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The Incredible Shrinking Man
A classic from the 50s sci-fi golden age
1957
Director: Jack Arnold
Starring: Grant Williams, Randy Stuart
Yes, but especially after the halfway mark
THE SETUP:
Man passes through a radioactive cloud and then starts shrinking
DISCUSSION:
From the mind of Richard Matheson, who gave us the stories that have turned into the movies The Omega Man, What Dreams May Come, Somewhere In Time, Stir of Echoes, etc., comes this staple of 50s sci-fi movies, which still pretty much holds up today. It's a crime that it isn't on DVD.
Me and my friend had watched The Incredible Shrinking Woman the week before, which put a fire under me to watch this one. You can see which sequences were recreated or reimagined for 'Woman,' and watching the two of them as a pair can be instructive.
The movie opens with Grant Williams' character Scott ordering his girlfriend to go get him a beer. She refuses. Then he suggests that the two of them get married. as a way of persuading her to get him a beer. It really is remarkable how much energy the guy is expending on just convincing the woman to get the beer. I guess it just doesn't taste as good if he gets it himself. Anyway, this first scene tips one off right away why Lily Tomlin and co. would want to make a feminist retelling of this with 'Woman.'
Six months later, apparently he and his girlfriend Louise got married. Scotty's suits appear larger at first, then it becomes apparent that he's shrinking, but the real fun doesn't begin until he's half his size, and the real REAL fun doesn't begin until he's the size of an action figure.
The majority of the fun here comes from the special effects. This was obviously back when special effects consisted of clever ways of constructing illusions, not just tweaking software, and as a result the special effects are fun and clever, not just tiresome, and you wonder how they accomplished them, instead of just knowing that it's all code. I particularly admired the shot of the doctor pinching Scotty's small arm-it took me a second to realize that they had switched him out with a child for that shot.
Anyway, back to the story. When Scott is about 3 feet tall, he meets a dwarf [who claims to be a midget], who also just happens to be quite pretty, and becomes all excited and wants to see her again. And the viewer thinks: "Yeah, but what about your WIFE?!" This guy is a real asshole. He's ready to just forget his wife, who up until now has been very supportive to him, and once he realizes he's still shrinking, he's more of a jerk to her than ever. "Every day I became more tyrannical," he says, "Monstrous in my domination of Louise."
You said it, fuck face.
Louise does get a bit of revenge later when Scotty falls down into the basement and she assumes that he's lost. She just gives up and moves out, while we in the audience know that he's alive and inhabiting the basement. Louise never goes down there for any reason, it seems. There is a moment of unintentional humor when Louise describes how she feels strange giving up hope that he's alive. "Maybe he's lost," she says. Well, toots, then maybe you should LOOK FOR HIM!!!
There are two spectacular set pieces, one in which Scotty is attacked by the cat in the doll house. I remember this, but I didn't remember that the cat caught and played with him like a mouse, and I had forgotten how Scotty gets out of the situation. The second is the battle with the spider that lives in the basement, which is not some common household spider, but a tarantula. Okay. maybe they live in Arizona..? This movie also features the charming convention that when the spider jumps on top it's prey, it just kind of paws at it ineffectually for a minute or two before stopping, then slowly lowering its jaws toward it.
The movie takes on a "getting back to the primal self" aspect with Scotty taking a pin as a sword [from the pincushion that just happens to be laying on the basement floor] and learning to survive by making tools and hunting. He even has a monster to slay in the spider. He struggles to get to the window, which is near where the spider lives, and where "the food" lies. I like how the screenplay just refers to whatever it is [looks like a lump of bread?] as "the food." At this point Scotty has already realized that he's just going to keep shrinking, but I found it interesting that the screenplay had to invent some sort of GOAL for him to keep striving for. because if not, why should you keep watching this movie?
One thing worth observing is that the majority of the basement sequence is silent, with just music accompanying Scott's adventures. The viewer IS treated to Matheson's musings on the mental transformations one undergoes while shrinking and being forced to fend for oneself ["I no longer hated the spider."] The movie ends with some theological musings on what it all means.
Bitch whatever, just get me the special effects.
SHOULD YOU WATCH IT?
YES! It's a total classic, with really cool scenes!
RELATED MOVIES:
THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING WOMAN is a comedy retelling of this film, part feminist/anticorporate screed, part horror film, and part comedy. It is interesting to watch in relation to this film.
