Fantômas (1964)

Directed by

André Hunebelle

Genre

comedy film, crime film, crime comedy film, comedy thriller, detective film

Country

France, Italy

Runtime

1h 39m

Rated

NR

Rating

6.8 of 10 from 824 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A bumbling police commissioner teams up with a journalist to catch a masked super-villain who keeps outsmarting them. The hero and the villain are both played by the same actor. The chase is full of silly mishaps and slapstick comedy.

light-heartedcomedicplayfulfast-pacedcampyspiritedzanywhimsical

What happens

Fantômas (French pronunciation: [fɑ̃tomas]) is a 1964 French comedy film starring Jean Marais as the archvillain Fantômas opposite Louis de Funès as the earnest but outclassed commissaire Paul Juve. In the film Juve teams up with journalist Fandor, also played by Marais, trying to catch Fantômas but never quite succeeding. It was France's answer, in 1964, to the James Bond phenomenon that swept the world at around the same time. It is the first film of a trilogy, and Fantômas became extremely successful in Europe, the Soviet Union, Japan, and the United States. Mylène Demongeot plays "Hélène Gurn", the girlfriend of "Jérôme Fandor", Fantômas' archenemy. 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 counterpart. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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