Collinson, Peter

The Italian Job

Internal countercasting is a big plus in this caper comedy: where else are you going to find Benny Hill and Michael Caine in the same movie? Peter Collinson directs those two as well as Noel Coward, Raf Vallone, Rossano Brazzi, and Irene Handl in a story about the effort to steal gold bullion from the town of Turin. Screenwriter Troy Kennedy Martin eschews heist film tradition by placing more emphasis on the gang's getaway than on the complex robbery itself. The film's main claim to comic fame is a wild chase scene set against an enormous traffic jam. The rest of the movie is less memorable, but that extended action sequence is well worth the wait. --Tom Keogh

Louis L'Amour: Hondo and the Apaches/The Man Called Noon

Fright

Fatal Assassin

Tomorrow Never Comes

Jim Wilson (Oliver Reed) is a police lieutenant in a corrupt resort town. Revolted by the brutality of modern police work, he decides to leave and take up duties in his quiet home town. But on his final day a violent drama explodes. A deadly confrontat

Straight on Till Morning

The gothic horror of Hammer Films gets a mod update in this interesting curio, directed by the erratic Peter Collinson (The Italian Job). Rita Tushingham is a Liverpool girl, slightly soft in the head, who travels to London determined to get pregnant. Unfortunately (or perhaps not), she meets a blond psycho (Shane Briant), who installs her in his mod '60s pad--he calls himself "Peter" and her "Wendy," sustaining the Peter Pan theme of the title. The ideas here seem borrowed from those key British thrillers Peeping Tom and The Collector, and the editing style is clearly influenced by the disorientation of Performance. And yet there's something out of control about this picture, something authentically weird. In one scene Tushingham pretties herself up in what may be the ugliest make-over in screen history. Jazz singer Annie Ross, who also contributes a wispy song, appears in a small role. --Robert Horton

Target of an Assassin (1976)

The Sell-Out

SELL-OUT THE (DVD MOVIE)

The Italian Job Gift Set (includes 1969 and 2003 Versions)

The Italian Job (2003)
Though it bears little resemblance to the original 1969 thriller starring Michael Caine, the 2003 remake of The Italian Job stands on its own as a caper comedy that's well above average. The title's a misnomer--this time it's actually a Los Angeles job--but the action's just as exciting as it propels a breezy tale of honor and dishonor among competing thieves. Inheriting Caine's role as ace heist-planner Charlie Croker, Mark Wahlberg plays straight-man to a well-cast team of accomplices, including Mos Def, Jason Statham, and scene-stealer Seth Green in a variation of the role originally played by Noel Coward. As the daughter of Croker's ill-fated mentor (Donald Sutherland), Charlize Theron is recruited to double-cross a double-crosser (Edward Norton in oily villain mode), and once again, speedily versatile Mini Coopers play a pivotal role in director F. Gary Gray's exhilarating car-chase climax. It's perhaps the greatest product placement in movie history, and just as fun the second time around. --Jeff Shannon

The Italian Job (1969)
This little-known cult caper is about as depraved as they come. Michael Caine, ever the enterprising swinger and swindler, has an ingenious plan to steal a huge cache of Chinese gold to be shipped to Turin as collateral for a new Fiat plant. Since the Italy-Great Britain soccer match is being played at the same time, Caine wants to create a diversion in the form of a monumental traffic jam. For financing, he turns to Noel Coward, who directs British criminal enterprises from his jail cell. A motley crew is assembled, including Benny Hill as a computer expert with a fetish for large-breasted women. It's all a nasty and fun parody, with the most memorable robbery-chase sequence in the history of the caper genre. --Bill Desowitz

The Sell Out

A retired CIA operative discovers that he is involuntarily back in action due to the sudden urging of his former fellow spy, who had been turned by the Soviet Union, and now wants to return to the American side.