Lord of the Flies (1963 film)
| Lord of the Flies | |
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Theatrical Release Poster
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| Directed by | Peter Brook |
| Produced by | Lewis M. Allen |
| Written by | Peter Brook |
| Based on |
Lord of the Flies by William Golding |
| Starring |
James Aubrey Tom Chapin Hugh Edwards Tom Gaman |
| Music by | Raymond Leppard |
| Cinematography | Tom Hollyman |
| Edited by | Peter Brook Gerald Feil Jean-Claude Lubtchansky |
| Distributed by |
British Lion (UK) Continental Distributing (US) |
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Release date
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Running time
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92 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $250,000 or ₤80,000 |
Lord of the Flies is a 1963 British film adaptation of William Golding's novel of the same name about 30 schoolboys who are marooned on an island where they become savages. It was directed by Peter Brook and produced by Lewis M. Allen. The film was in production for much of 1961, though the film was not released until 1963. Golding himself supported the film. When Kenneth Tynan was a script editor for Ealing Studios he commissioned a script of Lord of the Flies from Nigel Kneale, but Ealing Studios closed in 1959 before it could be produced.
The novel was adapted into a movie for a second time in 1990. The 1963 film is generally more faithful to the novel than the 1990 adaptation.
A group of British schoolboys, living in the midst of a war, are evacuated from England. Their airliner is shot down by briefly-glimpsed fighter planes and ditches near a remote island.
The main character, Ralph, is seen walking through a tropical forest. He meets an intelligent and chubby boy, who reveals his school nickname was Piggy, but asks that Ralph not repeat that. The two go to the beach where they find a conch shell, which Ralph blows to rally the other survivors. As they emerge from the jungle, it becomes clear that no adults have escaped the crash. Singing is then heard and a small column of school choir boys, wearing dark cloaks and hats and led by a boy named Jack Merridew, walk toward their direction.
The boys decide to appoint a chief. The vote goes to Ralph, not Jack. Initially, Ralph is able to steer the children (all of whom are aged between about six and fourteen) towards a reasonably civilized and co-operative society. Only the boy holding the conch is allowed to speak in turns during meetings or "assemblies". The choir boys make wooden spears, creating the appearance that they are warriors within the group. Crucially, Jack has a knife, capable of killing an animal.
The boys build shelters and start a signal fire using Piggy's glasses. With no rescue in sight, the increasingly authoritarian and violence-prone Jack starts hunting and eventually finds a pig. Meanwhile, the fire, for which he and his "hunters" are responsible, goes out, losing their chance of being spotted from a passing airplane. Piggy chastises Jack, and Jack strikes him in retaliation, knocking his glasses off, and breaking one lens. Ralph is furious with Jack. Soon some of the children begin to talk of a beast that comes from the water. Jack, obsessed with this imagined threat, leaves the group to start a new tribe, one without rules, where the boys play and hunt all day. Soon, more follow until only a few, including Piggy, are left with Ralph.
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