I watched The Italian Job (1969)

[Claghorn]

First, that movie is very, very British. The entire getaway is in British colors (the uniforms were blue and their helmets were white and their getaway vehicles were all other white, red, or blue.)

Second, that soundtrack is awkward at times.

Third, an unusual competition held by the Royal Society of Chemistry:

[[[[[Celebrating in the coach, they quickly become drunk and unable to concentrate. When driver 'Big' William sends the coach into a skid, the back of the bus is left teetering over a cliff and the gold slides towards the rear doors. As Croker attempts to reach the gold, it slips further. The film ends on a literal cliffhanger with Croker announcing he has a 'great idea.']]]]]

In 2008, the Royal Society of Chemistry held a competition for a solution that had a basis in science, was to take not more than 30 minutes and did not use a helicopter.[9] The idea was to promote greater understanding of science, and to highlight the 100th anniversary of the periodic table, on which gold is one of the 118 elements.[8] The winning entry, by John Godwin of Surrey, was: Break and remove two large side windows just aft of the pivot point and let the glass fall outside to lose its weight; break two windows over the two front axles, keeping the broken glass on board to keep its weight for balance; let a man out on a rope through the front broken windows (not to rest his weight on the ground) who deflates all the bus's front tires, to reduce the bus's rocking movement about its pivot point; drain the fuel tank, which is aft of the pivot point, which changes the balance enough to let a man get out and gather heavy rocks to load the front of the bus. Unload the bus. Wait until a suitable vehicle passes on the road, hijack it, and carry the gold away in it.[10]

Fourth, an oddly funny movie.

Fifth, and the important bit:


First place he goes when he gets out of prison: his tailor. Where he didn't just walk in,commission something, and walk out with it an hour later; he actually picks up items commissioned years earlier. His tailor comments that he must have put on weight while he was "away"



My brain tells me this look good, but my brain is wrong.



Not saying I like the cravatte, but the rest is good.



Just awful.



Another all tan look from him. But the Italian mobster has a nice lapel roll.



Spalla camicia?



And yet another tan outfit. Though a suit. Pretty clean back.


I wonder how much of this stuff, if any, came from Caine's wardrobe. Several, I'd guess, given how well everything fits throughout the movie.

 

[Thin White Duke]

Have you been living under a rock?
One of my all time favourite films, and sure to be on the top ten list of a sizeable majority of English blokes of a certain age.
The suits were by Dougie Hayward. Can't believe you didn't mention Camp Freddie's pink suit, recently copied by Reeves.
Music awkward? It's brilliant, by Quincy Jones, he heard Michael Caine talking in rhyming slang and wrote the theme song around that. Brilliant. "This is the self preservation society".

Its a car chase film but you never see MC behind the wheel as he couldn't drive!
Fiat offered unlimited vehicles but they wanted to keep the British feel so went with minis. The British government in its typical myopic way provided three, all of which were wrecked in production.
The original ending was meddled with, and set up for a sequel but they bungled the marketing in America where it didn't make much money so a sequel was never made.
The remake is an aberration and doesn't even take place in Italy! Best left alone.

Loads of great quotes "you're only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!" Voted most memorable line in a poll. Brilliantly parodied in 'The Trip' by Steve Coogan.
My favourite, which I frequently use at work:
"This is a very complicated operation, and it requires that we all work together as a team ... and that means you all do exactly what I tell you!"

 

[YRR92]

This ranks among my all-time favorites, too. I'm always tempted to compare it to the French film Rififi, which is kind of the opposite in terms of mood, but is another heist movie with a virtuosic extended action sequence.

Isn't the tailor actually Douglas Hayward himself? I like the look with the blue DB, but I have an admitted weakness for DBs with too many pockets, and for low-contrast shirts and ties. Imagine it with a buff-colored foulard, and I think it could work in the real world (this movie is not even remotely set in the real world).

That gray suit is basically everything I want in a city suit (plus, come on, a fancy-striped shirt and a satin tie working brilliantly?), and the tan one ain't bad either.