Fantômas is a 1964 French film starring
Jean Marais as the arch villain with the same name 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 ever of a
trilogy film, and
Fantômas became extremely successful in
Europe, the
Soviet Union and
Japan. It found success even in the
United States, where fan websites exist to this day.
Mylène Demongeot plays "Hélène Gurn", the girlfriend of "Jérôme Fandor", Fantômas'
arch enemy. 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 different from his
literary counterpart.