Back in 1913 the French movie studio Gaumont and director Louis Feuillade created a craze for crime thriller serials with FANTOMAS about a master-of-disguise super criminal and a dogged detective determined to capture him. This was, no doubt, inspired by Sherlock Holmes and his pursuit of Professor James Moriarty but this time around the focus was on the criminal rather than the detective. Later in 1916 Feuillade would create JUDEX about a caped crime fighter battling injustice (sound familiar?) and conclude the genre in 1917 with LES VAMPIRES about a gang of super criminals led by a woman.
I'm providing this background because it is generally not realized that before the outbreak of World War I, the two leading film industries were in France and in Italy. So if the French were cashing in on crime serials, then the Italians would follow suit. In April 1915 they premiered the first of what was to have been a five part serial about the exploits of Filibus, a female master criminal who had multiple identities and who carried out her crimes, a la Jules Verne, from a flying metal airship. Unfortunately WWI escalated and the other four episodes were never produced.
The story is set in then contemporary Italy. A daring series of robberies have been committed by the mysterious thief known only as Filibus. We already know from the credits that Filibus is a woman as we have seen her in her various disguises. In reality she is a rich socialite who steals from those in her circle. When she learns that top detective Kutt Hendy is on the case, she intends to frame him for the thefts while she goes after some rare diamonds. Her plans succeed, but for how long? Valeria Creti is wonderful as the titular character while Giovanni Spano is the stoic detective trying to catch her.
Milestone Films has released this title on DVD and Blu-Ray. The print comes from The Netherlands and was restored by their celebrated Eye Film Museum. The print looks pretty good although there is some damage but the color tinting helps to diminish it except for one sequence. There are a host of extras including 3 background scores, some historical shorts and a complete 1916 Italian feature also starring Valeria Creti. If you enjoyed FANTOMAS which inspired FILIBUS which inspired LES VAMPIRES then you must see this. However Milestone's 21st century description of the movie is a little too over-the-top...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.
