AlsExGal

Mr. Fox is living a very middle class suburban life as a newspaper columnist with his wife and son, Ashe.

But Mr. Fox feels restless. He thinks he can settle that restlessness by moving his family out of the hole in the ground that they live in and into a tree. But all that does is expose the real hunger inside of him - his desire to hunt and kill birds. He plans a raid on the farms of Boggis, Bunce, and Bean. His raids are a success, but the farmers are not going to be satisfied until Mr. Fox and his family are dead, along with lots of the other animals in the area that may get killed as the three farmers stop at nothing to dig and starve Mr. Fox's family out.

In a parallel story, Mrs. Fox's nephew, Kristofferson, has come for an extended visit. He's the same age as Ashe, thus they are in the same grade at school, and Kristofferson is better at everything than Ashe is - a better athlete, better student, better with the girls. And worst of all he seems to have his dad's admiration over Ashe's. As a result, Ashe acts out passive aggressively.

So you have this nice little world with animals in a world that parallels that of humans, with animals dressing and behaving as humans, with human professions like beavers who are attorneys, a possum maintenance man, a fox journalist and his wife, a painter of landscapes. Yet, at the end of the day, Mr. Fox makes them remember that they are all wild animals. It was why he would risk it all to kill a few chickens rather than remain safe and bored as a newspaper columnist.

And just one more thing - One of the farmers kept a "chronically rabid" dog as a guard dog. What would be the purpose of such a beast, as it is not just a hazard to your enemies, it's a hazard to anybody. Was that a kind of dig at nuclear weapons? I wonder.

This is Mickey Rooney's first true adult role, just a year after his final appearance as Andy Hardy until a final film in the 1960s. This entry has lots going for it, not the least being a terrific performance by Rooney as the title character. At age 27, Rooney was trying to rid himself of MGM's image and McCoy was probably a godsend role for him, bridging the squeaky-clean image that he had with something a bit more adult. Rooney here is still boyish and starts the films as the dutiful son of a no-good drunk father (James Dunn) and a mother who literally works herself to death providing for the family and making excuses for her wastrel of a husband.

The local priest, as an act of charity, tells Rooney and Dunn about a need for a song and dance number to open for a fight that night with the job paying ten dollars. After the fight, Rooney says he'd like a turn at the winner, and he does manage to knock the guy out. This causes someone who sees the fight to take him under his wing and teach him the ropes of the trade. At one point down the line Rooney kills a guy with his punch and that earns him the nickname "Killer".

All the while Mickey's dad is causing problems - drinking heavily, running up big debts to gamblers that eat up the purses that Mickey wins, until his dad sells Mickey's contract to a crooked gambler (Brian Donlevy) who is living a double life that includes a daughter nobody knows about who is attending an elite finishing school (Ann Blythe). Complications ensue, not the least of which is that Rooney's father has a big mouth in the presence of the wrong people about everything that is going on.

Look fast for Shelley Winters in a non-speaking bit as one of Rooney's groupies as he trains for a championship.

What I've described sounds pretty formulaic except maybe for the crooked gambler living a double life, but it is very well done and is an excellent showcase for an adult Rooney in an adult role. He's convincingly hard boiled when he needs to be. The only thing negative I can say is how the conclusion seemed rushed - like the writers really didn't know quite how to end it.

Strangely enough, Rooney and the director of this film had a big argument on the set about how bad Rooney's acting was which caused him to walk off the set. Rooney angrily recalled the incident 50 years later when Robert Osborne interviewed him on Turner Classic Movies. Osborne sat perfectly still while Rooney ranted about the situation, later saying he was afraid Rooney would have hit him if he moved or spoke.

That being that the "city slickers" often unfairly dismiss the charm and wisdom of Mayberry's citizens.

Andy and Opie are fishing, and Opie has just reeled one in, when Andy notices that the boat has a hole in it and rows to shore before the boat can sink.

Once ashore Andy learns that a dangerous criminal has escaped from state prison and has been reported heading towards Mayberry. The state police arrive, but dismiss completely Andy and Barney as they have their own ideas of how to establish roadblocks and capture the criminal. They soon learn that behind Andy's homespun ways is quite a bit of wisdom and crime solving acumen.

The characters are still developing throughout this season, but especially towards the beginning. Andy is more jocular throughout the episode versus just at key junctures as he is later, and Don Knotts is still developing his Barney Fife character into one of the great TV comic figures. Opie and Aunt Bea figure less into this week's episode than they did in the first. Opie will later get entire episodes devoted to his character, mainly because of the great child acting talent possessed by Ron Howard, but not this week.

And look quick for the one and only glimpse you get of Barney Fife's mother - as he frisks her of course!