Despite the irresistible combination of Michael Caine, Noel Coward and Benny Hill, and a starring role for one of the great success stories in British engineering, the Mini Cooper, The Italian Job was not a hit following its glitzy West End premiere 50 years ago this month.

If early Fleet Street reviews were lukewarm, in America they were downright chilly. The film bombed at the US box office.

What a difference half a century makes. Now, The Italian Job is considered the quintessential British crime caper and perhaps the definitive Sixties movie, with one of the most spectacular of all cinematic car chases as the crooks make their daring escape through Turin in red, white and blue Mini Coopers.

Back again! The Italian Job was not a hit following its glitzy West End premiere 50 years ago this month

Its enigmatic ending, with a coach full of stolen bullion teetering on an Alpine cliff-edge, is deemed one of the finest ever. 

The exasperated rebuke delivered by Caine's char