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Helene Delambre (Patricia Owens), wife of scientist Andre Delambre (David Hedison), contacts the police to inform them that she has just killed her husband but refuses to tell them why. When Andre's brother François (Vincent Price) tricks her into revealing the reason, Helene tells how Andre was working on a teleportation device and how he transported himself from one chamber to another. Unfortunately, there was a fly in the chamber with him and, when his atoms were reassembled, they got mixed up, giving Andre the head and arm of the fly.

The Fly is based on a short story of the same name by French-born (later British) author George Langelaan (1908-1972). The story was first published in the June, 1957 issue of Playboy magazine. It was adapted for the screen by British-born novelist James Clavell (1924-1994). The movie was followed by two sequels, Return of the Fly (1959) and Curse of the Fly (1965). It was remade in 1986 as The Fly (1986).

no use now— help me— but don't come near me— kill fly— ple[please]— LOVE YOU

After Helene explains to François and Inspector Charas (Herbert Marshall) how Andre came to be part fly and why she killed him, Charas is convinced only that Helene is insane and tells François that he plans to charge Helene with murder, if only to have her put away so that she doesn't kill someone else. After Charas leaves, François goes looking for the fly with the white head, but he is unsuccessful. He sits down on a bench next to which is a large spiderweb with the fly caught in it. The fly can be heard screaming, "Help me! Please, help meeee!" but François doesn't hear it. Charas and three men in white coats show up to take Helene away. So that Philippe (Charles Herbert) doesn't see his mother being taken away, François takes Philippe for a walk. Philippe mentions that he again saw the fly caught in a spiderweb, so François and Charas go together to look. They both see the fly, with its human head and arm, struggling in the web, screaming, "Help me! Please, help meeee!" Just as a spider is about to eat the fly, Charas picks up a rock and squashes both spider and fly. François points out that Charas, like Helene, is now also guilty of murder...Charas having killed a fly with a man's head and Helene having killed a man with a fly's head. Because no one will believe their story, they concoct a coverup, saying that Andre committed suicide, Helene tried to stop him, and the reason that the press was activated twice is because François forgot to reset it after last using it. In the final scene, François, Helene, and Philippe are playing croquet on the lawn. François and Philippe decide to go to the zoo. Helene sees them off and promises that they'll all three have dinner together that evening.

David Hedison. The audio engineers simply raised his voice pitch very high.

Many viewers who first saw The Fly in the 1960s swear that they saw it in black-and-white. The movie was actually shot in color. The best explanation for the discrepancy, other than faulty memories, is that they viewed the movie on a b/w television. There is also the possibility that some viewers are confusing this film with its sequels, both of which were shot in black-and-white.

Langelaan's story may still be copyright-protected, as it does not appear to be available for reading online. However, The Fly DVD, special edition (2-disc set), does contain the original story.