Stephenson’s classic adventure tale of a man fighting an army of ants was required reading in high school for years. It is an example of the “Man Vs. His Environment” theme. The story has Leiningen and his workers trying to survive an invasion of army ants. The tale was published in Esquire, December 1938.
“The hostile army was approaching in perfect formation; no human battalions, however well-drilled, could ever hope to rival the precision of that advance. Along a front that moved forward as uniformly as a straight line, the ants drew nearer and nearer to the water ditch. Then, when they learned through their scouts the nature of the obstacle, the two outlying wings of the army detached themselves from the main body and marched down the western and eastern sides of the ditch.” (“Leiningen Versus the Ants” by Carl Stephenson)
Before the movie adaptation there was a Radio play on Escape with William Conrad January 14, 1948. Conrad became so associated with the story he was selected for a part in the film version, The Naked Jungle. Suspense would record the story with Luis Van Rooten on November 29, 1959.
The film version The Naked Jungle (1954) starring Charlton Heston, Eleanor Parker and William Conrad was a big hit. A good Charlton Heston vehicle, the plot gives him lots of opportunity for daring-do (and shoveling). The movie version also adds sex with Eleanor Parker playing a mail order bride. It was the inspiration for a couple of later books and programs.
The Horror boom of the 1970s (and its endless animal invasions) dovetailed two classics together: “Leiningen Versus the Ants” and H. G. Wells’ classic “Empire of the Ants” that predates Stephenson by thirty-three years, being published in The Strand, December 1905. In Wells story the ants behave like army ants but have evolved weapons and a habit of not giving back land taken in their raids. Wells’ inspiration was probably the same as Stephenson’s, tales of the ants from South America.
Two comic books version of the tale were “Intelligence” in Mister Mystery #9 (January 1953). The author is not known but the art was done by Eugene E. Hughes.
“Big Game” is the same comic but reworked with a very different ending, for Weird Mysteries #6 (August-September 1953) from Stanley Morse.
Charlton’s Strange Suspense Stories #20 (August 1954) tells the story again but renames the man. “Von Mohl Vs. The Ants” was written by an unknown author but drawn by Steve Ditko.
All these comics are available free at DCM.
The best of these was Peter Tremayne’s “horror” novel The Ants (1979). Tremayne’s novel follows a similar arc but adds more characters and even a bad guy besides the killer insects. The book could have been sold as an adventure novel but Tremayne made his reputation with books like Dracula Unborn (1977) and Hound of Frankenstein (1977), though he also publishes a successful series of Mystery novels about Sister Fidelma. (That’s when he isn’t Peter Berresford Ellis (real name), Celtic scholar!)
Ants! (1977 TV movie) starring Robert Foxworth, Suzanne Somers and Lynda Day George.
“Trumbo’s World” on MacGyver uses the plot of The Naked Jungle (November 10, 1985)
Camp Candy parodies movie with “Candy and the Ants” (November 17, 1990)
A little of “Leiningen Versus the Ants” might have found its way into the famous SF movie, Phase IV (1974). The novelization was done by Barry N. Malzberg.
