In this cheeky sixties crime caper, Michael Caine plays small-time criminal, fresh out of prison and eager for some action. Opportunity comes his way in the form of a plan to hijack a bullion shipment in Turin.
The robbery needs financing, so Charlie breaks back into prison, to try and pursuade Mr Bridger, a high-class underworld boss who lives the high life in a London prison. The part of Bridger is played by Noel Coward, a very gentlemanly character who waves his hand like royalty and is accompanied throughout the film by a number of pro-British anthems.
The first half of the film is concerned with preparation. Caine assembles his gang of accomplices in crime and talks them through the scheme. Caine has called upon the help of a computer-savvy Professor (Benny Hill) who will disable the Turin traffic control system, thowing the city streets into chaos. With all this distraction going on, the Brits will make their get-away in three Minis Coopers.
It's the cars that are the stars for the heist itself.
The three patriotically-coloured Mini Copper's (red, white, and blue) weave through plazas, over rooftops, across weirs and through sewers in order to make their getaway. The Mini's are then picked up by a coach in the Alp's and it seems the 'job' was successful.
The picture's tongue-in-cheek patriotism of this 1969-film paints a world where there is co-operation between the classes, between criminals and the law, between the common labourer and the educated professional, all united as a matter of national pride.
The film also includes the much favoured line Caine impersonators: "You're only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!"
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