Tonight on TV: The first installment of the essential trilogy with 12 million records

In 1910-1911, Pierre Souvestre and Marcel Alain created the fictional character Fantômas. The hooded silhouette of this crime master became an emblematic figure of the French serial thanks to the thirty novels by the two co-authors, published between 1911 and 1913, as well as the film adaptation by Louis Feuillas between 1913 and 1914.

After the war, the series was again adapted for the cinema, first in the 1930s and 1940s, and then in the 1960s by director André Hünebel. Still, the latter takes some liberties with the original work to strike a comical tone that borders on James Bond parody.

In the film, soberly titled Fantômas, a mysteriously named character wears a blue mask to commit theft and crime in the capital, when he does not have the features of journalist Fandor. Meanwhile, Commissioner Juve investigates the case in his own way…

In the lead role, the charismatic Jean Marais, a big star of the time, gave a memorable double act that was praised by critics. But it’s his partner, Louis de Funes, who steals the show as the paranoid Juve commissioner.

When it came out in 1964, Ghosts attracting 4.4 million moviegoers. It is one of the biggest successes of the year, “The Man from Rio”, “Merlin the Magician” and above all, “The Gendarme of Saint-Tropez”, which finally launches the career of Louis de Funes.

Fantômas thus marks the beginning of an essential cinematic saga that includes two other opus also directed by André Hunébel: Fantômas Unleashed in 1965, followed by Fantômas vs. Scotland Yard in 1967. A profitable trilogy as it collects a total of 12 million. National Treasury.

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Ghosts André Hunébel with Jean Marais, Louis de Funes, Milen Demonjot…

Tonight on TMC at 9:15 PM.