Fantômas (1964)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

André Hunebelle

Writers:

Pierre Souvestre (novels) and
Marcel Allain (novels) ...

Release Date:

4 November 1964 (France)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Adventure | Fantasy

Tagline:

Men Hunt Him Down - Women Look Him Up! Super-Thief ... Master Lover ... He's out to ransack the world!

Plot:

Le journaliste Fandor invente une interview avec le mystérieux Fantomas. Fantomas s'indigne et enlève...

Plot Keywords:

Journalist | Police | Stolen Jewelry | Impersonation And Imposture | Letter F

Cast

Jean Marais	...	Fantômas / Fandor
Louis de Funès	...	Commissaire Juve
Mylène Demongeot	...	Hélène
Jacques Dynam	...	Inspecteur Bertrand
Robert Dalban	...	Le directeur du journal
Marie-Hélène Arnaud	...	Lady Beltham
Anne-Marie Peysson	...	La speakerine
Christian Toma	...	Un inspecteur
Michel Duplaix	...	Un inspecteur
Andrée Tainsy	...	L'habilleuse
Hugues Wanner
Henri Attal	...	Un garde du corps / Bodyguard
Jacques Berger
Pierre Collet	...	Un agent
Henri Guégan

Also Known As:

Fantomas 70 (Italy)

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

France | Italy

Language:

French

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-12 | France:U | UK:U | West Germany:12 | Spain:T

Company:

P.A.C.

Trivia:

This movie inspired the German name of Donald Duck's alter ego, Phantomias (a superhero spoof where he battles crime at night).

Movie Connections:

Edited into Operation: Secret Agents, Spies & Thighs (2007) (V)

FANTOMAS (Andre' Hunebelle, 1964) **1/2

I had always been intrigued by the exploits of this famous criminal mastermind, and especially its initial cinematic adaptation via the Silent Serial of 1913-14 made by Louis Feuillade (whose French 2-DVD Set I purchased, rather costly, and enjoyed a great deal). Another interesting version was the 1932 Paul Fejos film, which recently turned up on late-night Italian TV (in the original language!) - but I missed out on it because at the time I was in Hollywood!!

To be honest, I wasn't expecting much from the Sixties revival but, as it turned out, it's a likable - and stylish - enough triptych, even if it's somewhat unbalanced by the comic relief (which increased with each new entry). Also, since I watched the three films back-to-back, they've become more or less interchangeable in my mind - especially given the fact that they have much the same cast and crew!

It's interesting that Jean Marais has a dual role - as had been the case with Jean Cocteau's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (1946), where he was hidden behind an amazing animal make-up for virtually the entire film, as well as playing the rather bland hero - as both Fantomas (his features are still recognizable behind the rather wonderful blank-faced mask) and the intrepid reporter hero (at which he managed to be credible, despite being 50 years old!), with an equally brave partner (the lovely Mylene Demongeot) in tow; while popular comic Louis De Funes appears as Commissioner Juve, forever in pursuit of the elusive and fiendish criminal, abetted - but more often hindered - by a rotund Inspector played by Jacques Dynam.

Unfortunately, the film aspired more to the tongue-in-cheek approach, colorful scenery and the gadget-heavy thrills of the James Bond extravaganzas (featuring even a similar score!) rather than the poetic touch - which went hand in hand with the inherent surrealism of such fare - which Georges Franju gave to a contemporaneous remake/compression of another Feuillade Silent Serial, JUDEX (1963; the original was released in 1916-17). Perhaps the best scene(s) of the film is the extended set-piece at the climax in which Fantomas utilizes five separate means of transportation - train, car, motorbike, boat, submarine - in order to escape the clutches of the Law (successfully).