Them! (1954)

Them!
Directed by Gordon Douglas
Written by Ted Sherdeman and Russell S. Hughes from a story by George Worthing Yates
1954/USA
Warner Bros.
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental

The Ellinson Girl: [screaming hysterically] AHHH! THEM! THEM! THEM!.

This started the trend in giant creature movies that would dominate the sci-fi genre over the next two or three years.  It is probably the best of them all.

The story begins in a Southwestern desert near an atom bomb test site as a little girl walks down a road clutching her dolly with a blank expression on her face.  A couple of policemen pick her up.  Officer Ben Peterson (James Whitmore) tries to bond with her but she appears to be catatonic.  On the way to the hospital, the policemen pass a uninhabited trailer.  The trailer has been torn to pieces but no money has been taken. Later, they stop by a similarly uninhabited general store and find the body of its owner.  All the money is in the till.  Some sacks of sugar are spilled out on the floor.  They take a cast of a track nearby and send this to Washington for identification.

The owner of the trailer was an FBI agent and soon agent Robert Graham (James Arness) joins the investigation.  Finally, the detectives are surprised to see that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has become involved.  The USDA send out scientist Dr. Harold Medford (Edmund Gwenn) and his scientist daughter arrive to assist in the investigation.

The good doctor is reticent about what could be causing the damage until he is more sure.  He wants to keep the news from the public to avoid panic.  Finally, the giant ants are sighted.  The rest of the film follows the efforts to destroy the creatures and keep them from reproducing.

They played this on TV a lot when I was a kid and I thought it was pretty darn scary.  I think I was more scared of the actual ants than the film’s apocalyptic warnings about nuclear testing.  The movie is still pretty effective and tautly paced with some good dialogue.  You learn a lot about the habits of your garden ants.  It’s a nice example of what a studio could do with the stuff of which many poverty-row flicks were made.

Them! was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Effects, Special Effects.

Trailer