Character mistake: When the FBI agent (James Arness) is introduced to the chief the chief asks his if Ed has brought him up to date. The cop's name is Ben, Ed is the one who was killed.
Them! (1954)
1 character mistake
Directed by: Gordon Douglas
Starring: Edmund Gwenn, James Arness, James Whitmore, Joan Weldon
Revealing mistake: When Bob and Ben prepare to gas the ant nest, an ant appears below them. But its legs move too slowly, compared to the speed in which it appears; it rather looks like it is driving across the ground on (hidden) wheels.
Dr. Patricia 'Pat' Medford: Now destroy everything in here. Burn it.
Robert Graham: What?
Dr. Patricia 'Pat' Medford: I said "Burn it!" Burn everything.
Trivia: When Ben Peterson is killed by a giant ant, he emits a high-pitched, half-choked death scream. This scream has been used in many other movies ever since: in Small Soldiers (when Brick Bazooka loses his legs); in Star Wars - A New Hope, when Luke shoots a stormtrooper in the shaft-swinging scene; in Lord Of The Rings - The Two Towers, when an Elf warrior is thrown off the Helm's Deep wall; and in Lord Of The Rings - Return of The King, when a Gondor soldier fleeing from Osgilliath is snatched up and dumped by a Nazgul steed. I guess that makes it the most used death scream in movie history.
Question: Did anyone notice, or can explain how both James Whitmore, a state trooper, and James Arness, an FBI agent suddenly become outfitted in Army or National Guard uniforms, fully qualified to fire bazookas, etc and more or less in charge when the action moves to the pursuit in the LA sewer? seems like there would have been jurisdictional issues there (at least for James Whitmore).
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Answer: Like the General said, the less people that know about the ants the better. They were a special task force assigned with the equipment and deputized to use any and all measures to stop the ants. Since the movies was set in the 1950's, James Arness and James Whitmores were most likely veterans of WW II and Korea.