- Them!
:"For the films of the same name, see
Them (2006 film) or Them (film)."Infobox Film
name = Them!
caption = Original film poster
director = Gordon Douglas
producer =David Weisbart
writer =Ted Sherdeman Russell Hughes George Worthing Yates (story)
starring =James Whitmore Edmund Gwenn Joan Weldon James Arness Onslow Stevens Sean McClory Chris Drake
music =Bronislau Kaper
cinematography =Sidney Hickox
editing =Thomas Reilly
distributor =Warner Bros.
released =1954
runtime = 94 min.
language = English
budget =
amg_id = 1:49362
imdb_id = 0047573"Them!" is a 1954
black and white science fiction film about man's encounter with a nest of radiation-giganticizedants . It is based on an original story treatment byGeorge Worthing Yates , was developed into ascreenplay byTed Sherdeman andRussell Hughes for Warner Bros. Pictures Inc., which was produced byDavid Weisbart and directed by Gordon Douglas for the company. It starredJames Whitmore ,Edmund Gwenn ,Joan Weldon andJames Arness .One of the first of the "nuclear monster" movies, and the first "big bug" film, "Them!" was the biggest moneymaker for Warner's in the year of its release.
Plot
The film begins with
New Mexico State Police Sergeant Ben Peterson investigating the disappearance of a vacationingFBI agent and his wife, the Ellisons, after discovery of their little girl wandering the desert nearAlamogordo, New Mexico , mute and in a state of shock. The FBI sends in Ellison's fellow agent Robert Graham to assist. The Ellison trailer is found pulled asunder by some great force, with strange tracks all around the wreckage. When the FBI is unable to identify the tracks, they attract the attention of Doctors Harold and Pat Medford, 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 Ellison 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 patrol of foraging ants, mutated by atomic radiation to the size of automobiles. The lawmen kill one of the ants with aThompson submachine gun after finding that their revolvers have little effect.A company of the US Army is brought in, led by General O'Brien (Stevens), which locates the ants' nest and exterminates the inhabitants with poison gas, but not before two young queens hatch and fly away to establish new nests. 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 sunk by a US Navy cruiser. The other queen is finally tracked to theLos Angeles storm sewer system, forcing the Army to openly declaremartial law and launch a major assault. Peterson rescues two young boys trapped by the ants in a sewer tunnel, at the cost of his own life. The nest's queen and egg chamber are destroyed with flamethrowers, 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.Cast
Other actors who appear in small parts include
John Beradino ,Willis Bouchey ,Booth Colman , Richard Deacon,Lawrence Dobkin ,Ann Doran ,Douglas Spencer ,Dub Taylor , and Harry Wilson.When casting his planned
Davy Crockett episode of theDisneyland television show, Walt Disney viewed the film to seeJames Arness who had been recommended for the role. However, Disney was impressed by a brief scene ofFess Parker , detained in a mental institution and insisting that giant flying ants had caused him to crash his plane. Disney realized he had found his Crockett. ["Uncle John's 4-ply Bathroom Reader." New York: St. Martin's Press, 2003.]Production
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 ". 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. [Warner Bros. Inter-office memo from Steve Trilling, dated September 24, 1953.]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. [An original 1954 print.] The VHS release in 1985, the subsequent laserdisc, and the current DVD release have restored this effect.
Cultural Legacy
Joe Dante 's 1993 movie "Matinee", starringJohn Goodman , parodies both "Them!" and the lifestyle of horror movie directorWilliam Castle . Elaborate and deliberately hokey special effects are shown. Another parody is an unfinished episode of "Invader Zim " called "Those! ".The film's distinctive, shrill giant ant sound effect would be used in the 2006 film "
The Ant Bully ".The film inspired a Misfits song of the same name which appeared on their "
Famous Monsters " album.In "
Cloverfield ", there is a still frame inserted from "Them!" along with others from "King Kong" and "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms ". [ [http://cloverfieldclues.blogspot.com/2008/04/dvd-easter-eggs-monsters.html Cloverfield Clues: DVD Easter Eggs - Monsters ] ]"Them!" has also been referenced to in a number of games:
*The easter egg "Ant Missions" in "", the expansion to the game "Command & Conquer: Red Alert." When starting the first Ant Mission, a small animation shows an ant crawling up a hole, with the words: "They Came From Red Alert!"Fact|date=January 2008
*A classic computer game called "It Came From the Desert ".Fact|date=January 2008
*In the video game "Zombies Ate My Neighbors ", the characters battle giant ants.
*It is also mentioned by the character Para-Medic in "" during a radio transmission.Fact|date=January 2008One issue of Warren Ellis' comic
Planetary is devoted to American 1950's sci-fi movies. Among references to films such asAttack of the 50 Foot Woman and others, giant ants make an appearance.References
External links
* [http://www.thethunderchild.com/Movies/1954/Them/WhitmoreScenes.html How To Steal A Scene, by James Whitmore]
* [http://www.thethunderchild.com/Movies/1954/Them/ThemTOC.html The Thunder Child Them! Sourcebook]
* [http://www.mmmrecordings.com/Monstrous/monstrous.html Suite of the film score re-recorded on "Monstrous Movie Music" label]
* [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1202814376077659868 Google Video]
* [http://www.golobthehumanoid.com/them.html Them! Fanpage]
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