Inside the Industry | The Italian Job (1969) & Benny Hill
Once upon a time, before I was even a twinkle in my mother’s eye there was a film made which has undoubtedly become a classic. It was the original version of The Italian Job. You’ve probably heard of it, but what you won’t have heard is the small (but crucial) part my creator and her surf-blue & white Austin Mini played in its production.
In early 1968 my mother worked in the Production Office during the pre-production period for The Italian Job. Once shooting commenced she was employed as the London Contact throughout the time shooting was taking place in Italy.
The Production Office, Art Department and Construction were based in the former British Oxygen offices in Leamore Street, Hammersmith. The ground level of the building was used as a large car park and, in the post-production period, the location caterers set up their van there too. It’s also where my mother would park her mini.
In the early stages of production, the construction crew wanted to know how many gold bars would fit in the boot of a mini and so asked to use her car for this purpose. And, no, they weren’t real gold!
As London Contact, one of my mother’s roles, amongst other things, was to organise transport for the actors to the airport for their flights to Italy. One of her most standout memories involved an actor named Benny Hill, who really took the wind out of her sails. When she ‘phoned him to discuss timing for the car to pick him up, he said he didn’t need one as he would go on public transport. She mentioned possible difficulties with his luggage to which he replied he wouldn’t be taking any as he would buy whatever he needed out there!
When everybody returned to London, the garage downstairs was buzzing with activities, not least the catering company. My mother was alone in her office on the second floor when somebody came up and said Benny Hill was looking for her. Gulp! She thought she’d done something wrong. As a very shy young lady, she didn’t know how to respond when he appeared. She doesn’t recall the exact details of their conversation but, as it was lunchtime, they took the lift down to the garage level and the catering van. In the lift, to her dismay, he asked her to marry him. Whoa, that was scary! He pulled one of his comic faces (presumably it wasn’t a normal expression) and she was so relieved when they arrived downstairs and was able to be amongst the crew members. No, she didn’t look upon it as a serious proposal, but assumed that this was one of his usual responses to young ladies on his many shows.
She has described her time on The Italian Job as one of the most enjoyable experiences of her life.
Not only is he handsome & young & talented - But honest as well. What more could a girl ask of a man?!!
POST SCRIPT
The surf-blue & white mini would, 3 years later, meet an untimely demise at the hands of the man who would become my father…
One Saturday, whilst driving along the A4, ‘admiring the scenery’, he wasn’t paying enough attention to the road ahead, where there happened to be an abandoned, stolen car. Fortunately for him he spotted it a brief moment before impact, and as he tried to swerve away, his arm took the brunt of the force via the steering wheel, rather than his chest. This didn’t, however, stop him from going headfirst through the windscreen.
Being a Saturday on a busy dual carriageway, a traffic jam soon formed in both directions. An ambulance was summoned, which came very quickly, but on the other side of the dual carriageway. By which time a driver on that side of the road, who had been rubbernecking, promptly crashed. Thus, the ambulance attended him instead! Somehow a message reached my mother - remember no mobile ‘phones at that time – and she jumped into her father-in-law’s car to drive to him (getting stuck in the same traffic jam he had caused!).
The upshot was that instead of being taken to hospital in an ambulance, he was brought home by my mother - minus her mini - and had to sit through her removing glass from his scalp!
This letter which is self-explanatory, has been kept in one of my mother’s files along with the Benny Hill note.
