underrated gem

I discovered After the Fox by accident when I picked it at random off the library shelves. It was a surprisingly good comedy. Some scenes were alot like The Music Man, and there were several scenes where TMM dialogue could have been inserted into ATF and been perfectly appropriate. The plot was also akin to HC Andersen's story of the Emperor's New Clothes, where we learn that you can fool all of the people some of the time. The movie is not perfect. One of the two biggest flaws is that the pace drags in some scenes which are unnecessary to the plot or drawn out too long. The other is the shift about halfway through, when the movie changes from a standard cops and robbers chase to an elaborate mistaken-identity scheme. Kubrick could have pulled off such a mid-cycle shift, De Sica failed. In spite of this, it's ultimately a likable pic which deserves to be better known.