The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)

Posted by HJ

Scott Carey (Grant Williams) is a successful young man of his time. He has an attractive and loving wife, Louise , and is enjoying a day out at sea in a cabin cruiser. Suddenly they encounter a wall of strange-looking fog, which envelops Scott but not Louise, who is in the cabin of the boat. Shortly thereafter he notices that his clothes appear to be getting too large for him, and begins losing weight, not precipitously, but steadily. (I should be so lucky!)

After a short time, when this loss of height and weight becomes noticeable and very worrisome, he goes to his family doctor, who recommends more aggressive testing procedures. Alas, the results are not good. Something has affected his metabolism and bodily processes. His plight becomes an unwilling "media event," and unwelcome loss of privacy and anonymity accompanies this. At this point, the movie could have developed into a "bug-eyed green monster" flick of the 1950s, but instead writer of both novel and screenplay Richard Matheson decided to craft a rather "Noirish" little sci-fi flick.

Some of the ramifications of loss of height and weight are explored quite well.. (I mean, you can only treat so much in an 81-minute movie!) His wife remains dutiful and loving throughout, although the loss of physical companionship is treated symbolically when his wedding ring falls off his diminished third finger, left hand. The set is equipped with over-sized furniture, and the difference in his stature as compared with his wife's is handled rather skillfully considering the special effects available in 1956-57. But eventually Louise requires some semblance of a "real" life, which fans paranoia on Scott's part. He decides to go for a late-night ramble and ends up meeting a "little person" named Clarice, who attempts to give him some insight on his new status as a human being much smaller than his contemporaries. No extramarital relationship results from the encounter with this "other woman," but her advice helps equip Scott for his new life.

At this point, the medical community announces that it has found a treatment that can, at least, arrest his shrinking. Things begin to look up for Scott, who even dares to dream that he can be restored to his former stature and resume a "regular" life. But cruel reality sets in, and his loss of size resumes.

Eventually he becomes so small that he has to live in a doll house, and is menaced by the family cat, who has gone from a normal-sized friendly tabby to a huge feral beast in Scott's eyes. One evening when Louise leaves for a nightly walk, the cat attacks Scott, and he is forced to flee to the basement stairway, from which he falls into a container of rags in the basement. When Louise returns to find the doll house ravaged and no Scott, she assumes that the house cat has made a meal of her diminutive husband. She is heartbroken, and decides to sell the house and resume her life.

Well, I'm NOT going to screw this up with SPOILERS, so let's just say that Scott's adjustment to life in the basement and the contents thereof makes up the last half of the movie, and features some more excellent (for the era) Special Effects. It's also a very NOIR existence!

So right now you're probably wondering what is Noir about this movie. Well, if you consider Don Malcolm's Noir Elements list (and I did!), I come up with 119 points out of 200 for this film. There is alienation, a Fall Guy, paranoia, violence, unusual film techniques, flashbacks and voice-overs, fatalism, and a "gris" denouement. There's also a superb theme song!

Give this movie a try, suspending your prejudice against sci-fi, and think of it from a Noir viewpoint. An exceptionally well-crafted little flick!