Quote:
Originally Posted by PaceAdvantage
Speaking of Hollywood, I saw two pretty good movies last night...Collateral Beauty and Doctor Strange...
CB is a tear-jerker, and I'm a tough nut to crack.
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I just watched
Them! It was the first scary monster movie I saw as a kid. What was most interesting about this 1954 movie was seeing cast members with small parts who went on to significant careers. A lot of them were, "Oh, that's uh, that's uh..." so I looked up the cast and found...
Cast
James Whitmore as Sgt. Ben Peterson
Edmund Gwenn as Dr. Harold Medford
Joan Weldon as Dr. Pat Medford
James Arness as FBI Agent Robert Graham
Onslow Stevens as Gen. O'Brien
Sean McClory as Maj. Kibbee
Chris Drake as Trooper Ed Blackburn
Sandy Descher as Ellinson girl
Mary Ann Hokanson as Mrs. Lodge
Don Shelton as Trooper Capt. Fred Edwards
Fess Parker as Alan Crotty
Olin Howlin as Jensen, the alcoholic
Cast notes
Leonard Nimoy has a small, uncredited part as a U.S. Army Staff Sergeant in the communications room.
Other actors who appear in small parts include John Beradino, Willis Bouchey, Booth Colman, Richard Deacon, Lawrence Dobkin, Ann Doran, William Schallert, Douglas Spencer, Dub Taylor and Harry Wilson.
When casting his planned Davy Crockett episode of the Disneyland television show, Walt Disney viewed the film to see James Arness, who had been recommended for the role. However, Disney was more impressed by a scene with Fess Parker as an inmate in a mental ward of the Texas hospital. Watching Parker's performance, Disney realized he had found his Davy Crockett. John Wayne saw the film and, impressed with Arness' performance, recommended him for the role of Marshal Matt Dillon in the new Gunsmoke TV series, a role that Arness went on to play from 1955 to 1975.