The Fly (1958)

A scientist has a horrific accident when he tries to use his newly invented teleportation device.

Director:

Kurt Neumann

Writers:

George Langelaan (story), James Clavell

Stars:

David Hedison, Patricia Owens, Vincent Price

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
David Hedison	...	Andre Delambre (as Al Hedison)
Patricia Owens	...	Helene Delambre
Vincent Price	...	François Delambre
Herbert Marshall	...	Insp. Charas
Kathleen Freeman	...	Emma
Betty Lou Gerson	...	Nurse Andersone
Charles Herbert	...	Philippe Delambre

Storyline

After her husband Andre Delambre is crushed to death in a mechanical press, his wife recounts to his brother Francois Delambre and police Inspector Charas the events of the previous few months. They were very much in love and with their little boy, a very happy family. Andre was experimenting with teleportation - transporting objects from one point to another by breaking the object down to the atomic level and then reassembling it in a receiver a distance away. The system had some glitches - it seemed to work with inanimate object but his cat disappeared when he tried teleporting it. He thinks he's solved all of the problems with his invention and decides to try and teleport himself. When a fly enters the teleportation device with him, disaster strikes.

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Plot Keywords:

fly | scientist | teleportation | atom | inspector | 

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Taglines:

The fly with the head of a man...! And the man with the head of a fly!

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

1958 (Norway)

Also Known As:

La mosca

Filming Locations:

Stage 9, 20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$700,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the scene where the fly with Andre Delambre's head and arm is caught in the spider's web, a small animatronic figure with a moving head and arm was used in the spiderweb as a reference for actors Vincent Price and Herbert Marshall. Price later remembered that filming the scene required multiple takes, because each time he and Marshall looked at the animatronic figure, with its human head and insect body, they would burst out laughing.

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Goofs

When the fly is first revealed in the spider's web, when Vincent Price's character is unaware, you see the fly struggling in the web. The string used to make the fly shake is visible.

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Quotes

François Delambre: No, Helene and Andre believed in the sacredness of life. They wouldn't harm anything... not even a fly.

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Connections

Referenced in Half-Life 2 (2004)

User Reviews

It's a bad day to be a fly

The Fly is a movie I have just been dying to see, I have heard a lot about this movie, mainly the infamous "Help me! Help me!" scene. But of course the number one reason being that this is the original to the remake with Jeff Goldblum which is an incredible movie in itself, but I was curious what the original would be about. Honestly I was thinking that it was going to be very cheesy, it's a 1950's horror movie that would probably be over the top, but honestly, from the very beginning you get gore, which was odd, but sickly enough I love it! I am also a huge Vincent Price fan, this is the man of the classic B horror movies and his voice and presence make these movies worth the watch. So I finally got to see this on netflix, I absolutely loved The Fly. Is this better than the remake? Honestly, the remake is more realistic on what would happen if this really did occur, but don't overlook the original, as cheesy as a fly in a giant trench coat can be, it's all good and this story is tons of fun and really scary.

A woman named Helene Delembre phones her brother-in-law, Francois Delambre to tell him that she has just murdered her husband. Francois calls in the police and she admits killing him but refuses to say why. Later, Francois tricks her into telling the story to him and Police Inspector Charas. A scientist, Andre Delambre, has invented a teleportation device. After a few failed attempts, he succeeds with living organisms, deciding to go for the ultimate risk and transport himself. The first time works, but, unknown to him, a fly enters the cabin with him and the two are hopelessly scrambled together. The scientist emerges as a half-man, half-fly, a human with a fly's head, leg and arm/claw. His wife finds out something is wrong as she now sees him with a cloth over his head and a hidden arm. He eventually tells his wife what has happened and she first sees his claw and screams, then later sees his fly head and screams more. His wife, son and maid try to find the "fly with a white head" and fail. The son had caught it just after the accident but had been made to let it go, before any of them knew what it was. Andre attempts to reverse the process to return himself to normal, but fails and when he realizes that his mind is being overtaken by that of the fly he asks his wife to end his suffering by killing him with a heavy machine press.

The Fly is a fantastic and thrilling movie. I know that the ending sequence of "Help me! Help me!" was cheesy and over the top to some, but to me it was just plain creepy, it really scared me. The whole atmosphere of the film just felt uncomfortable and disturbing. Granted, I know these were not top of the line make up effects with the fly, I do have to laugh juts a little bit with seeing a fly in a trench coat. But still it was effective and made for a great sci-fi story. I love these old movies for a specific reason, this was the time when film meant something to the cast and crew making it and The Fly was made to give people the chills. It's just rare now-a-days, if this was made in today's world, it would be all gore and just stupid. So I do recommend that you see this film if you are looking for a good scare. Both this and the remake are terrific films and are a ton of fun to watch.

8/10