If you ever want to know what the "New Lad" movement was about, show them this - cockney Michael Caine gets out of prison and has it off with a series of hot birds, then plans a heist in Italy. There's a Matt Munro credits tune, gorgeous Italian scenery, sideburns, women in knee high boots and mini skirts, wacky crooks, the mafia, training sequences, colourful clothes. The chant the prisoners give Noel Coward at the end is just like one at a football ground - so too is the song "The Self Preservation Society".
There are plenty of endearing references to England's declining position as a world power - getting revenge on those Europeans, the poor balance of payments, the power of the Americans, Noel Coward's worship of the queen, digs at obnoxious Pommy tourists abroad.
The first half of this I found a little bit of a strain, to be honest, despite Caine's charm. But once they get to Italy it improves and the heist itself is sublime. Cute minis driving up and down stairs and down sewerage pipes and on to the back of the bus accompanied by Quincy Jones' theme song - what's not to like about that? And "you were only supposed to blow the bloody doors off" is a funny line in the context of the movie.
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