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Too much of everything

So much average

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

'After The Fox' probably looks funnier now than when it was first released in 1966. Peter Sellers plays 'Aldo Vanucci', Italy's top criminal mastermind - known as 'The Fox' - and also a master of disguise. When his cronies visit him in jail, he gives them food and magazines. Hearing that his sister Gina ( Britt Ekland, Sellers' wife at the time ) is walking the streets of Rome, he is furious and escapes by switching places with a psychiatrist. It turns out Gina is only making a movie. He wants her to go back to school, but she is determined to become a movie star. She has changed her surname to the more exotic sounding 'Romantica'. A daring bullion robbery has been pulled off in Cairo, and Aldo must help the thieves get the gold into Italy. He decides to trick the townspeople of Sevalio into thinking they are taking part in a movie, and to this end manages to secure the services of fading Hollywood matinée idol 'Tony Powell' ( Victor Mature )...At times, 'Fox' feels like an Italian version of one of Sellers' earlier British comedies, such as 'Two Way Stretch' and 'The Wrong Arm Of The Law'. Aldo shares many similarities to 'Dodger Lane' and 'Pearly Gates'. Neil Simon's script is not bad - though not among his better efforts - but it needed a director of the calibre of Blake Edwards to make it work. Instead we have Vittorio De Sica, and his heart is just not in it. As 'Vanucci', Sellers is okay, but its when he gets to impersonate eccentric director 'Frederico Fabrizi' ( pointing to his head, he says to Tony: "In here is my script!" ) that the film really starts to becomes funny, with some amusing jibes at the expense of the neo-realism school of cinema ( of which De Sica was a leading exponent ). Giving Sellers competition in the comedy department is Mature, with a highly amusing self parody as a film star who refuses to admit he is over the hill. When he brags to his agent 'Harry' that he is a youthful forty, the man replies: "But your son is thirty-five!". Another asset is the bouncy Burt Bacharach soundtrack. The catchy theme song was performed by Sellers ( as 'Vanucci' ) and 'The Hollies'. 'Fox' was not a big commercial success, but now seems a decent way to kill 90 minutes, even if it does end with a somewhat uninspired car chase.The best moment comes in the final scene. Vanucci is on trial ( along with the townspeople of Sevalio ). The film is screened to the jury. It is disjointed, jumpy, with jerky camera work ( just like every major film on release these days ). When it is over, everyone who took part looks embarrassed. A wild-eyed critic, however, proclaims it a masterpiece!

Peter Sellers become an overnight sensation long before he reach the stage where he could reject offers. Although he did in fact refuse many, this delightful offering was not one of them. The comedy film is called " After The Fox " and is the story of a famous international criminal whom we find is doing hard time in a prison in Italy. The story written by Neil Simon (The Odd Couple) is about Aldo Vanucci (Peter Sellers) who is contracted by Mr. Okra (Akim Tamiroff) to smuggle into Italy a stolen consignment of Gold Bullion. To do this 'The Fox' and his cohorts (Paolo Stoppa, Tino Buazzelli and Mac Ronay) pretend to be an international director and film crew. As Federico Febrizi, he flatters Tony Powell (Victor Mature) and convinces him to star in his Neo-realistic, but fabricated movie with his own sister 'Gina Romantica' (Britt Ekland) and vehemently protested by Tony's manager, Harry (Martin Balsam). The entire movie is one hilarious romp to the seaside and played to the max with the locals who just want to be in a movie. Of all the films Sellers has ever done, this is my favorite and is a tribute to the late great Victor Mature. The sound track is wonderfully memorable as the theme is sung by the British group, the Hollies and Sellers himself. A Classic in the best tradition. ****

Peter Sellers is a real enigma. During his career, he made many brilliant films with amazing characterizations (such as DR. STRANGELOVE, BEING THERE, THE MOUSE THAT ROARED and many others), but he also did a lot of amazingly limp films that he practically slept through (THE FIENDISH PLOT OF FU MANCHU and THE PRISONER OF ZENDA). AFTER THE FOX is unusual in that it isn't exactly brilliant but still is very good. As far as Sellers' performance goes, he did a lovely Italian accent and his character was pretty credible, though despite being the star of the film, he wasn't the standout performer (I think this was actually Victor Mature--doing a wonderful self-parody).The Fox is a master criminal who escapes from prison rather easily in order to keep his sister out of trouble. At first, he thinks she's become a prostitute, but later he finds she's become (horrors) and actress!! Interestingly enough, his sister is played by Sellers' real-life wife, Britt Ekland and his love interest in the film was played by an unknown (but beautiful) Italian. Once out of prison, he learns about a big caper from Akim Tamiroff--smuggling in millions of dollars worth of gold into Italy. So, inspired by his sister's desire to be a movie star, he decides to make a fake film and use this as the cover to smuggle in the gold--and this is how Victor Mature comes into the film. He plays a parody of himself but is very vain and over the hill--telling everyone he's in his thirties even though he's pushing 60! I loved how he insisted he was so young when it was so obvious he wasn't--especially in the scene where Britt throws herself at him and runs her fingers through his hair--only to have them stained black by hair dye. Plus, he was so full of himself that he was gullible enough to believe he was making an art film when in fact Sellers and his gang obviously had no idea what they were doing.By the way, how Sellers got all the film equipment was pretty interesting. As the film was directed by Vittorio DeSica, he himself appeared in a small scene. He and his crew were filming some Egyptian epic when suddenly the wind machines turned on at full blast. When they were finally turned off, all the equipment--even DeSica's platform and cameras--were missing--stolen by Sellers' gang.Throughout the film there were many cute moments, but also towards the end the film did lag a bit and the ending seemed to be a bit of a letdown. I especially became bored with the chase scene and the ensuing courtroom scene. Still, it was original and moderately funny with some excellent performances.By the way, the film clip we see of a younger Victor Mature in an older black and white film was from EASY LIVING--one of Mature's better films. I suggest you try to find it.

I caught this on its first run in Honolulu after spending two years in a place with no movie theaters. I laughed all the way through it. I was certain that enthusiasm was the result of all the previous deprivation, and some of it was, but the luster hasn't worn off this film on subsequent viewings. It's still funny and at time hilarious.Federico Fabrizi (Peter Sellers) is an escaped convict who must find a way to unload a horde of stolen gold from a ship. He gets his friends together, they find a small fishing village suitable for bringing stolen gold ashore, con the aging movie star Tony Powell (Victor Mature) and his agent (Martin Balsam) into cooperating, claiming they are going to make a "neorealist" movie about unloading stolen gold. Seller's sister, Gina Romantica (Britt Ekland) will play opposite Tony Powell. (Mature: What's neorealism?" Balsam: "No money.") All of the villagers, including the mayor and the police chief, are used in the fake movie to unload the real stolen gold. Everybody gets caught. Sellers takes the rap and escapes again. The end.Now, it isn't surprising that Neal Simon has written a funny screenplay based on his play. He was at the top of his game at the time, and nobody is better at barbed exchanges than Neal Simon at his best. What's amazing about this film is that it is so far removed from Simon's usual bailiwick, the comic contretemps of New York Jews. Here he deals with Italian culture and he's got it just about perfect. The film, directed by Vittorio DeSica, who should know neorealism when he sees it, pokes fun at empty Italian bravado, the almost incestuous obsession with protecting the virtue of one's sister, the allegiance to national laws as a sometime thing, the police as little more than a largely ineffective nuisance, the pretentiousness of Italian films of the period (Fellini and Antonioni are skewered), pompous film critics who see art where there be no art, the vanity of aging actors (Mature: "I have the pupils of an eighteen-year-old boy!"), the spell cast over ordinary nobodies by film-making, and a host of other targets.It's not just Simon's dialog that makes this outstanding. I can't believe that the comedy would be so effective without DeSica's willingness to puncture the Italian film industry and the culture that embraces it.Example: The fake film has been hastily thrown together and is shown as evidence in court. And, good God, what a horrifying abortion it is. The gang know nothing about movies. We see about five minutes of black and white film. They've used wide angle shots so that human faces turn into bulging gargoyles. In some scenes the camera is on its side. There are utterly pointless shots (sometimes in slow or accelerated motion) of people doing nothing of importance, of actors running nowhere ("no matter how fast you run, you can't run away from yourself"), of Peter Seller's behind as he bends over, of rocks, of surf, of nothing. When the film flaps around the take-up reel, a man in the courtroom leaps to his feet in the applauding wildly. He announces that he's a film critic and that Sellers is a "a genius! A primitive genius! The best film to come out of Italy in forty years! I cried! I cried like a BABY!" (The judge throws him out and call him crazy.) I can't continue this without laughing, but I have to mention one more gag. Sellers real name is Aldo Venucci and in his home he is bragging to his mother and sister that he is ashamed of nothing. To prove it, he throws open the window and shouts "I am Aldo VENUCCI!" In the street below, two of the gang are shielding their faces and they hiss up a warning, "The po-lice! The po-lice!" Sellers instantly dashes from the window and hides in a bathtub.Consistently funny, a long jab at phoniness in its every manifestation. Recommended without qualification if you're in the mood for laughs.