Georges Melchior Movies

Although this was French filmmaker Jacques Feyder's first truly important film, you wouldn't guess it by reading the trade papers of the day. Because of the storyline -- a fantasy tale adapted from the novel by Pierre Benoit -it was considered a novelty. In addition, Film Daily went out of its way to remark on the unattractiveness of star Stacia Napierkowska -- her zaftig figure was too hefty for American tastes. The film opens with a discussion between two French officers about the disappearance of Captain Morhange (Jean Angelo). It is suspected that Lieutenant Saint-Avit (Georges Melchior) knows more than he has let on, and finally he tells what happened. While traveling through the desert, Saint-Avit and Morhange were lured to the submerged Atlantis. The ruler, Queen Antinea (Napierkowska), marries men and casts them off until they die of love. She then turns them into gold and places them in the hall of red marble. Saint-Avit fell prey to the Queen's charms and married her. Morhange, however, had taken a vow of celibacy so he resisted her. This infuriated the Queen so she influenced Saint-Avit to kill Morhange. Although Saint-Avit has escaped from Atlantis, he plans to go back, and after telling his tale, he friend decides to go with him. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Fantomas was the umbrella title for five different multi-part serials, all produced and directed by the prolific Louis Feuillade. Reversing the usual cliché, the "hero" of these serials was the villain, a slick, deadly master criminal known as "Fantomas" because of his predilection for wearing elaborate disguises. Motivated by a curious code of honor, Fantomas gets just as much pleasure out of baffling the police as he does committing his crimes. Unlike later serials, many of the Fantomas episodes were self-contained stories, some running as much as an hour; one of the episodes briefly eschewed melodrama in favor of light, drawing-room comedy! Released worldwide by Gaumont, the Fantomas series was a huge success, paving the way for such future Louis Feuillade-directed triumphs as Les Vampires and Judex. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi