Taglines: Don’t dare stare at the illustrated man.
The Illustrated Man movie synopsis. Just as the original book is an anthology of science fiction stories, the Illustrated Man movie has a framing device to connect the fragmented story vignettes that are told. A young hobo falls in with an experienced traveler who at times frightens and entices him. The senior hobo(Rod Stieger) is covered from head to toe by tattoo illustrations that both enrich and curse him. He warns the young man not to stare too closely at them for too long, as they seem to come alive and portray tales.
Each one in turn plays out a science fiction tale, a morality play, some bitter, some sweet, some perplexing. The movie reuses the same three principal actors in every story vignette, making it a bizarre, confusing task to try to re-identify each as their role changes from tale to tale. There is no connecting thread here, save for the continuing framing story of the young man becoming entranced by the illustrations.
The older hobo claims he is searching for the woman who tattooed him to this extent, but it is unclear if she is real, a phantom, or an invention of his somewhat disturbed mind. By the time we get the entire tale of how the tattoos came to be, Rod has become romantically involved with the female tattoo artist. There is some suggestion that she has made a mark upon his soul by living with him for so long.
But suddenly, she is gone, vanished, and he is forever searching for his lost love, his muse, his devil woman who has cursed him to live like this and thrown him to the hard, cruel world. Shocked and driven to the point of madness himself, the young man attempts to crush the old hobo’s skull with a rock, and then flees himself, having now become the target of the old hobo’s pursuit. There is no resolution to this, only an endless chase that continues.
The Illustrated Man is a 1969 American science fiction film directed by Jack Smight and starring Rod Steiger as a man whose tattoos on his body represent visions of frightening futures. The film is based on three short stories from the 1951 collection The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury: “The Veldt,” “The Long Rain,” and “The Last Night of the World.”
The Illustrated Man comprises three science fiction short stories from Ray Bradbury’s collection of short stories The Illustrated Man. Howard B. Kreitsek wrote the screenplay that encompassed the stories “The Veldt,” “The Long Rain,” and “The Last Night of the World”; Jack Smight directed the film. Bradbury was not consulted for the adaptation. Since the collection included eighteen short stories, Smight chose three stories and used the carnival sideshow freak who appeared in the collection’s prologue and epilogue as the film’s primary narrative. As the tattooed man, the director cast Rod Steiger, whom he had known since the 1950s.
The Illustrated Man (1969)
Directed by: Jack Smight
Starring: Rod Steiger, Claire Bloom, Robert Drivas, Don Dubbins, Jason Evers, Tim Weldon, Christine Matchett, Pogo
Screenplay by: Howard B. Kreitsek
Cinematography by: Philip H. Lathrop
Film Editing by: Archie Marshek
Costume Design by: Anthea Sylbert
Set Decoration by: Marvin March
Art Direction by: Joel Schiller
Music by: Jerry Goldsmith
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures, Seven Arts
Release Date: March 26, 1969
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