slaytonf Posted November 1, 2020 Share Posted November 1, 2020 Aside from the leads, there's: Leonard Nimoy: Dub Taylor: Fess Parker: Owlin Howland: Willis Bouchey: Harry Wilson: 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Hoganman1 Posted November 1, 2020 Share Posted November 1, 2020 Yes, there were a lot of "soon to be famous" and well known stars in THEM! They even had Santa Claus. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
DougieB Posted November 1, 2020 Share Posted November 1, 2020 Also Sandy Descher, the young girl who was in a bunch of movies around that same time, like The Space Children, The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, The Opposite Sex and The Prodigal. For a brief time it seemed like she was everywhere, then she mostly went to TV. Her scene in Them! is my favorite, as the unresponsive child who was rescued after the first attack on the trailer. She was being loaded into the ambulance when that creepy sound started. The two guys were distracted and didn't notice that as soon as the noise started she sat up with a look of horror on her face, then slowly lay back as the sound faded. It was a moment worthy of Hitchcock; the guys never even noticed but the audience sure did. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
ElCid Posted November 1, 2020 Share Posted November 1, 2020 One of my favorite movies. In 1953, Packard Motor Car Co. had a contest to: Give Joan Weldon, Young Hollywood Star, a New Name. Prize was a 1953 Packard Caribbean convertible plus a trip to Hollywood. A very expensive car at the time. As may be obvious, Weldon never changed her name. Them! was her biggest role, but she appeared in other movies and on TV shows. She was a singer before making movies and returned to that profession in 1958. 4 Link to post Share on other sites
NipkowDisc Posted November 2, 2020 Share Posted November 2, 2020 the hospital nurses never gave him back his pants. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Sepiatone Posted November 4, 2020 Share Posted November 4, 2020 HEH! My Grandfather might have helped build that car. He worked for Packard from '32 to closing! Sepiatone 2 Link to post Share on other sites
ElCid Posted November 4, 2020 Share Posted November 4, 2020 3 minutes ago, Sepiatone said: HEH! My Grandfather might have helped build that car. He worked for Packard from '32 to closing! Sepiatone Probably best looking car Packard ever made. Too bad it got suckered by Studebaker into a merger and then disappeared. Link to post Share on other sites
Sepiatone Posted November 4, 2020 Share Posted November 4, 2020 I never thought Packard made a bad looking car.... Sepiatone 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites
MovieCollectorOH Posted November 4, 2020 Share Posted November 4, 2020 On 11/1/2020 at 12:28 PM, ElCid said: One of my favorite movies. In 1953, Packard Motor Car Co. had a contest to: Give Joan Weldon, Young Hollywood Star, a New Name. Prize was a 1953 Packard Caribbean convertible plus a trip to Hollywood. A very expensive car at the time. As may be obvious, Weldon never changed her name. Them! was her biggest role, but she appeared in other movies and on TV shows. She was a singer before making movies and returned to that profession in 1958. I'll take one! That thing looks like it lives in a climate-controlled warehouse, the only mileage to get loaded up into a big trailer and then off and into display position at car shows. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
ElCid Posted November 4, 2020 Share Posted November 4, 2020 24 minutes ago, Sepiatone said: I never thought Packard made a bad looking car.... Sepiatone Go to the "elephant" at about 22 mins on the video. I have this video on DVD and one other on Packard in the 1950's. Link to post Share on other sites
Sepiatone Posted November 5, 2020 Share Posted November 5, 2020 Too bad that merger with Studebaker fizzled. Not even THIS gem could save it----- Sepiatone 1 Link to post Share on other sites
ElCid Posted November 5, 2020 Share Posted November 5, 2020 4 hours ago, Sepiatone said: Too bad that merger with Studebaker fizzled. Not even THIS gem could save it----- Sepiatone Actually the Avanti would never save Studebaker by itself, but it was a halo car that would have brought attention to the make and more importantly customers to the showrooms to buy Larks or maybe Grand Turismos. By the time they got the Avanti in production though, the hand writing was on the wall for Studebaker. Link to post Share on other sites
ElCid Posted November 5, 2020 Share Posted November 5, 2020 4 hours ago, Sepiatone said: Too bad that merger with Studebaker fizzled. Not even THIS gem could save it----- Sepiatone 4 hours ago, Sepiatone said: Too bad that merger with Studebaker fizzled. Not even THIS gem could save it----- Sepiatone Interesting video. I believe the platform for the Avanti was actually the Studebaker Lark, but with larger engines. The video refers to "polyester," but we call it fiberglass here. It had to be done in fiberglass because of the way Loewy designed it, which created lots of problems in production - and more than just paint. Anyway, interesting video. And we sure got a long way from Them! Link to post Share on other sites
NipkowDisc Posted November 5, 2020 Share Posted November 5, 2020 peter graves's car is a studebaker in Killers from Space. Link to post Share on other sites
Sepiatone Posted November 6, 2020 Share Posted November 6, 2020 19 hours ago, ElCid said: Interesting video. I believe the platform for the Avanti was actually the Studebaker Lark, but with larger engines. The video refers to "polyester," but we call it fiberglass here. It had to be done in fiberglass because of the way Loewy designed it, which created lots of problems in production - and more than just paint. Anyway, interesting video. And we sure got a long way from Them! We call it fiberglass 'round here too. I assume polyester was a corporate decision in name choice. Back then, polyester wasn't a well known material, so maybe people might think it was sturdier than fiberglass? But then..... Imagine if JOHN TRAVOLTA'S suit was made of FIBERGLASS instead! Sepiatone 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Janet0312 Posted November 6, 2020 Share Posted November 6, 2020 Make me a sergeant in charge of the booze! 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites
ElCid Posted November 6, 2020 Share Posted November 6, 2020 2 hours ago, Sepiatone said: We call it fiberglass 'round here too. I assume polyester was a corporate decision in name choice. Back then, polyester wasn't a well known material, so maybe people might think it was sturdier than fiberglass? But then..... Imagine if JOHN TRAVOLTA'S suit was made of FIBERGLASS instead! Sepiatone I think it may have been a European or British term at the time. The video seems to be somewhat aged. Link to post Share on other sites
sewhite2000 Posted November 6, 2020 Share Posted November 6, 2020 This from Wikipedia: Polyester is a category of polymers that contain the ester functional group in their main chain. Link to post Share on other sites
sewhite2000 Posted November 6, 2020 Share Posted November 6, 2020 And this from the Internet: Fiberglass fabrics use a much finer yarn than Polyester fabrics are made of wider their polyester counterpart, resulting in more diameter yarns, resulting in fewer yarns per square inch. Link to post Share on other sites
NipkowDisc Posted November 6, 2020 Share Posted November 6, 2020 Owlin Howland was an absolute laugh riot. "folks, you're just gonna love my cheese sandwiches ala foilwrap" Link to post Share on other sites
Dargo Posted November 7, 2020 Share Posted November 7, 2020 FWIW...Here's the Studebaker I always thought was their best designed ever...including the Avanti of which I'd rank second... 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Sepiatone Posted November 7, 2020 Share Posted November 7, 2020 21 hours ago, ElCid said: I think it may have been a European or British term at the time. The video seems to be somewhat aged. I have no idea when that video was shot, but the narrator did use the term, "back in the day", which is not really all that "aged". And as the car was assembled in South Bend, Indiana, I don't see why an American produced video about it would use European or British terms in reference to the materials used in it's assembly. But I'mdoubtful that the polyester used in the Avanti body was the same as used to make Travolta's suit. Can't imagine a car made of cloth, just as THESE were once made from..... Sepiatone Link to post Share on other sites
slaytonf Posted November 7, 2020 Author Share Posted November 7, 2020 41 minutes ago, Sepiatone said: I have no idea when that video was shot, but the narrator did use the term, "back in the day", which is not really all that "aged". And as the car was assembled in South Bend, Indiana, I don't see why an American produced video about it would use European or British terms in reference to the materials used in it's assembly. But I'mdoubtful that the polyester used in the Avanti body was the same as used to make Travolta's suit. Can't imagine a car made of cloth, just as THESE were once made from..... Isn't fibreglass a resin impregnated fabric? Can't you resin-impregnate polyester? 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Sepiatone Posted November 7, 2020 Share Posted November 7, 2020 That could be what it was. But I'm not sure fiberglass could be considered a fabric, although you can make fabric out of it..... Sepiatone Link to post Share on other sites
txfilmfan Posted November 7, 2020 Share Posted November 7, 2020 To bring it full circle, since MeTV is showing it, per the other thread, they have an article on their website on this very topic: https://metv.com/stories/the-1954-sci-fi-classic-them-is-riddled-with-soon-to-be-famous-tv-stars-and-giant-ants Link to post Share on other sites
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