Lord of the Flies (1963)

My Review

“Lord of the Flies” is survivalist drama film about thirty English school boys marooned on a deserted Pacific island, where their behavior degenerates into savagery and even murder. Director-screenwriter Peter Brook put together an excellent film with good production values, memorable performances, and outstanding writing. It was adapted from the 1954 novel of the same name by William Golding, keeping most of the storyline from the book intact in the movie.

The cast includes James Aubrey, Nicholas Hammond, Tom Chapin, Hugh Edwards, Tom Gaman, David Surtees, and Simon Surtees. The watchable “Lord of the Flies” was not a success at the box office for Allan-Hodgdon Productions, Two Arts, Lord of the Flies Company, and British Lion Film Corporation. This low-budget black-and-white production was overshadowed in 1963 by the year’s biggest hit “Cleopatra” starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. “Flies” was filmed on the island of Vieques in Puerto Rico. An inferior remake called “Lord of the Flies” was released in 1990.