Them! Quotes
The earliest atomic tests in New Mexico cause common ants to mutate into giant man-eating monsters that threaten civilization.
[last lines]
Robert Graham: Pat, if these monsters got started as a result of the first atomic bomb in 1945, what about all the others that have been exploded since then?
Dr. Patricia 'Pat' Medford: I don't know.
Dr. Harold Medford: Nobody knows, Robert. When Man entered the atomic age, he opened a door into a new world. What we'll eventually find in that new world, nobody can predict.
Robert Graham: Pat, if these monsters got started as a result of the first atomic bomb in 1945, what about all the others that have been exploded since then?
Dr. Patricia 'Pat' Medford: I don't know.
Dr. Harold Medford: Nobody knows, Robert. When Man entered the atomic age, he opened a door into a new world. What we'll eventually find in that new world, nobody can predict.
Coroner Putnam: I finished the autopsy on Gramps Johnson. Do you want it technical or plain?
Trooper Capt. Fred Edwards: Just plain, Doc. Get to the verb.
Coroner Putnam: Well, Old Man Johnson could've died in any one of five ways: His neck and back were broken, his chest was crushed, his skull was fractured... and here's one for Sherlock Holmes - there was enough formic acid in him to kill twenty men.
Trooper Capt. Fred Edwards: Just plain, Doc. Get to the verb.
Coroner Putnam: Well, Old Man Johnson could've died in any one of five ways: His neck and back were broken, his chest was crushed, his skull was fractured... and here's one for Sherlock Holmes - there was enough formic acid in him to kill twenty men.
Robert Graham: Is's the only job you ever had?
Railroad Yard Watchman: Yes, sir. I've been with the railroad thirty years and never a blot against my record.
Robert Graham: Well, the yard cop seems to think you made a deal not to see that car broken into.
Railroad Yard Watchman: Pfah! What kind of sense does that make? Is sugar a rare cargo? Is there a black market for it? Did you ever hear of a fence for hot sugar? If I was gonna make a deal with crooks to steal somethin', it wouldn't be for forty tons of sugar. And I'll swear I didn't hear a thing Friday night.
Railroad Yard Watchman: Yes, sir. I've been with the railroad thirty years and never a blot against my record.
Robert Graham: Well, the yard cop seems to think you made a deal not to see that car broken into.
Railroad Yard Watchman: Pfah! What kind of sense does that make? Is sugar a rare cargo? Is there a black market for it? Did you ever hear of a fence for hot sugar? If I was gonna make a deal with crooks to steal somethin', it wouldn't be for forty tons of sugar. And I'll swear I didn't hear a thing Friday night.
[Tom Lodge has been found dead, mutilated, with his two young sons missing]
Robert Graham: Mrs. Lodge, was your husband accustomed to taking his boys out so early in the morning?
Mrs. Lodge: [grief-stricken] On Sundays. Tom works on Sundays from 9:00 to 7:00, an extra job he has. He works so hard for us, he doesn't have much time to spend with Jerry and Mike. That's why the three of them get up early on Sundays to go spend someplace to play together for a few hours.
Robert Graham: Mrs. Lodge, was your husband accustomed to taking his boys out so early in the morning?
Mrs. Lodge: [grief-stricken] On Sundays. Tom works on Sundays from 9:00 to 7:00, an extra job he has. He works so hard for us, he doesn't have much time to spend with Jerry and Mike. That's why the three of them get up early on Sundays to go spend someplace to play together for a few hours.
Dr. Harold Medford: [addressing a group of government officials] That, gentlemen, is why you are here - to consider this problem and, I hope, solve it. Because unless you solve it, unless these queens are located and destroyed before they've established thriving colonies and can produce, heaven alone knows, how many more queen ants, man, as the dominant species of life on earth, will probably be extinct within...
[looking at another scientist]
Dr. Harold Medford: a year, Doc?
[looking at another scientist]
Dr. Harold Medford: a year, Doc?
Dr. Harold Medford: [over the helicopter headset] Search Able to Search Baker.
Police Sgt. Ben Peterson: Say "Over."
Dr. Harold Medford: Huh?
Police Sgt. Ben Peterson: Then say "Over."
Dr. Harold Medford: "Over?"
Dr. Patricia 'Pat' Medford: Medford in Baker to Medford in Able: Go ahead, Dad. Over.
Dr. Harold Medford: Have you found anything yet?
Police Sgt. Ben Peterson: Say "Over."
Dr. Harold Medford: I just said it.
Police Sgt. Ben Peterson: I know. Say it again.
Dr. Harold Medford: Oh. "Over!"
Dr. Patricia 'Pat' Medford: Baker to Able: Not yet. We're about three quarters of the way across our sector. We're now at coordinates Charlie-Six. Over.
Dr. Harold Medford: Well, don't pass up any possibilities. Let me know the moment you find ANYTHING.
Police Sgt. Ben Peterson: If you're finished, say "Over and out."
Dr. Harold Medford: But she KNOWS I'm through talking with her.
Police Sgt. Ben Peterson: I know she does, Doctor. It's a rule, though. You gotta say it.
Dr. Harold Medford: [irritated] Ah...
Police Sgt. Ben Peterson: Isn't that right, General?
Brig. Gen. Robert O'Brien: Right, Sergeant.
Dr. Harold Medford: This is ridiculous! A lot of good your rules are gonna do us if we don't locate the...
Police Sgt. Ben Peterson: [over the headset] Over and out.
Dr. Harold Medford: Oh, now you're happy.
Police Sgt. Ben Peterson: Say "Over."
Dr. Harold Medford: Huh?
Police Sgt. Ben Peterson: Then say "Over."
Dr. Harold Medford: "Over?"
Dr. Patricia 'Pat' Medford: Medford in Baker to Medford in Able: Go ahead, Dad. Over.
Dr. Harold Medford: Have you found anything yet?
Police Sgt. Ben Peterson: Say "Over."
Dr. Harold Medford: I just said it.
Police Sgt. Ben Peterson: I know. Say it again.
Dr. Harold Medford: Oh. "Over!"
Dr. Patricia 'Pat' Medford: Baker to Able: Not yet. We're about three quarters of the way across our sector. We're now at coordinates Charlie-Six. Over.
Dr. Harold Medford: Well, don't pass up any possibilities. Let me know the moment you find ANYTHING.
Police Sgt. Ben Peterson: If you're finished, say "Over and out."
Dr. Harold Medford: But she KNOWS I'm through talking with her.
Police Sgt. Ben Peterson: I know she does, Doctor. It's a rule, though. You gotta say it.
Dr. Harold Medford: [irritated] Ah...
Police Sgt. Ben Peterson: Isn't that right, General?
Brig. Gen. Robert O'Brien: Right, Sergeant.
Dr. Harold Medford: This is ridiculous! A lot of good your rules are gonna do us if we don't locate the...
Police Sgt. Ben Peterson: [over the headset] Over and out.
Dr. Harold Medford: Oh, now you're happy.
Brig. Gen. Robert O'Brien: [making a public broadcast] A couple of months ago in the desert of New Mexico, gigantic ants were discovered. These ants are similar in appearance and characteristics to the household and garden pests you are familiar with, except that they are mutations ranging in size from nine to twelve feet in length. The New Mexico colony was destroyed, but two queen ants escaped. One has been accounted for and destroyed. The other has not yet been found but is now known to have established a nest somewhere in the storm drains beneath the streets of Los Angeles. It is not known how long this nest has been established or how many of these lethal monsters have hatched. Maybe a few, maybe thousands.
[Doctors Harold and Patricia Medford walk toward a waiting car after a brief introductory conversation with Sergeant Peterson and FBI agent Graham]
Robert Graham: I shoulda had this suit pressed.
Police Sgt. Ben Peterson: She's quite a doctor, uh?
Robert Graham: Yeah. If she's the kind that takes care of sick people, I think I'll get a fever real quick.
Robert Graham: I shoulda had this suit pressed.
Police Sgt. Ben Peterson: She's quite a doctor, uh?
Robert Graham: Yeah. If she's the kind that takes care of sick people, I think I'll get a fever real quick.
