NationMaster - Encyclopedia: The Fly (1958 film)

The Fly (1958) is an American science-fiction/horror film, directed by Kurt Neumann. The screenplay was written by James Clavell (his first), from the short story "The Fly" by George Langelaan. The Fly is a 1986 science fiction/horror/romantic tragedy film produced by Brooksfilms and 20th Century Fox, directed by David Cronenberg, and starring Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis and John Getz. ... Image File history File links Theflyposter. ... Kurt Neumann (5 April 1898, Nuremberg, Germany - 21 August 1958, Los Angeles) was a Hollywood film director who specialized in science fiction movies in his later career. ... Kurt Neumann (5 April 1898, Nuremberg, Germany - 21 August 1958, Los Angeles) was a Hollywood film director who specialized in science fiction movies in his later career. ... George Langelaan (1908-1969) was a British-born writer. ... James Clavell, born Charles Edmund Dumaresq Clavell (10 October 1924 â€“ 7 September 1994) was a British novelist, screenwriter, director and World War II hero and POW. Clavell is best known for his epic Asian Saga series of novels and their televised adaptations, along with such films as The Great Escape... Vincent Leonard Price Jr. ... David Hedison is seen playing CIA agent Felix Leiter in Live and Let Die. ... Herbert Marshall (1890-1966) was a popular English cinema and theatre actor who overcame the loss of a leg during World War I, to enjoy a long career, initially as a romantic lead and then in character roles. ... Kathleen Freeman (February 17, 1919 - August 23, 2001) was an American film, television, and stage character actress. ... Betty Lou Gerson (April 20, 1914 - January 12, 1999) was an American actress, predominantly in radio, but also in film and television, and as a voice actress. ... Charles Herbert, (born Charles Herbert Saperstein on December 23, 1948, in Culver City, California, USA), was a prolific American film and TV child actor of the 1950s and 1960s. ... Paul Sawtell (February 3, 1906 - August 1, 1971) was a film movie composer. ... Twentieth (20th) Century Fox Film Corporation (known from 1935 to 1985 as Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation) is one of the six major American film studios. ... is the 241st day of the year (242nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Jan. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Return of the Fly is the first sequel to the 1958 horror film The Fly. ... Image File history File links CharlesHerbert2. ... Image File history File links CharlesHerbert2. ... Charles Herbert, (born Charles Herbert Saperstein on December 23, 1948, in Culver City, California, USA), was a prolific American film and TV child actor of the 1950s and 1960s. ... Vincent Leonard Price Jr. ... The year 1958 in film involved some significant events. ... Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... Horror Movie redirects here. ... Kurt Neumann (5 April 1898, Nuremberg, Germany - 21 August 1958, Los Angeles) was a Hollywood film director who specialized in science fiction movies in his later career. ... James Clavell, born Charles Edmund Dumaresq Clavell (10 October 1924 â€“ 7 September 1994) was a British novelist, screenwriter, director and World War II hero and POW. Clavell is best known for his epic Asian Saga series of novels and their televised adaptations, along with such films as The Great Escape... The Fly is a short story by George Langelaan that was published in 1957 in Playboy magazine. ... George Langelaan (1908-1969) was a British-born writer. ...

It was remade under the same title in 1986, and was slated to be remade again in 2006. The latter remake has been delayed. The Fly is a 1986 science fiction/horror/romantic tragedy film produced by Brooksfilms and 20th Century Fox, directed by David Cronenberg, and starring Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis and John Getz. ... Year 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar). ...

Synopsis

The movie starts with a watchman finding a man's head and arm crushed beneath a heavy metal press. A woman phones her brother-in-law (Vincent Price) to tell him that she has just murdered her husband. Price calls in the police and she admits killing him but refuses to say why. Later, Price tricks her into telling the story to him and the Police Inspector.

A Canadian scientist (Al Hedison) has invented a teleportation device (although that word is never used in the film). He has a number of setbacks including his first attempt to teleport something live when he thinks he has ironed out the earlier problems. The family's pet cat vanishes from one booth but does not appear in the other booth and a cat's meow is heard from somewhere but it is gone. Hedison sorts out the problems and as his wife has found out what has happened to the cat, she has made him promise not to use animals any more so he tries it himself. The first time works but unknown to him, a fly (bluebottle) enters the cabin with him and the two are hopelessly scrambled together. The scientist emerges as a half-man, half-fly hybrid — a human with a fly's head and insect left arm and claw (the fly's leg). This is not shown happening and we first see Hedison in this state (though covered up) 56 minutes into the film. A scientist, in the broadest sense, refers to any person that engages in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge or an individual that engages in such practices and traditions that are linked to schools of thought or philosophy. ... David Hedison is seen playing CIA agent Felix Leiter in Live and Let Die. ... Teleport redirects here. ... For other uses, see Fly (disambiguation) and Flies (disambiguation). ... This article is about a biological term. ...

His wife finds out something is wrong as she now sees him with a cloth over his head (Hedison played the character all through the film) 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 a lot more (we see her screaming in multiple image, as a fly would. 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. Pathetically Hedison attempts to reverse the process to return himself to normal, but fails and when he realises that his mind is being overtaken by that of the fly he asks his wife to kill him using a heavy machine press (fifty tons pressure).

The Inspector cannot believe the story and decides to have her charged with murder but with a plea of insanity and as they come to take her away, the son again finds the fly. Price and the Inspector rush to see it. In the famous twist ending, the scientist's brother and Inspector Charas hear a tiny voice coming from a nearby spider's web; they make the dreadful discovery of a tiny creature with the scientist's emaciated head and arm and the body of a fly, shrieking, "Help me! Help me!" as it is about to be devoured by a large spider. The inspector, horrified by the sight, mercifully crushes the prey and predator with a stone. A twist ending or surprise ending is an unexpected conclusion or climax to a work of fiction, and which often contains irony or causes the audience to reevaluate the narrative or characters. ...

The film ends with the woman making a good recovery and playing with her son and Price there with them. Since the Inspector had seen the fly with the human head, he knew her story was true and with Price, they had concocted a story where Hedison's character had committed suicide, so she escaped any charge. In the original story, a matchbox with the dead fly is buried next to the grave of the man who shared parts with it.

The film is available on DVD and the commentary says that the film took only 18 days to make and unexpectedly made $3,000,000. This was 1 of 3 films Hedison made before moving studios and being made to change his name from Al to David. The film was made in CinemaScope and Terror-Color by De Luxe.

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Synopsis