Fantômas: The Dead Man Who Killed (1913) - full transcript
After a body disappears from inside the prison, a series of crimes take place, all seemingly by the dead man. With Juve presumed dead, Fandor must investigate alone. Will Fantomas finally be brought to justice?
After the explosion
at Lady Beltham's villa,
Jérôme Fandor, gravely injured,
is slowly recovering.
THE FIGHT AGAINST THE BANDITS
AFTERMATH OF THE TERRIBLE
EXPLOSION IN NEUILLY
The gardens surrounding Lady Beltham's villa
on Richard-Wallace Blvd. in Neuilly
were an apocalyptic sight.
The wreckage teemed with police,
rescue workers and ambulance crews
pulling charred and dismembered
bodies from the rubble.
The nameless bodies attest
to the violence of the explosion.
INSPECTOR JUVE
AMONG THE VICTIMS
Reading these words,
Fandor realises the gaping hole
the loss of his friend
is going to create in his life.
Next to the courthouse,
a second-hand shop
run by Ma Toulouche,
a well-known fence.
She's recently hired a simpleton
nicknamed Crânajour
due to the fact that
his cranium seems singularly empty.
Toulouche's right-hand man,
a prison guard named Nibet...
The cellar under the shop
connects to the sewers
which empty into the Seine.
Part One
THE TRAGEDY IN RUE NORVINS
Jacques Dollon, a young ceramist,
works on rue Norvins
in the heart of Montmartre.
The next morning,
the cleaning lady arrives.
Terrified,
she returns with the police.
Baroness de Vibraye, dead.
But how did she get here?
Dear Madame,
If you'd care
to visit Montmartre one evening,
I'd love to show you some ceramics
I'm preparing for the salon.
My sister Elisabeth
should return soon.
Humbly and respectfully yours,
Jacques Dollon
Unable to prove his innocence,
the young artist is brought
before the investigating judge.
In the Anthropometry Department.
Jacques Dollon, dazed,
is then transferred
to a courthouse holding cell.
In his cell, Jacques Dollon
falls prey to a vicious attack.
Once again, it's Nibet at work.
Mean while,
in The Capital’s newsroom,
Fandor, fully recovered, is finishing
his article on the tragedy in rue Norvins.
Hello, Fandor? Breaking news.
Dollon was found
strangled in his cell.
This calls for an update.
Breaking: News
We've learned that Jacques Dollon,
who was arrested for the murder
of Baroness de Vibraye,
has been found strangled in his cell.
Our investigation is under way.
Very quickly,
Fandor arrives at the courthouse,
which becomes his second home
from that moment on.
He's immediately admitted
to the office of Judge Fuselier,
who is in charge of the case.
The journalist hands
the judge his article
entitled Scandal at the Courthouse.
Elisabeth Dollon,
having returned from a voyage,
requests the judge's permission
to see her brother,
Jacques Dollon,
who is being detained in a holding cell.
Miss, you cannot see your brother...
He is dead.
Where is the body?
Comforted by Jérôme Fandor,
Elisabeth Dollon leaves the courthouse,
that House of Tears.
In The Capital's newsroom,
Fandor writes a new article
on the courthouse mystery.
How can a corpse disappear from a cell
without anyone noticing?
This is the astounding question
we may pose the authorities.
JÉRÔME FANDOR,
BE CAREFUL.
THE MATTER YOU ARE INVESTIGATING
IS OF UTMOST IMPORTANCE
BUT MAY HAVE TERRIBLY
DANGEROUS CONSEQUENCES...
It takes more than that
to scare the young journalist.
Elisabeth Dollon arrives
at rue Norvins
to begin the painful inventory
of her brother's studio.
Baroness de Vibraye,
April 3, Jacques Dollon
Hold...
Sonia Danidoff, April 19
Thomery, during May
Nanteuil, end of May
Meanwhile, in the sewers
under the courthouse on Île de la Cité,
the Man in Black prepares
to perform a gruesome operation
on the young ceramist's corpse.
Part Two
FANDOR'S INVESTIGATION
Fandor has himself locked up
in the courthouse
in order to discover how a corpse
could disappear from a holding cell there.
Crânajour lodges in the garret
over Toulouche's shop,
and its skylight
overlooks the courthouse roof.
In an air duct,
there are tracks...
Midnight. In her shop,
Ma Toulouche plays cards.
Cargo arrives
via the Seine at midnight.
Be there to help me unload.
The Sailor.
To our health, Ernestine.
Nibet is furious
at Crânajour for his actions.
But now Fandor knows
how a body could have been removed
from the holding cell
without using the door...
Part Three
THE PRINCESS'S NECKLACE
That evening,
the cream of Paris society
throngs the party
hosted by Thomery,
a prominent sugar manufacturer,
in honour of his upcoming marriage
to Princess Sonia Danidoff.
Thomery shows the princess the boudoir
provided for her private use.
An incident.
Pardon me.
I must fix this tear.
Once again, it's Nibet.
He catches the necklace
and calmly walks off.
A senior police official
is among the guests.
He immediately begins
searching for clues.
Did you notice that fingerprint?
We've got him.
The next day,
in the Anthropometry Department,
the senior official compares
his photograph with the police files.
The fingerprint is a perfect match
to one recently filed...
FIRST AND LAST NAME:
JACQUES DOLLON
BORN FEBRUARY 20, 1888
IN PARIS
PROFESSION:
CERAMIST/PAINTER
RIGHT HAND FINGERPRINTS
I'd like to believe you,
but that's absurd.
Dollon died a week ago,
and the necklace was stolen last night.
Perhaps so,
but Dr. Bertillon's system is infallible.
The print is definitely
Jacques Dollon's.
Part Four
NANTEUIL, THE BANKER
A few weeks later,
in the banker's office.
To Nanteuil, from Detouche.
Market order to buy 500 shares
of Thomery stock, deliverable in five days.
Sir, a lady asks to see you.
She wouldn't give her name.
Lady Beltham, Fantômas's mistress,
accomplice and victim.
Unable to resist her tyrant,
the poor woman obeys.
We have reason to believe
that Princess Sonia Danidoff
would be interested in these pearls,
which are just as fine
as those stolen from her.
We could obtain a similar necklace
for her at an excellent price.
3 o'clock, Weber Restaurant,
Buttes-Chaumont Park.
Thomery goes to the princess
to tell her of the dastardly extortion.
The meeting at Weber Restaurant.
The emissary of the thief is waiting.
Part Five
ELISABETH DOLLON
The young lady has taken lodgings
at Bourrat's boardinghouse in Auteuil.
Baroness de Vibraye,
April 3, Jacques Dollon
Hold...
Sonia Danidoff, April 19
Thomery, during May
Nanteuil, end of May
Bourrat's boardinghouse
is quite reputable,
but, due to a premonition,
Elisabeth seeks a hiding place
for the strange list.
She resolves to accept the aid
Jérôme Fandor offered her.
Dear Mr. Fandor,
In my brother's studio,
I found a strange list
of names and dates,
which recent crimes
have given a sinister meaning.
I don't dare risk mailing it.
Would you come get it tomorrow
at Bourrat's boardinghouse?
At midnight.
Fantômas himself comes
to search for the list
he lost at Jacques Dollon's.
Elisabeth is deeply asleep,
doubtlessly due to the herbal tea
she drank before bed...
After a fruitless search,
Fantômas decides
the young woman
will take his secret to the grave.
The next morning,
Fandor arrives at The Capital.
In my brother's studio, I found
a strange list of names and dates,
which recent crimes
have given a sinister meaning.
I don't dare risk mailing it.
Would you come get it tomorrow
at Bourrat's boardinghouse?
Elisabeth has regained consciousness.
Fandor decides to hide her
in a convent for her safety.
And Fandor goes to recover
the mysterious document.
Baroness de Vibraye,
April 3, Jacques Dollon
Hold... ditto
Sonia Danidoff, April 19
Thomery, during May
Nanteuil, end of May
Footsteps on the stairs...
A police captain with a striking
resemblance to Nanteuil, the banker,
accompanied by an aide
oddly similar to Nibet, the guard...
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
SEARCH WARRANT
By order of Judge Fuselier,
Captain Dulac is authorised
to immediately search
the lodgings of Elisabeth Dollon
at Bourrat's boarding house in Auteuil.
By taking everything,
Fantômas is sure to finally recover
the incriminating list.
But... it's Thomery.
Shaken, Fandor returns
to The Capital's newsroom.
The editor requests Fandor
to write an article as soon as possible
on Thomery's mysterious disappearance,
which has been causing
his company's stocks to crash
over the past 24 hours.
Thomery, during May
Nanteuil, end of May
Jérôme listen to this.
Havas News Agency
We have learned that
Mr. Thomery's body has just been found
in an empty apartment
on rue Lecourbe.
The deceased had been strangled
with a police chief's scarf
on which were found, once again,
the fingerprints of Jacques Dollon,
who committed suicide in his holding cell.
The fake police chief
at Bourrat's boardinghouse.
His scarf around
Thomery's corpse's neck.
Once again,
Jacques Dollon's fingerprints...
Nothing but bizarre clues.
Part Six
THE GLOVES OF HUMAN SKIN
That morning, near police headquarters
at quai des Orfèvres,
Fandor again studies the mysterious list
sorely missing
his friend Juve's intuition.
Juve's office.
It's you, Juve...
It's really you.
I needed to hide.
Thanks to Crânajour,
I was able to get close
to Fantômas's gang
and save your life
in the sewers.
Baroness de Vibraye,
April 3, Jacques Dollon
Hold... ditto
Sonia Danidoff, April 19
Thomery, during May
Nanteuil, end of May
You and I are going to pay
this Nanteuil a visit.
JÉRÔME FANDOR
JOURNALIST, THE CAPITAL
INSPECTOR JUVE
NATIONAL POLICE
The secret of the dead man's prints.
The skin of Jacques Dollon's hands.
You're finished, Fantômas.
Once again,
Fantômas escapes the police.
Once again,
the fearsome bandit is at large
in a society against which
he plans nothing but ruin and suffering.
at Lady Beltham's villa,
Jérôme Fandor, gravely injured,
is slowly recovering.
THE FIGHT AGAINST THE BANDITS
AFTERMATH OF THE TERRIBLE
EXPLOSION IN NEUILLY
The gardens surrounding Lady Beltham's villa
on Richard-Wallace Blvd. in Neuilly
were an apocalyptic sight.
The wreckage teemed with police,
rescue workers and ambulance crews
pulling charred and dismembered
bodies from the rubble.
The nameless bodies attest
to the violence of the explosion.
INSPECTOR JUVE
AMONG THE VICTIMS
Reading these words,
Fandor realises the gaping hole
the loss of his friend
is going to create in his life.
Next to the courthouse,
a second-hand shop
run by Ma Toulouche,
a well-known fence.
She's recently hired a simpleton
nicknamed Crânajour
due to the fact that
his cranium seems singularly empty.
Toulouche's right-hand man,
a prison guard named Nibet...
The cellar under the shop
connects to the sewers
which empty into the Seine.
Part One
THE TRAGEDY IN RUE NORVINS
Jacques Dollon, a young ceramist,
works on rue Norvins
in the heart of Montmartre.
The next morning,
the cleaning lady arrives.
Terrified,
she returns with the police.
Baroness de Vibraye, dead.
But how did she get here?
Dear Madame,
If you'd care
to visit Montmartre one evening,
I'd love to show you some ceramics
I'm preparing for the salon.
My sister Elisabeth
should return soon.
Humbly and respectfully yours,
Jacques Dollon
Unable to prove his innocence,
the young artist is brought
before the investigating judge.
In the Anthropometry Department.
Jacques Dollon, dazed,
is then transferred
to a courthouse holding cell.
In his cell, Jacques Dollon
falls prey to a vicious attack.
Once again, it's Nibet at work.
Mean while,
in The Capital’s newsroom,
Fandor, fully recovered, is finishing
his article on the tragedy in rue Norvins.
Hello, Fandor? Breaking news.
Dollon was found
strangled in his cell.
This calls for an update.
Breaking: News
We've learned that Jacques Dollon,
who was arrested for the murder
of Baroness de Vibraye,
has been found strangled in his cell.
Our investigation is under way.
Very quickly,
Fandor arrives at the courthouse,
which becomes his second home
from that moment on.
He's immediately admitted
to the office of Judge Fuselier,
who is in charge of the case.
The journalist hands
the judge his article
entitled Scandal at the Courthouse.
Elisabeth Dollon,
having returned from a voyage,
requests the judge's permission
to see her brother,
Jacques Dollon,
who is being detained in a holding cell.
Miss, you cannot see your brother...
He is dead.
Where is the body?
Comforted by Jérôme Fandor,
Elisabeth Dollon leaves the courthouse,
that House of Tears.
In The Capital's newsroom,
Fandor writes a new article
on the courthouse mystery.
How can a corpse disappear from a cell
without anyone noticing?
This is the astounding question
we may pose the authorities.
JÉRÔME FANDOR,
BE CAREFUL.
THE MATTER YOU ARE INVESTIGATING
IS OF UTMOST IMPORTANCE
BUT MAY HAVE TERRIBLY
DANGEROUS CONSEQUENCES...
It takes more than that
to scare the young journalist.
Elisabeth Dollon arrives
at rue Norvins
to begin the painful inventory
of her brother's studio.
Baroness de Vibraye,
April 3, Jacques Dollon
Hold...
Sonia Danidoff, April 19
Thomery, during May
Nanteuil, end of May
Meanwhile, in the sewers
under the courthouse on Île de la Cité,
the Man in Black prepares
to perform a gruesome operation
on the young ceramist's corpse.
Part Two
FANDOR'S INVESTIGATION
Fandor has himself locked up
in the courthouse
in order to discover how a corpse
could disappear from a holding cell there.
Crânajour lodges in the garret
over Toulouche's shop,
and its skylight
overlooks the courthouse roof.
In an air duct,
there are tracks...
Midnight. In her shop,
Ma Toulouche plays cards.
Cargo arrives
via the Seine at midnight.
Be there to help me unload.
The Sailor.
To our health, Ernestine.
Nibet is furious
at Crânajour for his actions.
But now Fandor knows
how a body could have been removed
from the holding cell
without using the door...
Part Three
THE PRINCESS'S NECKLACE
That evening,
the cream of Paris society
throngs the party
hosted by Thomery,
a prominent sugar manufacturer,
in honour of his upcoming marriage
to Princess Sonia Danidoff.
Thomery shows the princess the boudoir
provided for her private use.
An incident.
Pardon me.
I must fix this tear.
Once again, it's Nibet.
He catches the necklace
and calmly walks off.
A senior police official
is among the guests.
He immediately begins
searching for clues.
Did you notice that fingerprint?
We've got him.
The next day,
in the Anthropometry Department,
the senior official compares
his photograph with the police files.
The fingerprint is a perfect match
to one recently filed...
FIRST AND LAST NAME:
JACQUES DOLLON
BORN FEBRUARY 20, 1888
IN PARIS
PROFESSION:
CERAMIST/PAINTER
RIGHT HAND FINGERPRINTS
I'd like to believe you,
but that's absurd.
Dollon died a week ago,
and the necklace was stolen last night.
Perhaps so,
but Dr. Bertillon's system is infallible.
The print is definitely
Jacques Dollon's.
Part Four
NANTEUIL, THE BANKER
A few weeks later,
in the banker's office.
To Nanteuil, from Detouche.
Market order to buy 500 shares
of Thomery stock, deliverable in five days.
Sir, a lady asks to see you.
She wouldn't give her name.
Lady Beltham, Fantômas's mistress,
accomplice and victim.
Unable to resist her tyrant,
the poor woman obeys.
We have reason to believe
that Princess Sonia Danidoff
would be interested in these pearls,
which are just as fine
as those stolen from her.
We could obtain a similar necklace
for her at an excellent price.
3 o'clock, Weber Restaurant,
Buttes-Chaumont Park.
Thomery goes to the princess
to tell her of the dastardly extortion.
The meeting at Weber Restaurant.
The emissary of the thief is waiting.
Part Five
ELISABETH DOLLON
The young lady has taken lodgings
at Bourrat's boardinghouse in Auteuil.
Baroness de Vibraye,
April 3, Jacques Dollon
Hold...
Sonia Danidoff, April 19
Thomery, during May
Nanteuil, end of May
Bourrat's boardinghouse
is quite reputable,
but, due to a premonition,
Elisabeth seeks a hiding place
for the strange list.
She resolves to accept the aid
Jérôme Fandor offered her.
Dear Mr. Fandor,
In my brother's studio,
I found a strange list
of names and dates,
which recent crimes
have given a sinister meaning.
I don't dare risk mailing it.
Would you come get it tomorrow
at Bourrat's boardinghouse?
At midnight.
Fantômas himself comes
to search for the list
he lost at Jacques Dollon's.
Elisabeth is deeply asleep,
doubtlessly due to the herbal tea
she drank before bed...
After a fruitless search,
Fantômas decides
the young woman
will take his secret to the grave.
The next morning,
Fandor arrives at The Capital.
In my brother's studio, I found
a strange list of names and dates,
which recent crimes
have given a sinister meaning.
I don't dare risk mailing it.
Would you come get it tomorrow
at Bourrat's boardinghouse?
Elisabeth has regained consciousness.
Fandor decides to hide her
in a convent for her safety.
And Fandor goes to recover
the mysterious document.
Baroness de Vibraye,
April 3, Jacques Dollon
Hold... ditto
Sonia Danidoff, April 19
Thomery, during May
Nanteuil, end of May
Footsteps on the stairs...
A police captain with a striking
resemblance to Nanteuil, the banker,
accompanied by an aide
oddly similar to Nibet, the guard...
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
SEARCH WARRANT
By order of Judge Fuselier,
Captain Dulac is authorised
to immediately search
the lodgings of Elisabeth Dollon
at Bourrat's boarding house in Auteuil.
By taking everything,
Fantômas is sure to finally recover
the incriminating list.
But... it's Thomery.
Shaken, Fandor returns
to The Capital's newsroom.
The editor requests Fandor
to write an article as soon as possible
on Thomery's mysterious disappearance,
which has been causing
his company's stocks to crash
over the past 24 hours.
Thomery, during May
Nanteuil, end of May
Jérôme listen to this.
Havas News Agency
We have learned that
Mr. Thomery's body has just been found
in an empty apartment
on rue Lecourbe.
The deceased had been strangled
with a police chief's scarf
on which were found, once again,
the fingerprints of Jacques Dollon,
who committed suicide in his holding cell.
The fake police chief
at Bourrat's boardinghouse.
His scarf around
Thomery's corpse's neck.
Once again,
Jacques Dollon's fingerprints...
Nothing but bizarre clues.
Part Six
THE GLOVES OF HUMAN SKIN
That morning, near police headquarters
at quai des Orfèvres,
Fandor again studies the mysterious list
sorely missing
his friend Juve's intuition.
Juve's office.
It's you, Juve...
It's really you.
I needed to hide.
Thanks to Crânajour,
I was able to get close
to Fantômas's gang
and save your life
in the sewers.
Baroness de Vibraye,
April 3, Jacques Dollon
Hold... ditto
Sonia Danidoff, April 19
Thomery, during May
Nanteuil, end of May
You and I are going to pay
this Nanteuil a visit.
JÉRÔME FANDOR
JOURNALIST, THE CAPITAL
INSPECTOR JUVE
NATIONAL POLICE
The secret of the dead man's prints.
The skin of Jacques Dollon's hands.
You're finished, Fantômas.
Once again,
Fantômas escapes the police.
Once again,
the fearsome bandit is at large
in a society against which
he plans nothing but ruin and suffering.