Fantômas se déchaîne
Encyclopedia
Fantômas se déchaîne is a 1965 film starring Jean Marais
Jean Marais
-Biography:A native of Cherbourg, France, Marais starred in several movies directed by Jean Cocteau, for a time his lover, most famously Beauty and the Beast and Orphée ....

 as the arch villain with the same name opposite Louis de Funès
Louis de Funès
Louis Germain David de Funès de Galarza was a very popular French actor who is one of the giants of French comedy alongside André Bourvil and Fernandel...

 as the earnest but outclassed commissaire
Commissioner
Commissioner is in principle the title given to a member of a commission or to an individual who has been given a commission ....

 Juve and the journalist Fandor, also played by Marais. It was France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

's answer, with the Fantômas trilogy
Trilogy
A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected, and that can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, or video games...

 starting in 1964, to the James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...

 phenomenon that swept the world at around the same time. It is the second in the trilogy of Fantômas films that became extremely successful in Europe and Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 and found success even in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. In this episode Jean Marais also plays professor Lefebvre.

Plot

In the second episode of the trilogy Fantômas kidnaps distinguished scientist professor Marchand with the aim to develop a super weapon that will enable him to menace the world. Fantômas is also planning to abduct a second scientist, professor Lefebvre. Journalist Fandor develops an ingenious scheme whereby he disguises himself as Lefebvre and attends a scientific conference in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 to lure Fantômas into attempting to kidnap him.

The plan seems to work until commissaire Juve steps into the fray and as usual messes things up, although Juve redeems himself by saving the troupe with an array of special gadget
Gadget
A gadget is a small technological object that has a particular function, but is often thought of as a novelty. Gadgets are invariably considered to be more unusually or cleverly designed than normal technological objects at the time of their invention...

s which he has developed especially for his hunt for Fantômas. Yet, once again Fantômas escapes in style, using his Citroën DS
Citroën DS
The Citroën DS is an executive car produced by the French manufacturer Citroën between 1955 and 1975. Styled by Italian sculptor and industrial designer Flaminio Bertoni and the French aeronautical engineer André Lefèbvre, the DS was known for its aerodynamic futuristic body design and innovative...

 with retractable wings that converts into an airplane in what amounts to one of the most unexpected and spectacular scenes of the genre
Genre
Genre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...

.

Cast

ActorCharacter
Jean Marais Prof. Lefebvre
Jean Marais Fantômas
Jean Marais Fandor
Louis de Funès Commissioner Juve
Mylène Demongeot Hélène Gurn
Jacques Dynam Juve's Assistant
Robert Dalban Newspaper Editor
Olivier de Funès
Olivier de Funès
Olivier de Funès , a French film actor, son of Louis de Funès.- Selected filmography :* 1965 : Fantômas se déchaîne of André Hunebelle : Michou...

Michou

The Fantômas trilogy

TitleRelease date
Fantômas
Fantômas (film)
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...

4 November 1964
Fantômas se déchaîne 8 December 1965
Fantômas contre Scotland Yard
Fantômas contre Scotland Yard
Fantômas contre Scotland Yard is the final installment of a trilogy of films starring Jean Marais as the arch villain with the same name opposite Louis de Funès as the earnest but outclassed commissaire Juve and the journalist Fandor, also played by Marais. The trilogy was France's answer,...

16 March 1967
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