Fess Parker in THEM!

THEM! (1954). While investigating a series of mysterious deaths, Sergeant Ben Peterson (James Whitmore) finds a young girl (Sandy Descher) who is unable to speak. As Peterson joins forces with FBI agent Robert Graham (James Arness) and scientist Dr. Harold Medford (Edmund Gwenn), he discovers that all the incidents are due to giant ants.
Fess Parker won his role of “Davy Crockett” when Walt Disney saw him in THEM! This is his only scene. A thinly veiled reference to Kenneth Arnold's 1947 sighting of "saucers skipping over the water". From Arnold's report the press coined the term "flying saucers."
It was this role that got James Arness the role of Matt Dillon on “Gunsmoke” when the TV producers spotted him.

[@walt2840]

luckypuppy.net/them/

[@j.vi-geant6784]

Thank you, I can't rent anything, no bank card. Still wanna see the whole movie..."look for crew pushing the ants around", 😂😂, I love when the crew is actively involved in recreating the story like, " Haunted", the Smirl story. Maybe I'll go watch that again...

[@PocketMarmo04]

The first 15 minutes or so of this film are very hard to forget, esp if you have first seen it as a child

[@calmheart1782]

In my opinion, “Them” was the best sci-fi movie ever made.

[@devildoll9929]

I prefer "Forbidden Planet," but you're right, this is one of the best made, most intelligent sci fi films ever made.

[@northernbettygirl]

ALL of the old, classic Sci Fi movies were awesome, and they scared me! "Deadly Mantis", "Tarantula", "Attack of the Crab Monsters", "Death Curse of Tartu" to name a few😮

[@megalon73]

Nice and 54 alone was probably the best year of science-fiction films. This movie, the first Godzilla creature from the black Lagoon and 20,000 leagues under the sea by far the best year of some of the best movies ever made.

[@mattsprayberry0]

My 2 childhood heroes Mr Fess Parker and James Arness

[@johnbockelie3899]

Flying saucers were the threat of the 1950"s now, it's who's gonna be the next US President. The movie Them was always a favorite of mine when I was a kid. Those ants were the real good part of the movie.That Los Angeles sewer was first used in " He walked by night" 1948 with Richard Basehart. as a thief. and other films.

[@StoryMemories86]

And somewhere in there, Leonard Nimoy is there too!

[@tommyt1971]

In the end, you really, REALLY gotta feel bad for the guy when they tell the doc to keep him locked up.

[@megalon73]

If he just been clam about his story, He could have been ok to help them and not tell anybody else.

[@onemercilessming1342]

Fess Parker to me will always be Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone.

[@erocrush]

This is the performance that won him those roles. Disney screened “Them” to consider Arness for the role of Daniel Boone but stumbled onto Parker and went with him instead.

[@luiginocm]

When I was a boy in the sixties I was terrified watching this film on TV.

[@christhornton1785]

I was a young boy when this movie first came out and it scared me also. The movie that really terrified me when it came out was the original The Thing (also with Arness). I remember curling up in the theater seat and watching through my fingers. I was a sucker for sci-fi movies back then and still am.

[@StoryMemories86]

While I was never terrified, I definitely loved and do love the film!

[@luiginocm]

@@christhornton1785 . Sure same with me! I sat on our home sofa watching "Them!" and since it was cold I had a small blanket which I pulled over my head to cover my eyes, shivering with fear! Good old days.

[@alanrappaport9937]

I read a story where Walt Disney was in the process of casting the role of Davy Crockett. He screened Them as he was considering James Arness for the role. But when he saw Fess Parker in this very small part he changed his mind. He called Parker down to the studio interviewed him and then cast Parker

[@TWS-pd5dc]

So funny watching the 6 foot 5 Parker looking up at the 6 foot 7 Arness!

[@johnbockelie3899]

That's why Arness. played " The thing from another World" in 1951. his height got him the part.

[@TWS-pd5dc]

@@johnbockelie3899 Yes and he was very unhappy about that movie! He claimed he never watched it, was embarrassed that he played a "giant carrot!". But, it all worked out for James Arness for sure. He did a very good acting job in this, held his own with Whitmore and Gwenn. And on TV he is a legend, 20 years as Marshall Dillon. He was always solid in movies too.

[@onlythewise1]

i never noticed they was that tall

[@ms.sonshine8878]

I noticed too.

[@stephenowen1372]

Walt Disney liked Fess Parker's portrayal of a man who knows what he saw and will not be talked out of it. He signed him as Davy Crockett.

[@jessiejames7492]

he was in th e tv series DANIEL BOONE

[@StoryMemories86]

That’s true. That came out later that year in 1954. But I like him in this role.

[@jpozenel]

I have never seen this movie so I'll have to check and see if the local library has a copy for me. Looks like a very good cast.

[@walt2840]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/ooC3qIyNjJqIhKc

[@catastrophucked]

Real cool how they know he's telling the truth and then they decide to leave him in the damn asylum. I know they're trying to cover up the mess but they could at least put them in a secure facility that isn't going to treat him like crap.

[@melaniesmith1313]

I love that movie! And Fess Parker is aces.

[@j.vi-geant6784]

Fess became a "national security risk"! Oh boy, someone upload this fantastic movie. Clips just whet the whistle.

[@CLASSICALFAN100]

Whet the Whistle would be a good name for a goth band...lol

[@megalon73]

It’s a good they didn’t let him out. His already losing his mind.

[@ravenwilder4099]

The ending to that scene is so damn sinister!

[@megalon73]

Well, he became psychotic by telling everybody what he saw!

[@StoryMemories86]

It’s interesting how many bit parts some classic actors had in this film! Leonard Nimoy, Fess Parker, James Arness…

[@Thomas_H._Smith]

Fun Fact: It was seeing Fess Parker in this that made Walt Disney cast him as Davy Crockett.

[@ms.sonshine8878]

A young James Arness. 🥰

[@StoryMemories86]

Oh gun smoke…

[@wilbertwalker1133]

Them is a great movie right on point no

[@Raptorman0909]

Fess Parker was 6'5" and would have towered over most people, particularly actors, but then James Arness was 6'7". It's a good thing Tom Cruise wasn't in the movie or they'd have needed stilts!

[@Hewylewis]

At least allow the guy to wear his normal clothes!!

[@johneyon5257]

not sure why Disney preferred Parker over Arness - Parker's acting was very amateurish while Arness's was more polished - but maybe it was cuz Fess looked and sounded more rustic (he was a southerner)

[@hempchimp]

Yeah... It's a damn shame that Parker didn't work out for those 6 years and 165 episodes or Arness's 20 year, 635 episode run. Damn shame. In the words of Bugs Bunny so you can understand. "What a Maroon..."

[@TWS-pd5dc]

Nothing amateurish about Parker in this bit part at all. He made the most of this scene and clearly dominated it. I thought he gave the scene everything it needed. That's what a good actor does.

[@johnholliday5874]

Arness, and his brother Peter Graves, were from Minnesota.

[@wolfgangpatzwaldt3155]

Conspiraty theories what the man talks there in the hosptal (prison ) ! HOLD HIM UP THERE !

[@megalon73]

Considering, How he was behaving. Sorry, Bub, But you should have never told anybody about it. Should have went to people who saw the Giant Ants.

[@johcafra]

You go right ahead and deliver Fess' lines with a straight face. Just try.

[@maureencora1]

I Heard Fess Parker was a Real Pilot in the U.S. Navy in WWII. Correct Me If I'm Wrong.

[@maureencora1]

P.S. Dennis Weaver Too.

[@npxmnpxm]

He trained to be one but the Navy ended up pulling him out of flight school because at 6'6" he was over their height limit. He ended up on a minesweeper in the Pacific. He talks about it in an interview posted on KZbin: "Fess Parker on how serving in World War II led to him becoming an actor"

[@maureencora1]

@npmnpxm, Thanks.

[@TWS-pd5dc]

@@npxmnpxm I think he was 6'5", because when Arness stands up he sure looks like he's more than an inch taller. Funny, this movie was pre-Marshall Dillon and pre-Davy Crockett.

[@johncombs2990]

@@TWS-pd5dc Don't forget , there was a pre Mr. Spock Leonard Nimoy in the film, too.

[@sparkyrunner4283]

WASHINGTON WILL SEND YOU A WIRE DOCTOR WHEN WE THINK HE IS CAPABLE OF KEEPING HIS MOUTH SHUT !!! EXACTLY what was said to the men and women in the military concerning the sudden disappearing military supplies and equipment to build homes overseas for investment purposes for the right kind of people. !!!! 😂😂😂

[@user-gb3hh2rw1k]

❤I Love JKA 💋...and it's fine 😂to see him in naturaly blond hair ❣️❣️

[@cindernubblebutt1340]

A criminally underrated film. Great dialogue. Strong female character. Solid performances from EVERYONE. The "If I can still raise an arm after this, I'll show you just how thoroughly saturated I can get" is PRICELESS! And Edmund Gwenn is just such a delight. He's just so affable.