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.
The Fly is a 1958 American science fiction–horror film produced and directed by Kurt Neumann and starring David Hedison, Patricia Owens, Vincent Price, Herbert Marshall, Kathleen Freeman, Betty Lou Gerson, Charles Herbert, Eugene Borden, Torben Meyer, Eugene Borden and Bill Clark. The screenplay by James Clavell was based on the 1957 short story of the same name by George Langelaan.
The film tells the story of a scientist who is transformed into a grotesque creature after a common house fly enters unseen into a molecular transporter he is experimenting with, resulting in his atoms being combined with those of the insect, which produces a human–fly hybrid. The film was released in CinemaScope with Color by Deluxe by 20th Century Fox. It was followed by two black-and-white sequels, Return of the Fly (1959) and Curse of the Fly (1965). The original film was remade in 1986 by director David Cronenberg.
About the Production
Producer-director Kurt Neumann discovered the short story by George Langelaan in Playboy magazine. He showed it to Robert L. Lippert, head of 20th Century Fox’s subsidiary B-movie studio Regal Pictures. The film would be made by Lippert’s outfit but was released as an “official” Fox film, not under the less prestigious Regal banner.
Lippert hired James Clavell to adapt Langelaan’s story on the strength of a previous sci-fi spec script at RKO which had never been produced. It would become Clavell’s first filmed screenplay. Harry Spalding recalled the script was “the best first draft I ever saw, it needed very little work.”
The adaptation remained largely faithful to Langelaan’s short story, apart from moving its setting from France to Canada, and crafting a happier ending by eliminating a suicide. Sources vary as to the budget, with one source giving it as $350,000, another as $325,000 and others as high as $495,000. The shoot lasted 18 days in total. Lippert said the budget was $480,000. Photographic effects were handled by L. B. Abbott, with makeup by Ben Nye.
It was photographed in 20th Century Fox’s trademarked CinemaScope with Color by Deluxe. A $28,000 laboratory set was constructed from army surplus equipment. The Fly was released in July 1958 by 20th Century Fox. Producer-director Kurt Neumann died only a few weeks after its premiere, never realizing he had made the biggest hit of his career. One source claims it was on a double bill with Space Master X-7.
The film was a commercial success, grossing $3 million at the domestic box office against a budget of less than $500,000, and becoming one of the biggest hits of the year for Fox studios. It earned $1.7 million in theatrical rentals. Lippert claimed it earned $4 million.
The film’s financial success had the side-effect of boosting co-star Vincent Price (whose previous filmography featured only scattered forays into genre film) into a major horror star. Price himself was positive about the film, saying, decades later, “I thought THE FLY was a wonderful film – entertaining and great fun.”
The Fly (1958)
Directed by: Kurt Neumann
Starring: David Hedison, Patricia Owens, Vincent Price, Herbert Marshall, Kathleen Freeman, Betty Lou Gerson, Charles Herbert, Eugene Borden, Torben Meyer, Eugene Borden, Bill Clark
Screenplay by: James Clavell
Cinematography by: Karl Struss
Film Editing by: Merrill G. White
Costume Design by: Adele Balkan
Set Decoration by: Eli Benneche, Walter M. Scott
Art Direction by: Theobold Holsopple, Lyle R. Wheeler
Music by: Paul Sawtell
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: July 16, 1958 (United States)
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