"The Italian Job, " 1969 Poster

The Italian Job is a 1969 British comedy caper film, written by Troy Kennedy Martin, produced by Michael Deeley and directed by Peter Collinson. It tells the story of Charlie Croker ...

An action-packed Japanese B2 poster for the 1969 British crime caper "The Italian Job," starring Michael Caine as cockney criminal Charlie Croker, fresh out of prison and planning a heist in Italy. Consistently voted one of the greatest ever British movies, the quintessential sixties film has become a cult favourite and a Classic of the heist genre, while Caine's famous one-liner "You're only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!" has taken on a life of its own. Despite receiving a Golden Globe nomination for Best English-Language Foreign Film, "The Italian Job" was not a success in America at the time of its release. Caine blamed its failure on a misleading marketing Campaign, explaining to Empire magazine that the US poster "was a naked woman and me. And I said, 'This is for kids. There aren't any naked women in it! We're going to get a load of old guys coming in to see naked women and they're going to be pissed off, and mums aren't going to bring their children.' They said, 'We're not going to change the poster,' so I got on a plane and came home." While utilizing the same elements as the US poster in a more diminutive form, this superb Japanese poster places its focus on the real stars of the movie - the red, white and blue mini coopers...