The Incredible Shrinking Man may have been the last film I saw in our little town's theater. By Augst 1957, my parents moved us away from little Johnston to the city of Greenville SC.
It's funny what you remember about certain events. In this case, we had been at Clarks Hill Reservoir all day and we had gotten home where i would usually be tasked with taking a bath and going to bed. At the lake, my parents loved to water ski, and I had an inner tube that served my needs.
At any rate, I had a headache. Too much sun, perhaps. But my mother said to come on and clean up...that we were going to a movie. That kind of excitement was enough to keep me from complaining. I remember virtually everything about The Incredible Shrinking Man and it sticks with me to this day, including the fact that my headache abated enough for me to enjoy myself, but I got kind of sick once I got home.
No matter! This film was particularly interesting to an 8-year-old then and still remains interesting to me these 60-plus years later.
From Wikipedia:
"The Incredible Shrinking Man is a 1957 American science fiction film directed by Jack Arnold based on Richard Matheson's 1956 novel The Shrinking Man. The film stars Grant Williams as Scott and Randy Stuart as Scott's wife Louise. While relaxing on a boat, Scott is enveloped by a strange fog. Months later, he discovers that he appears to be shrinking. By the time Scott has reached the height of a small boy, his condition becomes known to the public. When he learns there is no cure for his condition, he lashes out at his wife. As Scott shrinks to the point he can fit into a doll house, he has a battle with his family cat, which leaves him lost and alone in his basement, where he is now smaller than the average insect.
"The film's storyline was expanded by Matheson after he had sold the story to Universal-International Pictures Co., Inc. He also completed the novel upon which the film is based while production was underway. Matheson's script was written in flashbacks, and Richard Alan Simmons rewrote it using a more conventional narrative structure. Director Jack Arnold initially wanted Dan O'Herlihy to play Scott. O'Herlihy turned down the role, leading Universal to sign Williams to star in the lead. Filming began on May 31, 1956. Scenes involving special effects were shot throughout production, while others used the large sets of Universal's back lot. Production went over budget, and filming had to be extended; certain special effects shots required reshooting. Williams was constantly being injured on set."
"The Incredible Shrinking Man is a 1957 American science fiction film directed by Jack Arnold based on Richard Matheson's 1956 novel The Shrinking Man. The film stars Grant Williams as Scott and Randy Stuart as Scott's wife Louise. While relaxing on a boat, Scott is enveloped by a strange fog. Months later, he discovers that he appears to be shrinking. By the time Scott has reached the height of a small boy, his condition becomes known to the public. When he learns there is no cure for his condition, he lashes out at his wife. As Scott shrinks to the point he can fit into a doll house, he has a battle with his family cat, which leaves him lost and alone in his basement, where he is now smaller than the average insect.
"The film's score is not an organic score by an individual composer, as it draws from different sources. The film's main theme is composed by Irving Gertz and features a trumpet solo performed by big band leader Ray Anthony. Other music used in the film, such as the scene where the doctor is first examining Scott's x-rays, is drawn from the studio's library music under the supervision of music supervisor Joseph Gershenson.
"The film's score is not an organic score by an individual composer, as it draws from different sources.[28] The film's main theme is composed by Irving Gertz and features a trumpet solo performed by big band leader Ray Anthony.[29] Other music used in the film, such as the scene where the doctor is first examining Scott's x-rays, is drawn from the studio's library music under the supervision of music supervisor Joseph Gershenson.[28]"
In fact, the Main Title (not theme) came from an acetate recording with music and lyrics by Earl E. Lawrence and Foster Carling. The music with the doctor was written by Herman Stein and based in part on the song theme. There is only one bit of library music in the movie, a short Stein cue from the film THE RAIDERS. The score was composed by Irving Gertz, Hans J. Salter, and Herman Stein, and has some glorious music in it. The new Criterion Blu-ray not only has a music commentary by me, but a special bonus feature that includes music cut from the picture, that original acetate recording, and some other things.
In fact, the Main Title (not theme) came from an acetate recording with music and lyrics by Earl E. Lawrence and Foster Carling. The music with the doctor was written by Herman Stein and based in part on the song theme. There is only one bit of library music in the movie, a short Stein cue from the film THE RAIDERS. The score was composed by Irving Gertz, Hans J. Salter, and Herman Stein, and has some glorious music in it. The new Criterion Blu-ray not only has a music commentary by me, but a special bonus feature that includes music cut from the picture, that original acetate recording, and some other things.
Where is a CD I can buy of this music? All I've ever seen/heard of the score is the unsatisfactory, noisy, distorted 18 minutes Intrada released decades ago on their Salter CD ("A Sympnony of Film Music by Hans J. Salter"). I don't buy Blu-Rays. And while I'm on the subject of that Intrada CD... I've asked before about the possibilities of a better release of the terrific "The Black Shield of Falworth" which was also on the CD, in crackly, very poor sound), but I'll mention it again regardless of it being almost certainly a waste of time.
"The film's score is not an organic score by an individual composer, as it draws from different sources.[28] The film's main theme is composed by Irving Gertz and features a trumpet solo performed by big band leader Ray Anthony.[29] Other music used in the film, such as the scene where the doctor is first examining Scott's x-rays, is drawn from the studio's library music under the supervision of music supervisor Joseph Gershenson.[28]"
In fact, the Main Title (not theme) came from an acetate recording with music and lyrics by Earl E. Lawrence and Foster Carling. The music with the doctor was written by Herman Stein and based in part on the song theme. There is only one bit of library music in the movie, a short Stein cue from the film THE RAIDERS. The score was composed by Irving Gertz, Hans J. Salter, and Herman Stein, and has some glorious music in it. The new Criterion Blu-ray not only has a music commentary by me, but a special bonus feature that includes music cut from the picture, that original acetate recording, and some other things.
That's really cool! I definitely plan to get the Criterion and am looking forward to giving your commentary a listen!
The Intrada release came from Salter's tapes, most of which came from acetates. For the most part, Salter only kept his contributions to the multi-composered film scores, so you won't be getting more of it from the sources that provided the already-released music.
There are some wonderful bonuses on the Criterion SHRINKING MAN Blu-ray, such as the one discussing the sound/visual effects. Just don't listen to a certain director/producer and a "comedian" discuss the music as part of their spiel -- they screwed things up as much as Wikipedia did, only differently. Sometimes it seems like I spend half my life correcting all the errors regarding Universal's music.
It was just a song submitted to Universal. Probably for no purpose whatsoever except to hopefully get it in some film. Why it ended up being used in a science fiction movie nobody will ever know. I used to represent the estate of one of the composers who co-wrote the tune, and was given what's probably the only copy of the original acetate. It's amazing how closely the film borrowed the arrangement, at least until the vocals come in two-thirds of the way through the song. Thankfully, the movie didn't use the lyrics. The three composers HATED the song and tried to use it as little as possible.
On the "bonus" music feature, I synched some of the music tracks to the film footage, so you get to hear, among other things, Herman Stein's magnificent "End Title" music WITHOUT the closing narration. I think that alone is worth the purchase price of the Blu-ray. Even without the narration, the ending soars due to Herman's unbelievable contribution. Universal really came through in helping me deal with some of the legal situations in allowing Criterion to release this material. I'm really proud of the final result.
