The original supervillain slinks through 1932 Paris — and nobody sees his face coming.
The Marquise de Langrune invites her friends at her castle in Beaulieu. Among them is Lord Beltham who also came to bring her a significant sum of money. The mysterious Fantômas kills the Marquise during the night. Inspector Juve is sent on his trail.
Direction
Fejős crafts proto-Hitchcock tension in cramped spaces.
Costume
Fantômas's rubber-mask transformations are genuinely unsettling.
Cinematography
Expressionist shadows that swallow 1932 whole.
Director
Pál Fejős
Thomy Bourdelle
L'inspecteur de police Paul Juve
Tania Fédor
Lady Beltham
Jean Worms
Lord Beltham
George Rigaud
Charles Rambert, le neveu de la baronne
Anielka Elter
La princesse Sonia Danidoff
Roger Karl
Le président Jean-Marie Bonnet
Maurice Schutz
L'abbé Sicot
Gaston Modot
Firmin
Jean Galland
Fantômas/Görn/Etienne Rambert
Philippe Richard
Michel, l'adjoint de Juve
Georges Mauloy
Le professeur Gabriel
Paul Azaïs
Le mécano
Fred Pasquali
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Fantômas predates Blofeld, Moriarty, and even Dr. Doom — this is the ur-text of the criminal mastermind archetype.
Pál Fejös fled Hungary for Hollywood after this, directing the sci-fi cult classic 'The Man Without a Body' — talk about masks.
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