Yes, yes. A much more obvious choice this time. One might even say bleeding obvious…
Fun fact: deciding which of my embarrassing roster of unaddressed 50s SF films to tackle for this Roundtable took longer than writing this review.
…in which Mankind’s meddling with atomic power comes back to, uh, bite him…
Liz Kingsley is the insane genius behind And You Call Yourself a Scientist!
#1 by The Rev. on September 1, 2019 - 2:59 am
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It seems crazy that you haven’t reviewed this. Happily, that’s now been taken care of!
#2 by lyzard on September 1, 2019 - 5:53 pm
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Just a little bit, yes. 😀
#3 by Ken on September 1, 2019 - 7:49 pm
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The ants are a tiny bit shonky.
Fortunately other filmmakers learned from the mistake. Later giant bug movies would turn to puppets (The Deadly Mantis), stop-motion and matte (The Black Scorpion), and of course real insects crawling on photos of the Chicago skyline (The Beginning of the End).
#4 by Alaric on September 1, 2019 - 8:33 pm
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Yeah, my response to that line was, “By the standards of ’50s giant bug movies, they’re not THAT shonky.”
#5 by Blake on September 2, 2019 - 3:53 pm
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As I understand it, the special FX were nominated for an Oscar, but lost to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. The third nominee was Hell and High Water.
#6 by lyzard on September 5, 2019 - 6:38 pm
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Aw, c’mon: I did say tiny bit; I don’t think you can argue with that! 😀
Segmented / articulated critters like arthropods ought to be easier to do convincingly. Of course, trying helps…
It was nominated for an Oscar. It also won an award (not an Oscar) for its sound editing which I think was wholly justified.
#7 by DamonD on September 5, 2019 - 6:00 am
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Such a good film. I did a whole run on famous 50s-early 60s monster/sci-fi films like this about four years ago and Them! was one of the strongest.
About my only criticism would be that it ends a little abruptly, like it just needed one extra scene or little pause for breath more. But that’s small beer, really.
Lovely review, really crystallised some stuff for me and introduced new perspective on other parts.
#8 by lyzard on September 5, 2019 - 6:40 pm
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Thank you, Damon!
On the other hand it avoids even a whiff of a closing-scene clinch, so I think we’ll keep it as it is. 😀
#9 by Chris on September 5, 2019 - 2:44 pm
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It’s been about 40 years since I first saw Them!, and I never tire of it. One thing that’s struck me lately is the stark, horrific post-mortem descriptions of Johnson and particularly Lodge. The Thing from Another World came close, but I can’t recall hearing anything else like them in other similar genre movies of the time, and I’ve always wondered how audiences felt the first time they heard it when it premiered.
#10 by lyzard on September 5, 2019 - 6:45 pm
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I know! – it is amazingly gruesome, even if not visually explicit about it. The bit that always gets me is not just the bone pile but Pat’s comment, “There’re your missing persons”…one of whom is a child. And ex-military / current cop Ben wincing when he sees Lodge’s body.
#11 by Chris on September 6, 2019 - 2:51 pm
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The bit that got me was “They couldn’t find the other arm.” And it wasn’t in the drain bed where they found the tire marks and model plane. Which meant the ants carried it off…It was never a doubt in my mind Ben was ex-military, probably a marine in WWII between the bazooka and the flame thrower. For years I had thought he said “brute odor” instead of brood, like the heavy smell of large animals in a herd or barn, until I found the subtitles, but I always wondered at how strong such an odor must have been through his gas mask with all that cyanide still floating around, for him to recognize it again. I could go on for hours, lol. Thanks again!
#12 by Ken on September 6, 2019 - 9:35 pm
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I remember a review of a 1950s movie that noted that, of course they got the military material right – over half the cast and crew had been in the service in WWII.
Sorry, don’t remember the movie or the reviewer. It might even have been one of the B-master.
#13 by Chris on September 5, 2019 - 2:51 pm
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Liz, your commentaries on how children are treated in this movie, and on how Ben listened to a scientist, were spot-on. Thanks for the review.
#14 by lyzard on September 5, 2019 - 6:46 pm
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Thank you. 🙂