To God There Is No Zero

 

 (themoviedatabase)

THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN-1957-While Scott Carey (Grant Williams) is out on his boat with his wife Lou (Randy Stuart), a strange mist passes over him. 6 months later, his shirt and pants are too big. His doctor (William Schallert) doesn't seem concerned that he's lost height and weight. When his wife doesn't have to stand on tip toe to kiss him, he deduces he's shrinking. He has a lot of tests (conducted by Raymond Bailey) and it's discovered his “molecular structure” has been reconstructed through radioactivity and DDT. He loses his job and to pay his debts, he sells his story to a reporter and becomes famous. He's trapped in his house by reporters and onlookers but takes it out on his devoted wife. After a special toxin doesn't work, he walks around and meets little person Clarice (April Kent) who gives him some pointers but that fizzles when he starts to shrink again. He takes up residence in a doll house. He's menaced by the family cat.

Seeking shelter, he winds up in the basement and Lou thinks the cat ate him. In the basement he gets water from a dripping water heater, a house from a matchbox and tries to steal cheese from a mouse trap, He also encounters a spider. Lou has one last look in the basement but the boiler floods and Scott's cries for help go unnoticed. After Lou and Scott's brother Charlie (Paul Langton) leave, Scott has a showdown with “the enemy” spider which he kills after a first failed attempt. In the end, he accepts his fate and looks forward to a new adventure, knowing his existence will not end. Also with Frank Scannell, Billy Curtis and Lock Martin. 

Good sfx and direction from Jack Arnold make this one of the best science fiction films of the 1950's. Author Richard Matheson adapted his own novel. Grant Williams starred in THE MONOLITH MONSTERS, also directed by Jack Arnold the same year. Paul Langton co-starred in IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE the next year. Producer Albert Zugsmith made MAN IN THE SHADOW the same year, also directed by Arnold.

Thanks for reading!