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that her initial role is to act
only as love interest. Agent
Graham (James Arness)
and Sergeant Peterson
(James Whitmore) quickly
solidify this reading of
her character with a brief
exchange:

Sergeant
Peterson:“She’s quite
a doctor, huh.”
Agent Graham:
“Yeah. If she’s the
kind that takes care
of sick people, I think
I’ll get a fever real
quick.”
Here she is clearly fulfilling
the role of love interest,
although she also maintains
her power and individuality
as a professor and therefore
highly educated woman.
This portrayal of a woman in
a position of power directly
contradicts the views of
the time on the role that
women should play – Pat is
clearly not returning to the
domestic sphere as society
would expect of her. When
a party is sent down into the
ants’ nest to explore and
make sure the monsters
have been destroyed, Pat
accompanies them, and
though her costume is
decidedly more form-fitting
than the men to show off
her womanly curves, her
position among the men is
not inferior in nature, but
rather equal: she is the one
who possesses all of the
knowledge of the ants, it
is she who will determine
if they have succeeded
in their mission. In this
way, the character of Pat
challenges the expected
stereotypes of women,

contradicting the very clear
social expectations for how
a woman should act and
live her life in the 1950s.
Ultimately, then, Them!
presents us with several
interpretations of the political
and
social
landscape
of the 1950s. It seems,
however, that though often
seemingly contradictory to
our assumptions about the
time, the narrative of the film
(supported by the stylistic
choices) actually serves
to question the dangers
for American society in
the 1950s. Not only does
it bring to light the very
real dangers associated
with nuclear weaponry –
something that was once
viewed as a positive and
helpful
innovation
that
would aid in the fight against
communism - imagined
through the threat of giant
ants, but it also seems
to warn 1950s America
(and indeed the rest of the
world) of the things that
their governments might
be capable of. In the end it
seems that 1950s science
fiction, or at the very least

the film Them!, aimed to
create an informed public
that could ensure the future
safety and strength of
civilisation.
References
Bordwell, B., Staiger, J. and
Thompson,
K.
(1991)
The
Classical Hollywood Cinema: Film
Style and Mode of Production to
1960. London: Routledge.
Brooker, M. K. (2001) Monsters,
Mushroom Clouds and the Cold
War. London: Greenwood Press.
Hendershot, C (1999) Paranoia,
the Bomb, and 1950s Science
Fiction Films. Bowling Green:
Bowling Green State University
Popular Press.
Harvey, T.J. (2015) ‘Hiroshima/
Nagasaki’ in Military History
[Online] Available at: http://www.
oxfordbibliographies.com/view/
document/obo-9780199791279/
obo-9780199791279-0017.xml
(Last accessed: 6/4/16).
King, G and Krzywinska, A.
(2000) Science Fiction Cinema:
From Outspace to Cyberspace.
London: Wallflower Press.
Maltby, R (1996)
Cinema.
Oxford:
Publishers Ltd.

Hollywood
Blackwell

Siegel, R and Suarès, J-C (1978)
Alien Creatures. Los Angeles:
Reed Books.
Sharp, P.B. (2008) ‘Darwin’s
Soldiers: Gender, Evolution and
Warfare in Them! And Forbidden
Planet’, Science Fiction Film and
Television Vol. 1, No.2, pp.215230.
©Images copyright Warner Bros.
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