The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)

Director:

Jack Arnold

Writers:

Richard Matheson (screenplay)
Richard Matheson (novel)

Release Date:

April 1957 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Almost beyond the imagination . . . A strange adventure into the unknown ! [UK Theatrical]

Plot:

Whe Scott Carey begins to shrink because of exposure to a combination of radiation and insecticide, medical science is powerless to help him.

Plot Keywords:

Cat | Insecticide | Spider | Cellar | Giant Spider

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Grant Williams	...	Scott Carey
Randy Stuart	...	Louise Carey
April Kent	...	Clarice
Paul Langton	...	Charlie Carey
Raymond Bailey	...	Doctor Thomas Silver
William Schallert	...	Doctor Arthur Bramson
Frank J. Scannell	...	Barker (as Frank Scannell)
Helene Marshall	...	Nurse
Diana Darrin	...	Nurse
Billy Curtis	...	Midget
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Lock Martin	...	Giant (scenes deleted)

Runtime:

81 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Spain:T | Australia:G | Finland:K-16 | USA:Passed | West Germany:12 | Sweden:15

Company:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Trivia:

Orson Welles did the narration for the trailer for this film. He was at Universal working on Touch of Evil (1958)

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Scott is crossing the hole in the crate by holding onto a rope and walking on the ledge of the paint can, the extra rope that should be hanging in the hole stays horizontal, revealing that the hole is, in fact, not a hole. It is especially visible when he gets to the other side and pulls back the rope towards him.

Quotes:

Scott Carey: I felt puny and absurd, a ludicrous midget. Easy enough to talk of soul and spirit and existential worth, but not when you're three feet tall. I loathed myself, our home, the caricature my life with Lou had become. I had to get out. I had to get away.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Watch the Skies!: Science Fiction, the 1950s and Us (2005) (TV)

Soundtrack:

The Incredible Shrinking Man Theme

Incredible indeed.

Along with "invasion of the body snatchers"(1956) "forbidden planet"(1956) and "the fly" (1958),the best movie sci-fi offered in the fifties.

Richard Matheson's remarkable novel was adapted by himself,thus the movie is an accurate rendition.Differences are kept to the minimum,and are probably due to censorship:one character,the pedophile,who wants to take the hero to his home has been removed and the relationship with Clarice remains platonic.Besides,Matheson focuses here on the second part of his novel,which takes place in the basement.

The special effects are absolutely stunning for the time ,but what's the most extraordinary is that they take a back seat to the hero's frames of mind:the voice-over is never redundant and Matheson's brilliant lines,a thousand miles above the B-movie level,perfectly convey his hero's plight."Arachnophobia"(1990),with a much more comfortable budget pales into insignificance when you've seen Grant Williams'fight with the spider.The doll house,the scenes with the midgets,the metaphysical final are as awesome today as they were half a century ago.Do not miss the cast and credits at the beginning either. During its second half,except for the voice-over,the movie is almost silent and Jack Arnold sustains the interest with only one character.

With its inexorable progression -the hero slowly becoming on his own-,its first-class screenplay and a fine direction by Jack Arnold,who could ask for a remake? This movie and the three I mention above are genuine classics,they have in common fears hidden in collective unconscious.