Now Over 5500 Reviews and (near) Daily Updates!

WELCOME! Use the search engines on this site (or your own off-site engine of choice) to gain easy access to the complete MAKSQUIBS Archive; more than 5500 posts and counting. (New posts added every day or so.)

You can check on all our titles by typing the Title, Director, Actor or 'Keyword' you're looking for in the Search Engine of your choice (include the phrase MAKSQUIBS) or just use the BLOGSPOT.com Search Box at the top left corner of the page.

Feel free to place comments directly on any of the film posts and to test your film knowledge with the CONTESTS scattered here & there. (Hey! No Googling allowed. They're pretty easy.)

Send E-mails to MAKSQUIBS@yahoo.com . (Let us know if the TRANSLATE WIDGET works!) Or use the Profile Page or Comments link for contact.

Thanks for stopping by.

Monday, May 18, 2009

THE ITALIAN JOB (1969)


Fans of the effective 2003 remake (see below) will recognize the genesis of a few action sequences (a race thru some spectacular mountain scenery, a clever getaway featuring cute Mini-Coopers driving seriously off-road), but this far simpler iteration of classic heist caper tropes doesn’t live up to its potential. Back in ‘69, the stunt driving and crashes were largely real, but the camera set-ups & editing hardly do them justice under Peter Collinson ‘s sub-par megging. And while the cast looks good on paper (Michael Caine, Noël Coward, Raf Vallone), the script gives them little to work with. (Caine does have a funny moment when he gets over-emotional sending his ‘bird’ home.) Fortunately, Douglas Slocombe ‘s lensing makes the whole show a pleasure to watch, especially the late Swinging ‘Sixties haberdashery; and there’s a bit of real cultural history in a trick ending that helped sound the death knell for the old Hollywood Production Code.

NOTE: Extra fun for kids who want to know where Austin Power's groovy stylings & sexual attitudes came from.

No comments: