Loved "The Italian Job" -- more like it?

[JeffOYB]

The original "Italian Job" is just a wonderful, memorable movie.

Why is it so good?

It's just a caper flick, but it has so many perfect, excellent details that I suppose is what puts it over the top.

Great song. Great lines. Noel Coward. Caine at his best, well, youngest maybe. Hijinks with the ladies -- a couple minutes was all it took in the movie -- a little aside, but, darn, it's one of the better ladies-man "dandy" scenes.

Anyway, anything else of that period with that kind of style? I don't know many movies of that time, or else they're ones I saw way back when but forget to reconsider.

Looking for: great lines, swankiness, pizzazz, dash and verve! Cars count, so does architecture.

PS: I tried searching here for "The Italian Job" and came up empty. Hmm, maybe I should search Fedora from Google itself. I recall that being more effective...

 

[CopperNY]

a little more serious, but "Ronin" w/ DeNiro is pretty darn incredible.

good caper/plot/twist. no insane explosions or obligatory sex scenes.

and a car chase that is worth the price of rental. frequently ties with "Bullit" for best car chase -ever-.

 

[bumphrey hogart]

With Caine again,somewhat grittier,but fantastic lines,awesome suits and one of the classic Brit films of its time,'Get Carter'.

 

[Nathan Dodge]

Point Blank (1967) Lee Marvin, Angie Dickinson
The Getaway (1972) Steve McQueen, Ali McGraw
The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) Steve McQueen, Faye Dunaway
Ocean's 11 (1960) Frank, Dino, and Sammy
The Split (1968) Jim Brown, Warren Oates
The Last Run (1971) George C. Scott, Trish Van Devere
The Killing (1956) Sterling Hayden, Colleen Gray
The Outfit (1973) Robert Duvall, Karen Black

 

[JeffOYB]

Wow, thanks for all those leads. I've seen some of the remakes. Time for the originals!

Regarding "Ronin" -- I gotta have the style and don't so much need the car crashing -- just tooling along in Monaco is fine. As for the obligatory sex...c'mon, of course it is! Why else do a caper? For the PALS? No, for the BIRDS! Pardon my digression based on your remark, but I was IMPRESSED at the candid boldness of ye olde Italian Job. *Of course* dear Michael wanted some action upon leaving the clink. And his friends saw him obliged. Everyone understood, especially the ladies who knew him.

I'm tired of brutally dark anti-styling, as in so much of today's cinema. No fun. All frowns, all the time. Too intense. Cops are not serious people, people! I mean, they know when to let up and turn the switch off. Or used to. Some still manage it. CSI isn't real. Well, I can dream, anyway...

 

[Doctor Damage]

The original "Italian Job" is just a wonderful, memorable movie.

Why is it so good?

It's just a caper flick, but it has so many perfect, excellent details that I suppose is what puts it over the top.

Great song. Great lines. Noel Coward.

I agree this is a great film, for all the reasons you state. Amazingly, despite it's obvious charm, it's not for everyone: I lent the DVD to a friend recently who couldn't get past the 1960s camp and stopped watching before the car chase. We forced him to take it back and watch the car chase (at a minimum) but I'm not sure if he ever did.

I imagine a song containing the line "it's the self preservation society" would have been considered amusing in the 1960s, but today it would be the sad truth and not amusing at all.

Caine at his best, well, youngest maybe.

Caine was at his youngest in "Zulu", actually!