Them! is a 1954 science fiction film about humanity's battle with a nest of giant mutant ants. DVD cover scan from the movie Them!, personal scan, claiming fair use (does not detract from original work, scanned from legal copy, image is of sufficiently low resolution). ... Gordon Douglas (Gordon Douglas Brickner) (December 15, 1907 – September 29, 1993) was an American film director, who directed many different genres of films over the course of a five-decade career in motion pictures. ... David M. Weisbart (January 21, 1915 July 21, 1967) was an American film editor and producer A native of Los Angeles, California, David Weisbart began working in the film industry in 1942 as an editor. ... Whitmore in The Asphalt Jungle James Allen Whitmore (born October 1, 1921) is an American film actor. ... Edmund Gwenn (September 26, 1875 – September 6, 1959) was a theatre and film actor. ... James Arness James Arness (originally Aurness) (born May 26, 1923 in Minneapolis, Minnesota) is an actor best known for portraying Marshal Matt Dillon on Gunsmoke for 20 years, a record length for prime time shows that is shared with Kelsey Grammer’s portrayal of Dr. Frasier Crane. ... The title given to this article is incorrect due to technical limitations. ... Sidney Hickox (July 15, 1895 - May 16, 1982) was a film cinematographer. ... Thomas F. Reilly (February 14, 1942) is the Massachusetts attorney general. ... Warner Bros. ... 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Poster for 2001: A Space Odyssey, an archetypal science fiction film Science fiction film is a film genre that uses speculative, science-based depictions of imaginary phenomena such as extra-terrestrial lifeforms, alien worlds, and time travel, often along with technological elements such as futuristic spacecraft, robots, or other technologies. ... Resizing (including size-changing, miniaturization, magnification, shrinking, and enlargement, is a theme in fiction, especially science fiction. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ...

One of the first of the "nuclear monster" movies, Them! was the biggest moneymaker for Warner Bros. pictures in the year of its release. Originally conceived to be in 3-D and color. Tests were to be shot in color and 3-D. Color tests were shot, but the 3-D rig malfunctioned. The next day, a memo was sent out that 3-D was scrapped. WB was unsatisfied with the color results and slated it as flat and black and white. The film still featured higher production values than most of the genre-mates which followed it. The WB Shield, used from 2001 to late 2003. ... In film, the term 3-D (or 3D) is used to describe any visual presentation system that attempts to maintain or recreate moving images of the third dimension, the illusion of depth as seen by the viewer. ...

Cast

Whitmore in The Asphalt Jungle James Allen Whitmore (born October 1, 1921) is an American film actor. ... Edmund Gwenn (September 26, 1875 – September 6, 1959) was a theatre and film actor. ... James Arness James Arness (originally Aurness) (born May 26, 1923 in Minneapolis, Minnesota) is an actor best known for portraying Marshal Matt Dillon on Gunsmoke for 20 years, a record length for prime time shows that is shared with Kelsey Grammer’s portrayal of Dr. Frasier Crane. ... Onslow Ford Stevenson (March 29, 1902 – January 5, 1977) was an American actor. ... Sandra Descher, known professionally as Sandy, was an American child actress, of the 1950s. ... Fess Parker (born August 16, 1924) is an American film and television actor. ... Leonard Simon Nimoy (born March 26, 1931) is an American actor, film director, poet, musician and photographer. ...

Plot

The film begins with Peterson (Whitmore) investigating a string of mysterious attacks and killings in the New Mexico desert. The death of a vacationing FBI agent and most of his family (except for a hysterical little girl) brings in Graham (Arness), and the discovery of a strange set of tracks attracts the attention of the Medfords (Gwenn and Weldon), a father/daughter team of entomologists from Washington D.C., who theorize and then prove that the culprits are a nest of giant ants, mutated by nearby atomic testing. The authorities attack the nest with poison and kill the inhabitants, but not before two young queens hatch out and fly away to establish new nests. One ends up onboard an ocean-going freighter, which is overrun by the ants, then sunk by the military. The other sets up her nest in the Los Angeles sewer system, forcing the US Army to declare martial law and launch a major assault. Peterson rescues two young boys from the nest, 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. Capital Santa Fe Largest city Albuquerque Area  Ranked 5th  - Total 121,665 sq mi (315,194 km²)  - Width 342 miles (550 km)  - Length 370 miles (595 km)  - % water 0. ... The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is a Federal police force which is the principal investigative arm of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). ... Etymology, the study of the origin of words, is sometimes misspelled as Entomology or Entymology. Etymology redirects here. ... Aerial photo (looking NW) of the Washington Monument and the White House in Washington, DC. Washington, D.C., officially the District of Columbia (also known as D.C.; Washington; the Nations Capital; the District; and, historically, the Federal City) is the capital city and administrative district of the United... Cargo ship or freighter is any sort of ship that carries goods and materials from one port to another. ... Flag Seal Nickname: City of Angels Location Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates , Government State County California Los Angeles County Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 1,290. ... Martial law is the system of rules that takes effect (usually after a formal declaration) when a military authority takes control of the normal administration of justice. ... German troops use a flamethrower on the Eastern Front during the Second World War A flamethrower is a mechanical device designed to throw flames or, more correctly, project an ignited stream of liquid. ...

Quotes

• Dr. Harold Medford: "We may be witnessing a Biblical prophecy come true—and there shall come destruction and darkness upon creation and the beasts will reign over the earth."
• Dr. Harold Medford: "When man entered the atomic age he opened a door to a new world. What we'll eventually find in that new world nobody can predict."
• Agent Robert Graham: "Communicate? You mean these things send messages?"
• young girl: THEM! THEM!

Production

Opening Color title from Them!

The film was originally planned as a color production. Two days before shooting was to begin Warner Brothers was dissatisfied with the color test results and the film was made in black and white. The opening titles, however, were printed in color to give the opening of the films a "punch." This effect was achieved by an Eastman Color section spliced into each print. Both the VHS release in 1985 and the current DVD release retain the original color opening. In the planning stages, the movie was to be in 3-D, but when the camera malfunctioned on the day tests were to be shot, the idea was scrapped. The film was subsequently shot flat, although aspects of the 3-D preperation still remain, such as the opening titles and flame-throwers that are shot at the camera. Image File history File linksMetadata Themtitle. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Themtitle. ... Warner Bros. ...

A young Leonard Nimoy has a small, uncredited role as an Army sergeant, while future Davy Crockett portrayer Fess Parker has a cameo as a witness to one of the queen ants' flight. Leonard Simon Nimoy (born March 26, 1931) is an American actor, film director, poet, musician and photographer. ... Davy Crockett David Crockett (August 17, 1786 – March 6, 1836) 19th-century American folk hero usually referred to as Davy Crockett and by the popular title King of the Wild Frontier. He represented Tennessee in the U.S. Congress, served in the Texas revolution, and died at the age of... Fess Parker (born August 16, 1924) is an American film and television actor. ...

Trivia

• The film inspired a classic computer game called It Came From the Desert.
• Joe Dante's 1993 movie Matinee, starring John Goodman parodies both "Them!" and the lifestyle of horror movie director William Castle. Elaborate and deliberately hokey special effects are shown.
• In Sweden, the movie title was translated to "Spindlarna", which means The Spiders in Swedish.
• Them! was the inspiration for 'We are THEM!' (2005), by visual artist Mark Hatter. The project used miniature stage sets and stimuli creating a satire of an ant-sized world, claiming to "Educate and Improve" the common black garden ant.
• The distinctive, shrill giant ant sound effect would be used again in the 2006 film The Ant Bully.
• The Command & Conquer: Red Alert expansion pack Counterstrike features a hidden set of missions where the player has to defend against and eventually exterminate giant ants.

The game cover It Came From the Desert is a game created by Cinemaware originally released for the Commodore Amiga 500 in 1989. ... Joe Dante (born November 28, 1946 in Morristown, New Jersey) is an American film director and producer of films generally with humorous and scifi content. ... Matinee is a 1993 period comedy film directed by Joe Dante. ... John Stephen Goodman (born June 20, 1952 in Affton, Missouri) is a male Golden Globe award winner and an Emmy award nominated American actor. ... William Castle (April 24, 1914–May 31, 1977) born William Schloss, was an American film director, producer, and actor. ... Binomial name Lasius niger (Linnaeus, 1758) The Black Garden Ant (Lasius niger) is a formicine monogynous ant, the type species of the subgenus Lasius, found all over Europe and in some parts of North America and Asia. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Ant Bully is a computer-animated film produced by Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzmans Playtone, John A. Davis and Keith Alcorns DNA Productions and directed by John A. Davis. ...

External links

• Them! (IMDb)
• How To Steal A Scene, by James Whitmore
• The Thunder Child Them! Sourcebook
• Suite of the film score re-recorded on "Monstrous Movie Music" label