Read more about Them! at: Wikipedia Official Site: Warner Bros Them! is a 1954 American black and white science fiction film about a nest of gigantic irradiated ant. It is based on an original story treatment by George Worthing Yates. It was developed into a screenplay by Ted Sherdeman and Russell Hughes for Warner Bros. Pictures Inc., and was produced by David Weisbart and directed by Gordon Douglas. It starred James Whitmore, Edmund Gwenn, Joan Weldon and James Arness. One of the first of the "nuclear monster" movies, and the first "big bug" film, Them! was nominated for an Oscar for Special Effects and won a Golden Reel Award for Best Sound Editing. The film starts off as a simple suspense story, with police investigating mysterious disappearances and unexplained deaths. The giant ants are not seen until almost a third of the way into the film. New Mexico State Police troopers Ben Peterson (James Whitmore) and Ed Blackburn (Chris Drake) discover a little girl in shock, wandering the desert near Alamogordo. They retrace her steps to a mobile home owned by an FBI agent named Ellinson, who was on vacation in the area with his wife and two children. The side of the trailer was ripped open from the outside, and the rest of the family is missing and presumed dead. The girl briefly responds when strange sounds echo out of the desert wind, but the troopers and a medic miss this. More mysterious deaths and disappearances occur in the area. A general store owner named "Gramps" Johnson is found dead in his store, which was literally torn apart. No money was taken from the register, but a barrel of sugar was smashed open. Gramps' empty rifle has been fired and is twisted out of shape. Peterson leaves to check on the little girl and make a report, leaving Blackburn to guard Gramps' store. Not long afterward, Blackburn hears a strange noise outside and leaves to investigate. Off-camera, there is the sound of gunshots, the strange sound gets louder, and Blackburn screams. |
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Them!