"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!

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.

After The Fox finds Peter Sellers and his then bride Britt Eklund working in Italy for director Vittorio DeSica. In it Sellers plays a criminal who if he's not quite a master at the crime trade, at least he's not a bumbler like Inspector Clousseau. The laughs Sellers gets in After The Fox come at the expense of others.

A robbery of gold bullion has occurred in Egypt and Interpol is on the case. As we learned in The Lavender Hill Mob, gold bullion is not that easy to transport. Taking on the job of getting it into Europe after he's broken out of jail once again is Peter Sellers.

How to do it? Right out in the open during the course of shooting a movie about a heist. Sellers pretends to be a director and gets the a whole coastal village in on his scheme. After all, who doesn't want to be in the movies?

Part of Sellers plan is to convince over the hill American movie actor Victor Mature to star in his film. After The Fox was Mature's first film in five years, at this point in his life he worked when he felt like it. Mature was one of the least vain of all film stars, how many will say that he's no actor and have 63 pictures to prove it. He looked like he was having a ball satirizing himself and several of his colleagues still pretending they're leading men.

Britt Eklund is Seller's girl friend and Akim Tamiroff is the guy who pulled off the gold heist. Maria Gracia Buccella has an unforgettable part as Tamiroff's sister and 'the bikini trap'. This woman in a bikini makes Sophia Loren look flat-chested. Martin Balsam also has a good role as Mature's exasperated agent.

To see what happens if the budding film director can really smuggle some gold into Italy you have to see After The Fox. It's one of Peter Sellers best films and you've got to love Victor Mature for what he does with his own image here.