FANTOMAS (1932)

 

PHENOMENALITY: *uncanny* 
MYTHICITY: *poor*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *drama*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *sociological* 

This French movie is apparently the first sound outing for the mysterious criminal Fantomas. It starred a French cast and was directed by a Hungarian, Pal Fajos, who'd made a couple of Hollywood films prior to working on this project. I don't know what if any of his non-American oeuvre might be metaphenomenal in nature but, as other reviewers have said, the first half-hour of FANTOMAS feels like a better-photographed version of one of the silent "old dark house" movies of the period. 

I reviewed the first FANTOMAS novel in 2018 and liked it well enough. However, I didn't make that many notes about the plot of the novel, so I guess the parts of the novel involving the mysterious villain's crimes didn't do much for me. Though I'm not a Fantomas fan, I give the character props as an important transitional figure within the superhero idiom. Bur since I remember little about the crimes of the novel, I can't say if the 1932 movie is adapting them accurately. All I can say is that Fajos works well with the French actors, particularly in the opening scenes, making them seem reasonably alive despite their being bare plot-functions. The movie does get across the inscrutable nature of this perhaps-uncatchable fiend, and unlike the book, there's a scene in which the villain dons an all-black catsuit with a black cowl, in which garb he strangles a woman to death. Later he wears another "costume" of sorts, attending a party in a tuxedo but donning a domino mask when he attacks a potential witness. I assume that actor Jean Galland portrays the murderous thief in all his disguised personas.

One omission I did note was that the character of Charles (rechristened "Fandor" in the novel) is downgraded to just the assistant to Juve, the inspector in charge of pursuing the elusive criminal. So here Charles has no real backstory, but he does-- in contrast to the novel-- get to face off with the disguised Fantomas in a climactic brawl. In contrast to the practice of later sound serials, the two combatants more time whaling on one another with lamps and chairs than with bare fists. But before the viewer gets there, one has to forge through a lot of dull mystery scenes.