Jack Arnold

The Incredible Shrinking Man

The Incredible Shrinking Man

Existentialism goes pop in this benchmark of atomic-age science fiction, a superlative adaptation of a novel by the legendary Richard Matheson that has awed and unnerved generations of viewers with the question, What is humanity’s place amid the infinity of the universe? Six months after being exposed to a mysterious radiation cloud, suburban everyman Scott Carey (Grant Williams) finds himself becoming smaller . . . and smaller . . . and smaller—until he’s left to fend for himself in a world in which ordinary cats, mousetraps, and spiders pose a mortal threat, all while grappling with a diminishing sense of himself. Directed by the prolific creature-feature impresario Jack Arnold with ingenious optical effects and a transcendent metaphysical ending, The Incredible Shrinking Man gazes with wonder and trepidation into the unknowable vastness of the cosmic void.

Film Info

  • United States
  • 1957
  • 81 minutes
  • Black & White
  • 1.85:1
  • English
  • Spine #1100

Blu-ray Special Edition Features

  • 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
  • New audio commentary featuring genre-film historian Tom Weaver and horror-music expert David Schecter
  • New program on the film’s special effects by effects experts Craig Barron and Ben Burtt
  • New conversation between filmmaker Joe Dante and comedian and writer Dana Gould
  • Auteur on the Campus: Jack Arnold at Universal (Director’s Cut) (2021)
  • Interview from 2016 with Richard Christian Matheson, novelist and screenwriter Richard Matheson’s son
  • Interview from 1983 with director Jack Arnold
  • 8 mm home-cinema versions of the film from 1969
  • The Lost Music of “The Incredible Shrinking Man”
  • Trailer and teaser narrated by filmmaker Orson Welles
  • PLUS: An essay by critic Geoffrey O’Brien

New cover by Adam Maida

Purchase Options

Blu-ray Special Edition Features

  • 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
  • New audio commentary featuring genre-film historian Tom Weaver and horror-music expert David Schecter
  • New program on the film’s special effects by effects experts Craig Barron and Ben Burtt
  • New conversation between filmmaker Joe Dante and comedian and writer Dana Gould
  • Auteur on the Campus: Jack Arnold at Universal (Director’s Cut) (2021)
  • Interview from 2016 with Richard Christian Matheson, novelist and screenwriter Richard Matheson’s son
  • Interview from 1983 with director Jack Arnold
  • 8 mm home-cinema versions of the film from 1969
  • The Lost Music of “The Incredible Shrinking Man”
  • Trailer and teaser narrated by filmmaker Orson Welles
  • PLUS: An essay by critic Geoffrey O’Brien

New cover by Adam Maida

The Incredible Shrinking Man
Cast
Grant Williams
Scott Carey
Randy Stuart
Louise Carrey
April Kent
Clarice
Paul Langton
Charlie Carey
Raymond Bailey
Dr. Thomas Silver
William Schallert
Dr. Arthur Bramson
Frank Scannell
Barker
Helene Marshall
Nurse
Diana Darrin
Nurse
Billy Curtis
Dwarf
Credits
Director
Jack Arnold
Produced by
Albert Zugsmith
Director of photography
Ellis W. Carter
Special photography
Clifford Stine
Optical effects
Roswell A. Hoffman
Everett H. Broussard
Music supervision by
Joesph Gershenson
Trumpet soloist
Ray Anthony
Art direction
Alexander Golitzen
Robert Clatworthy
Set decorations
Russell A. Gausman
Ruby R. Levitt
Sound
Leslie I. Carey
Robert Pritchard
Film editor
Al Joseph
Gowns
Jay A. Morley Jr.
Hairstylist
Joan St. Oegger
Makeup
Bud Westmore
Assistant director
William Holland
Screenplay by
Richard Matheson
From the novel by
Richard Matheson

Current

The Incredible Shrinking Man: Other Dimensions
The Incredible Shrinking Man: Other Dimensions

This uncanny tale of existential anxiety stands out as the most rigorously pared-down American science-fiction film of the 1950s.

By Geoffrey O’Brien

10 Things I Learned: The Incredible Shrinking Man
10 Things I Learned: The Incredible Shrinking Man

The producer of our edition of this existentialist sci-fi classic shares what she learned about the film’s eye-popping special effects and its vibrant cast (including feline screen star Orangey).

By Susan Arosteguy