Fantomas Returns!
He was a charismatic anti-hero first introduced in Fantômas, eponymously named novel of 1911 by Marcel Allain and Pierre Souvestre who would in total collaborate on thirty-two volumes of adventures with Allain writing a further eleven following the death of his partner, concluding with Fantômas Mène le Bal (Fantômas Leads the Ball) in 1963, the year before the first feature film directed by André Hunebelle starring the character was released.
Previously depicted in silent serials and monochrome films between 1913 and 1949, the 1964 version of Fantômas marked a significant change in style, more fantastical as suited the era of secret agents and also more comedic, with its commercial success becoming the first of a trilogy followed by Fantômas se déchaîne (Fantomas Unleashed) in 1967 and Fantômas contre Scotland Yard (Fantomas vs Scotland Yard) in 1967.
Restored by Gaumont and making their UK Blu-ray debut as part of Eureka’s Masters of Cinema series, all three star Jean Marais as Le Point du Jour journalist Jérôme Fandor, Louis de Funès as Parisian Police Commissaire Juve, Mylène Demongeot as photographer Hélène Gurn, Fandor’s girlfriend, and Jacques Dynam as L’inspecteur Michael Bertrand, Juve’s assistant, with Marais doubling as Fantômas, master of disguises and diabolical schemes.
As much influenced by Inspector Jacques Clouseau as James Bond, Blake Edward’s The Pink Panther and Terence Young’s Dr. No having been released in 1963 and 1962 respectively, the film if not the character was in turn a direct influence on Mario Bava’s Danger: Diabolik of 1968, also featuring an audacious jewel heist, Angela and Luciana Giussani’s masked thief having first appeared in comics in 1962.
Fantômas an enigma who is blamed for all the woes of the people of Paris, some questioning whether he even exists, when Fandor fakes an interview which the mastervillain perceives as mocking him he kidnaps the journalist and takes his identity, leading to Fandor being named as the responsible party for the theft, his absence meaning he has no alibi, Fantômas then taking the appearance of Juve for a second heist, directly undermining the authority of law.
The antithesis of the moody Rififi released a decade before, though cutting through a floor does play a part in the plan, with a chase across the rooftops of Paris and pursuit by car, train, motorbike, speedboat, helicopter and submarine, the stuntwork of Fantômas is breathless, often performed in long takes without apparent harnesses, de Funès’ manic physical humour undeniably French but Hunebelle’s eye sharply on an international audience.
Released thirteen months after the original in December 1965 and set precisely a year after those events, with Juve receiving recognition from the President for the bravery of his actions, the celebration is premature as a card of congratulations arrives from Fantômas, announcing his return with the abduction of scientist Professor Marchand, engaged in research which could be turned into a ghastly weapon.
His partner Professor Lefèvre presumed to be the next target, allowing Fantômas to complete their work on the telepathic control ray, a conference in Rome is the most likely venue for the kidnapping, with Fandor and Juve both in disguise at a masked ball and Hélène also a target of the lonely villain, holding her brother Michou (Olivier de Funès) hostage to apply pressure.
Moving firmly into the realm of spy-fi, Fantomas Unleashed boasts exploding cigars, frogmen in duckponds, weaponised false limbs and a secret lair in a submerged volcano, Juve as impulsive as ever in his deployment of countermeasures to combat his nemesis but always one step behind, his bumbling determination no match for evil genius.
Eschewing the stuntwork of the first in favour of gadgets and heavier comedy, with Marais now playing three roles, Fandor, Fantômas and Lefèvre, at one point all disguised as the latter, the final aerial sequence receives its own credit as the first of its kind, but the most impressive aspect of the film is the locations and sets, the classical architecture of the hilltop mansion of the ball and the more modern underground lair.
The death of a friend of one of the richest men in the world viewed with suspicion by Fandor who contrives the headline “Fantômas en Ecosse,” that might have been a more accurate title than Fantomas vs Scotland Yard as only one agent of that organisation is among those gathered at the home of Lord Edward McRashely (Jean-Roger Caussimon), though in fact other than establishing shots of Edinburgh, Inverary and London’s Picadilly Circus the whole production was shot on the continent.
Château de Roquetaillade in the Gironde near Bordeaux serving as the haunted McRashley Castle, the foggy woodlands and craggy hillsides which would later serve as a backdrop for Le pacte des loups substitute adequately, another change in style with flying cars regarded as “last year’s gadgets” as the series concludes with a Gothic horror comedy of staged ghostly visitations intended to once again undermine Juve’s credibility.
With the plot conspicuously thinner than the previous two films, horseback is introduced as a new mode of transport and even a dog is now in disguise as a decoy during a foxhunt, but Fantômas’ plan of extortion seems beneath his customary level of ambition, the tantrums prompted by Juve’s inept handling offering diminishing returns, Hélène the only character who seems to develop over the trilogy, and the latest underground base incongruous, the question never asked how it came to be installed beneath a Scottish castle.
Presented in 1080p HD across two discs, the three features of Fantomas Returns! are supported by commentaries by Tim Lucas on the first and David Kalat on Unleashed and Scotland Yard, an interview with Leon Hunt on the connection to other European supervillains of the era, Fu Manchu, Doctor Mabuse and Diabolik, French cinema expert Mary Harrod on Louis de Funès, and a video essay by Calum Baker on the evolution of the character.
Fantomas Returns! will be available on Blu-ray from Eureka from Monday 24th November
