Them!/Fun Facts
From The Grindhouse Cinema Database
< Them!Revision as of 22:05, 29 December 2008 by PopeyePete (talk | contribs) (New page: * When this movie was first released in Sweden, it was strangely named "Spindlarna" (which translates as 'The Spiders') * Was originally supposed to be filmed in color. Two days before s...)
Revision as of 22:05, 29 December 2008 by PopeyePete (talk | contribs) (New page: * When this movie was first released in Sweden, it was strangely named "Spindlarna" (which translates as 'The Spiders') * Was originally supposed to be filmed in color. Two days before s...)
- When this movie was first released in Sweden, it was strangely named "Spindlarna" (which translates as 'The Spiders')
- Was originally supposed to be filmed in color. Two days before shooting began, a nervous studio cut the budget, and the film had to be made in black and white. However, in the opening credits, the title is shown in bright red against a black-and-white background.
- It was also supposed to be in 3-D. Some elements of the 3-D effects, such as the ants having extreme close-ups and the flame throwers shooting straight into the camera, were used in the film.
- This was Warner Bros.' highest grossing film of 1954.
- The flamethrowers used in the movie were standard World War 2 weapons and were loaned by the US Army. The actors handling the weapons were WW2 combat veterans who had actually used them in battle.
- The B-25 Mitchell bomber transporting the doctors Medford was actually the personal transport for a 2-star General.
- Relating to the "S.S. Viking" incident, there was no cruiser named "U.S.S. Milwaukee" in commission in the United States Navy at the time this film was made. The last ship so named was an Omaha-class light cruiser (CL-5) which was commissioned in 1923 and scrapped in 1949 after service in World War II in both the U.S. and Soviet navies. The next ship named "Milwaukee" would be a Wichita-class replenishment oiler (AOR-2) that would be in service from 1969 until her decommissioning in 1994. Her name was stricken from the Navy's list in 1997, and at the time of this writing (2007), she is awaiting final disposal at the James River Reserve Fleet, Fort Eustis, VA.
- The sound that the giant ants from "THEM!" make as they approach their prey is a recorded chorus of bird-voiced treefrogs (Hyla avivoca) of the southeastern United States. Occasionally a grey treefrog (Hyla chrysoscelis) can be heard on the soundtrack as well, as these species can often be heard together at the same wetland.
- Walt Disney screened the movie because he was interested in casting James Arness as Davy Crockett. However, he was so impressed by Fess Parker as the "Crazy Texan Pilot" that he chose him for the part.
