Them! (1954)
Starring: James Whitmore, Edmund Gwenn, Joan Weldon, James Arness
Category: Classic, favorite
Plot Tags: 50s monster movie, mutant, giant-attacking thing
Original release: June 1954
Format viewed: DVD - rented from Vulcan, naturally
Directed by: Gordon Douglas
Written by: Ted Sherdeman, George Worthing Yates
Distributed by: Warner Brothers
I have a fairly large soft spot in my heart for monster movies from the 1950s. There is a charm about them that, one the one hand draws from the classic Universal Monsters (Frankenstein, Wolfman, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Dracula etc etc) but on the other hand taps directly into political feelings and fears of the time. More often than not, the fear of atomic attack, of the Russians or some combination of the two fueled these movies. There were many mutant creatures brought to life by atomic radiation that caused all manner of havoc but Them! is my favorite of these. Giant ants...really what else do you need?
The story centers around a nuclear test site in New Mexico where strange goings on are afoot. A child is found wandering alone in the desert and a wrecked RV is found torn apart not far away. A drunkard pilot reports seeing flying saucers the shape of ants. The discovery of said big-ass ants happens pretty quickly and the race is on with a team of scientists and military personnel to find the nests and destroy them. This brings about a number of greatly amusing sexist statements and arguments about the place of a woman (the main science guys daughter is also a scientist - and, conveniently, they both know a ton about ants) and other matters of the time. This is one of the reasons I love these types of movies, the contextually ridiculous stuff. Like in Hitchcock's 'Shadow of a Doubt' or Charles Laughton's beautiful 'Night of the Hunter' - the time period becomes its own character. Not like a period drama or something bogged down by fluffy ridiculousness of overwrought costumes, these 50s movies are a time capsule and have a charm because of it.
The ants themselves are pretty neat considering the time period. I don't know that anyone would think they were real, however, watching them crash through windows and burrowing out of tunnels is pretty darned impressive, considering. Another reason why I love this one so much is that there is an undercurrent of counter cultural sentiment embodied in the musings of the old scientist character who spins off a wonderful monologue about the atomic age and seeming to suggest (in a very subtle way as to get past the censors - this was pre-code after all) that biting off more than we can chew for the sake of doing it has unforeseen consequences. In this case? Big-ass ants.
Anyway, this is one of my all time favorite 50s monster movies for all its grand ambitions and great period effects, great performances including the wonderful James Whitmore (Battleground, Asphalt Jungle, Oklahoma! Tora! Tora Tora!) and just an overall funness that can't really be replicated.
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