Michael Caine is a legendary actor known for his incredible work in the film industry. Among his various iconic films, is his 1969 crime-action film, The Italian Job. Although the film didn’t create much hype in America at that time, its intriguing premise eventually led to a remake that starred Mark Wahlberg and Charlize Theron in the lead roles.
Over time, the film became a cult classic and one of Caine’s most iconic works. Surprisingly, when the film marked its release, Caine did not contribute to its promotion as he was not in favor of a few promotional techniques of the film.
Michael Caine condemned the promotional technique of his iconic film
The 1969 film The Italian Job starring Michael Caine is undeniably a cult classic. Despite the film being Caine’s best work, upon its release, the actor refused to participate in its promotion, which affected its domestic performance. During an interview with Jonathan Ross (via The Digital Fix), Caine confessed that he had deliberately stepped back from promoting the 1969 release.
The actor shared that the reason he preferred staying away from the movie’s promotion was because he condemned the poster of the film. The poster of The Italian Job featured a man with a machine gun sitting next to a naked woman. Caine claimed,
“Men who want to see naked women will walk out and women with children won’t go see it.”
The actor admitted that since he didn’t promote the film in America, the film failed the generate profit domestically. Despite that, the film was a huge success, and the intriguing plotline of the film led to the remake of the film that featured Mark Wahlberg and Charlize Theron in the starring role.
Michael Caine reflected on the never-made sequel of the film
Michael Caine featuring film, The Italian Job, is a crime-thriller film that revolves around the story of Charlie Croker (played by Michael Caine) who forms a team to take revenge on their former ally after being cheated by him.
The film became a cult classic following its intriguing cliffhanger ending. Although the audience was expecting a sequel, it never happened. However, Caine reflected on the literal cliffhanging ending of the film and what could have been possibly the plot of the sequel if it was ever made. During the same interview, the actor said,
“What happened was, we were in the south of France. We switched on the engine, ran it for several hours. The gold was at one end and we were at the other. The engine ran out of petrol so the balance went alright. We got out of the coach and then the weight of the gold once we were out pushed it over the edge. Waiting at the bottom of the cliff was the French mafia, and they ran off with it and the sequel was we chaise them through the Riviera.”
The Italian Job can be streamed on Amazon Prime Video.
Source: The Digital Fix
