Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: The Italian Job (1969) - Braindead boilerplate heist action-comedy regurgitated by swinging London

8/06/2024

The Italian Job (1969) - Braindead boilerplate heist action-comedy regurgitated by swinging London

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A woman's backside used as a canvas for writing a map, seated on the floor next to an expensively dressed co-star Michael Caine holding a tommy-gun, makes up this eye-catching poster for Peter Collinson's The Italian Job

When a criminal bigshot dies in an accidental explosion, our recently released hero inherits a scheme to steal 4 mil. $ in gold from a money transport in Turin, Italy. The job will require a lot of manpower and four Mini Coopers.

The Italian Job is written by Troy Kennedy Martin (The Sweeney (1975-78)) and directed by Peter Collinson (The Penthouse (1967)).

It is a colorful picture in which Michael Caine (Jaws: The Revenge (1987)) plays the thief that no one can resist. Perhaps as a consequence, no other character really make an impression. The film is a sort of trendy, triumphant dance for the swinging London of the 1960s. But it is totally hollow, dumb, - idiotic, in fact. With a terrible ending to boot.

The Italian Job (2003) - Gray impresses with slick heist remake (remake)

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 3 mil. $

Box office: 9.4 mil. $

= Box office success (returned 3.13 times its cost)

[The Italian Job premiered 5 June (London) and runs 99 minutes. Noël Coward (Paris When It Sizzles (1964)) was paid 25k £ for his performance in the film. Shooting took place from June 1968 - ? in Ireland, including in Dublin, in England, including in London, and in Italy. The film was the 14th highest-grossing of the year in the UK and reportedly not big in North America. It did collect a sizable 9.4 mil. $ gross and was nominated for a Golden Globe. The film was remade with the same title in 2003, and in Bollywood in 2012 with the title Players. Collinson returned with You Can't Win 'Em All (1970). Caine returned in Battle of Britain (1969); Coward retired from acting after the film and continued as a writer until his death by a heart attack in 1973. The Italian Job is fresh at 81 % with a 7.40/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

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Donald Sutherland has passed away

Born in Canada, Sutherland battled polio as a child. His first credit was in Suspense (1963, TV-series) and his first film was The Castle of the Living Dead (1964). Later credits in his remarkable career include The Saint (1965-66), The Dirty Dozen (1967), M*A*S*H (1970), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Klute (1971), Don't Look Now (1973), 1900 (1976), Casanova (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Ordinary People (1980), A Dry White Season (1989), JFK (1991), Outbreak (1995), Fallen (1998), Virus (1999), Fierce People (2005), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Lord of War (2005), The Hunger Games (2012), The Undoing (2020, miniseries) and many more. He passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Roger Corman has passed away

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Corman had a sprawling, intellectually hungry life as a youth and young man before arriving with his first film in 1955, Five Guns West. He would follow that with titles such as Apache Woman, It Conquered the World, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Teenage Cave Man, A Bucket of Blood, House of Usher, The Little Shop of Horrors, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Intruder, The Raven, The Terror, The Masque of Red Death, The Tomb of Ligeia, The Wild Angels, The Trip, Bloody Mama and many more. As a producer he was behind almost 500 films. Arguably among the most important filmmakers of the 20th century, Corman passed away at age 98. R.I.P.

William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

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Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

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Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

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8/06/2024

The Italian Job (1969) - Braindead boilerplate heist action-comedy regurgitated by swinging London

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