| “ | The Fly is on its way. Watch out for it! | „ |
| ~ Vincent Price in the theatrical trailer for The Fly. |
The Fly is the titular main antagonist of the 1958 horror film The Fly. It is the result of a failed experiment by Dr. Andre Delambre in which he attempted to teleport using equipment he designed to control the transfer of atoms to another location; a fly wanders into the machine at the moment of teleportation, however, mixing Delambre's atomic structure with that of the insect and transforming him into a hideous half-man, half-fly. Following his death, his son, Phillipe Delambre would take up the mantle after being transformed himself.
Biography[]
The Fly[]
Delambre was working on a machine that teleports matter, which works by disintegrating the object and transporting its atoms at the speed of light to a receiving chamber. He initially experiments with inanimate objects, but soon begins using living things, such as his cat and a guinea pig.
Upon the success of his first few trials, he attempts to teleport himself, but a fly enters the chamber with him without him noticing it, causing their atoms to mix.
Helene, his wife, who is concerned about her husband's secrecy, goes down to the laboratory to see how he is, since in previous days he had very strange attitudes such as excessive consumption of sugar and his obsession with the study of flies. However, he finds him with his head covered in a black cloth and with one of his deformed hands.
Delambre, who can only communicate through written notes, explains to Helene that when trying to teleport himself, a fly entered the blaster next to him, causing their phones to mix. That is why they must find the fly to put them back in the machine and return to their original state.
After several failed attempts to catch the fly, he thus escapes into the garden. Helene tells Andre what happened, and her husband gives her a note in which she explains that she must destroy all the evidence of the experiment, including himself, before his animal nature takes over completely and he begins hurting people. Helene begs Delambre to try teleporting again, without the fly, to see if he returns to normal.
However, it doesn't work, and Helene finally sees her husband's face, which resembles that of a giant fly. Horrified, she faints, and Delambre begins to destroy the laboratory and burns his notes. Fearing that he is losing control of his mind and body, Delambre convinces Helene to end his life using a hydraulic press. Upon arriving at the factory, he sets up the machine and asks Helene to press the button that will lower the press.
Later, Delambre is found dead, with his head and arm crushed by a hydraulic press. Although Helene confesses to having committed the crime, she refuses to reveal her motive.
Charas, the inspector in charge of the case, declares Helene insane and decides to blame her for her husband's murder, while the nurses respond to the house to take the woman. Phillipe, Delambre's son, tells Delambre's brother, Francois, that he saw the human-headed fly caught in a cobweb in the garden.
Francois convinces Charas to go to the garden, and finds the fly, which has Delambre's head and one of his arms, about to be eaten by a spider. Charas crushes the cobweb with a stone, killing the spider and the creature that had once been Delambre. Convinced of the veracity of the story, but doubting that anyone else would believe it, Charas decides to lie about the facts of the case, thus absolving Helene.
Return of the Fly[]
Some years later, following Helene's death, a journalist approaches the now-adult Phillipe and Francois, asking questions about the strange circumstances in which Delambre's had died years ago. Although the journalist is expelled by an inspector named Beecham, Philippe pleads with his uncle to tell him the truth about his father's death.
Francois decides to tell him the truth, for which he takes him to Delambre's old laboratory, which had been closed after his death. There he explained that his father had been experimenting with the transmission of the matter and had a serious accident that ended with a fly.
After listening to the story, Philipe informs his uncle that he has decided to continue with his father's work, for which he will rebuild his laboratory, Francois opposes his nephew's plan since he fears that he will suffer an accident like Andre, but Philippe insists in your homework. In order to continue with his father's work, Philippe has the help of his friend Alan Hinds, who travels with him to his parents' old mansion. A housekeeper, Mrs. Bonnard, lives in the house, along with her daughter Cecile. Although known as Alan Hinds, Philipe's assistant's real name is Ronald Holmes, a British criminal who is wanted by the police. Upon discovering the plans of Philipe he decides to steal the plans of the experiment.
Gallery[]
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Quotes[]
| “ | She disintegrated perfectly but never reappeared. I don't know why, even now. I redesigned the projecting device, and now it's perfect. (Helene: Well, where's she gone?} Into space. A stream of cat atoms. It would be funny if life weren't so sacred. | „ |
| ~ Describing Dandelo's fate. |
| “ | God gives us intelligence to uncover the wonders of nature. Without the gift, nothing is possible. | „ |
| ~ Justifying to Helene about playing God. |
| “ | Helene, I've had some trouble. I'm counting on you not to lose your nerve, for only you can help me. I've had a serious accident, but I'm not in danger at the moment, although it's a matter of life or death. It's no good calling to me or saying anything. I can't answer. I can't speak. You've got to do exactly and very carefully what I tell you. Knock three times to show you understand, then fetch me a bowl of milk laced with rum. | „ |
| ~ Delambre's first note to Helene. |
| “ | Remember the ashtray experiment? I've had a similar accident. I transmitted myself successfully yesterday morning. But in the second experiment, a fly, which I did not notice, was in the disintegrator with me. When we reintegrated again, our atoms were mixed. Now, my only hope is to find the fly. I've got to go through the machine once more with it and pray our atoms untangled. If you can't find it, I'll have to destroy myself. | „ |
| ~ Delambre's note to Helene describing what happened to him. |
| “ | If you had caught the fly, you would not be reading this. I know you will never catch it now. It's hopeless. There are things man should never experiment with. Now I must destroy everything, all evidence, even myself. No one must know what I discovered. It's too dangerous. I've thought of a way. It's not easy, but I need your help. | „ |
| ~ Delambre's note on his deciding fate. |
| “ | No use now - help me - b̲u̲t̲ ̲d̲o̲n̲'̲t̲ ̲c̲o̲m̲e̲ ̲n̲e̲a̲r̲ ̲m̲e̲. Kill fly - plea~ LOVE YOU | „ |
| ~ Delambre's last note to Helene on his chalkboard. |
| “ | Well, Philippe, he died because of his work. He was like an...like an explorer in a wild country where no one had even been before. He was searching for the truth. He almost found a great truth, but for one instant, he was careless. The search for the truth is the most important work in the whole world and the most dangerous. | „ |
| ~ Francois Delambre telling Philippe, his nephew, about his father's fate. |