Alfie (Burt Bacharach song) in release in the US: besides the Cher version from the film and the Cilla Black original which had been issued in the US that July to peak at No.95 on the "Billboard" Hot 100, "Alfie" had been recorded by Vikki Carr, Jack Jones, Tony Martin, Carmen McRae, Joanie Sommers and Billy Vaughn. The five last-named singers had recorded "Alfie" in hopes of taking the song into the "Billboard" Easy Listening chart rather than scoring a mainstream Pop hit and both Joanie Sommers and Carmen McRae did score an Easy Listening hit with their respective versions of "Alfie" (Sommers -
Michael Caine Brain" (1967), "Bullet to Beijing" (1995) and "Midnight in Saint Petersburg" (1995). Caine made his first film in Hollywood in 1966, after an invitation from Shirley MacLaine to play opposite her in "Gambit." During the first two weeks, whilst staying at the Beverly Hills Hotel, he met long-term friends John Wayne and agent "Swifty" Lazar. Caine starred in the 1969 comedy caper film "The Italian Job" as the leader of a cockney criminal gang released from prison with the intention of doing a "big job" in Italy to steal gold bullion from an armoured security truck. The line "You're only