''Fantômas se déchaîne'' (, '' en, Fantomas Unleashed'') is a 1965 film starring

Jean Marais Jean-Alfred Villain-Marais (11 December 1913 – 8 November 1998), known professionally as Jean Marais (), was a French actor, film director, theatre director, painter, sculptor, visual artist, writer and photographer. He performed in over 100 f ...

as the arch villain

Fantômas Fantômas () is a fictional character created by French writers Marcel Allain (1885–1969) and Pierre Souvestre (1874–1914). One of the most popular characters in the history of French crime fiction, Fantômas was created in 1911 and appeared ...

opposite

Louis de Funès Louis Germain David de Funès de Galarza (; 31 July 1914 – 27 January 1983) was a French actor and comedian. He is France's favourite actor, according to a series of polls conducted since the late 1960s, having played over 150 roles in fil ...

as the earnest but outclassed commissaire Juve and the journalist Fandor, also played by Marais. It was

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

's answer, with the Fantômas

trilogy A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, and video games, and are less common in other art forms. Three-part wor ...

starting in 1964, to the

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

phenomenon that swept the world at around the same time. It is the second in the trilogy of Fantômas films, that became extremely successful in Europe and

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

and found success even in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. In this episode Jean Marais also plays professor Lefebvre.

Plot

In the second episode of the trilogy Fantômas kidnaps distinguished scientist professor Marchand with the aim to develop a super weapon that will enable him to menace the world. Fantômas is also planning to abduct a second scientist, professor Lefebvre. Journalist Fandor develops an ingenious scheme whereby he disguises himself as Lefebvre and attends a scientific conference in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

to lure Fantômas into attempting to kidnap him. The plan seems to work until commissaire Juve steps into the fray and as usual messes things up, although Juve redeems himself by saving the troupe with an array of special

gadget A gadget is a mechanical device or any ingenious article. Gadgets are sometimes referred to as '' gizmos''. History The etymology of the word is disputed. The word first appears as reference to an 18th-century tool in glassmaking that was develo ...

s which he has developed especially for his hunt for Fantômas. Yet, once again Fantômas escapes in style, using his

Citroën DS The Citroën DS () is a Front-mid-engine, front-wheel-drive layout, front mid-engined, front-wheel drive executive car manufactured and marketed by Citroën from 1955 to 1975, in fastback/sedan, wagon/estate, and convertible body configurations ...

with retractable wings that converts into an airplane in what amounts to one of the most unexpected and spectacular scenes of the

genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...

.Picture of the Fantômas Citroën DS with retractable wings
through Internet Archive

Cast

Release

The film premiered in France on 8 December 1965. It was the sixth most popular film of 1965 in France, after ''

The Sucker ''The Sucker'' (french: link=no, Le Corniaud, ) is a French, Italian and Spanish comedy film by Gérard Oury starring Louis de Funès and Bourvil. Plot Leaving Paris for his summer vacation, the naïve Antoine Maréchal has his 2CV totally w ...

'', '' Goldfinger'', '' Thunderball'', ''

Gendarme in New York ''Gendarme in New York'' (french: Le gendarme à New York) is a 1965 sequel to the French comedy film '' The Troops of St. Tropez''. It stars Louis de Funès as the gendarme along with Michel Galabru, Christian Marin, Guy Grosso and Michel Modo. P ...

'' and ''

Mary Poppins It may refer to: * ''Mary Poppins'' (book series), the original 1934–1988 children's fantasy novels that introduced the character. * Mary Poppins (character), the nanny with magical powers. * ''Mary Poppins'' (film), a 1964 Disney film sta ...

'' and before ''

God's Thunder ''God's Thunder'' or ''Le Tonnerre de Dieu'' is a 1965 French-Italian-West German comedy-drama film directed by Denys de La Patellière and starring Jean Gabin and Michèle Mercier. Plot Upset by his wife's inability to bear him a child, Brassa ...

'' and ''

The Wise Guys ''The Wise Guys'' (U.S. video title: ''Jailbirds' Vacation'') (french: Les Grandes Gueules) is a 1965 French drama film directed by Robert Enrico, based on a novel by José Giovanni. Featuring two popular male leads in Bourvil and Lino Ventura, ...

''. It had admissions of 4,412,446.

The Fantômas trilogy

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fantomas Strikes Back 1960s crime comedy films 1960s comedy thriller films 1965 films French crime comedy films Films directed by André Hunebelle 1960s French-language films French sequel films Films set in Rome Fantômas films Italian crime comedy films 1965 comedy films 1960s Italian films 1960s French films