An anachronism.
The serial ,which began in the tens with Feuillade ("Fantomas" "les vampires" ,continued in the twenties with such works as "Belphegor" and Duvivier's "le mystère de la tour Eiffel" belonged to the silent age.
"Mephisto " continued this tradition ,complete with episodes and epilogue ; still in the precedent era, it' s slow-moving ,with histrionic performances , reminiscent of the silent films; the story is so far-fetched you can hardly follow it.
But it possesses strong appeal for the French cine buff :it's Jean Gabin's sophomore effort ,if you do not count his two shorts .It would take Duvivier to turn the beginner into one of the greatest legends
of the French cinema; like in his first feature, "chacun sa chance" , he sings ,and quite well "vive les grosses femmes" (= hurrah for the fat women") reprised in the epilogue as "vive les petites femmes" ( =hurrah for the petite women);he would continue in Duvivier's masterpiece "la belle équipe" with "quand on s'promène au bord de l'eau" (=going for a stroll on the river bank")
Gabin portrays a cop which must fight an elusive mysterious criminal called Mephisto (obviously inspired by Fantomas) and his mistress ,a chanteuse who helps him with his dirty deeds . Gabin is accompanied by a serial writer ,Fortuné Bidon, short of ideas; although he's the women's idol, he mainly serves as a foil to the hero. Jacques Miral (Gabin) falls in love with the murdered millionaire's secretary ,but alas she becomes a suspect and he's got to clear her name .Who is this Mephisto ,who hides his face behind a scarf?
