Monday, January 3, 2011

"Tosh Talks" about Fantomas, etc.

1 comment:

CBlack said...

I share your enthusiasm for Fantomas and enjoyed your comments. I've never read beyond the first of the Allain & Sylvestre books, though I have seen the first two of the films as well as the 1960s version, which is entertaining but quite inferior to Louis Feuillade's version. I agree that the popularity of the series has a great deal to tell us about the time in which it was written. You might also be interested in Norbert Jacques's similar villain, Dr. Mabuse. Unlike Fantomas, his interests are largely pecuniary, but he has an uncanny knack for disguises and being at all places at all times. Fritz Lang put it to film (Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler) and it's fantastic.

By the way, I come to my interest in Fantomas from my background (oddly enough) as a Russian historian. The sixties version of Fantomas was hugely popular in Russia, but everybody there pronounces it fan-to-MAHS (with the accent on the final syllable) rather than fan-TOE-mas. I think, to be honest, that the Russians are closer to being right in this regard.

Thanks for the clip.