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Them! (1954 film)
Encyclopedia
Them! is a 1954 American black and white science fiction film
about man's encounter with a nest of gigantic irradiated ant
s. It is based on an original story treatment by George Worthing Yates
. It was developed into a screenplay
by Ted Sherdeman and Russell Hughes for Warner Bros. Pictures Inc.
, and was produced by David Weisbart
and directed by Gordon Douglas
. It starred James Whitmore
, Edmund Gwenn
, Joan Weldon
and James Arness
.
One of the first of the "nuclear monster" movies, and the first "big bug
" film, Them! was nominated for an Oscar for Special Effects and won a Golden Reel Award
for Best Sound Editing. The film starts off as a simple suspense story, with police investigating mysterious disappearances and unexplainable deaths. The giant ants are not even seen until almost a third of the way into the film.
Sergeant
Ben Peterson (James Whitmore
) and his patrol partner Ed Blackburn (Chris Drake
) discovering a little girl wandering the desert near Alamogordo, New Mexico
, mute and in a state of shock. They track her back to a trailer owned by an FBI agent named Ellinson, who was on vacation in the area with his wife and two children. The side of the trailer is found to have been ripped open from the outside, a sugar bowl is spilled inside, and the parents are missing and presumed dead. The girl briefly responds when strange sounds echo out of the desert wind, but the troopers miss this moment.
More mysterious deaths and disappearances occur in the area. A general store owner named Gramps Johnson is found dead in his store, which had been literally torn apart. All the money is left in the register, but a barrel of sugar had been smashed open. Gramps' empty rifle has been bent in half. Peterson leaves to check on the status of the little girl, leaving Blackburn to guard Gramps' store where soon after he is killed by an unknown assailant.
The police think there is a maniac killer on the loose. But, as Peterson's boss points out, Gramps' 30-30 "got off 4 shots" and "Ed Blackburn was a crack shot. He could hit anything he could see. So unless your killer is armored like a battleship, there's no maniac in this case." It's up to the coroner to deliver the verdict that "Gramps Johnson could have died in any one of five ways: his neck and back were broken, his chest was crushed, his skull was fractured, and here's one for Sherlock Holmes: there was enough formic acid in him to kill twenty men."
The FBI sends in local agent Robert Graham (James Arness
) to assist. A single strange track as big as a mountain lion's is found in the desert near the trailer and a plaster cast of it is made and sent to Washington, D.C. When the FBI is unable to identify the footprint, it attracts the attention of Doctors Harold (Edmund Gwenn
) and Pat Medford (Joan Weldon
), a father/daughter team of entomologists
from the Department of Agriculture.
The elder Doctor Medford arrives on the scene with a theory, but will not disclose it until he tries an experiment on the Ellinson girl, having her smell the contents of a vial of formic acid
, which frees her from her state of near-catatonic withdrawal, screaming "Them! Them!" Returning to the destroyed trailer with Peterson, Graham, and his daughter, Medford has his theory dramatically given its final proof when the group encounters a foraging ant, mutated by atomic radiation to the size of an automobile. The ants produce loud, distinctive stridulating
calls that become the iconic signature of the beasts. The lawmen kill the creature with a Thompson submachine gun
after finding that their revolvers have little effect. They aimed for the antennae on Medford's advice that they were helpless without them.
A U.S. Air Force unit is brought in, led by General O'Brien (Stevens), which locates the ants' nest and exterminates the inhabitants with poison gas. The younger Dr. Medford, who accompanies Peterson and Graham into the nest, finds evidence that two young queens have hatched and flown away to establish new colonies. Trying to avoid a general panic, the government covertly monitors and investigates any reports of unusual activities as sightings of "flying saucers". One of the queens ends up in the hold of an ocean-going freighter
loaded with sugar, which is then overrun by the ants and subsequently sunk by a U.S. Navy cruiser. From the rantings of an alcoholic, and an investigation into the death of a father protecting his two young, now missing, sons from an apparent ant attack, the other queen is finally tracked to the Los Angeles
storm drain system, forcing the U.S. Army to openly declare martial law
and launch a major assault.
During the assault, Peterson finds the two missing boys, named Mike and Jerry, alive, trapped near the entrance to the nest. Peterson calls in for backup, but instead of waiting for it, he bravely goes in alone. He heroically rescues the two boys and kills several threatening ants with his flamethrower. Peterson then leads the two boys back to the pipe through which he came, intending that they all crawl back through it to safety. After hoisting up the first boy, Jerry, however, another ant appears from behind. Peterson saves the second boy, Mike, lifting him into the pipe. However, Peterson is left without time to save himself, and as he tries to climb up at the last minute, the ant grabs Peterson in its mandibles, and crushes his abdomen.
Graham arrives at the scene with the reinforcements, and kills the ant attacking Peterson. As the other troops fight off the swarming ants, Graham rushes over to Peterson's side. Peterson, in excruciating pain, is only able to utter his last words to Graham, confirming that the boys made it to safety, before he dies of his wounds. Graham returns to the battle, nearly getting killed himself when a cave-in temporarily seals him off from the rest of the men as they march towards the egg chamber; several ants charge him, but Graham is able to hold them off long enough for the other troops to tunnel through the debris and come to his rescue. The nest's queen and egg chamber are then destroyed with flamethrowers after a short but fierce battle, but the senior Dr. Medford issues a grim warning that "the atomic genie has been let out of the bottle", and further horrors may await mankind. He solemnly intones, "When man entered the atomic age, he opened the door to a new world. What we may eventually find in that new world, nobody can predict."
Other actors who appear in small parts include John Beradino
, Willis Bouchey
, Booth Colman
, Richard Deacon
, Lawrence Dobkin
, Ann Doran
, Leonard Nimoy
, William Schallert
, Douglas Spencer
, Dub Taylor
, and Harry Wilson
.
When casting his planned Davy Crockett
episode of the Disneyland television show, Walt Disney
viewed the film to see James Arness
who had been recommended for the role. However, Disney was impressed by a brief scene of Fess Parker
, detained in the mental ward of Mercy Hospital in Brownsville, Texas, and insisting that giant flying ants had caused him to crash his plane. Disney realized he had found his Crockett.
Arness, however, did well for himself. John Wayne had seen this movie and, impressed with his performance, coupled with his familiarity with Arness as part of his Batjac Productions company of players, recommended Arness for the role of Marshall Matt Dillon in Gunsmoke
, a role which lasted from 1955 to 1975. Wayne himself had turned down the part, but did appear in the pilot episode to introduce Arness.
When Them! began production in the fall of 1953, it was originally conceived to be in 3-D
and WarnerColor. During pre-production, tests were to be shot in color and 3-D. A few color tests were shot of the large-scale ant models, but when it was time to shoot the 3-D test, WB's "All Media" 3-D camera rig malfunctioned and no footage could be filmed. The next day, a memo was sent out that the color and 3-D aspects of the film were to be scrapped, and that black and white and wide-screen would be the preferred format, trying to emulate the "effective shock treatment" of Warners' The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms
. Ultimately the film was not shot in wide-screen. Because of the preparation of certain shots, however, many of the camera set-ups for 3-D still remain, such as the opening titles and flame-throwers that are shot at the camera.
Although WB was dissatisfied with the color results, the opening titles were printed in color against a black and white background to give the opening of the film a "punch". This effect was achieved by an Eastman Color section spliced into each print. The VHS release in 1985, the subsequent laserdisc, and the current DVD release have restored this effect.
The entrance to the ants' final nest was along the concrete spillways of the Los Angeles River
between the First and Seventh Street Bridges, east of downtown. The depiction of the Chihuahua Desert of southern New Mexico is actually the Mojave Desert
near Palmdale, California
. Mercy Hospital was a real institution and is now Brownsville Medical Center. The geography of South Texas is unusually accurate for Hollywood.
Because of the height difference between actors Whitmore and Arness, Whitmore wore "lifts" on his shoes to compensate for it. It has also been noted that Whitmore employed bits of "business" (i.e., hand gestures and motions) during scenes in which he appeared to draw attention to his character when not speaking.
The Wilhelm scream
, created three years earlier for the film Distant Drums
, is used multiple times during the action sequences.
The giant ants were constructed and operated by unseen technicians supervised by Ralph Ayers, and were actually purpleish-green in color. However, during the climactic battle sequence in the Los Angeles sewers, there is a brief shot of one ant moving in the foreground with its side removed, revealing its mechanical interior. This "glitch" has been obscured in recent DVD releases of the film.
domestic (U.S. and Canada) rentals, making it the year's 51st biggest earner.
The New York Times
review noted “…from the moment James Whitmore, playing a New Mexico State trooper, discovers a six-year old moppet wandering around the desert in a state of shock, to the time when the cause of that mental trauma is traced and destroyed, Them! is taut science-fiction." "Brog" in Variety
opined it was a "top-notch science fiction shocker. It has a well-plotted story, expertly directed and acted in a matter-of-fact style to rate a chiller payoff and thoroughly satisfy the fans of hackle-raising melodrama."
Since its original release, Them! has become generally regarded as one of the very best science fiction films of the 1950s. Bill Warren
described the film as “… tight, fast-paced and credible…[T]he picture is suspenseful.” Phil Hardy
’s The Aurum Film Encyclopedia
: Science Fiction noted, “Directed by Douglas in semi-documentary fashion, Them! is one of the best American science fiction films of the fifties.” Danny Peary
believed the film “Ranks with The Thing
and Invasion of the Body Snatchers as the best of the countless fifties science fiction films.” Of the 24 reviewers included in a Rotten Tomatoes
survey of critics regarding the title, 100% reflect a positive reaction.
The film is rated M in Australia and M in New Zealand.
American Film Institute
Lists
Science fiction film
Science fiction film is a film genre that uses science fiction: speculative, science-based depictions of phenomena that are not necessarily accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial life forms, alien worlds, extrasensory perception, and time travel, often along with futuristic...
about man's encounter with a nest of gigantic irradiated ant
Ant
Ants are social insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from wasp-like ancestors in the mid-Cretaceous period between 110 and 130 million years ago and diversified after the rise of flowering plants. More than...
s. It is based on an original story treatment by George Worthing Yates
George Worthing Yates
George Worthing Yates was an American screenwriter. He was born on 14 August 1901 in New York and died 6 June 1975 in Sonoma. His early work was on serials shown in cinemas, he later progressed to feature films, primarily science fiction.-Filmography:...
. It was developed into a screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
by Ted Sherdeman and Russell Hughes for Warner Bros. Pictures Inc.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
, and was produced by David Weisbart
David Weisbart
David M. Weisbart was an American film editor and producer.A native of Los Angeles, California, Weisbart began working in the film industry in 1942 as an editor...
and directed by Gordon Douglas
Gordon Douglas (director)
Gordon Douglas was an American film director, who directed many different genres of films over the course of a five-decade career in motion pictures. He was a native of New York City.-Hal Roach and Our Gang:...
. It starred James Whitmore
James Whitmore
James Allen Whitmore, Jr. was an American film and stage actor.-Early life:Born in White Plains, New York, to Florence Belle and James Allen Whitmore, Sr., a park commission official, Whitmore attended Amherst Central High School in Snyder, New York, before graduating from The Choate School in...
, Edmund Gwenn
Edmund Gwenn
Edmund Gwenn was an English theatre and film actor.-Background:Born Edmund John Kellaway in Wandsworth, London , and educated at St. Olave's School and later at King's College London, Gwenn began his acting career in the theatre in 1895...
, Joan Weldon
Joan Weldon
Joan Weldon is an American film and television actress. She began her career singing in the San Francisco Grand Opera Company chorus. Later she became a contract actress with Warner Bros. where she remained until her contract ended in 1954...
and James Arness
James Arness
James King Arness was an American actor, best known for portraying Marshal Matt Dillon in the television series Gunsmoke for 20 years...
.
One of the first of the "nuclear monster" movies, and the first "big bug
Arthropods in Film
Arthropods are creatures of phylum arthropoda; they are invertebrates, and they have an exoskeleton, jointed appendages, and a segmented body. Some common examples of arthropods are arachnids and insects...
" film, Them! was nominated for an Oscar for Special Effects and won a Golden Reel Award
Golden Reel Award
Golden Reel Award may refer to:* Golden Reel Award , presented by the Genie Awards to high-grossing Canadian films...
for Best Sound Editing. The film starts off as a simple suspense story, with police investigating mysterious disappearances and unexplainable deaths. The giant ants are not even seen until almost a third of the way into the film.
Plot
The film begins with New Mexico State PoliceNew Mexico State Police
The New Mexico State Police is the state police agency for New Mexico, which has jurisdiction anywhere in the state. It was created to protect the lives, property and constitutional rights of people in New Mexico...
Sergeant
Sergeant
Sergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....
Ben Peterson (James Whitmore
James Whitmore
James Allen Whitmore, Jr. was an American film and stage actor.-Early life:Born in White Plains, New York, to Florence Belle and James Allen Whitmore, Sr., a park commission official, Whitmore attended Amherst Central High School in Snyder, New York, before graduating from The Choate School in...
) and his patrol partner Ed Blackburn (Chris Drake
Chris Drake
Chris Drake was an American actor best known for his co-star role of the 1950s television series Sheena, Queen of the Jungle. Chris co-starred with Actress Irish McCalla in the Sheena series...
) discovering a little girl wandering the desert near Alamogordo, New Mexico
Alamogordo, New Mexico
Alamogordo is the county seat of Otero County and a city in south-central New Mexico, United States. A desert community lying in the Tularosa Basin, it is bordered on the east by the Sacramento Mountains. It is the nearest city to Holloman Air Force Base. The population was 35,582 as of the 2000...
, mute and in a state of shock. They track her back to a trailer owned by an FBI agent named Ellinson, who was on vacation in the area with his wife and two children. The side of the trailer is found to have been ripped open from the outside, a sugar bowl is spilled inside, and the parents are missing and presumed dead. The girl briefly responds when strange sounds echo out of the desert wind, but the troopers miss this moment.
More mysterious deaths and disappearances occur in the area. A general store owner named Gramps Johnson is found dead in his store, which had been literally torn apart. All the money is left in the register, but a barrel of sugar had been smashed open. Gramps' empty rifle has been bent in half. Peterson leaves to check on the status of the little girl, leaving Blackburn to guard Gramps' store where soon after he is killed by an unknown assailant.
The police think there is a maniac killer on the loose. But, as Peterson's boss points out, Gramps' 30-30 "got off 4 shots" and "Ed Blackburn was a crack shot. He could hit anything he could see. So unless your killer is armored like a battleship, there's no maniac in this case." It's up to the coroner to deliver the verdict that "Gramps Johnson could have died in any one of five ways: his neck and back were broken, his chest was crushed, his skull was fractured, and here's one for Sherlock Holmes: there was enough formic acid in him to kill twenty men."
The FBI sends in local agent Robert Graham (James Arness
James Arness
James King Arness was an American actor, best known for portraying Marshal Matt Dillon in the television series Gunsmoke for 20 years...
) to assist. A single strange track as big as a mountain lion's is found in the desert near the trailer and a plaster cast of it is made and sent to Washington, D.C. When the FBI is unable to identify the footprint, it attracts the attention of Doctors Harold (Edmund Gwenn
Edmund Gwenn
Edmund Gwenn was an English theatre and film actor.-Background:Born Edmund John Kellaway in Wandsworth, London , and educated at St. Olave's School and later at King's College London, Gwenn began his acting career in the theatre in 1895...
) and Pat Medford (Joan Weldon
Joan Weldon
Joan Weldon is an American film and television actress. She began her career singing in the San Francisco Grand Opera Company chorus. Later she became a contract actress with Warner Bros. where she remained until her contract ended in 1954...
), a father/daughter team of entomologists
Entomology
Entomology is the scientific study of insects, a branch of arthropodology...
from the Department of Agriculture.
The elder Doctor Medford arrives on the scene with a theory, but will not disclose it until he tries an experiment on the Ellinson girl, having her smell the contents of a vial of formic acid
Formic acid
Formic acid is the simplest carboxylic acid. Its chemical formula is HCOOH or HCO2H. It is an important intermediate in chemical synthesis and occurs naturally, most notably in the venom of bee and ant stings. In fact, its name comes from the Latin word for ant, formica, referring to its early...
, which frees her from her state of near-catatonic withdrawal, screaming "Them! Them!" Returning to the destroyed trailer with Peterson, Graham, and his daughter, Medford has his theory dramatically given its final proof when the group encounters a foraging ant, mutated by atomic radiation to the size of an automobile. The ants produce loud, distinctive stridulating
Stridulation
Stridulation is the act of producing sound by rubbing together certain body parts. This behavior is mostly associated with insects, but other animals are known to do this as well, such as a number of species of fishes, snakes and spiders...
calls that become the iconic signature of the beasts. The lawmen kill the creature with a Thompson submachine gun
Thompson submachine gun
The Thompson is an American submachine gun, invented by John T. Thompson in 1919, that became infamous during the Prohibition era. It was a common sight in the media of the time, being used by both law enforcement officers and criminals...
after finding that their revolvers have little effect. They aimed for the antennae on Medford's advice that they were helpless without them.
A U.S. Air Force unit is brought in, led by General O'Brien (Stevens), which locates the ants' nest and exterminates the inhabitants with poison gas. The younger Dr. Medford, who accompanies Peterson and Graham into the nest, finds evidence that two young queens have hatched and flown away to establish new colonies. Trying to avoid a general panic, the government covertly monitors and investigates any reports of unusual activities as sightings of "flying saucers". One of the queens ends up in the hold of an ocean-going freighter
Cargo ship
A cargo ship or freighter is any sort of ship or vessel that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year; they handle the bulk of international trade...
loaded with sugar, which is then overrun by the ants and subsequently sunk by a U.S. Navy cruiser. From the rantings of an alcoholic, and an investigation into the death of a father protecting his two young, now missing, sons from an apparent ant attack, the other queen is finally tracked to the Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
storm drain system, forcing the U.S. Army to openly declare martial law
Martial law
Martial law is the imposition of military rule by military authorities over designated regions on an emergency basis— only temporary—when the civilian government or civilian authorities fail to function effectively , when there are extensive riots and protests, or when the disobedience of the law...
and launch a major assault.
During the assault, Peterson finds the two missing boys, named Mike and Jerry, alive, trapped near the entrance to the nest. Peterson calls in for backup, but instead of waiting for it, he bravely goes in alone. He heroically rescues the two boys and kills several threatening ants with his flamethrower. Peterson then leads the two boys back to the pipe through which he came, intending that they all crawl back through it to safety. After hoisting up the first boy, Jerry, however, another ant appears from behind. Peterson saves the second boy, Mike, lifting him into the pipe. However, Peterson is left without time to save himself, and as he tries to climb up at the last minute, the ant grabs Peterson in its mandibles, and crushes his abdomen.
Graham arrives at the scene with the reinforcements, and kills the ant attacking Peterson. As the other troops fight off the swarming ants, Graham rushes over to Peterson's side. Peterson, in excruciating pain, is only able to utter his last words to Graham, confirming that the boys made it to safety, before he dies of his wounds. Graham returns to the battle, nearly getting killed himself when a cave-in temporarily seals him off from the rest of the men as they march towards the egg chamber; several ants charge him, but Graham is able to hold them off long enough for the other troops to tunnel through the debris and come to his rescue. The nest's queen and egg chamber are then destroyed with flamethrowers after a short but fierce battle, but the senior Dr. Medford issues a grim warning that "the atomic genie has been let out of the bottle", and further horrors may await mankind. He solemnly intones, "When man entered the atomic age, he opened the door to a new world. What we may eventually find in that new world, nobody can predict."
Cast
- James WhitmoreJames WhitmoreJames Allen Whitmore, Jr. was an American film and stage actor.-Early life:Born in White Plains, New York, to Florence Belle and James Allen Whitmore, Sr., a park commission official, Whitmore attended Amherst Central High School in Snyder, New York, before graduating from The Choate School in...
as Sgt. Ben Peterson - Edmund GwennEdmund GwennEdmund Gwenn was an English theatre and film actor.-Background:Born Edmund John Kellaway in Wandsworth, London , and educated at St. Olave's School and later at King's College London, Gwenn began his acting career in the theatre in 1895...
as Dr. Harold Medford - Joan WeldonJoan WeldonJoan Weldon is an American film and television actress. She began her career singing in the San Francisco Grand Opera Company chorus. Later she became a contract actress with Warner Bros. where she remained until her contract ended in 1954...
as Dr. Pat Medford - James ArnessJames ArnessJames King Arness was an American actor, best known for portraying Marshal Matt Dillon in the television series Gunsmoke for 20 years...
as FBI Agent Robert Graham - Onslow StevensOnslow StevensOnslow Stevens was an American stage, television and film actor.-Career:Born Onslow Ford Stevenson in Los Angeles, California, he was the son of character actor Housley Stevenson...
as General O'Brien - Sean McClorySean McClorySean McClory was an Irish actor whose career spanned six decades and included well over 100 films and television series.-Early years:...
as Major Kibbee - Chris DrakeChris DrakeChris Drake was an American actor best known for his co-star role of the 1950s television series Sheena, Queen of the Jungle. Chris co-starred with Actress Irish McCalla in the Sheena series...
as Ed Blackburn - Sandy DescherSandy DescherSandra "Sandy" Descher is an American former child actress of the 1950s.-Biography:Although born in Burbank, California, she was discovered by accident while on vacation. When Descher was about five years old, her family had travelled across country to New York City where the girl fell in love...
as Ellinson girl - Mary Ann Hokanson as Mrs. Lodge
- Don Shelton as Trooper Captain Fred Edwards
- Fess ParkerFess ParkerFess Elisha Parker, Jr. was an American film and television actor best known for his portrayals of Davy Crockett in the Walt Disney 1955-56 TV mini-series and as TV's Daniel Boone from 1964-70...
as Alan Crotty - Olin HowlinOlin HowlandOlin Howland was an American film actor. From 1909 to 1927 he appeared on the Broadway stage while balancing a career in silent movies. In 1921, he appeared in the play Two Little Girls in Blue with Oscar Shaw and the Fairbanks Twins. He was in Janice Meredith with Marion Davies...
as Jensen
Other actors who appear in small parts include John Beradino
John Beradino
John Beradino was an American infielder in Major League Baseball and an actor. Known as Johnny Berardino during his baseball career, he was also credited during his acting career as John Baradino, John Barardino or John Barradino.-Early life and education:He was born Giovanni Berardino in Los...
, Willis Bouchey
Willis Bouchey
Willis Ben Bouchey was an American character actor who appeared in almost 150 films and television shows. He was born in Vernon, Michigan, but reared by his mother and stepfather in Washington State....
, Booth Colman
Booth Colman
Booth Colman is a film, television and stage actor. The actor today usually plays older authority figures like doctors and lawyers in films. Colman has been appearing in films since 1952 when he appeared uncredited in The Big Sky directed by Howard Hawks...
, Richard Deacon
Richard Deacon (actor)
Richard Deacon , born in Philadelphia, was an American television and motion picture actor.-Career:The bald and usually bespectacled character actor often portrayed pompous or imperious figures. He made appearances on The Jack Benny Show as a salesman and a barber, and on NBC's Happy as a hotel...
, Lawrence Dobkin
Lawrence Dobkin
Lawrence Dobkin was an American television director, actor and television screenwriter whose career spanned seven decades....
, Ann Doran
Ann Doran
Ann Lee Doran was an American character actress.-Early life and career:Born in Amarillo, Texas, Doran began acting at the age of four. She appeared in hundreds of silent films under assumed names to keep her father's family from finding out about her work...
, Leonard Nimoy
Leonard Nimoy
Leonard Simon Nimoy is an American actor, film director, poet, musician and photographer. Nimoy's most famous role is that of Spock in the original Star Trek series , multiple films, television and video game sequels....
, William Schallert
William Schallert
William Joseph Schallert is an American actor who has appeared in many films and in such television series as The Smurfs, The Rat Patrol, Gunsmoke, The Patty Duke Show, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, The Waltons, Bonanza, Leave It to Beaver, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Love, American Style, Get...
, Douglas Spencer
Douglas Spencer
Douglas Spencer was an American film actor. Starting in the mid 1930's and going through the 40's, he appeared in dozens of films as an extra, then cameo roles and uncredited roles. He worked as a Stand-In and in Production Departments...
, Dub Taylor
Dub Taylor
Walter Clarence Taylor, Jr. , better known as Dub Taylor, was an American actor who worked extensively in Westerns, but also in comedy from the 1940s into the 1990s.-Early life:...
, and Harry Wilson
Harry Wilson (actor)
Harry Wilson was an English character actor who appeared in over 200 films from 1928 to 1965.His distinctive facial features often led to him being cast as various henchmen, thugs, convicts and brawlers...
.
When casting his planned Davy Crockett
Davy Crockett
David "Davy" Crockett was a celebrated 19th century American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier and politician. He is commonly referred to in popular culture by the epithet "King of the Wild Frontier". He represented Tennessee in the U.S...
episode of the Disneyland television show, Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
viewed the film to see James Arness
James Arness
James King Arness was an American actor, best known for portraying Marshal Matt Dillon in the television series Gunsmoke for 20 years...
who had been recommended for the role. However, Disney was impressed by a brief scene of Fess Parker
Fess Parker
Fess Elisha Parker, Jr. was an American film and television actor best known for his portrayals of Davy Crockett in the Walt Disney 1955-56 TV mini-series and as TV's Daniel Boone from 1964-70...
, detained in the mental ward of Mercy Hospital in Brownsville, Texas, and insisting that giant flying ants had caused him to crash his plane. Disney realized he had found his Crockett.
Arness, however, did well for himself. John Wayne had seen this movie and, impressed with his performance, coupled with his familiarity with Arness as part of his Batjac Productions company of players, recommended Arness for the role of Marshall Matt Dillon in Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West....
, a role which lasted from 1955 to 1975. Wayne himself had turned down the part, but did appear in the pilot episode to introduce Arness.
Production
3-D film
A 3-D film or S3D film is a motion picture that enhances the illusion of depth perception...
and WarnerColor. During pre-production, tests were to be shot in color and 3-D. A few color tests were shot of the large-scale ant models, but when it was time to shoot the 3-D test, WB's "All Media" 3-D camera rig malfunctioned and no footage could be filmed. The next day, a memo was sent out that the color and 3-D aspects of the film were to be scrapped, and that black and white and wide-screen would be the preferred format, trying to emulate the "effective shock treatment" of Warners' The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms
The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms
The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms is a 1953 science fiction film directed by Eugène Lourié and stars Paul Christian, Paula Raymond and Cecil Kellaway with visual effects by Ray Harryhausen. The film is about an atomic bomb test in the Arctic Circle that unfreezes a hibernating fictional dinosaur, a...
. Ultimately the film was not shot in wide-screen. Because of the preparation of certain shots, however, many of the camera set-ups for 3-D still remain, such as the opening titles and flame-throwers that are shot at the camera.
Although WB was dissatisfied with the color results, the opening titles were printed in color against a black and white background to give the opening of the film a "punch". This effect was achieved by an Eastman Color section spliced into each print. The VHS release in 1985, the subsequent laserdisc, and the current DVD release have restored this effect.
The entrance to the ants' final nest was along the concrete spillways of the Los Angeles River
Los Angeles River
The Los Angeles River is a river that starts in the San Fernando Valley, in the Simi Hills and Santa Susana Mountains, and flows through Los Angeles County, California, from Canoga Park in the western end of the San Fernando Valley, nearly southeast to its mouth in Long Beach...
between the First and Seventh Street Bridges, east of downtown. The depiction of the Chihuahua Desert of southern New Mexico is actually the Mojave Desert
Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, in the United States...
near Palmdale, California
Palmdale, California
Palmdale is a city located in the center of northern Los Angeles County, California, United States.Palmdale was the first community within the Antelope Valley to incorporate as a city on August 24, 1962; 47 years later, voters approved creating a charter city in November, 2009. Palmdale is...
. Mercy Hospital was a real institution and is now Brownsville Medical Center. The geography of South Texas is unusually accurate for Hollywood.
Because of the height difference between actors Whitmore and Arness, Whitmore wore "lifts" on his shoes to compensate for it. It has also been noted that Whitmore employed bits of "business" (i.e., hand gestures and motions) during scenes in which he appeared to draw attention to his character when not speaking.
The Wilhelm scream
Wilhelm scream
The Wilhelm scream is a film and television stock sound effect first used in 1951 for the film Distant Drums. The effect gained new popularity after it was used in Star Wars and many other blockbuster films as well as television programs and video games...
, created three years earlier for the film Distant Drums
Distant Drums
Distant Drums is a 1951 film directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Gary Cooper. It is set during the Second Seminole War in the 1840s, with Cooper playing an Army captain who destroys a fort held by the Seminole Indians then retreats into the Everglades while under chase.The actual location of the...
, is used multiple times during the action sequences.
The giant ants were constructed and operated by unseen technicians supervised by Ralph Ayers, and were actually purpleish-green in color. However, during the climactic battle sequence in the Los Angeles sewers, there is a brief shot of one ant moving in the foreground with its side removed, revealing its mechanical interior. This "glitch" has been obscured in recent DVD releases of the film.
Response
Them! was released in June 1954 and by the end of that year had accrued US$ 2,000,000 in distributors'Film distributor
A film distributor is a company or individual responsible for releasing films to the public either theatrically or for home viewing...
domestic (U.S. and Canada) rentals, making it the year's 51st biggest earner.
The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
review noted “…from the moment James Whitmore, playing a New Mexico State trooper, discovers a six-year old moppet wandering around the desert in a state of shock, to the time when the cause of that mental trauma is traced and destroyed, Them! is taut science-fiction." "Brog" in Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
opined it was a "top-notch science fiction shocker. It has a well-plotted story, expertly directed and acted in a matter-of-fact style to rate a chiller payoff and thoroughly satisfy the fans of hackle-raising melodrama."
Since its original release, Them! has become generally regarded as one of the very best science fiction films of the 1950s. Bill Warren
Bill Warren
William Bond Warren , better known as Bill Warren, is an American film historian and critic generally regarded as one of the leading authorities on science fiction, horror and fantasy films....
described the film as “… tight, fast-paced and credible…[T]he picture is suspenseful.” Phil Hardy
Phil Hardy (journalist)
Phil Hardy is an English film and music industry journalist. He was born in Scarborough, Yorkshire in 1945 and studied at the University of Sussex, 1964-1969, during which time he was a visiting student at the Berkeley campus of the University of California . At Sussex he started The Brighton Film...
’s The Aurum Film Encyclopedia
The Aurum Film Encyclopedia
The Aurum Film Encyclopedia is a multi-volume reference work on cinema, published in the UK by Aurum Press and edited by Phil Hardy. The first volume, devoted to western films, appeared in 1983, with eight subsequent volumes announced at that time as "forthcoming". However, as of 2007, only...
: Science Fiction noted, “Directed by Douglas in semi-documentary fashion, Them! is one of the best American science fiction films of the fifties.” Danny Peary
Danny Peary
Danny Peary is an American film critic and sports writer. He has written many books on cinema and sports-related topics.-Biography:...
believed the film “Ranks with The Thing
The Thing from Another World
The Thing from Another World , is a 1951 science fiction film based on the 1938 novella "Who Goes There?" by John W. Campbell . It tells the story of an Air Force crew and scientists at a remote Arctic research outpost who fight a malevolent plant-based alien being...
and Invasion of the Body Snatchers as the best of the countless fifties science fiction films.” Of the 24 reviewers included in a Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
survey of critics regarding the title, 100% reflect a positive reaction.
The film is rated M in Australia and M in New Zealand.
American Film Institute
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
Lists
- AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills - Nominated
- AFI's 10 Top 10AFI's 10 Top 10AFI's 10 Top 10 honors the ten greatest American films in ten classic film genres. Presented by the American Film Institute , the lists were unveiled on a television special broadcast by CBS on June 17, 2008....
- Nominated Science Fiction Film
In popular culture
- The Van MorrisonVan MorrisonVan Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
-led band ThemThem (band)Them were a Northern Irish band formed in Belfast in April 1964, most prominently known for the garage rock standard "Gloria" and launching singer Van Morrison's musical career...
was named after this film. - Joe DanteJoe DanteJoseph "Joe" Dante, Jr. is an American film director and producer of films generally with humorous and science fiction content....
's 1993 comedyComedyComedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
MatineeMatinee (film)Matinee is a 1993 period comedy film directed by Joe Dante. It is an ensemble piece about the home front in the Cuban Missile Crisis combined with a tribute to independent filmmaker William Castle. The film stars John Goodman, Cathy Moriarty, Simon Fenton, Omri Katz, Lisa Jakub, and Kellie Martin...
depicts a film about a man who mutates into a giant ant and wreaks havoc. - An unfinished episode of Invader ZimInvader ZimInvader Zim is an American animated television series created by Jhonen Vasquez. It was produced by and subsequently aired on Nickelodeon. The series revolves around an extraterrestrial named Zim from the planet Irk, and his ongoing mission to conquer and destroy Earth...
concerning giant ants was entitled "Those!" in reference to this film. - In the post-apocalyptic videogame Fallout 3Fallout 3Fallout 3 is an action role-playing game released by Bethesda Game Studios, and the third major installment in the Fallout series. The game was released in North America, Europe and Australia in October 2008, and in Japan in December 2008 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360...
, a side quest involving giant mutated fire ants is titled "Those!" in homage to this film. Additionally, there are regular gigantic brown ants that the player may encounter throughout the game world. - The award winning video game series "It Came From the Desert"It Came From the DesertIt Came from the Desert is a 1989 computer game by Cinemaware. It was originally released for the Amiga, but later ported to other systems, as well as released in distinctly different forms to consoles....
was inspired by "Them!" - New Jersey punk band the Misfits have a song entitled Them! which has lyrics directly inspired by the film, on their 1999 release Famous MonstersFamous Monsters-Chart positions:- Credits :* Michale Graves - vocals* Jerry Only - bass* Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein - guitar* Dr. Chud - drums...
. - In Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a GlitchLilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a GlitchLilo & Stitch 2: Island Favorites is the soundtrack to Disney's 2005, home entertainment sequel film Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch. The song "He Mele No Lilo" had been included in the first film, Lilo & Stitch. It was released by Walt Disney Records on August 30, 2005.-Track...
the film where in a scene the characters were watching the footage from this 1954 movie (Them!). - In Eight Legged FreaksEight Legged FreaksEight Legged Freaks is a 2002 comedy horror directed by Ellory Elkayem and stars David Arquette, Kari Wührer and Scott Terra. The plot concerns a collection of spiders that are exposed to toxic waste, causing them to grow to gigantic proportions and begin killing and harvesting...
there is a scene were Mike is watching the movie in his bedroom. - The bonus Command & Conquer: Red AlertCommand & Conquer: Red AlertCommand & Conquer: Red Alert is a real-time strategy computer game of the Command & Conquer franchise, produced by Westwood Studios and released by Virgin Interactive in...
mission "It Came from Red Alert" is based on this film. - in Zombies Ate My NeighborsZombies Ate My NeighborsZombies Ate My Neighbors, released as Zombies in Europe and Australia, is a run and gun video game for the Sega Mega Drive/Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo consoles. The game was developed, distributed and produced by LucasArts and published by Konami.-Gameplay:The player chooses between two...
, one of the game's later enemies are giant ants, which come in black and red versions - in "Aliens", inspiration for the ending scene where the Queen's eggs are burned with a flamethrower.