''Fantômas'' () is a 1964 French
comedy film
The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...
starring
Jean Marais 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 as the earnest but outclassed
commissaire Paul Juve. In the film Juve teams up with
journalist
A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism.
Roles
Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...
Fandor, also played by Marais, trying to catch Fantômas but never quite succeeding. It was
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
's answer, in 1964, to the
James Bond
The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...
phenomenon that swept the world at around the same time. It is the first film of a
trilogy
A trilogy is a set of three distinct works 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. Three-part works that are considered components of ...
,
and ''Fantômas'' became extremely successful in
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
, the
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
and
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
. It found success even in the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, where fan websites exist to this day.
Mylène Demongeot plays "Hélène Gurn", the girlfriend of "Jérôme Fandor", Fantômas'
arch enemy
Arch Enemy is a Swedish melodic death metal band, originally a Supergroup (music), supergroup from Halmstad, formed in 1995. Its members were in bands such as Carcass (band), Carcass, Armageddon (Swedish band), Armageddon, Carnage (band), Carna ...
. The general tone of the films is more light-hearted than the
original ''Fantômas'' novels. Commissaire Juve, as played by Louis de Funès, becomes a
comedic character, much unlike his
literary
Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, plays, and poems. It includes both print and digital writing. In recent centuries, ...
counterpart.
Plot
Fantômas is a man of many disguises. He uses
''maquillage'' as a weapon. He can impersonate anyone using an
array of masks and can create endless confusion by constantly changing his appearance. In the first episode of the series he is unhappy with Fandor, because of a fictitious interview the journalist wrote about him. He takes his revenge by abducting Fandor and threatening to kill him. He then uses his formidable
makeup skills to commit a spectacular crime while disguised like Fandor. When commissaire Juve joins the chase,
chameleon-like Fantômas promptly commits a crime wearing a mask looking like Juve. In the end Fandor, Juve and Fandor's girlfriend Hélène are all on the master criminal's trail, all to no avail as the man of a thousand masks finally manages to escape.
Cast
Release
The film was released in France on 4 November 1964 and in the United States on 5 April 1966.
The ''Fantômas'' trilogy
Reception
The film was the fifth most popular movie at the French box office in 1964.
It had admissions of 4,492,419.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fantomas (film)
1964 films
1960s crime comedy films
1960s comedy thriller films
French crime comedy films
Films directed by André Hunebelle
1960s French-language films
Fantômas films
1964 comedy films
1960s French films
Films scored by Michel Magne
Gaumont (company) films
French-language crime comedy films
eo:Fantômas#Fantomaso