# Fantômas (1964 film)
**Fantômas** is a 1964 French-Italian comedy-crime film directed by André Hunebelle, loosely adapted from the Fantômas novels of Marcel Allain and Pierre Souvestre, starring [Jean Marais](https://www.edgepedia.org/jean-marais) in the double role of the master criminal Fantômas and the journalist Fandor, and [Louis de Funès](https://www.edgepedia.org/louis-de-funes) as the obsessive commissaire Juve.[1](https://www.cnc.fr/professionnels/visas-et-classification/24821) • [2](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/49173.html) It was released in France on 4 November 1964, drew 4.5 million spectators, and launched a trilogy that made this modernized version the best-known screen Fantômas in popular imagination.[3](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_gen_cfilm%3D17667.html) • [2](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/49173.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director | André Hunebelle; second-unit director Jacques Besnard[2](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/49173.html) |
| Release | French theatrical release 4 November 1964; CNC visa no. 24821 dated 3 November 1964[1](https://www.cnc.fr/professionnels/visas-et-classification/24821) |
| Production | France and Italy; produced by P.A.C., S.N.E.G. Gaumont, P.C.M., and Da.Ma. Film (Rome); distributed by Gaumont Distribution[1](https://www.cnc.fr/professionnels/visas-et-classification/24821) • [2](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/49173.html) |
| Length and format | 105 min per the CNC visa record; color, 2.35:1 'Scope[1](https://www.cnc.fr/professionnels/visas-et-classification/24821) • [4](https://kinolorber.com/film/fantomas-hunebelle) |
| Principal cast | Jean Marais (Fantômas and Fandor), Louis de Funès (commissaire Juve), Mylène Demongeot (Hélène), Raymond Pellegrin (voice of Fantômas)[2](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/49173.html) |
| Key crew | Screenplay Jean Halain and Pierre Foucaud; music Michel Magne; cinematography Marcel Grignon; editing Jean Feyte[2](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/49173.html) |
| Box office | 4.5 million spectators in French theaters, one of the year's major successes[3](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_gen_cfilm%3D17667.html) |
| Sequels | Fantômas se déchaîne (1965) and Fantômas contre Scotland Yard (1967), with the same lead actors[3](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_gen_cfilm%3D17667.html) |
## Spoilers
### Story and approach
A mysterious figure commits thefts and murders in the capital under the name of Fantômas. Commissaire Juve and the journalist Fandor investigate the affair in their own ways, and at first do not believe such a criminal exists. Fantômas works through masks, taking on various identities, including those of the two heroes themselves.[3](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_gen_cfilm%3D17667.html) In the film's setup, Fandor and his fiancée Hélène treat the criminal as a hoax in the press; the irascible Fantômas takes offense and kidnaps the journalist.[5](https://valdoise.terredecinema.fr/fr/films/722/film-fantomas/s1-1)
Hunebelle's version is a free adaptation rather than a remake of earlier screen versions. The "master of crime" appears as a modern man in a suit who terrorizes crowds, with a blue face and technological gadgets, rather than the black-caped figure of the original serial.[6](https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/1964/11/09/fantomas_2116443_1819218.html) • [2](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/49173.html) The character is embodied by two performers: Jean Marais provides the silhouette and Raymond Pellegrin the voice.[2](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/49173.html) The Cinémathèque française describes the tone as a French James Bond, with de Funès's Juve as a kind of [Inspector Clouseau](https://www.edgepedia.org/inspector-clouseau), and the film built on mix-ups, stunts, and car chases.[2](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/49173.html)
## Place among the screen adaptations
Before Hunebelle, several directors had filmed the work of Marcel Allain and Pierre Souvestre, including Louis Feuillade in 1913, Paul Fejos in 1932, and Robert Vernay in 1948.[3](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_gen_cfilm%3D17667.html) Feuillade's five-part silent serial (1913-1914) had been an immense success in its day, inspiring a poem by Robert Desnos, and [Georges Franju](https://www.edgepedia.org/georges-franju) paid it homage with his *Judex* before Hunebelle's film appeared.[6](https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/1964/11/09/fantomas_2116443_1819218.html) • [2](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/49173.html) Hunebelle aimed his revamped, modernized Fantômas at the audience of the 1960s spy films, the era of OSS 117 and [James Bond](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-bond).[4](https://kinolorber.com/film/fantomas-hunebelle)
## Production and filming
The screenplay is by Jean Halain and Pierre Foucaud, with dialogue by Halain; Michel Magne composed the original score, Marcel Grignon was director of photography, and Jean Feyte edited. Production companies were P.A.C. (Production Artistique et Cinématographique), S.N.E.G. (Société Nouvelle des Établissements Gaumont), P.C.M. (Produzioni Cinematografiche Mediterranee), and Da.Ma. Film of Rome, with Paul Cadéac, Cyril Grize, and Alain Poiré as producers.[2](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/49173.html) Stunts were handled by Gérard Cogan and Gil Delamare, with Claude Carliez coordinating the fight scenes.[2](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/49173.html)
Location shooting took place in 1964 in the Val-d'Oise, at the Chérence airfield, the route des Crêtes above [La Roche-Guyon](https://www.edgepedia.org/la-roche-guyon), Vétheuil, and the côte du Pavillon at Vienne-en-Arthies. Hunebelle used the steep slope descending to Vétheuil and its hairpin bend for the spectacular car chase, on the advice of the stuntman Gil Delamare and his friend Franck Dominique, who lived nearby.[5](https://valdoise.terredecinema.fr/fr/films/722/film-fantomas/s1-1)
## Reception and legacy
The film drew 4.5 million spectators and ranked among the big French successes of 1964, alongside *L'Homme de Rio*, *Merlin l'enchanteur*, and *Le Gendarme de Saint-Tropez*, the film that consolidated Louis de Funès's stardom.[3](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_gen_cfilm%3D17667.html) Its success led Hunebelle to make two sequels with the same lead actors, *Fantômas se déchaîne* (1965) and *Fantômas contre Scotland Yard* (1967); all three were shot in 'Scope, the first two in Eastmancolor and the third in [Technicolor](https://www.edgepedia.org/technicolor).[3](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_gen_cfilm%3D17667.html) • [4](https://kinolorber.com/film/fantomas-hunebelle) The trilogy made this 1960s version the Fantômas most familiar to the general public.[2](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/49173.html)
Contemporary criticism was reserved. In *Le Monde* of 9 November 1964, the critic Yvonne Baby judged the film an entertaining crime comedy and a commercial success, but found that its gags, burlesque scenes, and chases stripped the story of the romanticism and mystery that had made Feuillade's serial valuable, and noted regret that the Fantômas once dreamed of by Georges Franju had not reached the screen.[6](https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/1964/11/09/fantomas_2116443_1819218.html) Later commentary has likewise noted that the film drew sustained hostility from critics and from purists of the literary saga begun in 1911.[7](https://cinedweller.com/movie/fantomas-la-critique-du-film/)
The film has remained in circulation on home video: a Gaumont DVD released in 2001 included the unpublished documentary "Fantomas 70" and excerpts of a new recording of Magne's score, and later editions appeared on DVD in 2008, Blu-ray in 2010, and VOD in 2015.[8](https://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark%3A/12148/cb38579660g) • [3](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_gen_cfilm%3D17667.html)
## References
1. [FANTOMAS, fiche oeuvre, Visa 24821, CNC](https://www.cnc.fr/professionnels/visas-et-classification/24821)
2. [Fantômas (André Hunebelle, 1964), La Cinémathèque française](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/49173.html)
3. [Fantômas, Film 1964, AlloCiné](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_gen_cfilm%3D17667.html)
4. [Fantomas (Hunebelle), Kino Lorber Theatrical](https://kinolorber.com/film/fantomas-hunebelle)
5. [Fiche du film Fantômas (1964), Val-d'Oise : Terre de Cinéma](https://valdoise.terredecinema.fr/fr/films/722/film-fantomas/s1-1)
6. [Yvonne Baby, "Fantômas", Le Monde, 9 November 1964](https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/1964/11/09/fantomas_2116443_1819218.html)
7. [Fantômas : la critique du film, CinéDweller](https://cinedweller.com/movie/fantomas-la-critique-du-film/)
8. [Notice bibliographique Fantomas, Bibliothèque nationale de France](https://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark%3A/12148/cb38579660g)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Franchise and series entries as standalone works › Action, thriller, and crime series film entries › Entries released 1960s and 1970s*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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