Fantomas (1964)

The best men of France - a brave journalist and an extremely energetic commissioner - attack the trail of a mysterious criminal mastermind.

Director:

André Hunebelle

Writers:

Pierre Souvestre (novels), Marcel Allain (novels)

Stars:

Jean Marais, Louis de Funès, Mylène Demongeot

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jean Marais	...	Fantômas / Fandor
Louis de Funès	...	Le commissaire Juve
Mylène Demongeot	...	Hélène
Jacques Dynam	...	L'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

Storyline

Criminal mastermind Fantômas, a man of a thousand faces, is unhappy with Fandor, a journalist who's written a fictive interview of him. He kidnaps Fandor, threatens to kill him, but first goes about ruining the journalist's reputation by committing a sensational crime in Fandor's guise. Hot on the trail is police Commissaire Juve, so Fantômas commits a crime looking like him. Soon, our intrepid heroes, Fandor and Juve, with the help of Fandor's girlfriend Hélène, are on the mastermind's trail, but who's in control?

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Plot Keywords:

champs elysee paris | paris france | title appears in writing | character appears on tv | jewelry exhibition | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Adventure | Fantasy

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

France Italy

Language:

French

Release Date:

4 November 1964 (France)

Also Known As:

Fantomas

Filming Locations:

Chérence, Val-d'Oise, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

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

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

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

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Goofs

A lot of time past between Fantomas taken Juve and Fandor out of jail and the police finding out that they escaped. But just right after that, the police locate them with the helicopter, even though they did not know which way they took and which car they used.

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Connections

Referenced in Gameballcz: Best Of SimCity - Desetidílné ohlédnutí (2014)

User Reviews

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.