Fantomas (1964)

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 ... See full summary »

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 | 1960s | paris france | title appears in writing | character appears on tv | 

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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:

G

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

For the stunts in the motorbike, Rémy Julienne was Jean Marais's double and Louis de Funès was a dummy.

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Goofs

Supposedly Fantomas is wearing Fandor's mask, however he does not remove it completely to put on Juve's mask.

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Connections

Followed by Fantômas contre Scotland Yard (1967)

User Reviews

The late beginnings of a great comedian

While the English word "actor" and the German word "Schauspieler" (lit. "watch-player", i.e. player for those who watch) are neutral concerning the genre of acting (drama, horror, comedy, etc.), the French word "comédien" means originally the player of a comedy (Comédie Française). In this linguistic difference one may recognize why in France the comedy has a quite different place-value than it has in most other countries where the comedies are for acting about what the desserts are for a meal: welcome but basically unnecessary last delights. While, consistently, comedies in France look back to a very long tradition, the specific film comedies are children of the 50ies, 60ies and 70ies and inseparably connected with names like Fernandel, Bourvil and Louis De Funès, the so-called triumvirate of French Comedy. This is most interesting not only because of its late appearance compared to the long tradition of comical stage-acting, but mostly, because its emergence goes almost hand-in-hand with that of the rather abstract, non-entertaining films of Nouvelle Vague which officially started in 1958. Another reason of interest is that, e.g. in Germany other other surrounding states of France, this is unparalleled: In Germany, e.g. the sixties have been characterized basically by "Lederhosen-" and "Heimat-Films" on the one side and by criminal movies à la Edgar Wallace and its imitations, but not by a specific form of comedy. The year 1964, in which the first of the three "Fantômas"-movies appeared (the others followed in 1965 and 1967), was the same year when the first of the six "Gendarm De Saint-Tropez" movies were shown. If one compares these two movies with the later pictures De Funès did, one can easily see that he was not yet allowed to give that typical kind of performance which made him famous. De Funès, who had been already a famous stage actor for decades and also had appeared in dozens of smaller film roles, had to become 50 years old before someone detected that his comical talent would attract the masses in France. However, it took some more years before his attraction was detected even outside of France. So, in the early 70ies, one got to see in the cinemas of the German-speaking middle Europe up to 4 different De Funès movies per year that could even stand the concurrence of the Spaghetti Westerns which reached their high popularity in the same time. Probably because he knew of his weak heart, De Funès worked like a candle that burns from both sides at once, he would not even stopped after the first of a series of severe heart-attacks. Only in his last two or three movies, when he was not allowed to make more than one picture per year, he become quieter, approximately so as we see him in the three Fantômas movies, but still exciting for everybody not familiar with him.