Fantomas (1947): Fantomas is dead, which is a relief to everyone. That includes detective Alexandre Rignault, who tracked him down in cooperation with reporter André Le Gall. It especially is a relief, to his daughter, Simone Signoret, who gets married to Le Gall. Except that wasn't the mayor who married them. The mayor was murdered by Fantomas (played by Marcel Herrand), who then married the happy pair, which means they are married. Plus he's got a death ray, which he will use to destroy Paris unless they give him One Billion.... Francs? Louises D'or? Pounds Sterling? Hong Kong Dollars?
It never really gets defined as the various plot threads get twisted together. Herrand only wears the Fantomas costume -- opera hat, cape, mask -- briefly for a few seconds, a couple of times, while he expresses disappointment with his daughter's soon-to-be-dead fiance -- talk about your fathers disapproving of their daughters' boyfriends! And most of his inions get shot by other minions. Talk about your labor unrest!
It was, of course, a famous silent serial directed by Louis Feuillade from a novel by Marcel Allain. With World War II over, Evil Geniuses were definitely trending downward in the marketplace of literary ideas, except for the occasional serio-comic offering of Arsene Lupin. Most of the thrills here are on the level of serials in the United States, but the production values are decent and first-time director Jean Sacha offers the thrills at a steady pace.
