After The Fox (1966)

In Egypt, a thief (Akim Tamiroff) hijacks a gold shipment valued at three million dollars. But he needs someone to help him smuggle the gold into Italy. He makes a connection with a master criminal called The Fox (Peter Sellers) recently escaped from prison to help him. To this end, the Fox concocts a plan of making a movie as a cover. Written by Neil Simon (BAREFOOT IN THE PARK) with an assist from Cesare Zavattini and directed by Vittorio De Sica (MARRIAGE ITALIAN STYLE). Simon didn't have the clout at this point in his career to control his material and so De Sica and Zavattini made changes to Simon's broad comedy by adding "social" statements to the script. The film is spottily amusing throughout although it stumbles severely in the last 15 minutes. The film might have been better served by having someone like Blake Edwards rather than De Sica at the helm. The film received mixed reviews upon release but has emerged as a cult favorite in recent years. The movie comes close to being stolen by Victor Mature as a vain and aging Hollywood star. The perky underscore is by Burt Bacharach. With Britt Ekland, Martin Balsam, Maria Grazia Buccella, Paolo Stoppa, Maurice Denham, Lando Buzzanca and Lydia Brazzi (Rossano's wife, who was not a professional actress) as Sellers' mother.