TV and Movies

[Oznell]

2:00 p.m. Eastern--  "Them!"  James Whitmore, Edmund Gwenn, James Arness, Joan Weldon

Very smart, skillfully directed thriller, considered among the best of classic Fifties' sci fi.  Ants in the New Mexico desert mutate, and become a giant, malevolent threat to the community....

But the real fun is in the midcentury atmospherics, and in the casting.  Here's adorable James Arness, pre-"Gunsmoke",  heroic and resourceful in the mold of the sadly-missed, straight-up FBI guy.  Emund Gwenn and James Whitmore are canny old pros.  And don't miss Fess Parker in a showy, small role that garnered lots of attention for him and really got him going in Hollywood.

Love the climactic ending, in the yawning, existential canyons of the sun-battered Los Angeles aqueduct...

Entertainingly campy original trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4URRp39XOo

[hayseed00]

Oldie but goodie !!!!!!!!!!

[Witchy Woman]

@Oznell 

Love it....seen it many times and always enjoy it....a guilty pleasure for sure.

I especially like the sound the ants make!  Janes Arness and Whitemore are wonderful!

[just bee]

@Oznell 

This isn't from the film. 

I live in Albuquerque.  This is me in my backyard.

I still maintain our centipedes were the inspiration for The Tingler.

[golding76]

James Whitmore seemed to always get the journeyman roles of his time, didn't he?

[kaydee50]

A classic and one of our favorite "monster" movies along with the original Godzilla!

[GingerPeach]

You are so funny, @just bee 

I almost moved to Belen some years ago.  Your humor makes me wish I had.

[just bee]

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@GingerPeach wrote:

You are so funny, @just bee 

I almost moved to Belen some years ago.  Your humor makes me wish I had.

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@GingerPeach 

Humor?  No, that's really me and a New Mexico ant!  I had to hide behind a 20-foot-tall tumbleweed to avoid being eaten!

[GingerPeach]

I just wrote a detailed post about all the trivia on Wikipedia about this film but it disappeared.  It doesn't even come up in the load/discard.

Anyway, Fess Parker's big Disney break, James Whitmore's lifts, Leonard Nimoy's uncredited role, and how the ant noises were made are all there. And lots more!

Check it out if you haven't already, @Oznell , @just bee , @kaydee50 , @golding76 , @Witchy Woman 

[golding76]

Only because of the times we are experiencing -- and not that there's anything wrong with it -- but the American world in 1954 certainly was white man-centric, as evident in the trailer.  This was the era's "flavor."

I had to chuckle when viewing it.  This is something I have never thought of before when watching a trailer, but for some reason, that thought popped up and I could not dismiss it.