अपनी भाषा में प्लॉट जोड़ेंAfter Scott Carey begins to shrink because of exposure to a combination of radiation and insecticide, medical science is powerless to help him.After Scott Carey begins to shrink because of exposure to a combination of radiation and insecticide, medical science is powerless to help him.After Scott Carey begins to shrink because of exposure to a combination of radiation and insecticide, medical science is powerless to help him.
- पुरस्कार
- 2 जीत और कुल 1 नामांकन
- Barker
- (as Frank Scannell)
- Balloon Vendor
- (बिना क्रेडिट के)
- KIRL TV Newscaster
- (बिना क्रेडिट के)
- Joe
- (बिना क्रेडिट के)
- Doctor
- (बिना क्रेडिट के)
- Giant
- (बिना क्रेडिट के)
- Butch the Cat
- (बिना क्रेडिट के)
- Minor Role
- (बिना क्रेडिट के)
- Spieler
- (बिना क्रेडिट के)
फ़ीचर्ड समीक्षाएं
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
Scott Carey (Grant Williams) has his world fall apart when he suddenly realizes that he seems to be losing too much weight. At first he and his wife (Randy Stuart) joke it off as he's not eating enough but then they realize that he's also getting smaller. The medical field is at a loss and before long Scott is just larger than a nail and finds himself in for the fight of his life.
Jack Arnold's THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN is an incredibly entertaining gem that manages to get better each time I revisit it. It's funny but as a kid this here really wasn't one of my favorite Universal films but the older I get the more I appreciate the story from Richard Matheson and the fact that he and Arnold weren't afraid to make it a rather bleak subject. I certainly won't ruin the ending but anyone who has seen the movie will certainly be blown away by it.
There are all sorts of great things in this movie but for me the highlight was the battle in the film, which happens when Scott gets stuck in the basement and his wife thinks that he is dead. There are several different obstacles that Scott must overcome in the basement and the adventure that he goes on is full of wonderful action scenes as well as some terrific suspense built up by the director. The score is quite riviting and adds to the tension as our shrinking man must battle one thing after another.
The special effects for 1957 are quite excellent, although they do show their age today. With that said, the story by Matheson is just so believable that the viewer has no problem getting sucked into it and the adventure. Another major plus is that Williams is so good in his role and he helps carry you along with everything that his character goes through. Throw in the wonderful cinematography, the interesting use of science and you're really got a nice little gem that continues to get better as the years go by.
True, the plot isn't terribly original (how about THE DEVIL-DOLL [1936], which I watched again right after, and DR. CYCLOPS [1940], for starters, not to mention the 'little people' of BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN [1935]?) but none of the others quite touched upon the psychology of its admittedly fantastic situation, let alone treat it with such intelligence, sensitivity and, ultimately, persuasion. Legendary author Richard Matheson is to be congratulated for his truly excellent script, as should be Arnold for putting his ideas on the screen with such vividness and imagination. Special mention must go too to Grant Williams for his fine performance; Jack Arnold seemed to think it was worthy of an Oscar and I can't say I disagree!
It was interesting to see that the title character's peculiar affliction effected him gradually and not all at once; the fact that this was caused by exposure to radiation must have struck a note of panic amid contemporary anxiety-ridden audiences (this was the Cold War era, after all) and, in any case, it was inevitable that such 'monstrous' radiation effects (as seen mutating various forms of animal life on the screens of 1950s America) would not spare man himself in the long run. An episode featuring sideshow midgets, with whom The Shrinking Man seems to identify for a little while, is quite moving - as is his jealous possessiveness of his wife who he suspects wants to abandon him.
Despite the low budget, the film's special effects are terrific and the second half of the story basically resolves itself into a struggle for survival for our unfortunate hero as he has to battle various elements (the family cat, a spider, water, the re-dimension of objects around him, his own weakness due to hunger) which a normal person would more or less take for granted.
I thoroughly enjoyed THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN - though I must say that Matheson's bleak yet strangely affecting ending blew me away, giving the film an intellectual resonance lacking in most films of its type and period.
It begins in bland, generic, white picket fenced 1950s America and ends in deep contemplation of the infinite, and along the way becomes unmoored from all reference points from the age in which it was made, as the protagonist himself has every thing familiar to him progressively stripped away and he is reduced to the most raw, primal, archetypal battle for survival.
The actor Grant Williams never did anything of any real note again, but here, in his continually deepening suffering, he moves into a glowing, timeless space that would not look out of place in any Bergman film. It's a performance for the ages.
The Incredible Shrinking Man is a rare, unique work and by far my favourite of all those 1950s sci-fi and monster movies.
क्या आपको पता है
- ट्रिवियाRichard Matheson's book was written as a series of flashbacks so that you got into the cellar with Scott quickly. Universal insisted on a linear story. They also vetoed key sequences, such as Scott spending the night with the female midget, a drunk homosexual who abuses Scott, a gang of teenagers who terrorize him, and Scott becoming a Peeping Tom secretly spying on a teenage baby-sitter. These were rejected as too risqué for 1957.
- गूफ़Even though the spider in this film is clearly a tarantula, it is shown sitting in a standard spider web. Tarantulas do not build webs like that. They live in burrows or holes.
- भाव
[last lines]
Scott Carey: 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!
- इसके अलावा अन्य वर्जनWhen originally released theatrically in the UK, the BBFC made cuts to secure a 'A' rating. All cuts were waived in 2006 when the film was re-rated with a 'PG' certificate for home video. Note: The running time on the BBFC website for the 1957 theatrical release mentions a run time of 91 minutes 48 seconds with an indication this is the submitted run time prior to any cuts. It is not clear if this was a longer version of the film which is widely known to run just 81 minutes (77 minutes on PAL media).
- कनेक्शनEdited into Attack of the 50 Foot Monster Mania (1999)
- साउंडट्रैकThe Incredible Shrinking Man Theme
Written by Foster Carling and Earl E. Lawrence
Played by Ray Anthony
टॉप पसंद
- How long is The Incredible Shrinking Man?Alexa द्वारा संचालित
विवरण
- रिलीज़ की तारीख़
- कंट्री ऑफ़ ओरिजिन
- भाषा
- इस रूप में भी जाना जाता है
- Die unglaubliche Geschichte des Mr. C
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बॉक्स ऑफ़िस
- बजट
- $7,50,000(अनुमानित)
- दुनिया भर में सकल
- $2,580
- चलने की अवधि
- 1 घंटा और 21 मिनट
- रंग
- पक्ष अनुपात
- 1.85 : 1