Fantômas (1964)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

André Hunebelle

Writers:

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

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
Rudy Lenoir	...	Le recepionniste / Le gardien-chef
Jacques de Lanoye
Jean Minisini	...	Un homme de main de Fantômas
Bernard Musson	...	Un agent de police
Dominique Zardi	...	Un garde du corps / Bodyguard
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Georges Adet	...	Un témoin (uncredited)
Jean-Louis Allibert	...	(uncredited)
Marc Arian	...	Un invité et un joueur (uncredited)
André Badin	...	Le vendeur de la bijouterie (uncredited)
Charles Bayard	...	Le militaire au monocle (uncredited)
Jean Blancheur	...	Un témoin (uncredited)
Jean-Paul Blonday	...	Un invité (uncredited)
Philippe Castelli	...	L'agent en faction (uncredited)
Michel Charrel	...	Un homme de main de Fantômas (uncredited)
Yvan Chiffre	...	Un homme de main de Fantômas (uncredited)
Henri Coutet	...	Un témoin (uncredited)
Albert Domergue	...	Un invité (uncredited)
Gabrielle Doulcet	...	La dame témoin (uncredited)
André Dumas	...	(uncredited)
Marius Gaidon	...	L'agent au commissariat (uncredited)
André Hunebelle	...	(uncredited)
Gaston Meunier	...	Le joueur au casino (uncredited)
Raymond Pellegrin	...	Fantômas (voice) (uncredited)

Directed by
André Hunebelle

Writing credits
Pierre Souvestre		(novels) and
Marcel Allain		(novels)
Jean Halain		(screenplay) and
Pierre Foucaud		(screenplay)
Jean Halain		(dialogue)

Produced by
Paul Cadéac	....	delegate producer
Cyril Grize	....	producer
Alain Poiré	....	delegate producer

Original Music by
Michel Magne

Cinematography by
Marcel Grignon

Film Editing by
Jean Feyte

Production Design by
Paul-Louis Boutié

Production Management
Roger Boulais	....	production manager
Cyril Grize	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jacques Besnard	....	second unit director

Sound Department
René-Christian Forget	....	sound (as René C. Forget)

Special Effects by
Gérard Cogan	....	special effects
Gil Delamare	....	special effects

Production Companies

• P.A.C.
• Société Nouvelle des Établissements Gaumont (SNEG)
• P.C.M. FIlm

Distributors

• 20th Century Fox Film de Mexico (1964) (Mexico) (theatrical)
• Gaumont S.A.B. (1964) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• Gaumont-France Distribution (1964) (France) (theatrical)
• Lopert Pictures Corporation (1966) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• United Artists Corporation (196?) (UK) (theatrical)
• Sherlock Home Video (2005) (Spain) (DVD)

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 rulz!

The Fantomas novels were resurrected in the early 1960s as France's own answer to the James Bond frenzy that swept the Continent and the world. The first one of the trilogy was filmed in 1963-64 and released in 1964. This film is shot in normal aspect ratio 4:3, whereas the following two were filmed in anamorphic wide screen.

The opening sequence of the film is already a gas: Fantomas pulls up in a chauffeured driven Rolls Royce Silver Cloud to a fancy jeweler's store next to the Paris Ritz Hotel. His mask identifies him as a British Lord. He pays for the jewelery with a personal check and then drives off with his stunning lady friend, smiling and laughing his distinct laughter. Next, we see the check being held in the hands of the jeweler, when suddenly, the amount and signature written on it disappear (invisible ink!) and the word "FANTOMAS" appear. Pretty high-grade stuff for 1964.

Interesting to note that in all three films, the actor Jean Marais played both the criminal mastermind Fantoms and ladies man Fandor, the journalist.

I also enjoyed looking at the journalist Fandor's hip mansard apartment. Top gimmick is the rubber masks that offer Fantomas anyone's identity at will. The flying Citroen car debuted here and was used on an AMC car that flew with retractable wings 10 years later in a Bond movie.

It would be so nice to be able to get the Fantomas films on DVD here in North America.