Lord of the Flies (1963)

Lost on an island, young survivors of a plane crash eventually revert to savagery despite the few rational boys' attempts to prevent that.

Director:

Peter Brook

Writer:

William Golding (novel)

Stars:

James Aubrey, Tom Chapin, Hugh Edwards

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
James Aubrey	...	Ralph
Tom Chapin	...	Jack
Hugh Edwards	...	Piggy
Roger Elwin	...	Roger
Tom Gaman	...	Simon
Roger Allan	...	Piers
David Brunjes	...	Donald
Peter Davy	...	Peter
Kent Fletcher	...	Percival Wemys Madison
Nicholas Hammond	...	Robert
Christopher Harris	...	Bill
Alan Heaps	...	Neville
Jonathan Heaps	...	Howard
Burnes Hollyman	...	Douglas
Andrew Horne	...	Matthew

Storyline

A group of young boys are stranded alone on an island. Left to fend for themselves, they must take on the responsibilities of adults, even if they are not ready to do so. Inevitably, two factions form: one group (lead by Ralph) want to build shelters and collect food, whereas Jack's group would rather have fun and HUNT; illustrating the difference between civilization and savagery.

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Plot Keywords:

innocence lost | airplane | smoking plane | walk | boy | 

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Taglines:

Evil is inherent in the human mind, whatever innocence may cloak it...

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 August 1963 (USA)

Also Known As:

El señor de las moscas

Filming Locations:

Aguadilla, Puerto Rico

Box Office

Budget:

$250,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Two Arts Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

During the first week of film shooting on the Island of Vieques, Puerto Rico, the Bay of Pigs Invasion began. This impacted filming because the wounded were evacuated to the U.S. naval hospital on Vieques.

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Goofs

As Piggy is near-sighted, his spectacles could not be used as a "magnifying glass" to light a bonfire: lenses for near-sightedness would scatter, not focus, the sun's rays. (This error occurs in the original novel and was perpetuated in the 1990 remake of the film.)

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Quotes

Roger: LOOK! The beast!

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Crazy Credits

The opening credits list the entire production crew but none of the actors.

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Connections

Referenced in Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Return: Wizards of the Lost Kingdom (2017)

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Soundtracks

Kyrie Eleison
(uncredited)
Performed by Choir Group

User Reviews

A MASTERPIECE.

This is one of those rarest of rare birds: a film that is totally faithful to the novel upon which it is based.

During his lifetime, William Golding was ever protective of his greatest creation. When it came to making a film of 'Lord of the Flies' some of the greatest screen writers and playwrights of the day had a go at producing a script for it - all of them being turned down by Golding himself. Finally, it was decided to attempt the film as a sort of Drama Workshop. Thus it was that 30+ boys, plus director Peter Brook, a film crew and the regulation chaperones found themselves living in a bunk house, which had been an old canning factory, on the island of Vieques off Puerto Rico, with little more than copies of the novel and an outline of the idea and the limitation of the school holidays in which to make the film.

The result defies belief. This is a masterpiece of Youth Drama, years ahead of its time. Even today, 40 years on, it is still staggering in its truth and clarity. The powerful imagery, chilling in its simplicity, far transcends anything which could be achieved with present day digital trickery. Not for this film the obvious blood and guts of action horror; here we have the most unspeakable acts made far more terrifying by their very understatement. (Simon's death must be one of the foulest acts ever filmed - but then, in reality, it was not - it is all in the imagination of the viewer and becomes far more terrible than any actual depiction of the act of ritualistic murder could ever be!).

When the great day of reckoning comes, this film will stand head and shoulders above all other film adaptations of novels.