Released in 1969, The Italian Job is one of the most celebrated British films of its era. Directed by Peter Collinson and written by Troy Kennedy Martin, it stars Michael Caine as Charlie Croker, the mastermind behind an audacious plan to steal a shipment of gold bullion from the streets of Turin. Combining comedy, crime and unforgettable driving sequences, the film has become a cultural icon and remains one of the most influential motoring films ever made.
Before the famous Mini Coopers appear, the film opens with a sequence that has become legendary among car enthusiasts. A Lamborghini Miura driven by Roger Beckermann glides through the mountains of the Aosta Valley, crossing the Dardanelli Viaduct and climbing towards the Great St Bernard Pass to the soundtrack of Matt Monro's On Days Like These. The combination of sweeping Alpine scenery and one of the world's most beautiful GT cars created a cinematic moment that still defines the romance of mountain roads more than half a century later.
The Dardanelli Viaduct was constructed as part of the approach road to the Great St Bernard Tunnel and opened in 1964, only five years before the film's release. Standing above a deep gorge near Saint-Rhémy-en-Bosses, it represented a new era of Alpine transport, linking Italy and Switzerland beneath the historic pass. Although the sequence appears to depict a continuous drive across the mountains, filming took place at several locations throughout the Aosta Valley.
The approach to the Great St Bernard Pass was filmed on the Italian side of the route, while the tunnel scene in which Beckermann meets his fate was actually shot on the SS26 between Pré-Saint-Didier and La Thuile. The tunnel itself was not part of the Great St Bernard route, a detail often overlooked by viewers familiar with the film. The dramatic crash sequence required careful editing to connect locations that are several kilometres apart.
The film's equally famous finale was shot far from the Great St Bernard. The coach carrying the stolen gold was positioned on the road to Colle del Nivolet in the Gran Paradiso National Park, one of Italy's highest paved roads. Perched above a steep mountainside, the location provided the perfect setting for the film's unforgettable closing scene, with the bus balanced precariously over the edge of the road as Charlie Croker delivers his final line:
Hang on a minute lads, I've got a great idea.
Today, many of the locations featured in The Italian Job remain largely unchanged. Visitors can still drive the sections of the Great St Bernard Pass, cross the Dardanelli Viaduct and explore the roads around La Thuile and the Gran Paradiso. More than fifty years after its release, the film continues to draw car enthusiasts and film buffs to the mountains that helped create one of cinema's most enduring movies.