Them! (1954)

The earliest atomic tests in New Mexico cause common ants to mutate into giant man-eating monsters that threaten civilization.

Director:

Gordon Douglas

Writers:

Ted Sherdeman (screenplay), Russell S. Hughes (adaptation) (as Russell Hughes)

Stars:

James Whitmore, Edmund Gwenn, Joan Weldon

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
James Whitmore	...	Police Sgt. Ben Peterson
Edmund Gwenn	...	Dr. Harold Medford
Joan Weldon	...	Dr. Patricia Medford
James Arness	...	Robert Graham
Onslow Stevens	...	Brig. Gen. Robert O'Brien
Sean McClory	...	Maj. Kibbee
Chris Drake	...	Trooper Ed Blackburn
Sandy Descher	...	The Ellinson Girl
Mary Alan Hokanson	...	Mrs. Lodge (as Mary Ann Hokanson)
Don Shelton	...	Trooper Capt. Fred Edwards
Fess Parker	...	Alan Crotty
Olin Howland	...	Jensen (as Olin Howlin)

Storyline

In the New Mexico desert, Police Sgt. Ben Peterson and his partner find a child wandering in the desert and sooner they discover that giant ants are attacking the locals. FBI agent Robert Graham teams up with Ben and with the support of Dr. Harold Medford and his daughter Dr. Patricia 'Pat' Medford, they destroy the colony of ants in the middle of the desert. Dr. Harold Medford explains that the atomic testing in 1945 developed the dangerous mutant ants. But they also discover that two queen ants have flown away to Los Angeles and they are starting a huge colony in the underground of the city. When a mother reports that her two children are missing, the team and the army have a lead to follow. Will they arrive in time to save the children and destroy the colony?

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Plot Keywords:

new mexico | mutation | gigantic monster | genetic mutation | post nuclear | 

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Taglines:

An Endless Terror! A Nameless Horror!

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 June 1954 (USA)

Also Known As:

Them

Filming Locations:

6th Street Viaduct, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Shortly after the helicopter reconnaissance, a meeting opens with an Army officer looking through a Stereo Realist red button viewer. He is evidently looking at 3-D slides taken by Dr. Patricia Medford (Joan Weldon). A second viewer is on the table next to Dr. Medford. This was rather clever product placement, considering the film was originally slated to be shot in 3-D format.

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Goofs

The telegram announces that Doctors Medford will travel aboard an Army plane. They arrive aboard a solid-nose, transport variant of the Mitchell B-25J which went into service in January 1944 with the US Army Air Forces. However, in 1947 (seven years prior to the making of Them!) Congress disestablished the USAAF and created the US Air Force. In fact, when the plane lands in the movie, you can read USAF on the underside of the wing, thus it was not an Army aircraft.

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Quotes

[Tom Lodge has been found dead, mutilated, with his two young sons missing]
Robert Graham: Mrs. Lodge, was your husband accustomed to taking his boys out so early in the morning?
Mrs. Lodge: [grief-stricken] On Sundays. Tom works on Sundays from 9:00 to 7:00, an extra job he has. He works so hard for us, he doesn't have much time to spend with Jerry and Mike. That's why the three of them get up early on Sundays to go spend someplace to play together for a few hours.

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Crazy Credits

Although the movie was shot in black and white, the film title at the opening credits appears blood red and blue! This was accomplished by Warner's Eastman Color process.

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Alternate Versions

A 2-3 minute segment following the projection sequence was excised from the film in the mid-50s following a lawsuit from a real-life scientist whose name was used in the story for a fictional explanation of atomic energy effects on ants. The scene was removed from the negative and has not been restored though it has turned up in some collector's prints.

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Connections

Referenced in Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life: Spring (2016)

User Reviews

Gordon Douglas' film was the epitome of the big-bug films…

The marauding ants in "Naked Jungle," advancing across a desert, are matched by the monsters in "Them!" coming out through mists of the white sands of New Mexico after an atomic blast has increased them to giants…

Slowly people start to go missing and the news filters though to the nearest towns that the arid plateau can present a real threat as strange creepy whistles are coming out from that deep desert…

Rather than an atomic movie, the film is about the struggle between humans and species revolt which invade their cities and show their remarkable energy, tenacity and vulnerability…

Just as the Gill Man can only be driven back when he has isolated far from his natural element, the monster ants are all powerful in their own territory and none too easy to destroy outside it…

"Them!" is well acted, frightening, and engaging from start to finish… The cast is pretty damn good, especially James Whitmore as the pretty intelligent cop who found a five year old girl, aimlessly walking through the terrain of the desert— miles from her family's wrecked travel trailer—unresponsive by some catastrophe...

"Them!" is a well-made monster movie, an instant classic nominated for an Oscar for its effects…