Fantomas
![Watch film Fantomas — Original Theatrical Trailer [Subtitled]](https://www.acmodasi.in/amdb/images/posters/d/n/9zZiSfR3y6Pb.webp)
All actors and roles (10)
Short description
In Paris, a mysterious criminal known as Fantômas carries out a series of audacious robberies and murders while eluding every effort by the police to catch him. His method is disguise: using masks and makeup, he can take on any appearance, and he turns this skill against the journalist Fandor and the police commissioner Juve. When Fandor publishes an interview with the criminal that Fantômas never gave, the disguised villain retaliates by impersonating the journalist and committing crimes in his name, and Juve faces similar humiliation. Fandor's companion Hélène becomes involved as the two men try to turn the tables on the elusive figure.
André Hunebelle directed this Italian-French co-production, working from a screenplay by Jean Halain and Pierre Foucaud, with Alain Poiré, Hunebelle and Luciano Ercoli producing. It followed Hunebelle's 1953 version of The Three Musketeers and was the first of four Fantômas films he made, ahead of Fantomas Unleashed, Fantomas vs. Scotland Yard and Sous le signe de Monte-Cristo. Jean Marais plays the title character along with several other roles, while Louis de Funès appears as Commissioner Juve, Mylène Demongeot as Hélène and Jacques Dynam as Inspector Bertrand. The film has an IMDb rating of 6.9 from around 14,000 votes and a TMDB rating of 6.8 from roughly 835 votes, indicating a generally favourable response across a large and a considerably smaller body of voters.
What's left behind the scenes
- Filming took place from July 15 to September 7, 1964.
- At the end of the film, Helen comes to the aid of Vandor and the drowning Zhuvo, or rather, swims to them on an inflatable boat. Vandor safely gets into the boat, and together with Helen tries to pull Zhuvo out of the water, when suddenly the boat capsizes, and Helen and Vandor also end up in the water. Then follows a time lapse, and we see Helen and Vandor sitting in the boat again, trying to pull Zhuvo out, which they manage to do this time. However, Helen's dress and Vandor's suit are completely dry.
- "Fantômas" from 1964 is the fourth adaptation of the work about the elusive criminal. Director Louis Feuillade was the first to dare to adapt the work by Pierre Souvestre and Marcel Allain in 1913. His adaptation was a series of silent serials – “Juve vs. Fantômas” (1913), “Fantômas, Man for the Guillotine” (1913), “The Death That Kills” (1913), and others.
- In Italy, the film was released under the title “Fantômas-70”.
- The films about Fantomas ("Fantomas" (1964), "Fantomas Unleashed" (1965), "Fantomas Against Scotland Yard" (1966)) are based on a pulp novel series published at the beginning of the 20th century.
- "Fantomas" was the nickname given to a gang of brothers Tolstopyatov who wore black stockings during robberies, and who operated in Rostov-on-Don.
- The film ranks 26th in attendance among foreign films in Soviet cinema distribution.
- For the motorcycle stunts, Jean Marais was replaced by stuntman, motorcyclist, and stunt coordinator Rémy Julienne, and a mannequin was used instead of Louis de Funès.
- After the theft of the jewels, Juve rushes in pursuit of Fantômas. Fantômas jumps onto a crane, and Juve only manages to grab the hook. Fantômas uses a remote control to lower the hook, while he escapes in a helicopter. He gets into the helicopter using a rope ladder. As far as the screen allows us to see, this episode takes place during the day. But when Fantômas is filmed from the helicopter, we see Paris illuminated by the rays of the setting sun behind him.
- This film was the first in which Rémy Julienne was specifically credited as the stunt performer. After this, Julienne and his team became leading performers of stunts involving vehicles. Julienne performed many of the most dangerous stunts in over 200 films, including some of the James Bond adventure films, and passed away at the age of 90 from complications of coronavirus in 2021.
- The screening of this film in the USSR led to some excesses among adolescents. This was due to the fact that at that time, criminal action films were absent from Soviet distribution, and teenagers took the comedic film “Fantômas” too seriously.
- On the original posters for this film, Jean Marais as Fantômas was depicted most prominently. In this film, Louis de Funès was so popular with the public that on the poster for the second film, he and Marais were shown the same size. On the poster for the third film in the franchise, de Funès was depicted most prominently.
- Jean Marais was just over 50 years old at the time of filming, so he performed almost all of the stunts himself.
- The US premiere took place only 1.5 years later – on April 5, 1966.
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