Fantômas

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This article is about the fictional character. For the band, see Fantômas (band).
A poster for an early Fantômas film. There are various forms of this poster; in the original, the character holds a bloody dagger in his free hand.
A poster for an early Fantômas film. There are various forms of this poster; in the original, the character holds a bloody dagger in his free hand.

Fantômas is a fictional arch-villain and master criminal by French writers Marcel Allain (1885-1970) and Pierre Souvestre (1874-1914).

One of the most popular characters in the history of French crime fiction, Fantômas was created in 1911 and appeared in a total of 32 volumes written by the two collaborators, then a subsequent 11 volumes written by Allain alone after Souvestre's death. The character was also the basis of various film, television, and comic book adaptations. His importance in the history of crime fiction cannot be overestimated, as he represents a transition from Gothic novel villains of the 1800s, to modern-day serial killers.

Contents

[edit] Overview

Fantômas was introduced a few years after Arsène Lupin, another well-known thief. But whereas Lupin draws the line at murder, Fantômas has no such qualms and is shown as a sociopath who enjoys killing in a sadistic fashion.

He is totally ruthless, gives no mercy, and is loyal to none, not even his own children. He is a master of disguise, always appearing under an assumed identity, often that of a person whom he has murdered. Fantômas makes use of bizarre and improbable techniques in his crimes, such as plague-infested rats, giant snakes, and rooms that fill with sand.

Fantômas's background remains vague. He might be of British and/or French ancestry. He appears to have been born in 1867.

In the books, it is established that c. 1892, the man who later became Fantômas called himself Archduke Juan North and operated in the German Principality of Hesse-Weimar. There he fathered a child, Vladimir, with an unidentified noblewoman. In circumstances unrevealed, he was arrested and sent to prison.

C. 1895, Fantômas was in India. There, an unidentified European woman gave birth to a baby girl, Hélène, whose father might be Fantômas, or an Indian Prince who was Fantômas' acolyte. The girl was raised in South Africa.

In 1897, Fantômas was in the United States of America and Mexico. There, he ruined his then-business partner, Etienne Rambert.

In 1899, he fought in the Second Boer War in South Africa under the name of Gurn. He fought in the Transvaal as an artillery sergeant under the command of Lord Roberts. He became aide-de-camp to Lord Edward Beltham of Scottwell Hill and fell in love with his younger wife, Lady Maud Beltham.

Upon their return to Europe, soon before the first novel begins (c. 1900), Gurn and Lady Beltham were surprised in their Paris love nest, Rue Levert, by her husband. Lord Beltham was about to shoot Maud when Gurn hit him with a hammer then strangled him.

Fantômas then impersonated Etienne Rambert and framed his son, Charles, for a murder he had committed. As Etienne, he convinced Charles to go into hiding, but the young man was soon found out by French police detective Juve, truly obsessed with the capture of Fantômas. Juve knew that Charles was innocent and gave him a new identity: journalist Jerôme Fandor who is employed at the newspaper La Capitale. Juve later arrested Gurn and, at his trial, brought forward a convincing argument that Gurn and Fantômas were one and the same, though the evidence was too circumstantial to make a real case. On the eve of his execution, Gurn/Fantômas escaped from custody by being replaced by an actor who had modelled the appearance of his latest character after him and was guillotined in his place.

Lady Beltham remained constantly torn between her passion for the villain and her horror at his criminal schemes. She eventually committed suicide in 1910.

Fandor fell in love with Hélène and, despite Fantômas repeated attempts to break them up, married her.

Fantômas' evil son, Vladimir, reappeared in 1911. Vladimir's girl-friend was murdered by Fantômas and Vladimir himself was eventually shot by Juve.

[edit] The books

[edit] By Allain & Souvestre

  • 1. Fantômas (1911; transl. 1915; retransl. 1986)
  • 2. Juve contre Fantômas (1911; transl. 1916; retransl. 1987)
  • 3. Le Mort qui Tue (1911; transl. 1917)
  • 4. L'Agent Secret (1911; transl. 1917)
  • 5. Un Roi Prisonnier de Fantômas (1911; transl. 1919)
  • 6. Le Policier Apache (1911; transl. 1924 by Alfred Allinson as The Long Arm of Fantômas)
  • 7. Le Pendu de Londres (1911; transl. 1920)
  • 8. La Fille de Fantômas (1911; transl. 2006) (ISBN 1932983562)
  • 9. Le Fiacre de Nuit (1911)
  • 10. La Main Coupée (1911; transl. 1924 by Alfred Allinson as A Limb of Satan)
  • 11. L'Arrestation de Fantômas (1912)
  • 13. La Livrée du Crime (1912)
  • 14. La Mort de Juve (1912)
  • 15. L'Evadée de Saint-Lazare (1912)
  • 16. La Disparition de Fandor (1912)
  • 17. Le Mariage de Fantômas (1912)
  • 18. L'Assassin de Lady Beltham (1912)
  • 19. La Guêpe Rouge (1912)
  • 20. Les Souliers du Mort (1912)
  • 21. Le Train Perdu (1912)
  • 22. Les Amours d'un Prince (1912)
  • 23. Le Bouquet Tragique (1912)
  • 24. Le Jockey Masqué (1913)
  • 25. Le Cercueil Vide (1913)
  • 26. Le Faiseur de Reines (1913)
  • 27. Le Cadavre Géant (1913)
  • 28. Le Voleur d'Or (1913)
  • 29. La Série Rouge (1913)
  • 30. L'Hôtel du Crime (1913)
  • 31. La Cravate de Chanvre (1913)
  • 32. La Fin de Fantômas (1913)

[edit] By Marcel Allain

  • 33. Fantômas est-il ressuscité? (1925; transl. 1925 by Alfred Allinson as The Lord of Terror)
  • 34. Fantômas, Roi des Recéleurs (1926; transl. 1925 by Alfred Allinson as Juve in the Dock)
  • 35. Fantômas en Danger (1926; transl. 1926 by Alfred Allinson as Fantômas Captured)
  • 36. Fantômas prend sa Revanche (1926; transl. 1927 by Alfred Allinson as The Revenge of Fantômas)
  • 37. Fantômas Attaque Fandor (1926; transl. 1928 by Alfred Allinson as Bulldog and Rats)
  • 38. Si c'était Fantômas? (1933)
  • 39. Oui, c'est Fantômas! (1934)
  • 40. Fantômas Joue et Gagne (1935)
  • 41. Fantômas Rencontre l'Amour (1946)
  • 42. Fantômas Vole des Blondes (1948)
  • 43. Fantômas Mène le Bal (1963)

[edit] Notes

  • The original covers by Gino Starace are often considered works of lurid genius in themselves and may be seen at the Fantômas Lives site. [1] The first Fantômas book cover, showing a contemplative masked man dressed in a dinner jacket and holding a dagger, boldly stepping over Paris, is so well known that it has become a visual cliché.
  • The novel The Fantômas of Berlin aka The Yellow Document by Marcel Allain (1919) despite its title is not a Fantômas novel.
  • The last novel written by Allain was published as a newspaper serial but never appeared in book form.
  • During the 1980s, the first two novels of the series were published in revised English translations: Fantômas appeared in 1986 with an introduction by the American poet John Ashbery, and Juve contre Fantômas appeared in 1987 under the title The Silent Executioner with an introduction by the American artist Edward Gorey.
  • In 2006, Mark P. Steele translated La Fille de Fantômas for American publisher Black Coat Press. [2]

[edit] The films

[edit] Silent serials

  • 1. Fantômas (1913)
  • 2. Juve Contre Fantômas (1913)
  • 3. Le Mort Qui Tue (1913)
  • 4. Fantômas contre Fantômas (1914)
  • 5. Le Faux Magistrat (1914)

The silent film pioneer Louis Feuillade directed five Fantômas serials starring René Navarre as Fantômas, Bréon as Juve, Georges Melchior as Fandor and Renée Carl as Lady Beltham. They are regarded as masterpieces of silent film. His later serial Les Vampires, which concerns the eponymous crime syndicate (and not actual vampires) is also reminiscent of the Fantômas series.

There was a 1920 20-episode American Fantômas serial directed by Edward Sedgwick starring Edward Roseman as Fantômas, which bore little resemblance to the French series. In it, Fantômas' nemesis is detective Fred Dixon played by John Willard. It was partially released in France (12 episodes only) under the title Les Exploits de Diabolos (The Exploits of Diabolos). A novelization of this serial is presently being written by David White for Black Coat Press under the title Fantômas in America. [3]

[edit] Other films

  • 6. Fantômas (1932) directed by Paul Féjos with Jean Galland as Fantômas.
  • 7. Fantômas (1946) directed by Jean Sacha with Marcel Herrand as Fantomas.
  • 8. Fantômas contre Fantômas (1948) directed by Robert Vernay with Maurice Teynac as Fantomas.
Jean Marais as Fantômas.
Jean Marais as Fantômas.

[edit] Television

A Fantômas series of four 90-minute episodes was produced in 1980 starring Helmut Berger as Fantômas, Jacques Dufilho as Juve and Gayle Hunnicutt as Lady Beltham. Episodes 1 and 4 were directed by Claude Chabrol; episodes 2 and 3 by Luis Buñuel's son, Juan Luis Buñuel.

[edit] Comic books

[edit] French

  • Fantômas contre les Nains. A weekly color page written by Marcel Allain and drawn by Santini was published in Gavroche Nos. 24-30, 1941. This series was interrupted because of censorship; a sequel, Fantômas et l'Enfer Sous-Marin was written but not published.
  • A daily Fantômas strip drawn by Pierre Tabary was syndicated by Opera Mundi from November 1957 to March 1958 (192 strips in total), adapting the first two novels.
  • Seventeen Fantômas fumetti magazines adapting Nos 1, 2, 3 and 5 of the book series were published by Del Duca in 1962 and 1963.
  • A new weekly, Fantômas color page, written by Agnès Guilloteau and drawn by Jacques Taillefer, was again syndicated by Opera Mundi in 1969 and published in Jours de France.
  • Finally, a series of Fantômas graphic novels written by L. Dellisse and drawn by Claude Laverdure were published by Belgian publisher Claude Lefrancq: 1. L'Affaire Beltham (1990); 2. Juve contre Fantômas (1991) and 3. Le Mort qui Tue (1995).

[edit] Mexican

During the 1960s the Mexican comics publisher Editorial Novaro produced a Fantomas La Amenaza Elegante (Fantomas, the Elegant Threat) comic book series that was popular throughout Latin America. This was apparently meant to be the same character, although rewritten as a heroic character, and with no acknowledgement to the original books or films. It is not known if this was done with or without legal permission.

This Fantomas was a thief who committed spectacular robberies just for the thrill of it, and wore a white, skintight mask all the time or a variety of disguises so his true face was never shown. The character was also pursued by the authorities, in his case mainly by a French police inspector named Gerard. His mask in this version which was clearly inspired by the black mask worn by the Italian comic book criminal Diabolik, and his use of it seems to have been influenced by the popular images generated by Mexican wrestling. Apparently the series was also influenced by the James Bond movies, as Fantomas, equipped with advanced technology created by a scientist called Professor Semo, had all kind of adventures around the world, and even fought other, more cruel criminals.

He also was a millionaire, owning several corporations under assumed identities, and had a secret headquarters outside Paris, and was assisted by several agents, including the 12 "Zodiac Girls", beautiful women who assisted him personally, known only by their codenames—the signs of the zodiac. Although cancelled years ago (Novaro folded in 1985; a character revival by rival Grupo Editorial Vid in Mexico in the 1990s didn't last long), it is from this comic that the character is best known in both Central America and South America. For more information on this version of the character check the link to the Fantomas Lives website below.

[edit] Cultural influence

The Fantômas novels and the subsequent films were highly regarded by the French avant-garde of the day, particularly by the surrealists. Blaise Cendrars called the series "the modern Aeneid"; Guillaume Apollinaire said that "from the imaginative standpoint Fantômas is one of the richest works that exist." The painter René Magritte and the surrealist poet and novelist Robert Desnos both produced works alluding to Fantômas.

The movies were also very popular in the Soviet Union.

[edit] Pastiches, homages, and related characters

  • Fantômas may well have been influenced by its less well remembered predecessor, Zigomar, the creation of Léon Sazie, which first appeared as a serial in Le Matin in 1909, then as a pulp magazine (28 issues) in 1913, and again in Zigomar contre Zigomar for eight more issues in 1924.
  • In France alone, Fantômas spawned numerous imitators. Among those are Arnould Galopin's Tenebras, Gaston René's Masque Rouge, Arthur Bernède's Belphégor, R. Collard's Demonax and Marcel Allain's own Tigris, Fatala, Miss Teria and Ferocias. [7]
  • It has been suggested[citation needed] that the original 1963 Pink Panther film starring David Niven and Peter Sellers was influenced by Fantômas. In the film, Fantômas was transformed into Sir Charles Lytton, a.k.a. the Phantom, and Inspector Juve became Inspector Clouseau.
  • Fantômas inspired Julio Cortazar’s 1975 novella Fantomas contra los vampiros multinacionales.

[edit] External links

[edit] External links