.2: The music for the soundtrack was written by Quincy Jones. The opening theme, "On Days Like These," had lyrics by Don Black and was sung by Matt Monro. The closing theme, "Get a Bloomin' Move On" (aka "The Self Preservation Society"), was performed by the cast and had lyrics featuring Cockney Rhyming Slang. Many incidental themes are based on British patriotic songs, such as "Rule, Britannia!", "The British Grenadiers" and "God Save the Queen," and lead actor Sir Michael Caine is among its singers. Although it received a Golden Globe nomination for "Best English-Language Foreign Film," the film was not a success in America. Sir Michael Caine blamed its failure on unattractive and misleading advertising. As a result, plans for a sequel were shelved.
Cast: Sir Michael Caine, Sir Noël Coward, Benny Hill, Raf Vallone, Tony Beckley, Rossano Brazzi, Margaret Blye, Irene Handl, John Le Mesurier, Fred Emney, John Clive, Graham Payn, Michael Standing, Stanley Caine, Barry Cox, Harry Baird, George Innes, John Forgeham, Robert Powell, Derek Ware, Frank Jarvis, David Salamone, Richard Essame, Mario Valgoi, Renato Romano, Franco Norvelli, Robert Rietti, Timothy Bateson, David Kelly, Arnold Diamond, Simon Dee, Alastair Hunter, Lana Gatto, John Morris, John Louis Mansi, Les Clark (uncredited), Lelia Goldoni (uncredited), Walter Henry (uncredited), Robert Jenner (uncredited), Frank Kelly (uncredited), Valerie Leon (uncredited), Henry McGee (uncredited), Colin McKenzie (uncredited) and Lisa Shane (uncredited)
Director: Peter Collinson
Producers: Michael Deeley, Robert Porter and Stanley Baker (uncredited)
Screenplay: Troy Kennedy-Martin
Composer: Quincy Jones
Cinematography: Douglas Slocombe, O.B.E., B.S.C., A.S.C. (Director of Photography)
Image Resolution: 1080p
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 (Panavision Anamorphic)
Audio: English: 5.1 Dolby TrueHD
English: 1.0 Dolby Digital Mono Audio
French: 1.0 Dolby Digital Mono Audio
German: 1.0 Dolby Digital Mono Audio
Italian: 1.0 Dolby Digital Mono Audio
Spanish: 1.0 Dolby Digital Mono Audio
English: 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo Audio
Subtitles: English, English SDH, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish
Running Time: 95 minutes
Region: All Regions
Number of discs: 1
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: In this classic crime film, ‘THE ITALIAN JOB’ [1969] small-time crook Charlie Croker [Sir Michael Caine] organises a motley group of thieves to steal four million worth of gold bullion from an armoured car in Turin, Italy. The mastermind of the heist is Mr. Bridger [Sir Noel Coward], an experienced convict who has come up with the idea, but can't take part in its execution because he's in jail. To pull off the plan, the gang must tie up traffic in the centre of the city to divert attention from the robbery, and ultimately make off with their booty undetected. The caper leads to one of the most exciting and fantastic automobile chases ever filmed.
I can’t stress enough how wonderfully, quintessentially this 1960s ‘THE ITALIAN JOB’ film is. The cars, the clothes, the music, the camera work, the exuberance. And the women, ironed down hair, goofy underwear, and every one of them as beautiful as a Bond girl, with even less dialogue. Because the film is essentially quirky British attitude, the robbery is not simply a capitalist venture. The heist comes across, however vaguely and misguidedly, as the last hurrah of some youthful social rebellion. The films light-hearted tone turns briefly revolutionary as the lad's club police officers and smash pickaxe handles through cop car windshields. ‘THE ITALIAN JOB’ also makes light of the antagonism Britain has always had with the rest of Europe, especially with “bloody foreigners” one of the crooks mutters as he wanders Italy. Words and phrases like “anarchy” and “angry young man” would not be inappropriate. This was the 1960s, after all, when even action films were allowed to have social commentary.
Enter the legendary Sir Michael Caine, in one sharp suit after another, whose name is deservedly painted like the Union Jack in the re-release trailer. Sir Michael Caine plays Charlie Croaker, fresh from prison with absolutely no compunction about turning to crime again. The prize is a half-ton of gold being transported through a giant traffic jam in Turin during an Italy-UK soccer match. To this end, Charlie Croaker enlists a small army of Cockney crooks, and soon it’s “bloomin’” this and “bloody” that as the lads soup up three mini Coopers. There’s bugger-all we can do about it as we’re off to Italy where our heroes can short out computerized video cameras, cross the Mafia, and walk nonchalantly past jaw-dropping Renaissance architecture. The film doesn’t bother developing the gang too much; Tony Beckley is the prissy one, Stanley Caine (Michael Caine’s brother) is the lummox, and Benny Hill is… well, Benny Hill, and let’s all thank God for that.
To sum up this classic brilliant British film, you have smashing vehicle stunt work distinguishes this Swinging Sixties romp from Paramount Pictures, they shot in glamorous Turin with interiors filmed at our very own Twickenham Studios. Helped along with the brilliant fine cast headed by Sir Michael Caine, Noël Coward and Benny Hill, screenwriter Troy Kennedy Martin managed to get away with the biggest crime of all, reworking the gold-bullion heist plot for the following year's ‘Kelly's Heroes’ and hoping no one would notice. If the characters here had been a little better developed and the director a little less determinedly flashy, this could have been a minor classic. That said, it's a mightily popular movie (re-released in 1999 to celebrate its 30th anniversary and remade in 2003), helped immeasurably by the now-iconic status of Sir Michael Caine, and the soundtrack from Quincy Jones, the editing by John Trumper, and the marvellous and eccentric Sir Noël Coward, who masterminds the whole wheeze from his prison cell. The climactic car chase featuring a trio of nifty Mini Coopers is a right belter.
THE ITALIAN JOB MUSIC TRACK LIST
ON DAYS LIKE THIS (Music by Quincy Jones) (Lyrics by Don Black) [Performed by Matt Monro]
IT’S CAPER TIME (uncredited) (Written by Quincy Jones) [Performed by The Italian Job – vocal]
GETTA BLOOMIN’ MOVE ON (uncredited) (Music by Quincy Jones) (Lyrics by Don Black) [Performed by The Italian Job – vocal]
RULE BRITANNIA (uncredited) (Music by Thomas Augustine Arne) (Lyrics by James Thomson)
GOD SAVE THE QUEEN (uncredited) (Music by Henry Carey) (Music & Lyrics by Henry Carey)
THE BRITISH GRENADIERS (uncredited) (Traditional)
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Blu-ray Image Quality – This is a 100% top of the shelf image from Paramount Pictures on this classic brilliant British film. All the stunning 1080p encode image and with the breath taking 2.35:1 [Panavision Anamorphic] aspect ratio has a stunning bright, happy colours, and impressively high detail for a film celebrating its 40th Anniversary, which you would thought was filmed today. It shows some depth, strong contrast and black levels. It looks almost brand new and seems to have greatly benefited from the move to hi-def. The visuals approach the spectacular with over 26 Gig being filled on the dual-layered disc for the feature film. All in all Paramount Pictures has done a sterling impressive job.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – On the English language front we have a brilliant 5.1 TrueHD Master Audio Surround mix or you have the option for the restored mono track. The disc starts by giving you a choice of about a dozen different languages for menus and optional DUBs and subs. I'm usually a fan of the original but I switched to the 5.1 TrueHD mix as it gives you a much more natural sound and it suited the film well with so many more subtle effect noise and sympathetic music tones sounding crisp and clean. The car chase scenes are dramatic and evenly separated with some action to the rear speakers.
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Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
Audio Commentary with screenwriter Troy Kennedy Martin and Mathew Field, author of "The Making of The Italian Job": This is a great, very informative commentary. The two gentlemen discuss the history of the film, what it took to get it made, how it resonated with critics and audiences. Matthew Field plays the enthusiastic and knowledgeable feed man to Troy Kennedy-Martin, who looks back at the writing and making of the film and passes opinion on aspects of the finished product. This is a consistently interesting track, in part because of the alterations made to Troy Kennedy-Martin 's original script, changes he was not and is still is not always happy with. Gripes include the lightening of the original's tougher tone and the steering of some characters towards pantomime, and he has a particular complaint with the presentation of the Italian police as dolts and the transformation of Lorna [Maggie Blye] into a bimbo. I'm absolutely with him there. Plenty of good ground is covered here, and don't worry, he still thinks it's a great film and there's plenty he is very happy with, including Sir Michael Caine's performance, Douglas Slocombe's brilliant cinematography, John Trumper's editing, the substituted ending and the car chase, which he was blown away by when he first viewed the finished film. Asked if he is proud of the film, he tellingly admits that he wasn't then but is now.
Audio Commentary by producer Michel Deeley and Matthew Field, author of "The Making of The Italian Job": A new audio commentary recorded for the special edition of the film. Despite Michael Deeley's obvious smarts and talent (let's not forget he also produced ‘Robbery,’ ‘The Man Who Fell to Earth,’ ‘The Deer Hunter’ and ‘Blade Runner’), this falls some way short of the previous track, in part because there is less background info than you might expect and much of that is supplied by Field, who gives the impression of knowing (or perhaps remembering) a lot more about the film than Deeley. There are still a fair few interesting bits and useful info (particularly on the subsequent careers of the supporting cast), but also a lot of dead spots between the chat. It's Michael Deeley who provides the most amusing comment when, as silence reigns over the break-in of the Turin traffic control centre, he says, "Don't you think you should be saying something over this extremely dull sequence?" Once again, a wealth of in-depth fascinating information is supplied.
Special Feature: Self-Preservation Society: Making of The Italian Job [2003] [1080p] [1.78:1] [89:00] Here we have it split up into three separate items and they are: Part One: The Great Idea; Part Two: The Self Preservation Society and Part Three: Get a Bloomin' move on. Screenwriter Roy Kennedy Martin reveals the origins of The Italian Job: he actually stole the idea for a robbery involving the Turin computer system from his brother. Director Peter Collinsons' life story is told by his widow Hazel. Since Noel Coward sponsored the orphanage Peter grew up in, the director got 'The Master' to play against type as Mr. Bridger. Apparently the original screenplay was a lot more serious, but when well known comic actors were drafted to film cameos it became broader and a bit raunchier. For instance, Professor Peach was originally obsessed with toy trains instead of BIG ladies. Here we get a selection of behind-the-scenes episodes where many of those who were involved with the film talk about its history, legacy, appeal, style, etc. The various aborted endings are briefly discussed as we learn that producer Mike Deely and Bob Evans actually came up with the fantastic cliff-hanger instead of Kennedy Martin. Just when you think they have said it all, Don Black appears to talk about the songs and how Sir Michael Caine's drinking songs inspired Q to write “The Self Preservation Society.” Finally the untimely death of Peter Collinson is mentioned, because it's always good to end a documentary on a sad and thoughtful note. This is a terrific brilliant supplemental feature. Contributors include: Don Black, John Clive, Hazel Collinson, Michael Deeley, Frank Jarvis, Disley Jones, Troy Kennedy-Martin, Lancelot Narayan, Lisa Shane, Douglas Slocombe, John Trumper, Derek Ware and Philip Wrestler. Narrated by Lancelot Narayan. Directed by Lancelot Narayan and Matthew Field. Screenplay by Lancelot Narayan and Matthew Field. Music by Quincy Jones. Cinematography by John Hazell.
Special Feature: Mini Adventures [2009] [1080p] [178:1] [17:00] A celebration of what many regard as the true star of The Italian Job, the Mini, which is enthused over by stunt driver Russ Swift, whose career as the leader of a Mini display team was inspired by his love affair with the film, ‘THE ITALIAN JOB’ director Peter Collinson's son and self-confessed Mini fanatic Tara Collinson, and vehicle suppliers, drivers and actors in the film Barry Cox and David Salamone. Contributors include: Tara Collinson, Barry Cox, David Salamone and Russ Swift. Directed by Daniel Skinner and Matthew Field. Music by Quincy Jones. Cinematography by Iain Ovenden and Nick Barnett.
Special Feature: Music Video [2009] [1080p] [178:1] [4:00] The Self-Preservation Society. Get a Bloomin' Move On (aka The Self-Preservation Society as it is sometimes referred to) originated from old East End tunes like “My Old Man's a Dustman.” Quincy Jones had a fascination with Cockney rhyming slang, and he found it very funny and apparently created it for the amusement of the production team.
Special Feature: The Deleted Scene with Audio Commentary by Author Matthew Field [2009] [480i] [1.37:1] [2:00] The only deleted scene from the film is deconstructed by Matthew Field.
Theatrical Trailer [1969] [1080p] [1.78:1] [3:14] This is the Original Theatrical Trailer for ‘THE ITALIAN JOB.’ When ‘THE ITALIAN JOB’ was released in the UK, it didn't receive many blistering reviews; in fact it was quite the opposite. The British film review press elite thought it to be unpolished and rather rude. Despite the bad press, many individual cinemas put in a lot of work to promote the film displaying Mini Coopers on stairways and even on the roof of cinema foyers. Even though it wasn't a smash hit, it was nominated for a Golden Globe for 'Best English Language Foreign Film' in 1969.
Re-Release Theatrical Trailer [1999] [1080p] [1.78:1] [1:45] Back in 1969, little did the critics know that ‘THE ITALIAN JOB’ would become a full blown cult movie with later reviews of its re-release on the 10th September 1999 being nothing short of fan-bloody-tastic. In an interview with The Sunday Times, writer Troy Kennedy Martin had a stab at explaining why the film had become such a success 30 years on “Much of the reason why it's so fashionable right now is today's "Loaded culture," which has made it alright to be a lad again.”
Finally, ‘THE ITALIAN JOB’ is such a fun film and Sir Michael Caine is totally perfect and is a fantastic fun British Comedy Caper. Excellent performances, and one of the most memorable car chases ever filmed make this a very enjoyable movie. Paramount Pictures presents this film in a special collector’s edition with some interesting added features. The menu sequence is also nicely done, with a 3D animated rendering of the three Minis. This Blu-ray is close to perfect impeccable image transfer, great audio options and, possibly, the most complete extras of the year. Super job Paramount and Wow – what a package! The other amazing aspect of this film, is hearing the silky smooth voice of the amazing British Singer Matt Monro singing over the opening credits, that was composed by Quincy Jones, and includes "On Days Like These" and the lyrics were penned by the brilliant Don Black, another brilliant Brit. Very Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
