THE ITALIAN JOB, the 60s caper movie starring Michael Caine, has been voted the best British film of all time in a new survey.
Popular on LondonNet
“You were only supposed to blow the bloody doors off” – one of Caine’s lines from the film – is one of the most quoted in cinema history and captures some of the humour of a now classic film that in its day didn’t win any awards, though it was nominated for a Golden Globe.
The Italian Job took 15% of the votes cast, with Monty Python’s Life of Brian (7%) placed second in the poll for Sky Movies HD of 1,000 movie fans, and The Full Monty (6%) in third spot.
As well as claiming a share of the main award, Caine, with 9% of votes, came third in the Best British Actor category, behind Sir Anthony Hopkins (12%) and Laurence Olivier (10%).
Dame Judi Dench (25%) won the Best British Actress prize from Dame Helen Mirren (14%) in second. Alfred Hitchcock came top in the vote for Best British Director.
That Top Ten British Films list in full
1. The Italian Job
2. Monty Python’s Life of Brian
3. The Full Monty
4. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
5. Bridget Jones’s Diary
6. Four Weddings and a Funeral
7. Love Actually
8. Trainspotting
9. Chariots of Fire
10. Ghandi
The photo was taken at Coventry Transport Museum. One of the film’s famous car-chase scenes was filmed in Coventry’s sewers, not, as the story has us believe, Milan’s.
