One of the greatest of Fifties science fiction features came from the Warner Brothers Studio in 1954. Them! is one of the best examples of the paranoid Fifties and all the things that we were afraid of that could result from the new atomic age.
Ever since J. Robert Oppenheimer and his team exploded that first atomic bomb on the desert in White Sands, New Mexico radiation has spawned a new breed of giant ants nine to twelve feet in length. It's taken a decade for them to be discovered, the desert being a solitary place, but when these big guys come out of their holes, it's with a feeding frenzy vengeance.
First on the scene is deputy sheriff James Whitmore, who first brings in FBI man James Arness and then a father and daughter team of scientists, Edmund Gwenn and Joan Weldon. The trail eventually takes the four to Los Angeles where an escaped queen from New Mexico is building a nest in the sewer system of Los Angeles.
The tension and the action is brought to a fine pitch in Them! Though the human cast does give a good account of themselves, it's the special effects creating those giant ants that is the real star of the film. Other than a big of male chauvinism shown by James Arness towards Joan Weldon, the romance is non-existent. My guess is that those who survived the experience went on about the serious business of finding out what other kind of mutated creatures might be spawning as a result of atomic testing. Which was a very real fear in the Fifties.
Edmund Gwenn comes off the best as a most intelligent and civilized scientist who knows the dangers and explains the situation to the military and civilian authorities without any condescension.
Them! gave many nightmares to movie goers back in the day. The film is still capable of doing just that.
Ever since J. Robert Oppenheimer and his team exploded that first atomic bomb on the desert in White Sands, New Mexico radiation has spawned a new breed of giant ants nine to twelve feet in length. It's taken a decade for them to be discovered, the desert being a solitary place, but when these big guys come out of their holes, it's with a feeding frenzy vengeance.
First on the scene is deputy sheriff James Whitmore, who first brings in FBI man James Arness and then a father and daughter team of scientists, Edmund Gwenn and Joan Weldon. The trail eventually takes the four to Los Angeles where an escaped queen from New Mexico is building a nest in the sewer system of Los Angeles.
The tension and the action is brought to a fine pitch in Them! Though the human cast does give a good account of themselves, it's the special effects creating those giant ants that is the real star of the film. Other than a big of male chauvinism shown by James Arness towards Joan Weldon, the romance is non-existent. My guess is that those who survived the experience went on about the serious business of finding out what other kind of mutated creatures might be spawning as a result of atomic testing. Which was a very real fear in the Fifties.
Edmund Gwenn comes off the best as a most intelligent and civilized scientist who knows the dangers and explains the situation to the military and civilian authorities without any condescension.
Them! gave many nightmares to movie goers back in the day. The film is still capable of doing just that.