Smashing vehicle stunt work distinguishes this Swinging Sixties romp from Paramount, shot in glamorous Turin with interiors filmed at our very own Twickenham Studios. Unfortunately, despite a fine cast headed by Michael Caine, Noël Coward and Benny Hill, the script doesn't quite come off. In fact, screenwriter Troy Kennedy Martin managed to get away with the biggest crime of all, reworking the gold-bullion heist plot for the following year's Kelly's Heroes and hoping no one would notice. If the characters here had been a little better developed and the director a little less determinedly flashy, this could have been a minor classic. That said, it's a mightily popular movie (re-released in 1999 to celebrate its 30th anniversary and remade in 2003), helped immeasurably by the now-iconic status of Caine, the soundtrack from Quincy Jones, the editing by John Trumper, and the marvellous Coward, who masterminds the whole wheeze from his prison cell.

Charlie's got a 'job' to do. Having just left prison he finds one of his friends has attempted a high-risk job in Torino, Italy, right under the nose of the mafia. Charlie's friend doesn't get very far, so Charlie takes over the 'job'. Using three Mini Coopers, a couple of Jaguars, and a bus, he hopes to bring Torino to a standstill, steal a fortune in gold and escape in the chaos.