{"id":4378,"date":"2007-10-04T10:20:48","date_gmt":"2007-10-04T17:20:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=4378"},"modified":"2021-01-12T10:17:24","modified_gmt":"2021-01-12T17:17:24","slug":"fox-the-1967","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=4378","title":{"rendered":"Fox, The (1967)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;I saw the fox today: he was as close to me as you are, and I had my gun. I didn&#8217;t shoot.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Fox-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Fox-Poster-206x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"206\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-22282\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Fox-Poster-206x300.jpg 206w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Fox-Poster-88x128.jpg 88w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Fox-Poster-705x1024.jpg 705w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Fox-Poster.jpg 1004w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 206px) 100vw, 206px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nTwo female friends (Sandy Dennis and Anne Heywood) living on a farm find their idyllic existence interrupted by the arrival of a young man (Keir Dullea), who immediately falls for Heywood and wants to marry her.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Keir Dullea Films<\/li>\n<li>Lesbianism<\/li>\n<li>Love Triangle<\/li>\n<li>Sandy Dennis Films<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nMark Rydell&#8217;s gorgeously rendered adaptation of D.H. Lawrence&#8217;s 1923 novella posits an intriguing love triangle: two females (well played by Anne Heywood and the inimitable Sandy Dennis) who live and work together on a self-sustaining chicken farm, and a headstrong man (the &#8220;fox in the henhouse&#8221;) who shatters their seemingly idyllic partnership. While it&#8217;s widely regarded as a &#8220;lesbian film&#8221;, lesbianism is actually not addressed in <em>The Fox<\/em> until the end of the movie, and even then it&#8217;s tame; although the two women share the same bed &#8212; and it&#8217;s clear that Dennis is unhealthily dependent upon Heywood &#8212; we never see any overt sexual activity between them. Instead, the story is about more generalized sexual longing; we&#8217;re shown almost right away (in a racy bathroom masturbation scene) just how sexually unsatisfied Heywood is, and how much she may be willing to sacrifice for a chance at fulfillment. <\/p>\n<p>Yet gratification in the form of <u>male<\/u> sexuality is posited as disruptive (and ultimately catastrophic) to their female existence; once Dullea&#8217;s character arrives on the farm (which belonged to his grandfather before the women took it over), tensions immediately develop, with Dennis viewing him simply as a brother-figure, but Heywood immediately recognizing her deep attraction to him. Interestingly, Dullea doesn&#8217;t merely hope to sleep with Heywood; in the story&#8217;s one anachronistic &#8220;flaw&#8221;, he <u>demands<\/u> her as his wife &#8212; a plot device which would make much more sense in the 1920s than in the 1960s. <\/p>\n<p>While <em>The Fox<\/em> is a smart, well-acted character study for most of its running time, it&#8217;s marred by its notoriously melodramatic ending, when one of the women is made to pay dearly for her lesbian longings. This ending unfortunately frames the movie (for some) as simply another &#8220;homosexuals must pay for their sins&#8221; entry in 1960s cinema. Yet it&#8217;s worth watching on its own merits, and is certainly a must-see film for anyone devoted to D.H. Lawrence&#8217;s work &#8212; as well as those interested in how homosexuality was addressed on-screen during the 1960s. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Sandy Dennis as Jill<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/09\/fox-dennis2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/09\/fox-dennis2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4385\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Keir Dullea as Paul<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/09\/fox-dullea.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/09\/fox-dullea.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4380\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Anne Heywood as Ellen<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/09\/fox-heyward.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/09\/fox-heyward.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4381\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>An effective portrayal of a sticky love triangle<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/09\/fox-triangle.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/09\/fox-triangle.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4382\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Beautiful cinematography of snowy landscapes<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/09\/fox-snowy.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/09\/fox-snowy.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4383\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, for Dennis&#8217;s performance and for its historical notoriety. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Historically Relevant<\/li>\n<li>Noteworthy Performance(s)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/imdb.com\/title\/tt0062990\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rogerebert.com\/reviews\/the-fox-1968\">Roger Ebert&#8217;s Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/75551\/the-fox#articles-reviews?articleId=159648\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.timeout.com\/film\/reviews\/66990\/the_fox.html\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;I saw the fox today: he was as close to me as you are, and I had my gun. I didn&#8217;t shoot.&#8221; Synopsis: Two female friends (Sandy Dennis and Anne Heywood) living on a farm find their idyllic existence interrupted by the arrival of a young man (Keir Dullea), who immediately falls for Heywood and wants to marry her. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Keir Dullea Films Lesbianism Love Triangle Sandy Dennis Films Review: Mark Rydell&#8217;s gorgeously rendered adaptation of&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=4378\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4378"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4378\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":62968,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4378\/revisions\/62968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}