‘
Incredible Shrinking Man’ no small film
VIDEO VIPER in WEEKENDER, Jan. 29, 2010
So we were going through some old, dusty VHS tapes when we came across a cheesy promo for a movie called “The Incredible Shrinking Man.”
It was one of those campy, 1950s science fiction movies. You know, during the nuclear tests, Hollywood fed on fears by giving us men and women who grew super tall or short because of our meddling with nature. Hollywood also had those tests unleashing all kinds of prehistoric creatures, not to mention disruptions from other planets.
"The Incredible Shrinking Man" was in that mode.
So I found the film on Netflix, added it to my queue and had it two days later.
It opens with Scott Carey, played by Grant Williams, enjoying a vacation in a borrowed boat with his wife, Louise, (Randy Stewart), drinking in the sunshine. He asks her to get him a cold beer. She mockingly declines, saying she too is on vacation.
But of course, being the good 50s wife, she relents and goes inside to fetch the beer. Good thing, too, because soon Scott sees a thick, unworldly mist coming at him. He can't escape. It leaves a film on himself and his clothes. His wife, getting the brew, is unscathed.
Months later, the incident long forgotten, he tells his wife the dry cleaners are messing with his clothes, because his pants are too long and his shirt hangs on him.
A typical 50s explanation: His wife says he's been working too hard and not eating properly.
Still dogged that something isn't right, he visits his doctor, played by William Schallert. Schallert went on to play the father on "The Patty Duke Show" as well as a similar medical role in the film "Matinee," which parodied films like "Shrinking Man." Schallert is still working in his late 80s, most recently appearing on “Desperate Housewives.”
The Schallert character gives our boy Scott a logical explanation and says he can't physically be shrinking. But as Scott shrinks more, a subsequent visit has Schallert sending him to a research clinic for further study.
There he is met by a more eminent doctor / researcher, played by Raymond Bailey, who went on to regain his hair and become Banker Drysdale on “The Beverly Hillbillies.”
This is a pretty interesting and fun film and the special effects aren't nearly as bad as you might think. The funny instances are when there has been a gap in time and suddenly when we see him, he is less than four feet tall.
By the way, there is preproduction going on for a sequel to the film, to be made this year.
Around him are obviously larger-than-life props of furniture, ashtrays and the like.
He feels a kinship with a sideshow little person until he realizes he has suddenly shrunk smaller than her. (Researchers had told him they found a way to at least stop the shrinking.)
Later, we find him living in a dollhouse.
Sometimes these B movies are so dumb they are boring. You find yourself planning the next day while watching.
But this one is pretty good. You may not want to allow young children to watch. They may never look at the family cat the same way after it goes after poor Scott.
The ending is also rather schmaltzy. Even though he is shrinking to the size of a gnat, he finds himself one with the universe. Cue dramatic music.
Ah, OK.
But overall, for its time and all, it is a well written, well produced piece of cinema history. Don't shrink from seeing it.
THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN
• Directed by Jack Arnold
• From a novel and screenplay by Richard Matheson
• Runtime: 81 minutes
• Not rated but too intense from young children
• 3 stars out of 4
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