THEM

US,1954, 94 minutes, Black and white.
Edmund Gwenn, James Arness, James Whitmore, Joan Weldon, Onslow Stevens.
Directed by Gordon Douglas.

Them was one of the earliest attempts at serious science fiction in the early '50s (consider The Day The Earth Stood Still and many B-budget studio-bound science fiction films as well as those of George Pal with his imagination e.g. Destination Moon).

Them was praised on its release and has a very good reputation since. It is very relevant in later decades with its criticism of America's not knowing the consequences of atomic blasts and experimentation. The film uses what has become popular material - mutant creatures as a result of radioactivity and their effect to human kind. The film uses all the dramatics of the popular science fiction and the creatures vs. humanity - but does so solidly within the context of human scientific and technological progress and uncritical acceptance of this.

The film has a strong cast - with Edmund Gwenn as a likable befuddled but acute scientist. Direction is by Gordon Douglas - director of many successful action films. Score is by Bronislau Kaper, composer for many M.G.M. films. The special effects for the ants are quite good for the early '50s. By the '60s and '70s this kind of material was respectable rather than something offbeat. Them stands quite well with later films of its kind.

1. The reputation of the film? Impact in its time? "The science fiction film has not been with us very long ..." (Monthly Film Bulletin September 1954)? The early science fiction of America in the '50s? Audience expectations - not very high?

2. The film's initial impact and acceptance, influence on further science fiction films? Seen in retrospect? Creatures menacing humanity genre? Warnings about radioactivity and its effect on creatures? Development of atomic technology? The fact that in the 50s there was strong public pressure in favour of atomic experimentation? The plausibility of the plot? The sense of realism? Contrivances? The warnings for earth? Quotations from Scripture, the apocalyptic tone with the end of the world - in a nuclear context?

3. The background of the nuclear age, the repercussions of the '40s and Hiroshima, the early '50s and tests? Mutations - as symbols of what might happen? The appropriateness of the warning in retrospect?

4. The opening with the murder investigation setting, the atmosphere of New Mexico and the desert, the winds? The detective and the crises, the destruction and the puzzle? The audience 'at home' with the genre of investigation? Becoming involved - and then the transition to science fiction?

5. The strength of the cast - representing various types? The police, the F.B.I., scientists, doctors, the military? Interaction between them? The quick suggestions of relationships and tensions as background to the investigation and the combating of the ants?

6. The effectiveness of the opening: the little girl wandering in the desert, the puzzle, the destroyed campervan, old Cramps and the discovery of his body? The wind, the desert, the clues, the violence, the print of the foot, the bit of claw, the sugar, the visualising of small ants?

7. The picturing of the police, the death of the policeman on guard? The local investigation by Ben Peterson? The arrival of Robert Grahame and the F.B.I.? The arrival of the Doctors Hedford - and the device of having the old man with his daughter? Interest of Washington - and later sequences in Washington with lectures, explanations and the press trying to uncover the truth?

8. The details of the investigation, the search, the discovery of the ants? The smell of acid? The devising of the plan to trace the ants? Helicopter search? The siege of the giant anthill, the dangers?

9. The ants in themselves? Mutations? The visualising of the special effects? The gruesome deaths? The documentary film about ants - and their militancy? Dr. Hedford's explanation? The militant menace, the queens and the drones, the flying ants, the sequence on the ship and its destruction, the deaths, the flying to Los Angeles, the settlement in the drains and the attacks?

10. The military situation: the briefings, plans, security, information, Los Angeles and the announcements of the truth and people's reaction?

11. The human stories to give emotional impact to the plot: the little girl and the interrogation, her being in shock, the smell of the acid and her reaction, 'Them'? The police? The ship? The boys and the glider and their anxious mother?

12. Edmund Gwenn's style as Dr. Medford? His ingenuity as well as his absent-mindedness? His daughter and her work, attraction towards Robert Grahame - and his becoming a hero? Ben Peterson and his strength, giving his life for the boys and saving them? The military personnel and their involvement?

13. The fight in the anthill? The repetition in the Los Angeles drains?

14. The contribution of the film to the development of science fiction films? What if ..... ? Later sophistication? Yet the relevance of the story and its warning?