Directed by: Gordon Douglas
Starring: Edmund Gwenn, James Arness, James Whitmore, Joan Weldon
Visible crew/equipment: When the state policemen meet for the first time, the shadow of some equipment is seen on the wall behind them. It falls and you can even hear it. (00:17:30)
Visible crew/equipment: When they find the giant nest in the desert, several parked cars and trucks are visible in the background. It is supposed to be an isolated place. (00:34:00)
Visible crew/equipment: When the policemen leaves with the girl, a crewmember's reflection is visible on their car. (00:04:15)
Continuity mistake: When James Whitmore is attacked by the ant in the Los Angeles sewer system, James Arness arrives, firing an M-1 Garand rifle. In the next scene, he's armed with a Thompson submachine gun.
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.