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49246
The Fly
(1958)
Once it was human... even as you and I!
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Stars: David Hedison, Patricia Owens, Vincent Price, Herbert Marshall, Kathleen Freeman
Director: Kurt Neumann
Writer: James Clavell, George Langelaan
Language: English
Studio: Twentieth Century Fox
Duration: 94
Rated: Unrated
DVD Release: March 2003

The plot device is so damned great that it simply had to be revisited: a scientist invents a device that transmits matter by disintegrating it in one chamber and reintegrating it in another. When he attempts to transmit his own body, he accidentally allows a fly into the chamber, and the resulting man-insect hybrid runs rampant across the Canadian countryside. Philippe, the son of that ill-fated scientist, is told the family history by a benevolent uncle (an oddly prim Vincent Price); possessed with the scientific will-to-know, he becomes determined to re-create his father's experiments. The legendarily silly costuming of the original Fly returns, and with it, the perplexing logic of transmogrification--it becomes difficult to decipher which of the man-insect hybrids we're meant to understand as possessing Phillipe's agency. The film is hampered by the lack of a strong female lead, and by performances by all principals that are disappointingly modern in their clear motivation and restraint. Almost normal--even by modern standards--Return of the Fly represents an interesting bridging piece between the arty, abstract, symbolist sci-fi aesthetic of the early '50s and the naturalist, highly mimetic, realist style that quickly came to dominate the genre. --Miles Bethany


David HedisonAndre Delambre (as Al Hedison)
Patricia OwensHelene Delambre
Vincent PriceFrancois Delambre
Herbert MarshallInspector Charas
Kathleen FreemanEmma, the Delambre Maid
Betty Lou GersonNurse Andersone
Charles HerbertPhilippe Delambre
Bess FlowersLady at the Ballet (uncredited)
Eugene BordenDr. Ejoute
Paul SawtellComposer
Karl StrussCinematographer
Harry CarterOrderly
Torben MeyerGaston
George CalligaClub member
Arthur DulacFrench Waiter
Bill ClarkPoliceman
Jeff GoldblumSeth Brundle
Geena DavisVeronica Quaife
Merrill G. WhiteEditor
John GetzStathis Borans
Joy BoushelTawny
Herschel GrahamClub member
Sol MurgiAudience Member
George NardelliDetective
Franz RoehnPolice Doctor
Charles TannenDoctor
Theobold HolsoppleArt Director
Lyle R. WheelerArt Director
Adele BalkanCustome Designer
Genre: Science Fiction
Media: DVD
Sound: AAC
IMDb: 0051622