Le renard s'évade à 3 heures

When I found this film I had never heard of it. In glancing at its box I saw "Peter Sellers" and "Vittorio De Sica." Just those two names prompted me to take it home.

I was quite happy with what this film is.

The story is solid, and is what keeps this film running. Sellers does a good job, but I still enjoy his Pink Panther role, as well as his roles in Dr. Sstrangelove. Nevertheless, he does well as an Italian crook and "flamboyant" film director.

The comedy isn't too slapstick, it is smart. There are sight gags, there are setups and punchlines, there are one-liners, not to mention spoofed-themes, and pokes at other Italian film directors/producers.

I didn't exactly know what I would get with a De Sica comedy. He did a fine job, though. "Federico Fabrizi" sometimes looks and seems to be just like Federico Fellini. There are some moments where Fellini's 8 1/2 comes to mind.

A critic said that he didn't understand the ending. At first, I didn't. Think, though! Think! This is De Sica!

Take a look at this film, it's a good one.

This late 60's comic bumbling, silly fable with the Peter Sellers and his then (or soon-to-be wife) Britt Ekland AND Victor Mature..and Martin Balsam (OSCAR winner before this - who was also in ON THE WATERFRONT, PSYCHO, and BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S) is a comic easy fable about egos, movie-making and just "you know" 60's fun and I'm sure it bombed. Such a pity. This flick is a laugh-fest in the easiest fun way in 1966 that only an idiot COULDN'T ENJOY, unless he or she hates Italians OR Peter Sellers (playing an Italian). Joyeous stuff!

Not slapstick, not bathroom or mother-in-laws or Bob Hope stupid humor, this has a PLOT and conveys, so subtley, the joy of a crime-thriller while you're catching up to the maniacal silly plot. The acting is beyond talking about Oscar-worthy stuff. It's totally believable because of the story (AND Sellers sings the opening credits title song). It's quite unique and dedicated to 60's fun!

"Do you know how many good kisser are starving in Italy?" That's just one of the excellent lines from this underrated movie. The credits alone sound like the plot for a waco 60s jet-set movie: Vittorio De Sica directing a Neil Simon script? You've got to be kidding. True, the film sags and lags at parts, but between Peter Sellers, Victor Mature (truly awesome here), and the mouth-wateringly hummana-hummana Brit Ekland, the movie has enough going for it that it remains a favorite. And that incredible Burt Bacharach score! I swear that if you're depressed and listen to this music (available on CD as I write this), you'll be cured for life!

"After the Fox" is a fine and entertaining comedy with Peter Sellers at his best right after a couple of "Pink Panther" titles, as a master thief who finds the way through which the police will guard his millionaire robbery while he is accomplishing it.

A good supporting cast with Akim Tamiroff, Martin Balsam and pretty Britt Ekland is there too. But what really surprised me is Victor Mature's convincing and funny performance as an aging star who refuses to accept the pass of time and his inevitable entering into more adult roles. I always had Mature has a just standard performer who couldn't help overacting and just helped in his career by his somehow interesting screen presence. In a likable character he does very good in this picture and is one of the highlights of the film.

Good for Victor in one of his last roles!

For some reason, this film failed on it's release in 1966, and coincidentally marked the first in a long line of cinema flops for the star Peter Sellers, but now, on viewing it on DVD, I think it stands very comfortably amongst his more recognised work. The plot, written by Neil Simon is brilliantly fast-paced, the comedy lies everywhere, and there's terrific support from Maurice Denham, Britt Ekland, and of course Victor Mature sending up himself as a age-defying crummy actor. Why it flopped, heaven knows. Under the masterful direction of Vittorio de Sica, this map-cap farce makes great viewing, although it does take a bit to get the momentum up. Overall, very enjoyable.