Superior 1950’s horror/science fiction movie involving electronic whiz Andre Delambra, David Hedison, who after inventing, secretly in his basement, a contraption which he called a “Disintegrater Intergreater”. Which was capable of transporting, through the miracle of tele-transportation, objects from one point to another over hundreds if not thousands of miles in an instant. Andre got so carried away with his new found, or invented, toy that he used it on himself with disastrous results.
Andre is found at his family owned plant, Delambra Electronics, with his head and left hand cashed under the weight of a powerful hydraulic press by the night watchman Gaston, Troben Meyer, with his wife Helene, Patrica Owens , fleeing the scene. Helene calls her brother-in-law Fancois, Vincent Price, and tells him that she just killed his bother Andra. Francois at first thinking that Helene’s is playing some kind of sick joke on him is later contacted by Gaston telling him the very same story with Helene being at the scene of the crime. Which makes Francois realize that Helene is either mad or a cold blooded and unrepentant murderess.
Coming on the scene is police inspector, and good friend of the Delmbra’s, Charas, Herbert Marshall, who’s very concerned about Helene’s state of mind after finding out, at the Delambra Plant, that indeed her husband Andre was killed. It takes a while for the story that Helene tells about her husbands demise, since it’s so unbelievable, that we have to sit through a long flash-back that takes up almost half of the movie “The Fly” to find out what lead to Andre’s tragic death and it’s a real whopper.
Andre having invented his transportation device got so carried away with it that, like a little boy with a new toy to play with, he started transporting everything in sight. Not satisfied with just transporting objects like ash trays and newspapers Andre started transporting living things like a hamster and the family cat Dandilo who for some reason, it’s never explained in the movie, disappeared into the ether never to be seen or heard from again.
Finally trying the device on himself Andre didn’t notice that there was a fly in the machine with him and when he, and the fly, went from point A to Point B he ended up with the flies head and left hand and the Fly with Andre’s same, head and left hand, body parts. That made it very difficult for Andre to go out in public, looking like the Flyman, or even show himself to his wife Helene and year-old son Philippe, Charles Herbert.
With the only chance of getting back to normal being capturing the fly, with Andre’s head and hand, and putting it and himself back in the transportation device then having his, and the flies, body parts reassembled back again to their rightful owner. It turned that butterfingers Helene screws it all up by letting the fly, with Andre’s body parts, escape from the house through a broken window.
Helene who at first was very hesitant to have Andre done away with, Andre communicates with her by typing out messages on a typewriter, which was his wish suddenly changed her mind when she saw him in his fly, or insect, state of existence. That was after she unconsciously pulled off the black tablecloth, that he had covering , his face! Then and only then did Helene go along with his wild and insane idea of having him and his experiments and papers, which Andre destroyed, blotted out of existence. So that no one can experience the horrors that he just did.
Nobody in their right mind listening to Helene’s story , that includes Francois and Inspetor Charas, can believe what’s she’s saying is true. As she’s slated to be taken away to a mental institution for the criminally insane little Philippe runs into the house excitedly telling his uncle and the inspector that he just saw the fly, with Andre’s body parts, stuck in a spider web! Rushing out to the park where Philippe said he saw the disable fly both Francois and Inspector Charas indeed see that Helene was right! Inspector Charas who saved the fly, or Andre, from a fate worse then death itself is now forced to drop all charges against Helene, since like he said he’s just as guilty as she is!It turned out that Helene killed a man with the head and arm of a fly and Inspector Charas killed a fly with the head and arm of a Human Being! Oh The Humanity!
