Them!

Them!
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Gordon Douglas
Produced by	David Weisbart
Screenplay by	Ted Sherdeman Russell Hughes
Story by	George Worthing Yates
Starring	James Whitmore Edmund Gwenn Joan Weldon James Arness
Music by	Bronislau Kaper
Cinematography	Sidney Hickox
Edited by	Thomas Reilly
Production company	Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Release date	June 19, 1954 (1954-06-19)
Running time	94 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$2.2 million (rentals)

Them! is a 1954 American black-and-white science fiction monster film from Warner Bros. Pictures, produced by David Weisbart, directed by Gordon Douglas, that stars James Whitmore, Edmund Gwenn, Joan Weldon, and James Arness. The film is based on an original story treatment by George Worthing Yates, which was then developed into a screenplay by Ted Sherdeman and Russell Hughes.

Them! is one of the first of the 1950s "nuclear monster" films, and the first "big bug" feature.

A nest of gigantic irradiated ants is discovered in the New Mexico desert; they quickly become a national threat when it is discovered a young queen ant and her consorts have escaped to establish a new nest. The national search that follows finally culminates in a battle with Them in the concrete spillways and sewers of Los Angeles.

State Police Sergeant Ben Peterson and Trooper Ed Blackburn discover a little girl wandering the desert near Alamogordo, New Mexico. They take her to a mobile home owned by an FBI Special Agent named Ellinson on vacation with his family. The girl briefly reacts to a strange, pulsating high-pitched noise, but no one sees her reaction.

A general store owner named "Gramps" Johnson is found dead, and Peterson leaves Blackburn in the store. He goes outside to investigate after the strange, pulsating noise is heard again; gunshots are fired, the sound grows faster and louder, and Blackburn's scream is heard.