10 Infuriating Movie Cliff-hangers You Didn't Realise Had Answers
1. Charlie & Co. Escaped - The Italian Job
You can't talk about cliff-hanger endings without mentioning the literal cliff-hanger. The end of 1969's The Italian Job saw Charlie Croker and his pals in a van, precariously balanced on the edge of a cliff where any movement could send them over. With the men being the only counterweight to the gold threatening to pull the whole thing down, it seemed an utterly impossible situation.
"Hang on a minute, lads, I've got a great idea," says Michael Caine's Croker. Cue credits in what is one of the greatest and most literal cliff-hangers of all time. It took years before that great idea was actually revealed.
Michael Caine himself said in a BBC documentary that the plan was for Charlie to switch the engine on and wait for four hours as all the petrol drained, allowing the van to right itself. The lads get off, but the gold plummets to the bottom of the cliff where it is picked up by the Corsican mafia.
According to Caine, this ending was actually filmed, and would have set up a sequel with Croker and co. chasing the lost gold. Instead, the producers went the way of ambiguity, cementing in place one of the most iconic movie endings of all time.