Classic science fiction film, released in
1957. Directed by
Jack Arnold and written by
Richard Matheson and
Richard Alan Simmons, based on Matheson's novel "
The Shrinking Man". Starred
Grant Williams,
Randy Stuart,
April Kent,
Paul Langton, and
Raymond Bailey, among others.
The
title has all the subtlety of a
train wreck, but the
movie itself is
thoughtful,
exciting,
intelligent,
philosophical, and
beautifully created. After being exposed to a mysterious
radioactive mist,
Scott Carey begins to
shrink--a fraction of an
inch per day. He must contend with
giant spiders,
basement floods, and hungry
cats while constantly confronting his ever-changing
status in the world--from
curiosity to
freak to
prey to
nonentity--to something greater. The
special effects and
sets are a
thrill. In the early stages of his
transformation, the
furniture is
scaled up perfectly to make Williams look like he's about three feet tall. Later, when he is trapped in the
basement, the sets turn
matchboxes into houses and
paint cans into
deathtraps. His
battles with the
giant spider are classic and as
exciting as you can find anywhere.
The closing
monologue, delivered by Williams as he steps through the
immense holes in a
screen window, is one of the best around:
"I was continuing to shrink, to become...what? The infinitesimal? What was I? Still a human being? Or was I the man of the future? If there were other bursts of radiation, other clouds drifting across seas and continents, would other beings follow me into this vast new world? So close - the infinitesimal and the infinite. But suddenly, I knew they were really the two ends of the same concept. The unbelievably small and the unbelievably vast eventually meet - like the closing of a gigantic circle. I looked up, as if somehow I would grasp the heavens. The universe, worlds beyond number, God's silver tapestry spread across the night. And in that moment, I knew the answer to the riddle of the infinite. I had thought in terms of man's own limited dimension. I had presumed upon nature. That existence begins and ends is man's conception, not nature's. And I felt my body dwindling, melting, becoming nothing. My fears melted away. And in their place came acceptance. All this vast majesty of creation, it had to mean something. And then I meant something, too. Yes, smaller than the smallest, I meant something, too. To God, there is no zero. I STILL EXIST!"