Caine reveals Italian Job ending

LONDON: The mystery of The Italian Job’s cliff-hanger has been resolved after almost 40 years by Sir Michael Caine. The 1969 film ends with a gang of gold thieves hanging over a ravine in a bus. Every step they take towards the loot threatens to tip them into the abyss.

“Hang on lads, I’ve got a great idea,” says Sir Michael’s character, Charlie Croker and then the credits roll. The star says , “I crawl up, switch on the engine and stay there for four hours until all the petrol runs out,” he said. “The van bounces back up so we can all get out, but then the gold goes over.”

There are a load of Corsican Mafia at the bottom watching the whole thing with binoculars. They grab the gold, and then the sequel is us chasing it.”

Sir Michael first revealed his version of the events in a BBC One documentary marking his 70th birthday, but gave fuller details at the 2008 Visit London Awards this week - where he was named London’s favourite Londoner.

His disclosure comes as the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) holds a competition to find the most original and plausible ending to the film. The competition winner will be revealed on  Jan 8, 2009. Its aim is to highlight the 100th anniversary of the periodic table, of which gold is one of the 117 elements.