The Fly

The shadow of David Cronenberg's 1986 remake looms impossibly large over the original, 1958's THE FLY.  This does not mean my dear audience should avoid it, no no.  This is still a classic worthy of respect and admiration, even if it is often considered a campy creature feature.  James Clavell's screenplay, an adaptation of George Langelaan's short story, is a near perfectly tightened genre bender, combining science fiction, horror, love story, and murder mystery/procedural.  The existential plight of its protagonist, a dedicated scientist and family man whose experiments go very wrong is also nicely (if a bit lightly) considered. 

We learn at the outset that scientist Andre Delambre (David Hedison) was murdered by his wife Helene (Patricia Owens).  She confesses to the crime but curiously refuses to explain why.  This baffles Andre's brother, the lovelorn Francois (Vincent Price) and Inspector Charas (Herbert Marshall), who is more sympathetic than many movie detectives.  They listen to Helene's tale (a flashback that takes up much of the film's running time) of how she would end up putting her husband in a hydraulic press.  Of his grand invention - a device that can transport matter, one that seals his fate when he doesn't notice a housefly has joined him in the booth when he tests it on himself.  A terrible, heartbreaking result with a grim conclusion.  But will the men believe her story? Will Helene hang for her crime?

THE FLY builds its story nicely, sparing us over the top moments until that famous climax, which is memorable but not particularly well staged by director Kurt Neumann.  The terror and emotional impact of the scene is undermined by bad special effects.  Unfortunate, as James B. Gordon's work up to that point is more than decent.  For some, the reveal of the fly head will produce more of a chuckle than a gasp, but Clavell's and the actors' humanization of these characters give it a surprising gravitas.  This really is an effective, tragic story.  Helene wonders aloud, before things go awry, if it's wise to "play God."  She is dismayed by how quickly technology is changing their lives.  Same as it ever was.

But Neumann's direction is perfunctory, leaving the film a bit bland.  It needed more punch.  Price does good work in a supporting role; he's just so entertaining to watch.  But Charles Herbert? The kid who plays The Delambres' son Phillippe?  No comment, other than while the 1950s cornball tropes don't tract from THE FLY's tension, that kid's acting sure did.

Cronenberg did improve on this story significantly and his (of course more graphic) take is a must watch as well.   Keep an eye out for that review during a future "Horror Month"...