Over 11 years and 570 episodes, John Rabe and Team Off-Ramp scoured SoCal for the people, places, and ideas whose stories needed to be told, and the show became a love-letter to Los Angeles. Now, John is sharing selections from the Off-Ramp vault to help you explore this imperfect paradise.
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Let's face it. Ants are nobody's favorite. They ruin summer picnics, sneak under the door to steal your crumbs, and are... HUGE?! In 1954 sci-fi film "Them!" ants are gigantic, radioactive, flesh-eating, and coming directly for you!
Friday night, as part of the Metro Art series, Union Station is screening the second film in its "Sci-Fi at Union Station" series. It's the 1954 sci-fi classic "Them!" LA Times entertainment reporter and classic Hollywood expert Susan King will provide a background on the film and its historical significance to both the sci-fi genre and LA.
Watch the trailer for "Them!" ... if you dare
Director Gordon Douglas helped created the nuclear monster genre with "Them!" and due to its campy horror, the movie has become a cult-classic. "Them!" follows the creation and subsequent terror of carnivorous insects and their pursuit of film stars James Whitmore, Edmund Gwenn, and Joan Weldon. The film culminates in a battle scene set in our very own city, featuring shots of beautiful Union Station, LA's neighborhoods, and storm drains.
The movie is extra-notable for two reasons:
1. It's one of the rare sci-fi movies in which the politicians believe the scientists THE FIRST TIME. "Hey, you say there are giant radioactive ants menacing the populace? We'll get right on that. And thanks, scientists!"
2. "Them!" also includes an early appearance by Leonard Nimoy:
This is a totally free event and seating is first-come, first-serve. The screening begins Friday night at 8:30 (doors open at 8p) on the station's north patio.