The Incredible Shrinking Man – part 5

With the straight pin for defense, and the other pin bent to serve as a crude grappling hook, Scott sets out to conquer his new world. But before he can do that he needs some rope for his grappling hook. He finds some thread Louise had discarded, and after a brief period of experimentation he decides it can double as rope, and secures some to the pin/hook. After that he needs a way to cut the thread. He tries to negotiate a pair of scissors but finds them too heavy and cumbersome. A match is beside the rolls of thread. He needs to cut the thread, if he has any hope of securing more food. So he scrapes the match against the cement floor. It bursts into flames, and he is finally able to cut the thread.

Thrilled with his success he sees a large piece of bread. But its on a ledge far above him. And get to it he has to cross a paint stick. His first trial is the stick. After close-up inspection he decides it will hold his weight. But before he will venture out on the stick he tries to move it. It seems secure. With great trepidation he inches his way along the stick. All of a sudden it starts to give way. Scott leaps from the stick to the old coffee can. He uses his home made grappling hook to climb to the food. Success.

After leaping from the paint stick, and doing some near impossible climbing Scott succeeds in getting to a piece of bread. Just as he’s enjoying the spoils of his labors a spider, which up till now wanted nothing to do with Scott, starts coming towards him. Having been on the menu of another creature Scott starts to ask himself “Oh nuts…twice in one day”.

       He finally makes it the bread (Can anyone say Styrofoam ?)

                    Oh nuts, its that blasted spider. Where’s my needle ?

Determined never to be on anyone's menu ever again, Scott prepares to do battle with the brute. His first plan goes amuck, and is he’s outsmarted by a spider. He resorts to brute force and stabs it to death. Exhausted Scott goes to sleep in the matchbox. He’s so tired he doesn’t even mind the constant pounding of water droplets. While he’s sleeping the dripping gets a lot worse. So bad that water soaks through the cardboard. He gets out find his face is wet. But before he has time to react the water heater springs a gigantic leak. His brother Charlie is in the basement getting a piece of luggage for Louise, who has decided to move out. Charlie unclogs the drain, and Scott is pulled towards a swirling vortex of water. He clings onto a pencil and does not go down the drain. As Scott clings to life Louise moves out.

                          The spider tries to get to Scott

                        The spider finally gets the point

   Mama always said “Check the pipes before you move in”

  I usually hate pencils, but in this case I’ll make an exception

Scott climbs through the screen of a basement window, and gazes skyward. After some thinking he comes to conclusion that he will always exist no matter how small he gets.

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This film was made on a closed set. Only those persons needed for shooting that very day were allowed on set.

• the may look familiar from other films mentioned in this blog. The cats real name is Orangy and appeared in the film This Island Earth.
• the `spider` was not a common house spider, but a tarantula named Tamara
• Technicians labored for eight long months on the special effects, and there was seven weeks of pre-production shooting
• Over 100 condoms were filled with water and dropped on the matchbox house because nothing else would hold a perfect tear drop shape, and dropping water on the matchbox house didn't`look right. When the studio asked why he needed 100 condoms the director said they were for a cast party.

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The next film will be…

``THE GHOST AND MRS. MUIR``