Mar 2019
This is available On Demand right now, for another day or so. (It's also available in shitloads of other ways, of course, but that's not important right now).
One of the interesting things about this movie, to me anyway, is that you can see Edmund Gwenn (who played the elderly entomologist) acting in some scenes together with Sandy Descher (who played the poor little girl who spends most of the movie in shock). Edmund Gwenn was born in 1877, when Hollywood didn't even exist yet, and Los Angeles only had about 10,000 people. He started acting in London in the 1890's... I think it is wild to see him in scenes sitting and standing right next to Sandy Descher, who is still alive today, and who isn't even THAT old today. She was born in late 1945, so she's 73 now. I wonder if she ever goes to horror conventions, maybe she has some interesting thoughts about this.
It's kind of funny to hear James Arness speak his lines. He sounds a lot like his brother, Peter Graves. I keep expecting him to say lines from Airplane!.
It's also interesting to see the way the filmmakers were usually very much on the side of the military, even when the military had to lie to the public. Certain scenes would not have been done in nearly the same way, a couple of decades later. I'm trying to imagine Close Encounters of the Third Kind, or E.T., etc if the filmmakers were totally on the side of the army. I can't even imagine it.
The giant ants look pretty stupid, of course, but anyone would have to be kind of a dick to care too much about that. You can really see the effort the actors put into the movie, it's a great effort given the constraints of what was possible in 1954.
It is also interesting to see how the population density of the time is presented. There are gigantic ants crawling and flying all over the southwestern US, and there are only sporadic, widely dispersed sightings. Imagine if it really happened, and in today's world?!?! There would be tens of millions of people like the shocked little girl, overwhelming mental hospitals.
Anyway, it's a pretty interesting movie. Anyone have anything to say about it?
One of the interesting things about this movie, to me anyway, is that you can see Edmund Gwenn (who played the elderly entomologist) acting in some scenes together with Sandy Descher (who played the poor little girl who spends most of the movie in shock). Edmund Gwenn was born in 1877, when Hollywood didn't even exist yet, and Los Angeles only had about 10,000 people. He started acting in London in the 1890's... I think it is wild to see him in scenes sitting and standing right next to Sandy Descher, who is still alive today, and who isn't even THAT old today. She was born in late 1945, so she's 73 now. I wonder if she ever goes to horror conventions, maybe she has some interesting thoughts about this.
It's kind of funny to hear James Arness speak his lines. He sounds a lot like his brother, Peter Graves. I keep expecting him to say lines from Airplane!.
It's also interesting to see the way the filmmakers were usually very much on the side of the military, even when the military had to lie to the public. Certain scenes would not have been done in nearly the same way, a couple of decades later. I'm trying to imagine Close Encounters of the Third Kind, or E.T., etc if the filmmakers were totally on the side of the army. I can't even imagine it.
The giant ants look pretty stupid, of course, but anyone would have to be kind of a dick to care too much about that. You can really see the effort the actors put into the movie, it's a great effort given the constraints of what was possible in 1954.
It is also interesting to see how the population density of the time is presented. There are gigantic ants crawling and flying all over the southwestern US, and there are only sporadic, widely dispersed sightings. Imagine if it really happened, and in today's world?!?! There would be tens of millions of people like the shocked little girl, overwhelming mental hospitals.
Anyway, it's a pretty interesting movie. Anyone have anything to say about it?
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https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0398250/bio