Return of the Fly (1959)

Director:

Edward Bernds

Writers:

Edward Bernds (writer)
George Langelaan (short story "The Fly")

Release Date:

July 1959 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Blood-curdling giant fly creature runs amuck!!!

Plot:

15 years after the events of "The Fly," Andre's son does some transportation experimentation of his own.

Plot Keywords:

Experiment | Fly | Botched Teleportation | Inspector | Scientist

Cast

Vincent Price	...	Francois Delambre
Brett Halsey	...	Philippe Delambre
John Sutton	...	Insp. Beecham
David Frankham	...	Ronald Holmes, alias Alan Hinds
Dan Seymour	...	Max Berthold
Danielle De Metz	...	Cecile Bonnard
Jack Daly	...	Granville (reporter)
Janine Grandel	...	Mme. Bonnard
Michael Mark	...	Gaston (watchman)
Richard Flato	...	Sgt. Dubois
Gregg Martell	...	Cop
Barry Bernard	...	Lt. MacLish
Pat O'Hara	...	Insp. Evans
Francisco Villalobos	...	Priest
Joan Cotton	...	Nurse
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Florence Strom	...	Nun (uncredited)
Ed Wolff	...	Philippe as The Fly (uncredited)

Directed by
Edward Bernds		(as Edward L. Bernds)

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Edward Bernds		writer (as Edward L. Bernds)
George Langelaan		short story "The Fly"

Produced by
Bernard Glasser	....	producer

Original Music by
Paul Sawtell
Bert Shefter

Cinematography by
Brydon Baker

Film Editing by
Richard C. Meyer

Art Direction by
John B. Mansbridge		(as John Mansbridge)
Lyle R. Wheeler

Set Decoration by
Joseph Kish
Walter M. Scott

Makeup Department
Hal Lierley	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Byron Roberts	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Bernard Freericks	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Robert A. Petzoldt	....	chief set electrician

Editorial Department
Orven Schanzer	....	first assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Sidney Cutner	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Roy Webb	....	composer: additional music (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Associated Producers (API)

Distributors

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (1959) (USA) (theatrical)
• Key Video (1985) (USA) (VHS) (pan/scan)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Fox Video (199?) (Japan) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Percepto Records  score album released by (limited edition)

Runtime:

80 min

Country:

USA

Language:

French | English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Finland:(Banned) (original rating) | Finland:K-18 (re-rating) | Spain:T | UK:12 | USA:Unrated | West Germany:16

Company:

Associated Producers (API)

Trivia:

The directors decided that Vincent Price was all they needed, so they hired no other actors from the first movie.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When Alan is about to run the detective's car into the lake, he first takes a rock and places it on the gas pedal of the car. During that scene, when he is leaning into the driver's side of the car, an arm reaches up for the steering wheel - obviously the stunt driver who was going to drive the "driverless" car.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Francois Delambre: [voice over] Here passes from this earth Helene Delambre, widow of my brother, Andre, whom I loved deeply, hopelessly. She was destroyed in the end by dreadful memories, a recollection of horrors that did not dim as the years went on, but instead grew monstrously, and left her mind shocked and unsteady, so that death, when it came, was a blessed release.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Creature Features: Return of the Fly (#1.16)" (1971)

Works Well As Light Entertainment, As Long As It's Not Compared With the Original

This is the kind of sequel that can be rather enjoyable as long as you don't hold it up to the standard of the original. It does bear the signs of a movie that was conceived primarily to capitalize on the popularity of its predecessor, and as a result it is hardly as carefully constructed. But as light entertainment, it works well enough.

The first part of the movie connects things up pretty efficiently with the original story, and it's kind of fun to go back to André's wrecked lab, which looks just as it should. Brett Halsey plays André's son Philippe, who is determined to follow in his father's footsteps. While the setup could have led in a number of different directions, the story that actually follows puts an emphasis on action, and it uses the special visual effects rather more freely than in the original "Fly".

From a scientific viewpoint, the whole premise of both movies is far-fetched at best, but in the original, you rarely thought about it because the story was so tightly constructed. In the sequel, the implausibility of the whole thing is harder to ignore. It doesn't detract that much from the entertainment value, but it is a noticeable difference from the first movie.

Except for Vincent Price, the cast is new, but solid. While the production might have a couple of rough edges this time, most of it still looks good enough. Overall, with the right expectations this is a generally entertaining light feature.