Godzilla, King of the Monsters!
Encyclopedia
Godzilla, King of the Monsters! is a 1956 Japanese/American black-and-white science fiction
kaiju
film. It is an "Americanized" version of the original Godzilla film, which had previously been shown subtitle
d in the United States in Japanese community theaters only, and was not known in Europe. For the American production, the original Japanese footage was dubbed
into the English language
and new footage was shot with actor Raymond Burr
.
Although a handful of independent, low-budget films had previously been filmed in Japan after World War II by American companies and featuring Japanese players in the cast, Godzilla represented the first to present Japanese in
principal, heroic roles or as sympathetic victims of the destruction of Tokyo (albeit by a fictional dinosaur) to the American public in a commercial release given A-picture status and bookings.
It was this film that introduced audiences outside of Japan to Godzilla
and labeled the monster as the king of monsters.
(Raymond Burr
), one of the wounded. In flashback, Martin tells of his stopover in Tokyo on a routine assignment to Cairo for United World News, where he finds himself confronted by the emergence of an inexplicable menace to navigation in the Sea of Japan
. Something is causing ships to be destroyed without warning and sink with no time for escape. When a dying seaman finally washes up on an inhabited island, Martin flies there for the story with Tomo Iwanaga, a representative of the Japanese security forces (Frank Iwanaga, also part of the American cast), and learns of the island inhabitants' belief in a monster god which lives beneath the sea, which they believe is causing the disasters (a claim which appears to have been borne out by the crewman before he died). Martin phones his editor at United World News, George Lawrence (Mikel Conrad
, part of the American cast) and is given permission to stay and cover the story.
Martin's involvement in the unfolding events broadens when paleontologist Dr. Yamane (Takashi Shimura
, of the original film), is consulted and, returning to the island with his daughter Emiko (Momoko Kōchi
) and her young naval-officer boyfriend Ogata (Akira Takarada
) to investigate, sees the monster when it attacks the island village. Returning to Tokyo with clear evidence of the monster's existence and power, Yamane becomes a leading consultant to Japan in mounting a defense, as it becomes apparent the monster is going to attack Tokyo.
The Japanese navy is unable to faze the monster with depth charges. In the dark of night, the monster attacks Tokyo, and it proves invulnerable to conventional military weaponry no matter how concentrated. Martin is one of millions injured in the attack, and here the flashback ends: Godzilla
(a giant mutant dinosaur) has returned to the sea, but it is certain this is only for the moment.
Emiko reveals she may know a solution to the monster's apparent indestructibility. She loves the young naval officer, but had until recently been engaged to a young scientist Dr. Serizawa (Akihiko Hirata
), who was also Steve Martin's friend in college. She has lost interest in him because he has become almost a recluse, to her and others. After her breaking up with him, he revealed to her the reason for his reclusiveness — over the course of his research, he had accidentally developed a formula capable of destroying all oxygen in water, in the process of which any animal coming in contact with the "oxygen destroyer" is stripped clean of all flesh and organs, reduced to a skeleton. His anguish over what to do with this discovery has become a constant preoccupation. She had agreed to keep her knowledge of this a secret. But with Godzilla loose, she realizes this may be the only thing capable of stopping the monster, and informs her boyfriend and father.
The scientist is only reluctantly persuaded to use his remaining sample of the oxygen destroyer to try to kill Godzilla, provided he accompanies the young officer, in a diving suit, to the sea bottom to place and release the formula more or less at the monster's feet. After concluding this agreement, the scientist destroys all his notes and papers on the formula. Emiko, upon seeing this, breaks down in tears, as she realizes that Serizawa is sacrificing his life's work to stop Godzilla. Once on the bottom of the sea, he sends the young officer back up to the boat, releases the destroyer, and cuts his own oxygen hose and lifeline, thus destroying the last source of knowledge of his horrid formula. The young officer joins Dr. Yamane, Emiko and Steve Martin on the ship to watch as the oxygen destroyer does its work, reducing Godzilla to a skeleton. Afterwards, Martin's last words were, "The menace was gone, so was a great man. But the whole world could wake up and live again."
It was Edmund Goldman who found the original Godzilla in a California Chinatown
theater. He bought the international rights for $25,000, then sold them to Jewell Enterprises Inc., a small production company
owned by Richard Kay and Harry Rybnick which, with backing from Terry Turner
and Joseph E. Levine
, successfully adapted it for American audiences. The adaptation process consisted of filming numerous new scenes featuring Raymond Burr
and others, and inserting them into an edited version of the Japanese original to create a new film. The new scenes, written by Al C. Ward and directed by Terry Morse, were photographed by Guy Roe with careful attention to matching the visual tone of the Japanese film. Burr's character Steve Martin
appeared to interact with the original Japanese cast through intricate cutting and the use of doubles for the Japanese principals, in matching dress, shot from behind in direct interaction with Burr's character.
A documentary style was imposed on the original dramatic material through Burr's dialogue and stentorian narration; he plays a reporter, replacing a comical reporter character in the Japanese original. More importantly, his presence as the lead character, along with trimming (though not outright deletion) of protracted dialogue regarding the arranged marriage
between the Japanese heroine and a scientist (a concept unfamiliar to Westerners), scenes evincing an active affair between her and the young naval officer–hero (a concept unlikely to be accepted by many parents of the film's youthful target audience), and a raging debate in Japan's Diet
over the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
and continued nuclear testing
(a concept not likely to be approved of by American veterans of the recent war), served to ease American audiences into comfortable relationships with characters, whose mere nationality might otherwise have made them pariahs. The theme of devastation of Japan by nuclear holocaust
became sublimated in the editing, but was definitely not eliminated, giving the film a subversiveness on the nuclear question which would later be consciously recognized by the youngsters at whom the film was aimed as they entered adulthood.
There is sometimes confusion about who distributed the film to the U.S. The poster for the film states only that it is "A Transworld Release", while the poster itself bears a copyright notice for "Godzilla Releasing Corporation". Trade reviews from its New York showing indicate that it was released by Embassy Pictures. Classic Media
indicates that it was released by Jewell Enterprises, but in fact the credits only show this company as presenting the film. In fact, the film was adapted from the Japanese original by Jewell Enterprises, which took "presentation" credits on the screen and in some advertising copy, copyright by Godzilla Releasing Corporation in its adapted form, and nationally released
under control of Transworld, Inc., all of which were companies owned by Rybnick and Kay. It was actually distributed in the western U.S. by Godzilla Releasing Corp. and in the eastern half by Joseph E. Levine
's Embassy Pictures Corporation
, then just a Boston-based states rights exchange. Embassy was most frequently noted as sole distributor in reviews and trade annuals published in New York: the movie was given "A-film" promotion, and opened at Loew's State Theatre
on Broadway
and 45th Street in New York City
on April 27, 1956.
New York Times
film critic, Bosley Crowther
gave the film a bad review the following day. He dismissed it with, "Godzilla' produced in a Japanese studio, is an incredibly awful film." After complaining about the dubbing, the special effects ("a miniature of a dinosaur"), and an alleged similarity to King Kong
, he concluded, "The whole thing is in the category of cheap cinematic horror-stuff, and it is too bad that a respectable theater has to lure children and gullible grown-ups with such fare."
Crowther notwithstanding, the film was a notable success with the American public. It easily exported to Europe and South America, where the original was unknown and where it also had a major impact, and even made its way full circle back to Japan, where it was exhibited with Japanese subtitles for the American dialogue. The door was thus opened in the Americas and Europe for the import of unexpurgated Japanese science-fiction, horror, and other commercial film products; it also garnered western awareness of Toho Studios
, which had retained producer credit. After its theatrical run, Godzilla, King of the Monsters! became a television
staple for decades, even into the cable years, and opened the international market for dozens of Godzilla
sequel
s.
In theatrical form and on original TV syndication, the main title is followed by a minimal credit screen reading "Starring Raymond Burr, directed by Terry Morse and I. Honda" in white lettering over a background; and following the fadeout of the final shot, the scene of the hymn being sung by the schoolchildren was reprised with fuller cast and credits, following the fadeout of which the "The End" title appeared, again white lettering on a black background, with Godzilla's echoing footsteps eerily replacing the soulful music. However, when Viacom
acquired the film for TV re-syndication and first publication on videotape around 1980, Viacom removed all cast and credit material from both the opening and the closing of the film, and re-publications made thereafter were taken from the Viacom-revised master (even the so-called "uncut" version released on DVD in 1998 by Simitar). This missing material was partially restored in 2006 on the Sony Corp.; however, the opening star-director credits remained missing, and the end cast and credits were mis-edited after the THE END credit instead of before. They were also presented in a widescreen letterbox format on what was otherwise a standard anamorphic-format film image.
Italian filmmaker Luigi Cozzi
bought the rights and distributed the film to magnetic band and sensurround theaters.
Originally, Cozzi planned to re-release the original 1954 Godzilla without the Raymond Burr
scenes.
But Toho (who personally sold the film to Cozzi) said the film was unavailable, so they gave him the 1956 American version.
Since the film was in black and white, regional distributors in Italy refused to release the film. In order to release the film, Cozzi hired Armando Valcauda to colorize the whole film frame by frame.
Most prints of the film were lost but some still exist.
Up to today, the Cozzi colorized version of Godzilla
(also known as Cozzilla by fans) has not yet been released in any format in Italy or any country outside of Italy.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
kaiju
Kaiju
is a Japanese word that means "strange beast," but often translated in English as "monster". Specifically, it is used to refer to a genre of tokusatsu entertainment....
film. It is an "Americanized" version of the original Godzilla film, which had previously been shown subtitle
Subtitle (captioning)
Subtitles are textual versions of the dialog in films and television programs, usually displayed at the bottom of the screen. They can either be a form of written translation of a dialog in a foreign language, or a written rendering of the dialog in the same language, with or without added...
d in the United States in Japanese community theaters only, and was not known in Europe. For the American production, the original Japanese footage was dubbed
Dubbing (filmmaking)
Dubbing is the post-production process of recording and replacing voices on a motion picture or television soundtrack subsequent to the original shooting. The term most commonly refers to the substitution of the voices of the actors shown on the screen by those of different performers, who may be...
into the English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and new footage was shot with actor Raymond Burr
Raymond Burr
Raymond William Stacey Burr was a Canadian actor, primarily known for his title roles in the television dramas Perry Mason and Ironside. His early acting career included roles on Broadway, radio, television and in film, usually as the villain...
.
Although a handful of independent, low-budget films had previously been filmed in Japan after World War II by American companies and featuring Japanese players in the cast, Godzilla represented the first to present Japanese in
principal, heroic roles or as sympathetic victims of the destruction of Tokyo (albeit by a fictional dinosaur) to the American public in a commercial release given A-picture status and bookings.
It was this film that introduced audiences outside of Japan to Godzilla
Godzilla
is a daikaijū, a Japanese movie monster, first appearing in Ishirō Honda's 1954 film Godzilla. Since then, Godzilla has gone on to become a worldwide pop culture icon starring in 28 films produced by Toho Co., Ltd. The monster has appeared in numerous other media incarnations including video games,...
and labeled the monster as the king of monsters.
Plot
The revised story begins at a hastily established emergency hospital in an evidently devastated Tokyo, to which is brought American reporter Steve MartinSteve Martin (Godzilla)
Steve Martin is a fictional American reporter played by actor Raymond Burr. The journalist first appears in the 1956 Godzilla film Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, the American version of the original Japanese Godzilla....
(Raymond Burr
Raymond Burr
Raymond William Stacey Burr was a Canadian actor, primarily known for his title roles in the television dramas Perry Mason and Ironside. His early acting career included roles on Broadway, radio, television and in film, usually as the villain...
), one of the wounded. In flashback, Martin tells of his stopover in Tokyo on a routine assignment to Cairo for United World News, where he finds himself confronted by the emergence of an inexplicable menace to navigation in the Sea of Japan
Sea of Japan
The Sea of Japan is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, between the Asian mainland, the Japanese archipelago and Sakhalin. It is bordered by Japan, North Korea, Russia and South Korea. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it has almost no tides due to its nearly complete enclosure from the Pacific...
. Something is causing ships to be destroyed without warning and sink with no time for escape. When a dying seaman finally washes up on an inhabited island, Martin flies there for the story with Tomo Iwanaga, a representative of the Japanese security forces (Frank Iwanaga, also part of the American cast), and learns of the island inhabitants' belief in a monster god which lives beneath the sea, which they believe is causing the disasters (a claim which appears to have been borne out by the crewman before he died). Martin phones his editor at United World News, George Lawrence (Mikel Conrad
Mikel Conrad
Mikel Conrad was an American actor and film director, writer and producer. He was born in Columbus, Ohio and died in Los Angeles, California at the age of 63.-Actor:* Godzilla, King of the Monsters!...
, part of the American cast) and is given permission to stay and cover the story.
Martin's involvement in the unfolding events broadens when paleontologist Dr. Yamane (Takashi Shimura
Takashi Shimura
was a Japanese actor.He was born in Ikuno, Hyogo, Japan.His debut as actor was the film Akanishi Kakita and cast in the Kenji Mizoguchi's film Osaka Elegy ....
, of the original film), is consulted and, returning to the island with his daughter Emiko (Momoko Kōchi
Momoko Kochi
Momoko Kōchi was a Japanese actress. She was born in Japan. She is best known for her roles in the original Godzilla, playing the character of Emiko Yamane , & in the Mysterians, playing as Hiroko Iwamoto.- Filmography :* Godzilla * Half...
) and her young naval-officer boyfriend Ogata (Akira Takarada
Akira Takarada
is a Japanese film actor who is most known in the west for his roles in the Godzilla film series.-Overview:Takarada was born in Japan-occupied Korea, and lived for a time in Harbin, China. His father worked as an engineer on the South Manchuria Railway...
) to investigate, sees the monster when it attacks the island village. Returning to Tokyo with clear evidence of the monster's existence and power, Yamane becomes a leading consultant to Japan in mounting a defense, as it becomes apparent the monster is going to attack Tokyo.
The Japanese navy is unable to faze the monster with depth charges. In the dark of night, the monster attacks Tokyo, and it proves invulnerable to conventional military weaponry no matter how concentrated. Martin is one of millions injured in the attack, and here the flashback ends: Godzilla
Godzilla
is a daikaijū, a Japanese movie monster, first appearing in Ishirō Honda's 1954 film Godzilla. Since then, Godzilla has gone on to become a worldwide pop culture icon starring in 28 films produced by Toho Co., Ltd. The monster has appeared in numerous other media incarnations including video games,...
(a giant mutant dinosaur) has returned to the sea, but it is certain this is only for the moment.
Emiko reveals she may know a solution to the monster's apparent indestructibility. She loves the young naval officer, but had until recently been engaged to a young scientist Dr. Serizawa (Akihiko Hirata
Akihiko Hirata
was a Japanese film actor. While Hirata starred in many movies , he is most well known for his work in the kaiju genre, including such films as King Kong vs. Godzilla, The Mysterians, and his most famous role of Dr...
), who was also Steve Martin's friend in college. She has lost interest in him because he has become almost a recluse, to her and others. After her breaking up with him, he revealed to her the reason for his reclusiveness — over the course of his research, he had accidentally developed a formula capable of destroying all oxygen in water, in the process of which any animal coming in contact with the "oxygen destroyer" is stripped clean of all flesh and organs, reduced to a skeleton. His anguish over what to do with this discovery has become a constant preoccupation. She had agreed to keep her knowledge of this a secret. But with Godzilla loose, she realizes this may be the only thing capable of stopping the monster, and informs her boyfriend and father.
The scientist is only reluctantly persuaded to use his remaining sample of the oxygen destroyer to try to kill Godzilla, provided he accompanies the young officer, in a diving suit, to the sea bottom to place and release the formula more or less at the monster's feet. After concluding this agreement, the scientist destroys all his notes and papers on the formula. Emiko, upon seeing this, breaks down in tears, as she realizes that Serizawa is sacrificing his life's work to stop Godzilla. Once on the bottom of the sea, he sends the young officer back up to the boat, releases the destroyer, and cuts his own oxygen hose and lifeline, thus destroying the last source of knowledge of his horrid formula. The young officer joins Dr. Yamane, Emiko and Steve Martin on the ship to watch as the oxygen destroyer does its work, reducing Godzilla to a skeleton. Afterwards, Martin's last words were, "The menace was gone, so was a great man. But the whole world could wake up and live again."
U.S. Production
Chinatown
A Chinatown is an ethnic enclave of overseas Chinese people, although it is often generalized to include various Southeast Asian people. Chinatowns exist throughout the world, including East Asia, Southeast Asia, the Americas, Australasia, and Europe. Binondo's Chinatown located in Manila,...
theater. He bought the international rights for $25,000, then sold them to Jewell Enterprises Inc., a small production company
Production company
A production company provides the physical basis for works in the realms of the performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, and video.- Tasks and functions :...
owned by Richard Kay and Harry Rybnick which, with backing from Terry Turner
Terry Turner
Terrance Lamont Turner was an infielder in Major League Baseball who played between 1901 and 1919 for the Pittsburgh Pirates , Cleveland Naps/Indians and Philadelphia Athletics . Turner batted and threw right-handed...
and Joseph E. Levine
Joseph E. Levine
Joseph E. Levine was an American film producer.He was born in Boston, Massachusetts. His Embassy Pictures Corporation was an independent studio and distributor responsible for such films as Hercules , The Carpetbaggers, Harlow, The Graduate, A Bridge Too Far and The Lion in Winter.Levine is famous...
, successfully adapted it for American audiences. The adaptation process consisted of filming numerous new scenes featuring Raymond Burr
Raymond Burr
Raymond William Stacey Burr was a Canadian actor, primarily known for his title roles in the television dramas Perry Mason and Ironside. His early acting career included roles on Broadway, radio, television and in film, usually as the villain...
and others, and inserting them into an edited version of the Japanese original to create a new film. The new scenes, written by Al C. Ward and directed by Terry Morse, were photographed by Guy Roe with careful attention to matching the visual tone of the Japanese film. Burr's character Steve Martin
Steve Martin (Godzilla)
Steve Martin is a fictional American reporter played by actor Raymond Burr. The journalist first appears in the 1956 Godzilla film Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, the American version of the original Japanese Godzilla....
appeared to interact with the original Japanese cast through intricate cutting and the use of doubles for the Japanese principals, in matching dress, shot from behind in direct interaction with Burr's character.
A documentary style was imposed on the original dramatic material through Burr's dialogue and stentorian narration; he plays a reporter, replacing a comical reporter character in the Japanese original. More importantly, his presence as the lead character, along with trimming (though not outright deletion) of protracted dialogue regarding the arranged marriage
Arranged marriage
An arranged marriage is a practice in which someone other than the couple getting married makes the selection of the persons to be wed, meanwhile curtailing or avoiding the process of courtship. Such marriages had deep roots in royal and aristocratic families around the world...
between the Japanese heroine and a scientist (a concept unfamiliar to Westerners), scenes evincing an active affair between her and the young naval officer–hero (a concept unlikely to be accepted by many parents of the film's youthful target audience), and a raging debate in Japan's Diet
Diet (assembly)
In politics, a diet is a formal deliberative assembly. The term is mainly used historically for the Imperial Diet, the general assembly of the Imperial Estates of the Holy Roman Empire, and for the legislative bodies of certain countries.-Etymology:...
over the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
During the final stages of World War II in 1945, the United States conducted two atomic bombings against the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, the first on August 6, 1945, and the second on August 9, 1945. These two events are the only use of nuclear weapons in war to date.For six months...
and continued nuclear testing
Nuclear testing
Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine the effectiveness, yield and explosive capability of nuclear weapons. Throughout the twentieth century, most nations that have developed nuclear weapons have tested them...
(a concept not likely to be approved of by American veterans of the recent war), served to ease American audiences into comfortable relationships with characters, whose mere nationality might otherwise have made them pariahs. The theme of devastation of Japan by nuclear holocaust
Nuclear warfare
Nuclear warfare, or atomic warfare, is a military conflict or political strategy in which nuclear weaponry is detonated on an opponent. Compared to conventional warfare, nuclear warfare can be vastly more destructive in range and extent of damage...
became sublimated in the editing, but was definitely not eliminated, giving the film a subversiveness on the nuclear question which would later be consciously recognized by the youngsters at whom the film was aimed as they entered adulthood.
There is sometimes confusion about who distributed the film to the U.S. The poster for the film states only that it is "A Transworld Release", while the poster itself bears a copyright notice for "Godzilla Releasing Corporation". Trade reviews from its New York showing indicate that it was released by Embassy Pictures. Classic Media
Classic Media
Classic Media, LLC, is an American production company and distributor of family programming. It was founded in 2000 by former Marvel Entertainment CEO Eric Ellenbogen and former Broadway Video executive John Engelman in hopes of acquiring mismanaged classic properties and giving exposure to...
indicates that it was released by Jewell Enterprises, but in fact the credits only show this company as presenting the film. In fact, the film was adapted from the Japanese original by Jewell Enterprises, which took "presentation" credits on the screen and in some advertising copy, copyright by Godzilla Releasing Corporation in its adapted form, and nationally released
Film release
A film release is the stage at which a completed film is legally authorized by its owner for public distribution.The process includes locating a distributor to handle the film...
under control of Transworld, Inc., all of which were companies owned by Rybnick and Kay. It was actually distributed in the western U.S. by Godzilla Releasing Corp. and in the eastern half by Joseph E. Levine
Joseph E. Levine
Joseph E. Levine was an American film producer.He was born in Boston, Massachusetts. His Embassy Pictures Corporation was an independent studio and distributor responsible for such films as Hercules , The Carpetbaggers, Harlow, The Graduate, A Bridge Too Far and The Lion in Winter.Levine is famous...
's Embassy Pictures Corporation
Embassy Pictures
Embassy Pictures Corporation was an independent studio and distributor responsible for such films as The Graduate, The Lion in Winter, This Is Spinal Tap and Escape from New York.-Founding:The company was founded in 1942 by producer Joseph E...
, then just a Boston-based states rights exchange. Embassy was most frequently noted as sole distributor in reviews and trade annuals published in New York: the movie was given "A-film" promotion, and opened at Loew's State Theatre
Loew's State Theatre
Loew's State Theatre is an historic site at 220 Weybosset Street in Providence, Rhode Island.The site was built in 1928 by Rapp and Rapp and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977...
on Broadway
Broadway (New York City)
Broadway is a prominent avenue in New York City, United States, which runs through the full length of the borough of Manhattan and continues northward through the Bronx borough before terminating in Westchester County, New York. It is the oldest north–south main thoroughfare in the city, dating to...
and 45th Street in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
on April 27, 1956.
New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
film critic, Bosley Crowther
Bosley Crowther
Bosley Crowther was a journalist and author who was film critic for The New York Times for 27 years. His reviews and articles helped shape the careers of actors, directors and screenwriters, though his reviews, at times, were unnecessarily mean...
gave the film a bad review the following day. He dismissed it with, "Godzilla' produced in a Japanese studio, is an incredibly awful film." After complaining about the dubbing, the special effects ("a miniature of a dinosaur"), and an alleged similarity to King Kong
King Kong (1933 film)
King Kong is a Pre-Code 1933 fantasy monster adventure film co-directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, and written by Ruth Rose and James Ashmore Creelman after a story by Cooper and Edgar Wallace. The film tells of a gigantic island-dwelling apeman creature called Kong who dies in...
, he concluded, "The whole thing is in the category of cheap cinematic horror-stuff, and it is too bad that a respectable theater has to lure children and gullible grown-ups with such fare."
Crowther notwithstanding, the film was a notable success with the American public. It easily exported to Europe and South America, where the original was unknown and where it also had a major impact, and even made its way full circle back to Japan, where it was exhibited with Japanese subtitles for the American dialogue. The door was thus opened in the Americas and Europe for the import of unexpurgated Japanese science-fiction, horror, and other commercial film products; it also garnered western awareness of Toho Studios
Toho
is a Japanese film, theater production, and distribution company. It is headquartered in Yūrakuchō, Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group...
, which had retained producer credit. After its theatrical run, Godzilla, King of the Monsters! became a television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
staple for decades, even into the cable years, and opened the international market for dozens of Godzilla
Godzilla
is a daikaijū, a Japanese movie monster, first appearing in Ishirō Honda's 1954 film Godzilla. Since then, Godzilla has gone on to become a worldwide pop culture icon starring in 28 films produced by Toho Co., Ltd. The monster has appeared in numerous other media incarnations including video games,...
sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
s.
In theatrical form and on original TV syndication, the main title is followed by a minimal credit screen reading "Starring Raymond Burr, directed by Terry Morse and I. Honda" in white lettering over a background; and following the fadeout of the final shot, the scene of the hymn being sung by the schoolchildren was reprised with fuller cast and credits, following the fadeout of which the "The End" title appeared, again white lettering on a black background, with Godzilla's echoing footsteps eerily replacing the soulful music. However, when Viacom
Viacom
Viacom Inc. , short for "Video & Audio Communications", is an American media conglomerate with interests primarily in, but not limited to, cinema and cable television...
acquired the film for TV re-syndication and first publication on videotape around 1980, Viacom removed all cast and credit material from both the opening and the closing of the film, and re-publications made thereafter were taken from the Viacom-revised master (even the so-called "uncut" version released on DVD in 1998 by Simitar). This missing material was partially restored in 2006 on the Sony Corp.; however, the opening star-director credits remained missing, and the end cast and credits were mis-edited after the THE END credit instead of before. They were also presented in a widescreen letterbox format on what was otherwise a standard anamorphic-format film image.
Box Office/Reception
The film was a box office success, grossing up to $2 million in the United States alone. Due to the films character, Godzilla, it became very popular in the United States at the time of its release, and its popularity spread when the film was distributed internationally.Cozzilla
In 1976, a colorized version of Godzilla, King of The Monsters was re-released in theaters in Italy.Italian filmmaker Luigi Cozzi
Luigi Cozzi
Luigi Cozzi is an Italian movie director and screenwriter who directed mainly science fiction and horror films in the mid-1970s and throughout the 1980s...
bought the rights and distributed the film to magnetic band and sensurround theaters.
Originally, Cozzi planned to re-release the original 1954 Godzilla without the Raymond Burr
Raymond Burr
Raymond William Stacey Burr was a Canadian actor, primarily known for his title roles in the television dramas Perry Mason and Ironside. His early acting career included roles on Broadway, radio, television and in film, usually as the villain...
scenes.
But Toho (who personally sold the film to Cozzi) said the film was unavailable, so they gave him the 1956 American version.
Since the film was in black and white, regional distributors in Italy refused to release the film. In order to release the film, Cozzi hired Armando Valcauda to colorize the whole film frame by frame.
Most prints of the film were lost but some still exist.
Up to today, the Cozzi colorized version of Godzilla
Godzilla
is a daikaijū, a Japanese movie monster, first appearing in Ishirō Honda's 1954 film Godzilla. Since then, Godzilla has gone on to become a worldwide pop culture icon starring in 28 films produced by Toho Co., Ltd. The monster has appeared in numerous other media incarnations including video games,...
(also known as Cozzilla by fans) has not yet been released in any format in Italy or any country outside of Italy.
Note
- This WikiProject Films infobox contains information regarding the AmericanizedAmericanizationAmericanization is the influence of the United States on the popular culture, technology, business practices, or political techniques of other countries. The term has been used since at least 1907. Inside the U.S...
U.S. release; for information on the Japanese original, see GodzillaGodzilla (1954 film)is a 1954 Japanese science fiction film directed by Ishirō Honda and produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka. The film stars Akira Takarada, Momoko Kōchi, Akihiko Hirata and Takashi Shimura. The film tells the story of Godzilla, a giant monster mutated by nuclear radiation, who ravages Japan, bringing back the...
.