Belphégor deals with a series of mysterious appearances by a masked-and-robed figure in the Louvre; a security guard is murdered, and a later police trap is foiled when the phantom—“Belphégor” (the name of a legendary demon)—uses knock-out gas. Journalist Jacques Bellegarde of “Le Petit Parisien” (the real-life newspaper which published the original story in serial installments), investigates, and eventually discovers famous detective Chantecoq and his vivacious daughter Colette are also on the case.
Production
Actual Louvre location shooting in 1927—unprecedented access.
Costume
That demon mask deserved its own spinoff franchise.
Editing
Serial cliffhanger structure stretched to operatic absurdity.
Director
Henri Desfontaines
René Navarre
Chantecoq
Elmire Vautier
Simone Desroches
Lucien Dalsace
Jacques Bellegarde
Michèle Verly
Colette Barjac
Jeanne Brindeau
Elsa Bergen
Alice Tissot
Baronne Papillon
Georges Paulais
Ménardier
Genica Missirio
Maurice de Thouars
Albert Mayer
Anna Lefeuvrier
Camille Bert
André Volbert
Chef de la Sûreté
Émilien Richard
Baron Papillon
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The film was released in four separate chapters theatrically, making it technically cinema's first major horror franchise before Universal's monsters.
Arthur Bernède's original novel was serialized in Le Petit Parisien alongside actual news, blurring fiction and reporting in ways that presaged our current misinformation nightmares.
FR
