8mm Forum: Incredible Shrinking Man, The (400 foot digest)

»	8mm Forum » 8mm Print Reviews » Incredible Shrinking Man, The (400 foot digest) (Page 1)

UBBFriend: Email this page to someone!

This topic comprises 2 pages: 1 2

Author

Topic: Incredible Shrinking Man, The (400 foot digest)

James N. Savage 3
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1375
From: Washington, DC
Registered: Jul 2003

posted November 17, 2009 03:48 PM

The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)
A Universal 8 release, 400 foot, 17 minutes, black and white.

After the "Universal 8" logo, the titles begin as Scott and his wife Louise are on a boat. They ride through a strange mist while the wife is below deck. She comes back out and notices some sort of substance on Scott's chest.

Later, Scott notices that his clothes are getting too big for him, and he's losing weight. They go to the doctor, and he asks if Scott had been exposed to radiation or anything unusual. Louise then remembers, "the mist, that mist!".

Next scene, curiosity seekers are outside the Carey's house. Louise tries to console Scott, who is now the size of a five-year-old.

Next is the doll house scene, in its entirety! Louise tells Scott she's going to the store. He steps out onto the balcony of the dollhouse and berates her for yelling. He's now less than a foot tall. As Scott lays down in the dollhouse, his voice-over narration depicts his thoughts of despair (very well done). As Louise leaves, the cat slips in. The cat attacks Scott, who makes a run for the basement. As Louise returns home, a draft causes the basement door to open and push Scott off the stairs and into a box in the basement. Louise sees that the doll house has been ransacked, and the cat is licking his paws. She then finds a small piece of bloody cloth, and fears the worst.

Scott escapes the box (more great voice over). He realizes that he'll have to learn to survive. He soon encounters the spider for the first time.

We then see Louise talking to Scott's brother, who states he's sure Scott must be dead.

Now, back in the basement, Scott is now becoming more aggressive toward survival. He lures the spider from its web, and the spider chases him. As the spider towers over Scott, he stabs the spider with a needle.

Then, the final scene. Scott walks toward the window screen, as his voice-over thoughts are heard. Scott is now able to walk through the holes of the screen. As he continues to narrate, he looks up into space, as the camera pans away from him:

"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 in 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!"

Then, "THE END" appears (original titles), followed by the universal 8 logo.

**********************************************

To me, this is an excellent digest. It flows very well, thanks to very good disolves in the first half of the digest. The FX are excellent for 1957. The doll house scene is left intact all the way to Scott's fall, which means no "choppy" music. Its just a great scene, and so very effective on the big screen.

Best of all, I loved Scott's narration through-out the digest (although would have liked more). And most of all, I liked that the ending scene was pretty much intact.

On the negative side (just a few things)- The scene where Louise talks to Scott's brother is a little abrupt, and probably could have been left out all together. The fact that Scott walks through the window screen at the end could have been a little more effective if we could have had an earlier scene, where Scott was too big to fit through the screen. But, these are very small issues (no pun intended), and I think Universal 8 did an outstanding job with this digest.

As far as quality, my print is very good, on black and white stock. Probably not the sharpest print, but not soft either. Good contrast as well. The sound is good too.

I highly recommend this one!

James.

[ November 23, 2012, 06:20 AM: Message edited by: James N. Savage 3 ]