by Hal Erickson
synopsis
Despite its Disneyesque title, The Black Fox is actually a documentary of the rise and fall of the Third Reich. Authentic scenes of Adolf Hitler and the war and atrocities that he fomented are framed by a curious literary device. Hitler's ascension is compared to that of Reynard the Fox, a medieval folk-fable "trickster". While this device could have been pretentious--or, at the very worst, precious--the film works quite well. The newsreel footage seen in The Black Fox is relatively familiar, but the treatment sheds new light on an old story.
