The Film Society, with the Presidio Trust, continues its 2010 Fall Season with the much-anticipated ninth annual Film in the Fog, a free family-friendly outdoor screening in the Presidio of San Francisco, featuring the 1957 sci-fi classic The Incredible Shrinking Man. After businessman Scott Carey is engulfed by a mysterious noxious cloud composed of radiation and insecticide, he shrinks. And shrinks. And shrinks. What begins as a scientific/medical enigma soon presents dire consequences, as Carey is literally dwarfed by his environment. Directed by B-movie master Jack Arnold (The Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Mouse that Roared, SFIFF 1959), the film presents a not-so-sly allegory of masculine crisis in the post-WWII era. As Carey becomes smaller, less functional and less important, he becomes trapped in the home when his unsympathetic wife leaves to bring home the bacon. With his domestic space becoming increasingly menacing and full of pitfalls, Carey eventually squats in a dollhouse. The film’s special effects are especially ingenious, ranging from simple “big clothes” to rear projection and some amazing oddly-scaled sets. In 2009 The Incredible Shrinking Man was added to the National Film Registry, the list of films deemed worthy of preservation for their cultural, historical or aesthetic importance.

Preceding the film will be the classic Disney Silly Symphony short The Skeleton Dance, drawn by Ub Iwerks with music by Carl Stalling, presented courtesy of the Walt Disney Family Museum, also located in the Presidio. The spacious lawn has plenty of room for low lawn chairs and blankets, and the public is encouraged to arrive early to select a prime picnic spot. Food and beverages will be available for purchase. Dress warmly—it’s San Francisco.

Free admission


Written by Richard Matheson. Photographed by Ellis W. Carter. With Grant Williams, Randy Stuart. (81 min, Swank Motion Pictures)