[ 50 Years of The Italian Job ]
94 June 2019 MiniWorld
fi nd companies who would go out of
their way to show o their product
by any means possible. I don’t think
the Mini people deserved the extra
publicity they were receiving [from The
Italian Job]. I still hold it against them
for not giving us any help whatsoever."
In BMC's defence, BMC became
British Motor Holdings in 1966 and
BMH became British Leyland Motor
Holdings in 1968. So, at the time
when Paramount was asking for
freebies, BMH was winding down
and transitioning into BLMH. BLMH
was tasked with saving money
and making sweeping cuts.
Michael Deeley struck a deal to
shoot the movie in the Italian city of
Turin after Milan proved impossible.
A close friend of Deeley’s happened to
know Gianni Agnelli, the celebrated
proprietor of Fiat, and Fiat practically
owned Turin. As Deeley’s relationship
with Gianni Agnelli developed, the
Italian industrialist could see the
power of placing product on screen.
He hit Deeley with a proposition:
“E ectively, Fiat told us: ‘Listen, we
can be very helpful here if you switch
the Minis to become Fiats.’ They were
prepared to o er me as many Fiats as
Stunt co-ordinator:
Rémy Julienne.