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

This is topic Incredible Shrinking Man, The (400 foot digest) in forum 8mm Print Reviews at 8mm Forum.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://8mmforum.film-tech.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=4;t=000370

Posted by James N. Savage 3 (Member # 83) on 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 ]

Posted by Brad Kimball (Member # 5) on November 17, 2009, 07:08 PM:

I had the Castle 200' Silent edition on standard 8 as a kid in the 70's. Never really had the inclination to bid on the 400'er - UNTIL NOW! Terrific review! Now I absolutely MUST have it!

Posted by Marshall Crist (Member # 1312) on November 18, 2009, 02:13 AM:

Sounds like they skipped the "flood" scene which was used to cap the 200', IIRC. Wonder if there's anything else in the 200' that isn't in the 400'. I am far from an expert on these.

Posted by James N. Savage 3 (Member # 83) on November 18, 2009, 04:53 PM:

I haven't seen the 200 foot digest in about 30 years, but I remember it pretty well. It seemed to have been edited more for action, than for a deeper story (which was fine for me back then).

The flood scene was a big part of that digest too. If I remember correctly, the 200 foot digest ends quickly after the flood. The last scene- Scott's brother asks Louise "Do you have everything?" After a pause and a solomn look, she says "yes. Everything." Then they drive away. Sad ending, with no real closure.

The only other thing extra I remember being in the 200 footer, was more dialog between Louise and the brother.

This 400 foot digest seems to really capture the essense of the feature film. I would be tempted to add the extra scenes if I had them, but I'm afraid it would mess up the perfect flow of the 400 version.

James.

Posted by Mike Tynus (Member # 1108) on November 19, 2009, 04:44 AM:

Great review, James!
I too love this digest. It's interesting to note, however, that the first several minutes of this 400 footer is actually the first several minutes of the Castle 200 footer (save for a freeze frame of the title card to cover up the Castle Films tag). Hence the film is a little soft since it's basically duped from the Castle cut, but once we get to the doll house sequence the film sharpens up since at this point its Universal 8's actual cut. This change in sharpness is more noticeable on my 16mm print of this.
But I still highly recommend this digest as well, and the 200' flood scene does cut in pretty nicely into the 400' version.

Posted by Oemer Yalinkilic (Member # 86) on November 19, 2009, 06:29 AM:

Back in the 70´s it was my dream to own the 400 version from piccolo germany, it must be the same version from universal in the USA but I never get this yet.
Maybe I buy it next time after reading this nice review.

I bought many of this castle/universal horror/SF digest later and it is realy fun to watch them. I own most of them on 16mm but I try to get Super 8 sound versions of them.

I have a 35mm german release of Incredible shrinking man and it is hard to believe, they struck it as cinemascope prints.
This is realy crazy to make a cinemascope version of a flat movie. They cut something on top and something on bottom.

Posted by Tony Stucchio (Member # 519) on November 20, 2009, 05:08 PM:

quote:
Back in the 70´s it was my dream to own the 400 version from piccolo germany

Back in the 70's, most of my dreams involved female members of the cast of CHARLIE'S ANGELS!

[Big Grin]

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on November 21, 2009, 02:28 PM:

Great review James, and I totally agree that this is an excellent 400ft digest, with superb editing by Universal. The quality of my print is also very good, with great contrast, although a little grainy in some scenes. I remember how the critics raved about the special effects in this film when it first appeared in the theatres in the 1950's.

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on November 21, 2009, 03:22 PM:

Good review James!

I've never been a collector of classic horror sci-fi (War of the Worlds not included in that boycott), but it sounds like a great digest.

Posted by John Skujins (Member # 1515) on November 21, 2009, 05:34 PM:

Thanks for transcribing that ending monologue. That's such a great ending, and very unexpected when you first see it. I liked seeing the "sombrero" galaxy.

Posted by James N. Savage 3 (Member # 83) on November 21, 2009, 06:28 PM:

Thanks for reading, everyone.

And thanks for that cover scan, Paul!

I always thought this photograph was an interesting choice for the cover of the box. It's certainly not as flashy as the Castle's 200 foot box, which was more appealing to a child who wanted another "scary movie" to watch.

The photo appears to be a staged publicity shot that may have been used in promoting the movie back in 1957. Then, Universal 8's wierd coloring effect adds an interesting look to it as well.

James.

Posted by James Romero (Member # 2181) on May 07, 2012, 02:46 AM:

I just acquired the 400ft super 8mm sound version of this title and the quality is very poor to say the least. Very contrasty and overexposed 'big time'. Many scenes appear washed out. Are all the Universal 8 prints of this title like this...or do I have just a bad copy?

Posted by James N. Savage 3 (Member # 83) on May 08, 2012, 07:53 AM:

Hi James-

It sounds like you definately got a bad print. They ran a print of this at the CINESEA last weekend, and it was fine, as all the prints I've seen of this movie digest.

Hope you find a nice one soon James. They do tend to pop up on used film lists more than others.

James.

Posted by Laksmi Breathwaite (Member # 2320) on May 09, 2012, 11:18 PM:

Nice review James. But no screen shots? I got the 400' maybe I will try to do some when I stop being lazy? He He

Posted by James N. Savage 3 (Member # 83) on May 10, 2012, 06:09 AM:

Yes, your right Laksmi [Wink]

. Good catch!

James.

[ January 09, 2013, 07:02 PM: Message edited by: James N. Savage 3 ]

Posted by Laksmi Breathwaite (Member # 2320) on May 11, 2012, 12:26 AM:

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!"

I LOVE THIS FILM!!!

Posted by Pasquale DAlessio (Member # 2052) on June 06, 2012, 12:42 PM:

I just got a copy of this the other day. A great digest and my copy has good contrast and sound. A nice addition to my syfy collection. [Wink]

Posted by John Capazzo (Member # 157) on June 08, 2012, 06:21 PM:

Pat, I hope you don't need the empty box you've sold me last year for Incredible Shrinking man!

Posted by Pasquale DAlessio (Member # 2052) on June 08, 2012, 07:11 PM:

John, no I have the 400' version. I just got it on Ebay. I believe I sent you the 200' version.

Posted by Laksmi Breathwaite (Member # 2320) on June 09, 2012, 11:19 AM:

So Pat you have my tast in movies. Nice ending really deep!

Posted by John Capazzo (Member # 157) on June 09, 2012, 12:24 PM:

Pat's off the deep end alright after he saw jaqueline Bisset's wet t-shirt scene on the boat after I sold him "The Deep" 400'...

Posted by Hugh Thompson Scott (Member # 2922) on June 09, 2012, 01:22 PM:

Pat,did you not splice in the flooded cellar scene from the 200'?

Posted by John Capazzo (Member # 157) on June 09, 2012, 04:48 PM:

Hugh, I felt like Incredible Shrinking Man last year when I was called to help empty out a basement during the storm here in NJ last September! If the homeowner had a super 8 camera, I would have sent the film to Pat and he could have spliced it! 5' of water in a basement.

Posted by Hugh Thompson Scott (Member # 2922) on June 09, 2012, 05:26 PM:

Hi John,I know that it's terrible the damage that water can do to
peoples property.I myself was involved in this kind of operation
just before the Millenium when folks in my home town of Whitehaven were flooded and we helped in making their homes
floodproof (being in the building trade) and it was heartbreaking
seeing the damage that had been done to folks homes and their
belongings.Even now there has been some terrible damage done
to peoples homes in Wales,and they still have bloody hosepipe bans over here.The folk I feel sorry for are the poor people in
places like India & China where they have precious little to start
with and floods take everything.The main thing is John,as long
as you cleared the basement and didn't disappear up your own
like Grant Williams did.

Posted by John Capazzo (Member # 157) on June 10, 2012, 08:10 AM:

People buy houses 100' from a river and never bothered putting a sump pump in; that's the risk they take.

I've looked at the latest film list but nothing of what I'm looking for is there. Doom of Dracula appears to be the only Castle film and I have that.

Posted by Pasquale DAlessio (Member # 2052) on June 10, 2012, 11:35 AM:

Laksmi

Yes the same taste. The ending was very intense. It sure left room for a sequel.

Hugh

No, I didn't splice in that scene as I sold the 200' version.

John

jacquelene Bissette has the best nipples in the entire movie industry! [Eek!]

Posted by Hugh Thompson Scott (Member # 2922) on June 10, 2012, 12:04 PM:

Yes I would agree there Pat,but then there's Menahem Golan
and Yoram Globus, a bigger pair of tits I never saw!

UBB.classic^TM 6.3.1.2