Sir Michael Caine has finally resolved one of cinema’s most famous cliff-hangers: does the cockney rogue escape with the stolen gold at the end of The Italian Job? The conclusion of the cult 1969 film, famous for its Mini Cooper car chase, leaves Caine’s gang of robbers perched on the side of an Italian mountain with their £4 million bullion haul.

The getaway coach dangles over the precipice with our heroes at one end and the bullion at the other, dragging them closer to their doom.

As the credits roll, Caine’s character, Charlie Croker, turns to his men and utters the immortal line: “Hang on a minute, lads, I’ve got a great idea.”

In a BBC One documentary to commemorate Sir Michael’s 70th birthday later this month, he explains what was scheduled to happen next in a sequel that was never made.

“The next thing that happens is you turn the engine on,” he told the Hollywood Greats programme.

“You all sit exactly where you are till all the petrol has run out, which changes the equilibrium.

“We all jump out and the gold goes over the cliff and at the bottom are the French mafia sitting waiting for the gold. And then we are off trying to get it back and that is the next movie. It was never made because the film didn’t do well in America.”

The Italian Job is now being remade as a Los Angeles bullion heist with Mark Wahlberg taking the role of Croker. Sir Michael turned down a £3 million offer to play Bridger, the criminal mastermind previously played by Noël Coward.

The original Cooper S will be replaced by BMW’s new Mini, which has been launched to coincide with the new film.

The new version will be released in June and has just one British actor, Jason Statham, who plays Handsome Rob, an English crook.

The Paramount studio imposed the original ending on the director Peter Collinson to leave open the possibility of a sequel. But Paramount decided that making films in Europe was too expensive and abandoned the follow-up.

During the filming of the bus hanging over the cliff, the camera helicopter’s downdraft started to tip the bus over. Stunt crew had to hang on to the front of the bus to stop it falling thousands of feet into a reservoir.

The Italian Job is fondly remembered for capturing the style and sounds of late-1960s “cool”. It centres on a daring heist in Turin organised by Croker and Bridger.

Croker’s gang bring traffic chaos to the city and make their escape though Turin’s narrow streets in three Mini Coopers. The film sealed the Mini’s status as a British icon. Caine’s exclamation, “You’re only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!” has passed into film legend.

Paramount originally wanted Robert Redford to play Croker, but the script, by Troy Kennedy Martin, creator of television’s Z Cars, played to Caine’s deadpan strengths.

The remake will open with a car chase in Venice before the action moves to Los Angeles, where Wahlberg’s gang will create the largest traffic jam in American history.

Critics have questioned the purpose of remaking the film, and co-star Edward Norton has complained that he is taking part under duress because of a contractual obligation to Paramount.

Caine is nominated for a Best Actor Oscar later this month for his portrayal of a Times foreign correspondent in Graham Greene’s The Quiet American.

Hollywood Greats will be shown on BBC One on March 11 at 10.35pm.

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