The Fly (1958)

There’s something both quaint and thrilling about such a title — THE FLY. James Clavell (SHOGUN) rewrote a prize-winning short story by George Langelaan into one of the 1950s’ most familiar and most popular science fiction movies. At least two of its moments — the revelation of the monster and the chilling wrap-up (“Heelllllppp meeeeee”) — are indelibly imprinted on the brains of every fan of creature features. As directed by Kurt Neumann (ROCKETSHIP X-M) and shot by Karl Struss (KRONOS) in CinemaScope and DeLuxe color, THE FLY made so much money for 20th Century Fox that two sequels followed, as well as a 1986 remake directed by David Cronenberg (SCANNERS) and a sequel to the remake.

Al Hedison is the star in a role originally created for Michael Rennie (THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL) and Rick Jason (later to star in COMBAT!). After THE FLY, Hedison changed his first name to David and became a household name backing up Richard Basehart for four seasons on VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. Playing a scientist named Andre Delambre, Hedison is unconvincing as a French Canadian, but, more importantly, he is believable selling Clavell’s (and Langelaan’s) basic premise, which is ridiculous. For the audience to become absorbed in the drama, they have to believe in Delambre, and Fox contract player Hedison succeeds.

Andre’s wife Helene (Patricia Owens) tells the story in flashback after confessing to Andre’s brother Francois (Vincent Price) and police inspector Charas (Herbert Marshall) to killing her husband with a hydraulic press. Andre had invented a “disintegrator/reintegrator” that scrambles atoms and reassembles them elsewhere. When he tried it on himself, a common housefly was trapped inside the chamber with him, resulting in Andre being reassembled in human form, but with a fly’s head and arm!

Though a more imaginative director than Neumann could have milked the story for more suspense, the decision that the actors play the material straight maximizes the horror. Never before has the simple act of writing on a blackboard been so heartbreaking. Even though Hedison’s face is masked by a black hood, it’s his strongest dramatic moment in THE FLY. Price returned for the first sequel, RETURN OF THE FLY, with Brett Halsey playing Andre’s son.