Them! (1954)

Director:

Gordon Douglas

Writers:

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

Release Date:

19 June 1954 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi | Horror

Tagline:

The Amazing New Warner Bros. Sensation!

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Ant | Desert | New Mexico | Police | Trailer

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win

Cast

James Whitmore	...	Police Sgt. Ben Peterson
Edmund Gwenn	...	Dr. Harold Medford
Joan Weldon	...	Dr. Patricia 'Pat' 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)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Marshall Bradford	...	Psychiatrist (scenes deleted)

Also Known As:

Them (USA) (poster title)

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Norway:16 (1954) | West Germany:16 (nf) | Australia:PG | Canada:PG | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:11 (1969) | UK:PG | USA:Approved (PCA #16752, General Audience)

Filming Locations:

Blaney Ranch - 160th & Q Streets, Palmdale, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Relating to the "S.S. Viking" incident, there was no cruiser named "U.S.S. Milwaukee" in commission in the United States Navy at the time this film was made. The last ship so named was an Omaha-class light cruiser (CL-5) which was commissioned in 1923 and scrapped in 1949 after service in World War II in both the U.S. and Soviet navies. The next ship named "Milwaukee" would be a Wichita-class replenishment oiler (AOR-2) that would be in service from 1969 until her decommissioning in 1994. Her name was stricken from the Navy's list in 1997, and at the time of this writing (2007), she is awaiting final disposal at the James River Reserve Fleet, Fort Eustis, VA.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When they are examining the second "footprint" discovered, someone on the production crew accidentally jostles the camera, as the screen briefly jumps up and to the left.

Quotes:

The Ellinson Girl: [screaming hysterically] THEM! THEM! THEM!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Dead End (1985)

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…