The best men of France - a brave journalist and an extremely energetic commissioner - attack the trail of a mysterious criminal mastermind.The best men of France - a brave journalist and an extremely energetic commissioner - attack the trail of a mysterious criminal mastermind.The best men of France - a brave journalist and an extremely energetic commissioner - attack the trail of a mysterious criminal mastermind.
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaMylène Demongeot said in her memoirs that Jean Marais was very jealous of Louis de Funès success and Marais was not so involved with the rest of the crew.
- GoofsA lot of time passed 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.
- ConnectionsEdited into Operation: Secret Agents, Spies & Thighs (2007)
Featured review
FANTOMAS (Andre' Hunebelle, 1964) **1/2
I had always been intrigued by the exploits of this famous criminal mastermind, and especially its initial cinematic adaptation via the Silent Serial of 1913-14 made by Louis Feuillade (whose French 2-DVD Set I purchased, rather costly, and enjoyed a great deal). Another interesting version was the 1932 Paul Fejos film, which recently turned up on late-night Italian TV (in the original language!) - but I missed out on it because at the time I was in Hollywood!!
To be honest, I wasn't expecting much from the Sixties revival but, as it turned out, it's a likable - and stylish - enough triptych, even if it's somewhat unbalanced by the comic relief (which increased with each new entry). Also, since I watched the three films back-to-back, they've become more or less interchangeable in my mind - especially given the fact that they have much the same cast and crew!
It's interesting that Jean Marais has a dual role - as had been the case with Jean Cocteau's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (1946), where he was hidden behind an amazing animal make-up for virtually the entire film, as well as playing the rather bland hero - as both Fantomas (his features are still recognizable behind the rather wonderful blank-faced mask) and the intrepid reporter hero (at which he managed to be credible, despite being 50 years old!), with an equally brave partner (the lovely Mylene Demongeot) in tow; while popular comic Louis De Funes appears as Commissioner Juve, forever in pursuit of the elusive and fiendish criminal, abetted - but more often hindered - by a rotund Inspector played by Jacques Dynam.
Unfortunately, the film aspired more to the tongue-in-cheek approach, colorful scenery and the gadget-heavy thrills of the James Bond extravaganzas (featuring even a similar score!) rather than the poetic touch - which went hand in hand with the inherent surrealism of such fare - which Georges Franju gave to a contemporaneous remake/compression of another Feuillade Silent Serial, JUDEX (1963; the original was released in 1916-17). Perhaps the best scene(s) of the film is the extended set-piece at the climax in which Fantomas utilizes five separate means of transportation - train, car, motorbike, boat, submarine - in order to escape the clutches of the Law (successfully).
To be honest, I wasn't expecting much from the Sixties revival but, as it turned out, it's a likable - and stylish - enough triptych, even if it's somewhat unbalanced by the comic relief (which increased with each new entry). Also, since I watched the three films back-to-back, they've become more or less interchangeable in my mind - especially given the fact that they have much the same cast and crew!
It's interesting that Jean Marais has a dual role - as had been the case with Jean Cocteau's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (1946), where he was hidden behind an amazing animal make-up for virtually the entire film, as well as playing the rather bland hero - as both Fantomas (his features are still recognizable behind the rather wonderful blank-faced mask) and the intrepid reporter hero (at which he managed to be credible, despite being 50 years old!), with an equally brave partner (the lovely Mylene Demongeot) in tow; while popular comic Louis De Funes appears as Commissioner Juve, forever in pursuit of the elusive and fiendish criminal, abetted - but more often hindered - by a rotund Inspector played by Jacques Dynam.
Unfortunately, the film aspired more to the tongue-in-cheek approach, colorful scenery and the gadget-heavy thrills of the James Bond extravaganzas (featuring even a similar score!) rather than the poetic touch - which went hand in hand with the inherent surrealism of such fare - which Georges Franju gave to a contemporaneous remake/compression of another Feuillade Silent Serial, JUDEX (1963; the original was released in 1916-17). Perhaps the best scene(s) of the film is the extended set-piece at the climax in which Fantomas utilizes five separate means of transportation - train, car, motorbike, boat, submarine - in order to escape the clutches of the Law (successfully).
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- Bunuel1976
- Aug 18, 2006
- How long is Fantomas?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Tội Phạm Khét Tiếng
- Filming locations
- Place de la Concorde, Paris 8, Paris, France(first scene)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 44 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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![Louis de Funès, Mylène Demongeot, André Hunebelle, and Jean Marais in Fantomas (1964)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMmEyMTdmYzQtZTVmNi00MzRkLWEyOWMtMzk2YTEwMWY2YjM1XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMzg1ODEwNQ@@._V1_QL75_UY133_CR1,0,90,133_.jpg)