Them!

Man split the atom to create the ultimate weapon not realising he would also create Them! The terror begins in the New Mexico desert when a patrolman (James Whitmore) discovers a ransacked General Store with the cash drawers untouched, the sugar supply missing and a battered corpse containing enough formic acid to kill 20 men. An FBI official and a fuddy-duddy entomologist (Edmund Gwenn) attempt to unravel the mystery. What they discover strikes terror from coast to coast: man’s atomic testing has spawned rampaging hordes of giant radiation-mutated ants, 12 feet long and capable of lifting tons. These mutants bypass the larval stage and come directly from the egg - ready to kill. In an epic death struggle, the formidable formicidae are trapped in the 700-mile storm drain network beneath fear-stricken Los Angeles and eventually beaten. A generation of films about radioactive creatures have approximated the terror but none have equalled the artistry of Them! with Academy Award nominated special effects (1954). Co-starring Joan Weldon, James Arness and Onslow Stevens. Fess Parker has a small but memorable role and look quickly for Leonard Nimoy at a teletype machine.