Review of Reviews: After the Fox

by Cynthia Baber

Released in 1966, After the Fox is a comedy written by Neil Simon and Cesare Zavattini and directed by Vittorio De Sica. The film stars Peter Sellers as the criminal mastermind Aldo Vanucci who is known as “The Fox” and is a master of disguise. The film also features Victor Mature as a movie star Tony Powell, Britt Ekland as Aldo’s sister Gina (Vannuci) Romantica and Akim Tamiroff who plays the thief Okra. 

The film begins with Okra and his gang in Cairo carrying out a robbery of millions of dollars worth of gold.  Aldo Vanucci is happily in prison, with the confidence that he can escape whenever he feels like it. After he escapes in an effort to check in on his sister Gina, he agrees to move the stolen gold into Europe without being detected. After witnessing the popularity and the appeal of the movie star Tony Powell on the street, he decides to smuggle the gold into Italy by posing as a director and filming a fake movie in a small village in Italy. After his plan fails, he takes the fall for the entire scheme and winds up in prison, only to escape again, or does he?

When the film was released, it was not received extremely well. However it has since gained a following of many who appreciate its humor. Bosley Crowler in the New York Times reviewed the film after its release in 1966. He was not impressed by it. He summed it up by stating, “It’s pretty much a mess, this picture. Yes, you’d think it was done by amateurs.” (Crowler) It is unknown exactly how well it did during its theatrical release; however, according to Wikipedia the box office numbers for the film are just over two million in rentals. Rotten Tomatoes gives an average rating of 5.6/10 with 71% giving a positive review. IMDB has similar numbers giving the film a rating of 6.5 out of 10. 

Since this film has been out for nearly 50 years, there are many opinions and reviews of the film. It’s surprising that while there are people who love everything about the film, there are also people who think it is just average. Dennis Schwartz sums up the possible reasoning behind the differing opinions by saying it is “an uneven and bizarre farce. The comedy never fully gets going, but retains enough whacky features that still draw it to cult fans.” Some reviewers find the actors to be the best part, despite the storyline. Tony Mastroianni reviewed the film in the Cleveland press in 1967. He wrote, "After the Fox is an amazing film in terms of the talent involved.” He goes on to say “The results are generally antic and wacky, though the total effect -- at times a trifle strained -- is not always up to the brilliance of its individual parts.” I have to agree that the actors make up a great aspect of the film, however the story is up to par, despite being a little slow at times. Peter Sellers and Victor Mature are both great in their roles.  There are very humorous moments within the film and they both do well with their comedic delivery and ability.

Some reviewers think that Victor Mature who plays Tony Powell is the best in the film. In her review on thedigitalfix.com, Noel Megahey states; “Victor Mature is marvelous as Tony Powell, the famous movie-idol in denial about his age and fading looks, determined to wear his trench coat and enter into Italian neo-realist filmmaking.” Another for thespinningimage.co.uk agrees with this idea by stating “However, the best performance in the film is from Victor Mature, in great form as the vain, past his prime Tony.” In addition to these, a reviewer on filmfinatic.org indicates that Victor Mature’s performance alone makes this film worth a look.

There are many good and bad reviews of this film on sites like rotten tomatoes and IMDB. While there may be many differing opinions of the film, I think Turner Classic Movies sums it up well “After the Fox takes its place among the unofficial genre of wacky '60s comedies that feature an unlikely combination of director, actors and offbeat storyline. The results make for a unique, if bizarre, testament to the melting pot that was '60s culture.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/After_the_Fox
http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9F05E5D8103CE53BBC4C51DFB467838D679EDE
http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/64116|0/After-the-Fox.html
http://homepages.sover.net/~ozus/afterthefox.html
http://film.thedigitalfix.com/content.php?contentid=12778
http://www.thespinningimage.co.uk/cultfilms/displaycultfilm.asp?reviewid=630
http://filmfanatic.org/reviews/?p=16524
http://www.clevelandmemory.org/mastroianni/tm483.html
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060200/
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/after_the_fox/