THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN (1957) B/W widescreen 81m dir: Jack Arnold

w/Grant Williams, Randy Stuart, April Kent, Paul Langton, Raymond Bailey, William Schallert, Frank Scannell, Helene Marshall, Diana Darrin, Billy Curtis

From Variety's contemporary review of the film: "Richard Matheson scripted from his novel and, while most science-fiction thrillers usually contrive a happy ending, there's no compromise here. Six-footer Grant Williams and his wife (Randy Stuart) run into a fog while boating. She's below, so is untouched, but Williams gets the full force. Soon after, he finds himself shrinking and doctors decide the radioactivity in the fog has reversed his growth processes.

"Director Jack Arnold works up the chills for maximum effect by the time Willams is down to two inches and the family cat takes after him. Also harrowing are his adventures in the cellar with, to him, a giant spider which he manages to kill using a straight pin as a lance.

"The technical staff has done an outstanding job of the trick stuff. Optical effects by Roswell A. Hoffman and Everett H. Broussard make the shrinking visually effective."

From The Movie Guide: "Pulp sci-fi classic about a man who starts to shrink after being enveloped by a strange atomic cloud while on holiday. Notable for its relatively intelligent script (adapted by Richard Matheson from his novel), for some imaginatively amusing special effects, and for its existential streak which finally has our (tiny) hero pondering the meaning of existence. (Matheson sold his novel on the condition that he be allowed to write the script. His first novel, I Am Legend, had been badly butchered, and he had no wish to see that happen again. Eventually, I Am Legend was filmed as L'ULTIMO UOMO DELLA TERRA from another writer's screenplay.) Source for a promising, but largely unsuccessful remake, THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING WOMAN, in 1981."