After the Fox

This 1966 Italo-British heist caper was directed by the great Vittoria De Sica at Peter Seller’s request (then at the height of his fame) who stars as criminal mastermind ‘The Fox’ who comes up with an (almost perfect) plan to smuggle stolen gold bullion from Cairo to Italy. Despite a plethora of stars including Victor Mature, Martin Balsam and Britt Ekland, this manic farce might be just a bit too ott for some.

The premise is quite absurd as is much of the film: a truck containing 3 million dollars in gold bullion is abducted in the Cairo desert by means of a clever ruse. A woman (played by Maria Grazia Buccella) strips down to her sexy underwear and thus beguiles both the driver and his colleague (who is reading Playboy magazine) of a truck which is loaded with said bullion. The distraction – and some additional roadblocks – works a treat as they drive into the back of an open lorry - just like that!
The robbers Okra (veteran actor Akim Tamiroff) and his sister (the beguiler in question) then drive off – also just like that… which is rather hard to believe. And what of the kidnapped van driver and his mate? Okra and his sister now need to find a way of smuggling the gold into Europe. The authorities led by the 'velvet'-voiced character actor Maurice Denham are of the opinion that only four crooks would be capable of helping the robbers to achieve this end. It is decided (after we witness the hopeless ineptitude of three possible candidates) that only one man is left to carry out the job successfully: a certain master criminal called Aldo Vanucci (Sellers) now languishing in an Italian prison. He is persuaded by his rather dopey confederates to escape when they inform him of his younger sister Gina’s (Sellers' then partner Britt Ekland) exploits. This means he must stop her from becoming a ‘prostitute’ (of course that’s only in his head) when all she wants to do is become a film starlet. He vows to escape the very next day at three o'clock and does this by means of pretending to be the prison doctor to whom he bears a truly remarkable resemblance.

After a number of ridiculous misunderstood attempts to stop his sister from sliding into ‘a life of vice’ he finally hits on a brilliant scheme to smuggle the gold bullion into bella Italia! This comes about due to the arrival of former mega Hollywood movie star Tony Powell (Victor Mature sending himself up) in a little village, together with his much more down-to-earth agent Harry Granoff (Martin Balsam). Aldo Vanucci will simply - yes SIMPLY - set himself up as the great bogus film director Federico Fabrizi! Within no time he and his confederates are extras in a film being directed by the actual Vittorio De Sica (an in-joke) when smoke bombs go off and Aldo and his gang pinch the film truck and one camera (you'd think they might need a bit more equipment). Soon a truck is blazing around the town with advertisements plastered all over it for his new film currently in production called ‘The Gold of Cairo’ starring Tony Powell and sensational new Italian starlet Gina Romantica (Ekland, of course) though at that point Tony Powell hasn’t even been persuaded to star in the production. Not that our bogus director has any problems in persuading the eager Powell into accepting the part whereas Harry is much more suspicious – seeing how Federico Fabrizi’s name doesn’t seem to come up in the ‘Italian Film Directors Guild’ list. Harry’s suspicions prove right: despite his continued warnings there isn’t even a contract. Tony Powell, on the other hand, is easily convinced of ‘Fabrizi's' apparent genius – a man who simply makes it up as he goes along. Aldo's plan is to have a ship coming in containing the actual real stolen gold bullion as part of the pretend film's plot… but will he succeed in carrying out his cunning plan to the end?

This comparative mess of a film would appear to have quite a lot going for it: a script by top-Broadway playwright Neil 'The Odd Couple' Simon (this was his first screenplay written in collaboration with Cesare Zavattini), an appearance by one time Hollywood 'tough guy' Victor Mature, a score by Burt Bacharach and an entirely Italian location which is nice anyway. So what went pear-shaped? Quite simply Sellers was given far too much rope - to begin with he's even singing (or trying to) the signature tune. Further complications can be attributed to the fact that director De Sica spoke little English and Sellers no Italian and clearly the production was a troubled one. Swedish actress Britt Ekland (who could speak Italian) is acceptable in a dark wig and Mature is amusing in parodying his former image. However, if you are of the opinion that Peter Sellers was a genius and could do no wrong (and many are) you may well be in for a real treat here – that said, who came up with the idea for the film’s utterly nonsensical ending?

This newly restored Blu-ray release offers the following Special Features:

• After the Fox: A Socially Distanced Interview (2020, 15 mins): Britt Ekland looks back on the early days of her acting career and remembers the making of After the Fox
• Peter Sellers: Master of Disguise (2020, 14 mins): the BFI’s Vic Pratt revisits the enigma of Peter Sellers and his multiple roles in this video essay illustrated with promotional images for After the Fox
• DDR Magazin Nummer 11 (1962, 12 mins): After the Fox director Vittorio De Sica – paying a visit to Berlin – features prominently in this fascinating East German newsreel produced in the Cold War era
• Robbery (1897, 1 min): could this Victorian novelty reel be the earliest heist comedy?
• The Man With the Velvet Voice: Maurice Denham (1961 + 1975, 72 mins): the mellow tones of velvet-voiced actor Maurice Denham – who plays an authoritative supporting role in After the Fox – ring out in two rarities from the BFI National Archive: the CFF classic The Last Rhino and BTF film Go As You Please… in Britain
• Original trailer
• *** First pressing only*** Illustrated booklet with new writing by Vic Pratt, Dr. Deborah Allison and Howard Hughes, notes on the extras and full credits