MovieChat Forums > The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957) Discussion > Never saw the circus segments

Never saw the circus segments

posted 13 years ago by his__shyness
3 replies | jump to latest

I saw this movie several times during my childhood and adolescence when it played on weekend afternoons on local independent stations. It was always one of my favorites. I don't even recall at this point what led me there, but I ended up reading the wikipedia page on the film today to refresh my memory about the film after all these years. I was puzzled by a section of the plot synopsis that I swear I have never seen in any of my viewings. There is apparently a section where he runs away and befriends another "little person" at the circus. I then came here to imdb to see if there was any discussion about that segment being deleted from TV syndicated versions of the film. I'm quite sure I've never seen that. Anyone else surprised to find out that that segment exists? Are these scenes included in the DVD release that came out a few years ago? Great reason to get reacquainted with the film, I suppose.

[–] Iridescent_Phantom 13 years ago

In the book and in the movie, Carey visits a circus and befriends a little person named Clarise. It is a very short two-scene segment, from their meeting in a restaurant where Clarise laughs that Scott is taller than she to a their last encounter on a park bench where he discovers that he is beginning to shrink again and is now shorter than her.

The episode was cut from tv prints for several years, probably to allow the stations to insert more commercial breaks. It was returned to the movie for the dvd release and current tv showings.

To God There Is No Zero. I Still Exist.

[–] westal_sage 12 years ago

And Clarise is a Hottie!

[–] bobquack 12 years ago

Odd that the scene was considered offensive to little people (Clarice says she has always been a midget and at the end of the credits the last actor is listed as a midget). Today it has been restored to the film even though not politically correct. Without the scenes we wouldn't be aware that his meeting with Clarice was encouraging.
Another part that might be offensive is the circus part where several freaks are shown and mentioned by the carnival barker.