tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7857882.post2242053725314628789..comments2023-11-17T11:08:31.857-06:00Comments on Michael May: Them! (1954)Michael Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12514945570212261283noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7857882.post-79388689007796666942017-10-11T10:30:06.640-05:002017-10-11T10:30:06.640-05:00I don't know that scifi was unacceptable (I th...I don't know that scifi was unacceptable (I think that's what you meant?) in the '50s. I just think of the mystery angle as their way of grounding the story in reality. It's like the way that a lot of early adventure novelists would begin their books with a statement about how they got this tale from an old sailor or a found journal or something. It eases the audience into the more fantastical elements.Michael Mayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12514945570212261283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7857882.post-10498954251200509702017-10-11T10:24:50.681-05:002017-10-11T10:24:50.681-05:00I didn't make the Aliens connection, but that ...I didn't make the <i>Aliens</i> connection, but that makes a lot of sense. I really like the way the ants are introduced through the little girl in <i>Them!</i> in the same way that I like how Newt is their herald in <i>Aliens</i>. Very cool.Michael Mayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12514945570212261283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7857882.post-70142848476947363902017-10-11T07:51:38.253-05:002017-10-11T07:51:38.253-05:00I remember seeing this on TCM around the time I wa...I remember seeing this on TCM around the time I was finishing high school and liked it. Good to hear holds up somewhat and that my memory isn't just fluffing it up with nostalgia.<br /><br />It does have that quintessential 50s scifi movie trope of starting out with a mystery of "what did this to these people?!". It's as if science fiction was so unexpectable as entertainment that you had to trick people into watching this mystery thriller before we get to the giant monsters.<br /><br />I suppose the social commentary goes without saying that nuclear energy can make something small get out of control. I'm having a hard time thinking of any 50s genre movie that doesn't address nukes in some way.<br /><br />James Cameron has spoken of this being an influence on Aliens with the catatonic little girl and soldiers fighting the queen at the end. If you're going to borrow, borrow from the best I suppose.Erik Johnson Illustratorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11184274387021011687noreply@blogger.com