Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956)

Directors:

Ishirô Honda
Terry O. Morse

Writers:

Ishirô Honda (writer)
Shigeru Kayama (story)

Release Date:

27 April 1956 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi | Action

Tagline:

Makes KING KONG look like a Midget!

Plot:

A 400-foot (122-meter) dinosaur-like beast, awoken from undersea hibernation off the Japanese coast by atomic-bomb testing, attacks Tokyo.

Plot Keywords:

Japan | Godzilla | Reporter | Monster | Destruction

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Raymond Burr	...	Steve Martin
Takashi Shimura	...	Dr. Kyohei Yamane
Akira Takarada	...	Hideto Ogata
Momoko Kôchi	...	Emiko Yamane
Akihiko Hirata	...	Dr. Daisuke Serizawa
Frank Iwanaga	...	Security Officer Tomo Iwanaga
Toyoaki Suzuki	...	The Boy from Oto Island
Toranosuke Ogawa	...	President of Nankai Shipping Company
Takeo Oikawa	...	Chief of Emergency Headquarters
Kokuten Kodo	...	Old Man on Hill on Oto Island
Fuyuki Murakami	...	Scientist with Geiger Counter
Mikel Conrad	...	George Lawrence
Ren Yamamoto	...	The Boy's Older Brother [Bit]
Sachio Sakai	...	Interviewing Official on Oto Island [Bit]
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Miki Hayashi	...	(unconfirmed)
Kin Sugai	...	(unconfirmed)
Sammee Tong	...	Dr. Yamane (voice)

Also Known As:

Godzilla (USA)
Godzilla the Sea Beast (USA) (working title)
Kaijû-ô Gojira (Japan)

Runtime:

80 min (original U.S. theatrical release version) | USA:78 min (DVD release)

Country:

USA | Japan

Language:

English | Japanese

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Toho Company

Trivia:

The Japanese version of the film received a Japanese Academy Award nomination for Best Picture but lost to Shichinin no samurai (1954). It did, however, win the award for Best Special Effects. It is the only Godzilla movie to receive a nomination for Best Picture.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: During one scene where Godzilla breathes his radioactive fire, the nozzle that provides the spray can clearly be seen inside his mouth.

Quotes:

Security Officer Tomo Iwanaga: You hear that? Godzilla.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Sanford and Son: The Camping Trip (#5.24)" (1976)

Show Them Back to Back

Like many of the other Godzilla fans, this is the only version of the the Big-G's debut that I have seen. I have never had the pleasure of watching the original Japanese version, which is even more dark in nature than this Americanized version. I often wonder how much more of an impact the original version of this film would play and would it be treated in a more favorable light than this version. However, this is still a great film despite its flaws. Raymond Burr does a credible job as Steve Martin and he does his best to convey the horror of Godzilla's attack, even though his scenes were shot much later. However, I hope that one day someone will have the bright idea to show both the Americanized version and the original back to back to allow the audience to choose for themselves which one is better.