Fantômas - 1964 - 5/10

Playful adaptation of the legendary French villain.
Again and again, the criminal mastermind thwarts the police.
It does not help that the police are led by the over-confident, bombastic Inspector Juve (Louis de Funès).
Here, Fantômas wears the blue mask, deploys technology, and has a sumptuously appointed lair.

There are echoes of James Bond throughout, but the plotting is feeble.
Indeed, there are too many chase sequences and the final one goes on for 20 minutes!
OK to watch (Jean Marais as Fantômas is memorable), and yet this does not eclipse the 1913 classics.