Behind on the scenes on Them!

Updated on October 24, 2013 By Ken Begg 37 Comments

Here’s a publicity shot from Them! I think this is the lady who was embarrassed to admit she’d been leaving a “sick friend” when she ran a red light. Best detail?

Note James Whitemore’s shoes. He’s wearing lifts. I don’t think this was an ego thing. He and James Arness do the buddy cop thing in this picture. Arness was 6’7″, Whitmore 5’8″.

Arness was a bit wooden as an actor, but he starred in this and The Thing from Another World. His brother Peter Graves, arguably a rather more able thespian, starred in Killers from Space, Red Planet Mars and Beginning of the End. He also starred in It Conquered the World, of course–opposite a young Lee Van Cleef–which is another cheapie, but like many of Roger Corman’s films, is surprisingly decent. Not up to Arness’ stuff, though, not by a long shot.

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By Ken Begg

http://jabootu.net

Ericb

One of the little things I only noticed after watching this a number of times: I love that New Mexican cops in the 50s wore bow ties.
Rock Baker

I’m gonna have to watch this film again. You just reminded me what a great flick it is!
Ken_Begg

While driving around in the desert, nonetheless. Today you can get grown men to wear long pants because they’re “uncomfortable.”
Ken_Begg

They’re showing it at the library tonight, as a matter of fact. My favorite monster movie, I bust this out at least twice a year.
Wade Harrell

Best giant bug movie, and I first saw it as a kid on TV not knowing what the monsters were going to be, the way God intended! Kids these days have already looked it up on IMDB and already know all about it before they ever actually see the movoe.
Richard Bellis, who played one of the kids rescued at the end, is the father of my daughter’s dance teacher.
Flangepart

Classic with a capital C.
The rib cage with the gun belt (Sam Browne rig) caught my attention. Later in life, I asked ‘If the ants are so big, and the human so weak…how come they left any unbroken bones behind?”
Yep…started me onthe road to askin’ too many question about plots.
Ken_Begg

Wow! That’s fabulous.

Yes, the film is played so straight that if you didn’t know the story, you’d be as surprised as heck when the first ant shows up.
Wade Harrell

I remember being so scared, yet incredibly happy, when I saw the first ant coming over the sand dunes. I think I had already seen too many movies where they crapped out and only showed the (usually lame) monster at the very end, but here we had to wait just the right amount of time for them to show up and when they did they were awesome. I think I was also pretty freaked out by the catatonic little girl in the beginning.
Eric Hinkle

This will sound odd, but the main thing I like about Them! is that the ants, while gigantic, still act like, well, ants. They don’t breathe fire, they die when shot often enough, etc. And yet they’re still shown as very dangerous. Maybe the SyFy Channel can take a hint from this when they make some more monster movies.
Gamera977

Those aren’t his special bug-stompin’ shoes?
Flangepart

Make me think of why I loved TREMORS…the monsters were killable. You just had to be clever and have enough ammo.
“Burt! You don’t have a gun. deal with it!”
And since you cared about the cast, what happened to them meant something, unlike where everone on screen is simply ‘monster fodder.’
Gamera977

Yeah, always seemed odd to me once an ordinary creature becomes huge it becomes bullet-proof!?! It might take more shooting to take it down but still between a giant spider and two National Guardsmen with a heavy machine gun I’ll be betting on the Guardsmen.
Ericb

Hey, is that guy with the fedora on the far left the guy who played Frank Chapman in the Phantom Planet?
Ericb

And actually having the actors able to interact with the monsters without the aid of trick photography or computer animation helps too. Try to imaging James Whitmore being killed by a CGI ant.
Ken_Begg

Yes, I always thought that was a huge advantage of props.

Watching the movie last night (have I seen it a hundred times? possibly), it struck me for the first time what a fantastic Lois Lane Joan Weldon would have made.
bgbear_rnh

IIRC Arness was the tallest leading man ever in a film until Shaquil O’Neill showed up in some forgettable film.

Another thing I heard was that Disney people casting for Davey Crockett watched this film in consideration of Arness playing Davey but, were intrigued by the guy playing the “crazy” pilot.
Ken_Begg

It was supposed to be Disney himself (believable, he was very hands on), and that he offered the job right after seeing Fess Parker’s scene. Parker did have more of a country thing that lent itself better to a backwoodsman, so he was a good choice.
sandra

James Arness was very lucky in that both of the science fiction films in which he appeared are classics. (He was also very lucky to get that job on Gunsmoke, which ran for at least 20 years.) THEM ! works so well because it is played totaly straight, as a serious murder mystery, not like a ‘giant bug’ movie. Of course, it had the advantage of being the first of its kind. And of course, the giant ants are genuinely scary.
bgbear_rnh

I wonder if the elevators were nick-named “The Alan Ladds”.

Wow, this Arness guy is a giant, Whitmore, you’re going have to wear the Ladds
Eric Hinkle

“And since you cared about the cast, what happened to them meant
something, unlike where everone on screen is simply ‘monster fodder.'”

Yeah, that helps a lot. I wonder why so many horror movies since the 70’s seem to think that a cast composed solely of unlikable jerks will appeal to the audience. Every time I see a movie like that, I feel like I’m supposed to be cheering for the monster.
The Rev.

I didn’t see this until we got cable in my teens; my relative lack of access to outside media meant I had no idea what “They” were. The fact it was giant ants, coupled with that indelible chittering and the wonderful puppets, filled me with possibly more glee than any monster reveal ever. I think only the Creature from the Black Lagoon and a few of my favorite giant monsters would be in the same ballpark, and those all had the additional advantage of my being quite young when I first saw those.
The Rev.

Dean Fredericks, who played Frank Chapman, is listed for the uncredited role of Detective Curtis in Them!, so I’m guessing you’re exactly right, and will compliment your eye. Good eye!
The Rev.

What? Who can possibly forget the cinematic classic that is Kazaam!?! Are you mad??

Next you’ll tell me you don’t remember one of the greatest fighting video games of all time, “Shaq-Fu”!!! Preposterous, I say!
bgbear_rnh

I suppose if you have Paul Michael Glaser directing you expect greatness.
Flangepart

Maybe you are! I wonder if there is some guilt trip behind some screenwriters when they do this kinda flick.
“Let’s make ’em all a bunch of A-holes and it won’t seem so cruel.”

It’s like a Godzilla flick. How often do you see a Kaiju flick where they really want you to root for the monster being turned toes up? The Gaos in the Gamera flick, maybe?
Eric Hinkle

“Maybe you are! I wonder if there is some guilt trip behind some screenwriters when they do this kinda flick.
“Let’s make ’em all a bunch of A-holes and it won’t seem so cruel.””

Which if true is very foolish of the screenwriters, unless they’re trying to invoke the Eight Deadly Words — “I don’t care what happens to these people.”
zombiewhacker

I disagree about Arness being wooden. He very folksy and affable, yet came across as very intelligent. I would argue that Peter Graves was the more wooden of the pair.
zombiewhacker

This movie was also great fun for spotting all the past and future sci-fi and fantasy actors in bit parts: Onslow Stevens, William Schallert, Leonard Nimoy, Olin Howlin, Richard Deacon, Dub Taylor. All this and Kris freaking Kringle, too!
Eric Hinkle

You know, I just saw this one on TCM, and the host made a few remarks about the “cheap and not special at all effects” right before he said he hoped that someone did a remake of it with CGI. Here’s hoping Jabootu turned a deaf ear to his words!
The Rev.

Who the hell was hosting?
Eric Hinkle

Ugh, I forget. The best I can do is to say it was the younger of their regular hosts. Not the older man, the young fellow with the glasses. Sorry I can’t do any better than that.
Gamera977

Ben Macowitz (spelling?) – who frankly comes off as a bit of a dolt to me. He’s nowhere in Robert Osborne’s league. He doesn’t even seem to really like most older movies, constantly comparing them to remakes and newer films. That plus both of their never-ending ranting about the ‘Hollywood Blacklisting’ (apparently every single actor, producer, and director in the ’50s spent the entire decade in prison due to suspected Communist ties) has led me to mostly skip their commentary.
Ken_Begg

Who said that?! Those effects were nominated for an Oscar. (Although unsurprisingly lost to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.)
The Rev.

I should’ve known it was him. I am not a fan of that guy. I usually listen to Osborne, but I tend to skip him.
Eric Hinkle

That Ben Mankewicz (I think that’s how you spell it) fellow.
Gamera977

Yeah, I think that’s the correct spelling!
Food

Tangential thought: You mentioned Peter Graves starring in Red Planet Mars. Just browsing online for opinions of that movie, I find those opinions to be all over the scale. Me, I think it’s an excellent movie, and probably the most effective Christian movie I’ve ever seen (granted, I haven’t seen too many, but still!).