Them! [Blu-ray]

Director: Gordon Douglas Gordon Douglas

Overview

In this film, a girl is found wandering in the desert in a state of complete shock. When she finally revives, she can scream out only one word: "Them!" As it turns out, "Them" are giant ants, a by-product of the radiation attending the atomic bomb tests of the era.

Product Details

Release Date:	10/27/2015
UPC:	0883929458837
Original Release:	1954
Rating:	NR
Source:	Warner Home Video
Presentation:	[B&W]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]
Language:	English
Time:	1:32:00
Sales rank:	11,881

Special Features

Behing-the-scenes archive footage montage on the design and operation of giant ants; Theatrical trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

James Whitmore	Ben Peterson
Edmund Gwenn	Dr. Harold Medford
Joan Weldon	Dr. Patricia Medford
James Arness	Robert Graham
Onslow Stevens	Brig. Gen. O'Brien
Sean McClory	Maj. Kibbee
Chris Drake	Off. Ed Blackburn
Sandy Descher	Little Girl
Mary Alan Hokanson	Mrs. Lodge
Don Shelton	Captain of Troopers
Fess Parker	Crotty
Olin Howlin	Jensen
William Schallert	Ambulance Attendant
Leonard Nimoy	Sergeant
Dub Taylor	Watchman
Ann Doran	Psychiatrist
Willis Bouchey	Actor,Official
Frederick J. Foote	Dixon
Robert Scott Correll	Jerry
Richard Bellis	Mike
James B. Cardwell	Officer
Joel Smith	Ben's Driver,Actor
Cliff Ferre	Lab Man
Roydon Clark	Jeep Driver,Jeep Driver
John Close	Pilot
Matthew McCue	Gramps
Joe Forte	Coroner Putnam
Wally Duffy	Airman
Fred Shellac	Attendant
Norman Field	General
Otis Garth	Admiral
John Maxwell	Dr. Grant
Janet Stewart	WAVE
Dick Wessel	Cop
Russell Gaige	Coroner
Robert Berger	Sutton
John Beradino	Ryan
Dorothy Green	Matron
Dean Cromer	MP Sergeant
Lawrence Dobkin	Engineer
Chad Mallory	Loader
Gayle Kellogg	Gunner
Victor Sutherland	Senator
Charles Perry	Soldier
Warren Mace	Radio Operator
Jack Perrin	Army Officer
Marshall Bradford	Doctor
Walden Boyle	Doctor
Alexander Campbell	Official
Harry Tyler	Inmate
Oscar Blanke	Inmate
Eddie Dew	Officer
James Cardwell	Officer
Walter Coy	Reporter
Booth Colman	Reporter
Hubie Kerns	Jeep Driver
Charles Meredith	Washington Official
Harry Wilson	Actor
Douglas Spencer	Reporter
Richard Deacon	Bald Reporter

Technical Credits

Ted Sherdeman

Russell S. Hughes

Gordon Douglas	Director
Ted Sherdeman	Screenwriter
Russell S. Hughes	Screenwriter
David Weisbart	Producer
Ralph Ayres	Special Effects
William A. Mueller	Sound Effects
Francis J. Scheid	Special Effects,Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

Unlike most of the "giant bugs" sci-fi programmers of the 1950s, which are good for little more than a campy laugh today, Them! remains a compelling and entertaining thriller with an unusually intelligent script, strong performances from a fine cast, and tense, well-paced direction that knows how to play this material seriously. While the special effects technology is not especially impressive by today's standards, watch Them! after such anti-classics as Beginning of the End or Earth vs. the Spider and you'll realize how striking this film's giant ants must have looked in 1954. More important, Them! generates a palpable tension from the start, never overplaying its hand as it gradually develops the unreality of the mutated insects, well after establishing that a real and deadly menace is terrorizing the desert. James Arness and James Whitmore are capable and credible lawmen, Edmund Gwenn keeps his "lovable" eccentricities to a minimum as Dr. Medford, and the charming but all-business Joan Weldon lifts her character above the usual sci-fi token woman. Fess Parker and Dub Taylor make the most of their bit parts, and, if you keep an eye peeled, you'll notice Leonard Nimoy using the teletype machine. Them! blends the lean and efficient construction of a B-picture with the craft that studios usually reserved for more expensive efforts, and the result is one of the best sci-fi films of its era.