The Fly

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Kurt Neumann directs. Karl Struss behind the camera. Paul Sawtell scores. Merrill G. White cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in French, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Shot for just $0.7M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
• 2Made its money back 4.3× over at the box office.
• 368 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
• 4Dialogue crosses 2 languages: French, English.
• 5Part of the "The Fly Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
• 6Directed by Kurt Neumann, shot by Karl Struss. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 7Original score by Paul Sawtell. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 8Editor Merrill G. White shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 9David Hedison and Patricia Owens and Vincent Price carry the top of the cast.
• 10Marketing tagline: "If she looked upon the horror her husband had become...She would scream for the rest of her life!".
• 11IMDB entry: tt0051622 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 12Classified under 17 themes, including "experiment", "teleportation", "inventor", "mutation".
• 13Released under 11 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography

Karl Struss

Original score

Paul Sawtell

Editing

Merrill G. White

Costume design

Adele Balkan

Makeup / hair

Ben Nye

Runtime

94 min · 1h 34m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$700,000

Box office

$3,000,000

Return

429% of budget

Original language

EN

IMDB

The Fly (1958) ↗

Rotten Tomatoes

95% 🍅 Fresh

Metacritic

62/100

IMDB rating

7.1/10 · 27,212 votes

MPAA

Approved

Part of

The Fly Collection

An American science-fiction horror film series based on the short story "The Fly" by George Langelaan. It was followed by two sequels, Return of the Fly, and Curse of the Fly.

• 
  The Fly

  1958 · this one
• 
  Return of the Fly

  1959
• 
  Curse of the Fly

  1965

Also by

Kurt Neumann

• 
  Sealed Lips

  1931 · ★ 10.0
• 
  The Red Shadow

  1932 · ★ 10.0
• 
  The Affair of Susan

  1935 · ★ 10.0
• 
  Let's Talk It Over

  1934 · ★ 10.0
• 
  Trapped

  1931 · ★ 9.0
• 
  Hiawatha

  1952 · ★ 9.0

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  The Fly ≣ 1958 ≣ Trailer

  Trailer
• 

  ▶
  The Fly (1958) Trailer #1 | Movieclips Classic Trailers

  Trailer
• 

  ▶
  The Fly Collection - The Fly (1958) - Official Trailer

  Trailer · Official
• 

  ▶
  The Fly (1958) - Trailer

  Trailer

Community reviews

What people are saying

• John Chard2020-03-21
  ★ 8/10

  It'd be funny if life wasn't so sacred. The Fly is directed by Kurt Neumann and adapted to screenplay by James Clavell from the short story written by George Langelaan. It stars David Hedison, Patricia Owens, Vincent Price, Herbert Marshall, Kathleen Freeman and Betty Lou Gerson. Music is by Paul Sawtell and cinematography by Karl Struss. When science goes berserk, The Fly finds Hedison as scientist Andre Delambre, who after successfully inventing the ability to transmit matter from one place to another - falls prey to a cruel slice of horrific fate... Kurt Neumann would sadly pass away shortly after The Fly was released. Itself a terrible shame, it's doubly sad that he didn't get to see his film become a cult favourite with longevity assured. It's a film that smartly blends sci-fi with horror, and even managing to be fun into the bargain. It's sometimes by modern observers accused of being too slow, but really it's a lesson in fine story telling. For at the heart of the tragic tale is a bountiful love story, the loyalty of a great wife in full effect. Throw in Andre's stoic pursuit of a science to benefit mankind, and this is a film that needs time to lay the story foundations. Once we get to the horrors, and the surviving characters of the flashback structure play out this fateful tale, it simultaneously grips and fascinates. The effects work of course now looks a bit creaky, but those who first sampled them many decades ago have never ever forgotten the impact of the critical sequences. Two pretty poor sequels would follow, which in turn would see a brilliant remake by David Cronenberg some 28 years later. Neumann's film is still a great piece of 1950s sci-fi, clinically adapted from a genius piece of short story writing. Loop holes exist, of course, but who cares, dive in and be haunted by what transpires on the screen. 8/10

  Read full review ↓
• Wuchak2022-06-15
  ★ 8/10

  “Help me, help me” An inventor (David Hedison) creates an amazing teleportation device that leads to horrific problems. Patricia Owens plays his loving wife, Vincent Price his brother and Herbert Marshall an inspector. "The Fly" (1958) is classic 50’s sci-fi/horror that led to two B&W sequels (1959, 1965) and two remakes in the 80s (1986, 1989). Just so there’s no mistake, this is in full color and was never B&W, as some misremember. There are naturally dated aspects, but I find it more effective than the gory 1986 remake. Everything builds to the horrifying climax, which is iconic. There’s even some welcome human interest for those who watch closely. The film runs 1 hour, 34 minutes, and was shot at Fox Studios, Century City, Los Angeles. One source also includes Montréal, Québec, although I can’t figure out what scene(s) that would be. GRADE: A-/B+

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  20th Century Fox

  US

• RE

  Regal Films

  US

Key crew

• ProducerRobert L. Lippert
• ProducerKurt Neumann
• EditorMerrill G. White
• SoundHarry M. Leonard
• Art DirectionTheobold Holsopple
• Set DecorationWalter M. Scott
• Art DirectionLyle R. Wheeler
• SoundEugene Grossman
• Visual EffectsL.B. Abbott
• Makeup ArtistBen Nye
• Sound EditorDon Isaacs
• Set DecorationEli Benneche
• Sound EditorDick Jensen
• ConductorBernhard Kaun
• HairstylistHelen Turpin
• Assistant EditorOrven Schanzer
• Title DesignerWayne Fitzgerald
• Costume DesignAdele Balkan
• Script SupervisorKathleen Fagan
• Special EffectsJames B. Gordon
• Lighting TechnicianEarl Gilbert
• Dialogue CoachClarence Marks
• Assistant DirectorJack Gertsman
• Short StoryGeorge Langelaan

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• experiment
• teleportation
• inventor
• mutation
• hybrid
• montreal, canada
• scientist
• housekeeper
• spider web
• told in flashback
• fly (insect)
• house fly
• animal horror
• fly/human hybrid
• science laboratory
• in-home laboratory
• murder of husband

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical1958-07-16

Also known as

International titles

• La Mosca de la Cabeza BlancaAR
• De vliegBE
• La moucheBE
• FluganFI
• I mygaGR
• I myigaGR
• La mosca de cabeza blancaPE
• МухаSU
• 變蠅人誕生TW
• ハエ男の恐怖JP
• MilçəkAZ