Fantomas minaccia il mondo

This film came out the same year as the Bond flick 'Thunder-ball,' and can be considered French cinema's answer to the Anglophile 007 craze sweeping Europe and the world back then. The kidnapped scientist plot shows up in many Bond films, of course. But the best gimmick in any Fantomas film is Fantomas' ability to assume other people's identity at will by using high quality rubber face masks. And his own, featureless eerie green rubber mask is rather scary still.

This is a wonderful movie. Very funny, intelligent, and a sophisticated humor. The scene of Inspector Juve with the three arms is just hilarious. Both the series of "The Pink Panther" (Peter Sellers) or Austin Powers probably were inspired by this wonderful movie and the other Fantomas movies in the 3-movie series. It is a must see.