Welcome to Six Damn Fine Degrees. These instalments will be inspired by the idea of six degrees of separation in the loosest sense. The only rule: it connects – in some way – to the previous instalment. So come join us on our weekly foray into interconnectedness!
A small airplane spots a young child wandering the New Mexico desert. She is picked up in order to be brought back home, but she appears to be mute with shock. When Sargent James Whitmore (Ben Peterson) investigates, he comes across a wrecked trailer, no money or valuables missing. The only thing that’s been touched is… the sugar.
The last few entries of Six Damn Fine Degrees talked of monsters. Monsters within, monsters known and unknown. THEM! (Gordon Douglas, 1954) is about the monsters humans have (inadvertently) created. Of the giant mutant monster films of the ’50s, THEM! is one of my absolute faves. There’s some very charming actors, some great creatures, some resounding music, the requisite Wilhelm Screams, and at a brisk 90 minutes, it is a pacy creature feature, perfect for a weeknight.
It’ll not be too much of a spoiler that this movie revolves around giant mutant ants. The first nest (the one in the desert that caused such carnage) is destroyed with phosphorus bombs and cyanide gas. Not very environmentally friendly. When the nest is examined, it turns out two queens have flown off to start a colony of their very own. Our little band of ant-exterminators are, apart from the aforementioned Sgt. Whitmore, the father-and-daughter scientist team, the Doctors Medford (Edmund Glenn and Joan Weldon), and FBI agent Bob Graham (James Arness).
Their quest: to hunt down the remaining mega-ant nests and destroy them and all their monstrous inhabitants.
The movie was well received at the time, did pretty brisk box office, and was nominated for an effects Oscar. (Sadly, it ultimately did not end up winning, having to cede the statuette to Disney’s 20.000 Leagues Under the Sea.) And it’s a film that is still much beloved nowadays, and can even be called influential. The 1989 Amiga game It came from the Desert was based on THEM!, but even the blockbuster (and also very worthwhile) Men in Black references bugs and… sugar.
While the film was meant to be released in 3D and Warnercolor, it comes to us in moody black and white, the title sequence being the only reminder what the studio originally had in mind. I maintain it’s none the worse for it: considering when it was made, it actually holds up rather well, as a warning of the dangers of man meddling with powers the consequences of which he can scarcely oversee.
Heartily recommended, and for a creature-filled ’50s themed evening: a double bill with the very first Godzilla, released the same year, has all the atomic creature comforts needed for a winter’s night.
Unless otherwise noted, screencaps are from THEM! (Douglas, 1954) © Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc. reproduced here under fair use, for commentary/review and educational purposes.
