What Were The Sunglasses That Rossano Brazzi Wore In The Opening Scene Of The Italian Job (1969)?

The sunglasses that Rossano Brazzi wore in the opening scene of 'The Italian Job' (1969) were vintage classic 'Ford Mustang Renauld Spectaculars' sunglasses. The Renauld Spectaculars were brought out specifically as road car sunglasses to be worn when driving. The sunglasses have curved sides to stop wind coming into the side of the glasses, this implies to the drive that the car the sunglasses have been paired with is a 'fast' and 'racey' car, an attractive quality for a buyer. See below for an authentic advertisement for these sunglasses.

These sunglasses are extremely rare and difficult to get hold of today. However, they appeared again in the film 'The Rum Diary' (2011), worn by Johnny Depp. As you can see in the picture below, these are a slightly more modern version than those worn by the character Roger Beckermann in 'The Italian Job'.

The Italian Job was written by Troy Kennedy Martin, produced by Michael Deeley and directed by Peter Collinson. The film has become extremely popular as a symbol of British culture and it is often remembered for its famous Mini chase scene through Turin and for the opening scene where Roger Beckermann is driving the Lamborghini Muira through the Swiss Alps. Michael Caine starred in the film and is often quoted for the famous line in the film 'You were only supposed to blow the bloody doors off'. This line was voted as the best movie one-liner in a 2003 poll.

There has recently been a re-make of The Italian Job which came out in 2003 starring Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, Jason Statham and Edward Norton. Although this was also a hit at the box office, the rotten tomatoes ratings have favoured The Italian Job of 1969 with 83% whereas the modern version only received 73%.