Frankenstein Conquers the World (1965) Furankenshutain tai chitei kaijû Baragon (original title)

Director:

Ishirô Honda

Writers:

Reuben Bercovitch (story)
Takeshi Kimura
(more)

Release Date:

8 July 1966 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

He rolled the Seven Wonders of the World into one!

Plot:

During WWII, a human heart taken from a certain lab in Europe (Dr. Frankenstein's) is kept in a Japanese lab...

Plot Keywords:

Frankenstein | Monster | Frankenstein's Monster | Radiation | Scientist

Cast

Tadao Takashima	...	Dr. Yuzo Kawaji
Nick Adams	...	Dr. James Bowen
Kumi Mizuno	...	Dr. Sueko Togami
Yoshio Tsuchiya	...	Mr. Kawai
Kôji Furuhata	...	Frankenstein
Jun Tazaki	...	Military Advisor
Susumu Fujita	...	Osaka Police Chief
Takashi Shimura	...	Axis Scientist
Nobuo Nakamura	...	Skeptical Museum Chief
Kenji Sahara	...	Soldier
Yoshifumi Tajima	...	Submarine Commander
Kôzô Nomura	...	Overzealous Reporter (as Terunobu Nomura)
Haruya Katô	...	TV Director
Ikio Sawamura	...	Man Walking Dog
Yoshio Kosugi	...	Mountain Soldier
Keiko Sawai	...	Kazuko, the dying girl
Noriko Takahashi	...	Girl in Lodge
Peter Mann	...	Dr. Liesendorf
Ren Yamamoto	...	Bystander
Yutaka Sada	...	Hospital Administrator
Hisaya Itô	...	Osaka Police Sergeant
Kenzô Tabu	...	Scornful News Editor
Shigeki Ishida	...	Chuckling Scientist
Nadao Kirino	...	Police Sergeant
Yutaka Nakayama	...	News Cameraman A
Senkichi Ômura	...	News Cameraman B
Tadashi Okabe	...	Sarcastic Reporter
Toshihiko Furuta	...	Bystander
Kenichiro Kawaji	...	Young Frankenstein
Hideaki Nitani	...	Hospital Official
Shin Ôtomo	...	Policeman
Shôichi Hirose	...	Tunnel Worker
Haruo Nakajima	...	Baragon
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Saburô Iketani	...	Reporter (uncredited)

Directed by
Ishirô Honda

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Reuben Bercovitch		story
Takeshi Kimura		(as Kaoru Mabuchi)
Mary Shelley		novel "Frankenstein": uncredited
Jerry Sohl

Produced by
Samuel Z. Arkoff	....	executive producer
Samuel Z. Arkoff	....	producer (US version)
Reuben Bercovitch	....	executive producer
James H. Nicholson	....	executive producer
James H. Nicholson	....	producer (US version)
Henry G. Saperstein	....	executive producer
Tomoyuki Tanaka	....	producer

Original Music by
Akira Ifukube

Cinematography by
Hajime Koizumi

Film Editing by
Ryôhei Fujii

Production Design by
Takeo Kita

Art Direction by
Takeo Kita

Makeup Department
Riki Konna	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Koji Hashimoto	....	assistant director
Kôji Kajita	....	chief assistant director

Sound Department
Salvatore Billitteri	....	dialogue re-recording supervisor: English
Wataru Konuma	....	sound recordist
Sadamasa Nishimoto	....	sound effects editor
Hisashi Shimonaga	....	sound effects

Special Effects by
Fumio Nakadai	....	special effects scene manipulation
Teruyoshi Nakano	....	assistant director of special effects
Eiji Tsuburaya	....	director of special effects
Akira Watanabe	....	art director of special effects

Visual Effects by
Sadamasa Arikawa	....	director of special effects photography
Sadao Iizuda	....	optical photography
Kuichirô Kishida	....	special effects lighting
Yukio Manoda	....	optical photographer
Sokei Tomioka	....	director of special effects photography

Stunts
Haruo Nakajima	....	stunt choreographer

Casting Department
Ai Maeda	....	casting assistant

Editorial Department
Kiyashi Tsurusaki	....	color consultant

Other crew
Samuel Z. Arkoff	....	presenter
Gorô Naya	....	voice dubbing: Dr. James Bowen
James H. Nicholson	....	presenter

Production Companies

• Henry G. Saperstein Enterprises Inc.
• Toho Company

Distributors

• American International Pictures (AIP) (1966) (USA) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• Astral Films (1966) (Canada) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• Tokyo Shock (2007) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Toho Studios  sound stages
• Yoshitomi Transportation  transportation

Also Known As:

"Furankenshutain tai chitei kaijû Baragon" - Japan (original title)
"Frankenstein vs. Baragon" - International (English title)

Runtime:

90 min | Japan:93 min (original version) | USA:87 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Unrated | Sweden:15 | West Germany:12

Company:

Henry G. Saperstein Enterprises Inc.

Trivia:

One of the proposed titles for this film was "Frankenstein Vs. the Giant Devil Fish". In fact, one of the lobby photos features the title monster doing battle with a giant octopus. However, that scene was deleted from the film. Ironically, the sequel, Furankenstein no kaiju: Sanda tai Gaira does feature a battle between Gaira, the Green Gargantua, and a giant octopus.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In the sequence with "Frankenstein" trying to capture the wild boar, in the last shot of the boar running off, the tracks that the model is running on are visible.

Quotes:

Axis Scientist:Frankenstein's heart.
Mr. Kawai:Frankenstein? It's alive?
Axis Scientist:It is immortal.
Mr. Kawai:Immortal?
Axis Scientist:You never heard what was said of Frankenstein's experiments?
Mr. Kawai:Yes, but I heard he was destroyed.
Axis Scientist:Well, a long time ago, a German scientist sewed together the parts of a man in hopes to bring it back to life. He used an electric shock to bring it to life.
Mr. Kawai:But what can we gain from the research?
Axis Scientist:We might learn how to process or grow any part of the human body.
Mr. Kawai:Please don't joke with me.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Cinemassacre's Monster Madness: War of the Gargantuas (#4.10)" (2010)

Guilty Pleasure.

Here's a movie about a radioactive child growing into a large, homeless 100 foot tall looking brute who grunts, and then fights a nappy looking dinosaur. Okay, it's not Ingmar Bergman, but damn, is it silly, fun and entertaining. It's chock full of cliches, but the pace is amazingly fast. One of the best elements of this happy cinematic misfire is actor Tadao Takashima. His normally bland white-lab coated scientist has some fascinating charcater elements (He's an alky, and has an interesting dark streak) The VHS copy I have has tacked on the ending where Frankenstein vs. A-Big-Octopus-That-Comes-Out-Of-Nowhere. Silly, and fun. Cool party movie.