After the Fox

Okra hijacks $3 million in gold bullion outside Cairo, initiating a plan to move two tons of gold into Europe. The theft sets the larger scheme in motion as the criminals look for a secure way to smuggle the loot.

Aldo Vanucci is imprisoned and reluctant to take the job, fearing it would disgrace his mother and Gina. When his three sidekicks inform him that Gina often disappears after school, he resolves to escape rather than stay locked up.

Vanucci impersonates the prison doctor and escapes to Rome with the aid of his gang. The getaway marks the beginning of his plan to set up the smuggling operation from abroad.

Back in Rome, his mother reveals Gina is not streetwalking but acting in a low-budget film on Via Veneto. Vanucci misreads this as prostitution and becomes determined to improve his family's life.

He decides that smuggling the gold will lift his family out of poverty. Vanucci contacts Okra and agrees to the job in exchange for half of the take.

After seeing crowds idolize an aging American matinee idol, Tony Powell, Vanucci realizes that movie stars wield influence and operate with freedom. This insight becomes the foundation of his plan to use filmmaking as a cover for the smuggling operation.

Posing as Italian neo-realist director Federico Fabrizi, he plans to bring the gold ashore as a scene in an avant-garde film. He convinces Powell to star in the film, which is titled The Gold of Cairo to parody De Sica's The Gold of Naples.

Fabrizi casts Gina in the film and recruits the village of Sevalio to help unload the shipment. The plan hinges on the town providing manpower and a convincing audience for the staged production.

When the ship carrying the gold is delayed, Fabrizi must improvise scenes for the fake film to maintain the illusion. The improvised sequences keep the villagers in the act and preserve the cover story.

The ship finally arrives and the villagers unload the gold, but Okra double-crosses Vanucci and flees with the loot. A slapstick car chase erupts as the conspirators crash into each other and the authorities close in.

Vanucci, Okra, Powell, Gina and the villagers are hauled into custody as suspected smugglers. In court, the film that framed their case is shown as evidence, and a film critic bizarrely proclaims its disjointed footage a masterpiece.

Vanucci confesses his guilt and clears the villagers, but vows to escape from prison again. The confession marks a temporary victory for his family and the community.

He escapes from prison by impersonating the prison doctor again. When the time comes to remove his beard, he discovers the beard is real and exclaims, "The wrong man has escaped!"