Fantômas is a French silent crime

Crime film

Crime films are films which focus on the lives of criminals. The stylistic approach to a crime film varies from realistic portrayals of real-life criminal figures, to the far-fetched evil doings of imaginary arch-villains. Criminal acts are almost always glorified in these movies.- Plays and films...

 film serial directed by Louis Feuillade

Louis Feuillade

Louis Feuillade was a prolific and prominent French film director from the silent era. Between 1906 and 1924 he directed over 630 films...

, based on the novel of the same name

Fantômas

Fantômas is a fictional character created by French writers Marcel Allain and Pierre Souvestre .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...

. The five episodes were released in 1913 – 1914.

The series consists of five episodes, each an hour to an hour and a half in length, which end in cliffhangers, i.e., episodes one and three end with Fantomas making a last minute escape, the end of the second movie has Fantômas blowing up Lady Beltham's manor house with Juve and Fandor, the two heroes, still inside. The subsequent episodes begin with a recap of the story that has gone before. Each film is further divided into three or more chapters that do not end in cliffhangers.

The five episodes were restored under the direction of Jacques Champreaux and released on DVD in Europe in 2006.

Films

1. Fantômas I: À l'ombre de la guillotine (Fantômas: In the Shadow of the Guillotine) (1913)
   1. Le Vol du Royal Palace Hotel (The Theft at the Royal Palace Hotel)
   2. La Disparition de Lord Beltham (The Disappearance of Lord Beltham)
   3. Autour de l'échafaud (By the Guillotine)
2. Fantômas II: Juve contre Fantômas (Juve vs. Fantômas)(1913)
   1. La Catastrophe du Simplar-Express (Disaster on the Simplar Express)
   2. Au "Crocodile" (At the Crocodile)
   3. La Villa hantée (The Haunted Villa)
   4. L'Homme noir (The Man in Black)
3. Fantômas III: Le Mort Qui Tue (The Murderous Corpse)(1913)
   1. Le Drame rue Novins (The Tragedy in Rue Novins)
   2. L'Enquête de Fandor (Fandor's Investigation)
   3. Le Collier de la princesse (The Princess's Necklace)
   4. Le Banquier Nanteul (The Banker Nanteul)
   5. Elizabeth Dollon
   6. Les Gants de peau humaine (The Human Skin Gloves)
4. Fantômas IV: Fantômas contre Fantômas (Fantômas vs. Fantômas)(1914)
   1. Fantômas et l'opinion publique (Fantômas and Public Opinion)
   2. Le Mur qui saigne (The Wall that Bleeds)
   3. Fantômas contre Fantômas (Fantômas vs. Fantômas)
   4. Règlement de comptes (Getting Even)
5. Fantômas V: Le Faux Magistrat (The False Magistrate) (1914)
   1. Prologue (The Theft at the Château des Loges)
   2. Le Prisonnier de Louvain (The Prisoner of Louvain)
   3. Monsieur Charles Pradier, juge d'instruction (Charles Pradier, Examining Magistrate)
   4. Le Magistrat cambrioleur ( The Burglar Judge)
   5. L'Extradé de Louvain (The Extradited Man)

Cast

• René Navarre
  René Navarre
  René Navarre was a French actor of the silent era. He appeared in 109 films between 1910 and 1946.He was born in Limoges, Haute-Vienne and died in Azay-sur-Cher, Indre-et-Loire.-External links:...
  
   - Fantômas aka Gurn, Tom Bob and many other aliases
• Edmund Breon
  Edmund Breon
  Edmund Breon was a Scottish film actor. He appeared in 131 films between 1907 and 1952....
  
   - Inspector Juve
• Georges Melchior
  Georges Melchior
  Georges Melchior was a French actor of the silent era. He appeared in 67 films between 1911 and 1937.-Selected filmography:* Fantômas * L'Atlantide...
  
   - Jérôme Fandor, reporter for the Capital newspaper and Juve's collaborator
• Renée Carl - Lady Beltham, Fantômas' mistress
• Jane Faber - Princesse Danidoff
• Volbert - Valgrand
• Naudier - Nibet
• Maillard - Valgrand's dresser
• Yvette Andréyor
  Yvette Andréyor
  Yvette Andréyor was a French actress of the silent era. She appeared in 108 films between 1910 and 1962.She was born and died in Paris, France.-Selected filmography:* Fantômas * Judex...
  
  - Josephine