You may be asking yourself, is photog becoming demented?\u00a0 Didn\u2019t he already write a review of Them!?\u00a0 The answers to those questions are yes and no.\u00a0 I have referenced Them in several posts about cheesy 1950s science fiction movies.\u00a0 But it has never gotten its own exclusive treatment.\u00a0 Well, I mean to remedy that situation, pronto.<\/p>\n
Them! is the grand-daddy of all atomic energy fear films.\u00a0 Instead of fearing cancer and radiation sickness we are provided with a much more rational fear, giant ants.\u00a0 It is 1954 and nine years after the first atomic bomb was tested at White Sands, New Mexico.\u00a0 During those nine years ants have been traipsing around the New Mexico desert ignorant of their future as future contenders for mankind\u2019s crown as King of the Earth.\u00a0 But the wait is over.\u00a0 A small prop plane is inexplicably cruising over the desert and spots a little girl holding a doll aimlessly walking in the hot sun.\u00a0 The pilot alerts a nearby police cruiser which intercepts the little girl and finds that she\u2019s catatonic.\u00a0 With the help of the pilot they trace her point of origin to a recreational vehicle parked in the desert.\u00a0 On closer inspection the officers discover that one side of the RV has been ripped to shreds.\u00a0 But being crack forensic experts and logical linguists, they proclaim that the RV wall, \u201cwasn\u2019t caved in, it was caved out.\u201d \u00a0Whoever wrote the deathless prose of this dialog is partly responsible for the sad position we currently find ourselves in, vis-\u00e0-vis cultural and actual illiteracy.\u00a0 Later on, the policeman redeems himself when at a general store that has been similarly destroyed, he declares, \u201cthis wasn\u2019t pushed in, it was pulled out.\u201d\u00a0 Okay, stupid rant over.<\/p>\n
Based on blood found in the RV the officers determine that the girl is the only survivor of an attack.\u00a0 On the way back from finding the girl and the trailer they stop off at a local general store and find it similarly damaged and the store owner brutally killed.\u00a0 One of the police officers, Ed Blackburn is left at the store to guard the remains.\u00a0 His partner, Sgt. Ben Peterson played by James Whitmore, drives off and shortly afterward, Blackburn is heard off camera firing his revolver at some thing<\/strong> and then screaming as he suffers horrible death.<\/p>\n Evidence found at the site of the RV, a foot print, is sent to the FBI for identification and so the story moves on to its next logical step, Santa Claus is called in.\u00a0 Or more precisely Edmund Gwenn who played Santa Claus in Miracle on 34th<\/sup> Street.\u00a0 Gwenn plays Dr. Harold Medford a world-renowned myrmecologist who with his myrmecologist daughter have come to lead the effort to save the world from the giant ants.\u00a0 Representing the government is FBI agent Robert Graham played by James Arness.\u00a0 Arness who later found fame as Marshall Dillon on TV\u2019s Gunsmoke is the brave, competent hero of the movie and the love interest for the myrmecologist daughter.\u00a0 And to provide local color Ben Peterson is always on hand to provide the comic relief.<\/p>\n With the help of the scientists, the army locates the giant ant nest and destroy it with cyanide gas.\u00a0 But after inspecting the inside of the nest the scientists break the bad news.\u00a0 New queen ants have escaped the nest and will be forming new nests elsewhere.\u00a0 Now a war room is set up and armed forces from all the services mobilize to battle the giant ants on land, on sea and in the air.\u00a0 Dunt, dunt, daaaah!!!<\/p>\n The final showdown takes place where it must, in the storm drains of Los Angeles.\u00a0 And in fitting fashion, the ants capture two little boys who wander into their nest and are rescued by the US Army.\u00a0 Unfortunately, Ben Peterson dies saving the boys but dies the good death of a hero.\u00a0 And when the ants are finally finished off Dr. Medford gives a speech and tells us that the atomic age is fraught with danger and giant insects.<\/p>\n Despite how thoroughly I\u2019ve mocked this movie, I actually enjoy it immensely.\u00a0 Other than the laughably fake animatronic ants the production values for the movie are quite good and the actors are actually very effective for the most part, including the character actors performing the bit parts as police, military and civilian participants.\u00a0 My favorite scenes are where the scientific expertise of the Medfords is showcased for the benefit of the poor ignorant soldiers and police.\u00a0 While under attack from their first giant ant Dr. Medford makes sure he uses the Latin singular and plural versions of the word antenna when instructing the police to shoot at the ant. \u201cShoot the antennae, shoot the antennae,\u201d he yells and once one of these has been shot off he continues \u201cnow shoot the other antenna.\u201d\u00a0 In another scene Dr. Medford is attempting to convince the Pentagon that the giant ants are an existential threat to humanity and he uses an ant film clip that looks like it could have been made by my high school biology teacher.<\/p>\n Them! is a wonderful time capsule of the 1950s.\u00a0 Americans are the good guys and giant ants are definitely bad.\u00a0 What could be simpler?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" You may be asking yourself, is photog becoming demented?\u00a0 Didn\u2019t he already write a review of Them!?\u00a0 The answers to those questions are yes and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[239,237,4,243],"tags":[1554,1557,1555,1556,43,3689,38,44,161],"class_list":["post-5384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-movie-reviews","category-reviews","category-sff","category-sff-movie-reviews","tag-edmund-gwenn","tag-giant-ants","tag-james-arness","tag-james-whitmore","tag-movie-review","tag-radioactive-monster","tag-review","tag-sci-fi","tag-them"],"yoast_head":"\n