The Italian Job (1969)

At the behest of Mr Bridger, Charlie Croker puts together a crew to pull of a massive job. The job is to rob an armoured car on the streets of Turin and then get away clean. The plan involves explosives a traffic jam, a football match and a load of mini coopers.

I watched this recently on TV – it was shown the night before England played Argentina in World Cup 2002 (1-0, Argentina then dropped put in the first round!). The reason it was shown was simply that it's strength is that it's a good caper movie where the Brits go over there and put one over on the Italians! It may smack of zenophobia but that's what it is!

The criminals even go so far as to use Mini's for the job – in the most famous scene of the film, making them cool for decades! The reason it was shown before the game was just to feed on the fact that national pride was high. Even if you ignore the British element (the song `self preservation society' is now even a football anthem) then it's still quite fun to watch. The build up to the job is breezy and funny with good lines, while the job itself is fanciful but great fun.

The ending must be known to everyone – but it's still good no matter how many times you see it! The cast are all good – with a range of British TV faces in there bringing a distinct British comedy. Caine is great, as are Coward and Hill but the real stars are the Mini's and the daring comedic race across Turin.

Overall this is not a great film – but it is a classic caper movie. It's made even better by the fact that it makes you proud to be British in a weird way! Say it with me my friends – `hang on lads, I've got an idea……..'