DIRECTOR: Mark Rydell
BOTTOM LINE: Director Mark Rydell (“The Rose,” “On Golden Pond”) moves the location of the D.H. Lawrence short story to rural Canada, where our lesbian couple Jill Banford (Sandy Dennis) and Ellen March (Anne Heywood) support themselves by raising chickens. They are happy and content. There is genuine chemistry between the two actresses without things being overtly physical. Then, unexpectedly, in the dead of winter, merchant seaman Paul (Keir Dullea) arrives on the property in search of his grandfather.
Yes, a fox keeps killing the chickens and a dying oak tree, which we have begun to realize is the Canadian equivalent of Chekov’s gun. Like John Huston’s “Reflections in a Golden Eye,” released the previous year, “The Fox” does interesting things with color saturation (Bill Fraker was the cinematographer), and the Lalo Schifrin score has entered the jazz canon. All three leads are impressive, and although the ending is a disappointment from a gay perspective, the movie is well worth seeing.
STREAMING: “THE FOX” IS NOT AVAILABLE FOR STREAMING. THE DVD CAN BE PURCHASED FROM AMAZON.
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