Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956)

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

Directors:

Ishirô Honda (as Ishiro Honda), Terry O. Morse (as Terry Morse)

Writers:

Shigeru Kayama (original story), Takeo Murata (screen play)

Stars:

Raymond Burr, Takashi Shimura, Momoko Kôchi

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Raymond Burr	...	Steve Martin
Takashi Shimura	...	Dr. Yamane
Momoko Kôchi	...	Emiko (as Momoko Kochi)
Akira Takarada	...	Ogata
Akihiko Hirata	...	Dr. Serizawa
Sachio Sakai	...	Hagiwara
Fuyuki Murakami	...	Dr. Tabata
Ren Yamamoto	...	Seiji
Toyoaki Suzuki	...	Shinkichi
Tadashi Okabe	...	Dr. Tabata's Assistant
Toranosuke Ogawa	...	President of Company
Frank Iwanaga	...	Security Officer

Storyline

When American reporter Steve Martin investigates a series of mysterious disasters off the coast of Japan, he comes face to face with an ancient creature so powerful and so terrifying, it can reduce Tokyo to a smoldering graveyard. Nuclear weapon testing resurrected this relic from the Jurassic age, and now it's rampaging across Japan. At night, Godzilla wades through Tokyo leaving death and destruction in his wake, disappearing into Tokyo Bay when his rage subsides. Coventional weapons are useless against him; but renowned scientist Dr. Serizawa has discovered a weapon that could destroy all life in the bay -- including Godzilla. But which disaster is worse, Godzilla's fury, or the death of Tokyo Bay?

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Plot Keywords:

godzilla | japan | reporter | japanese | monster | 

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Taglines:

Makes KING KONG look like a Midget!

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Genres:

Action | Horror | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA Japan

Language:

English Japanese

Release Date:

27 April 1956 (USA)

Also Known As:

Godzilla the Sea Beast

Box Office

Budget:

$650,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$2,000,000, 31 December 1956

Company Credits

Production Co:

Toho Company, Jewell Enterprises Inc.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min (original U.S. theatrical release) 78 min (television) 69 min (television) (re-issue)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Godzilla's roar was made by dragging a resin-coated leather glove up and down a contrabass and having the subsequent recording slowed down significantly.

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Goofs

In his deposition upon returning from Odo Island, Dr. Yamani - supposedly Japan's foremost paleontologist - says that the Jurassic Age was "two million years ago," rather than the 144 million it actually was.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Steve Martin: [in voice over] This is Tokyo. Once a city of six million people. What has happened here was caused by a force which up until a few days ago was entirely beyond the scope of Man's imagination. Tokyo, a smoldering memorial to the unknown, an unknown which at this very moment still prevails and could at any time lash out with its terrible destruction anywhere else in the world. There were once many people here who could've told of what they saw... now there are only a few. My name is ...

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Crazy Credits

Many prints and videos have absolutely no credits, beyond the title at the start(with a clearly video-generated copyright notice below it) and a "The End" graphic at the close. As of 2006, Classic Media's release of the film in the Gojira/Godzilla: King of the Monsters on DVD has the restored English credits.

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Alternate Versions

Originally Godzilla destroys the Diet Building but the model didn't collapse properly and there was no time to rebuild. In the finished scene when Godzilla approaches the Diet Building if you look closely you can see footage of the Real Diet Building was super-imposed into the film and when Godzilla destroys it all you see is the ground level of Godzilla's feet destroying the model.

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Connections

Referenced in MrSheltonTV: Godzillathon: Gojira (1954)/Godzilla, King of the Monsters (1956) - Review (1954)

User Reviews

The greatest and most realistic of the 50s creature features.

Godzilla is truly a legendary icon who has really stood the test of time for more than fifty years. His first film back in 1954 was very serious compared to most monster movies at the time. Most agree that it's a typical story of a prehistoric creature mutated by radiation rising up to challenge the world with his newfound power, but it's a little more than that. How so? Everything seems to be taken seriously by both filmmakers and the characters in the story. In this U.S. version, dubbing is kept to a very minimum by the lead characters while everyone else is speaking Japanese, which brings a small sense of realism. Godzilla himself is taken seriously by the filmmakers because while the primitive effects are obvious, his actions are like how a real animal reacts to a certain situation like when he approaches the electrical barrier and pauses to look at it curiously or when he snarls at a ringing clock tower because he thinks it might be another animal. He doesn't "attack" Tokyo just for the hell of it, he's just lashing out at whatever attacked him. After Tokyo is destroyed, the scene where the people mourn for the dead and dying truly moved me because the "attack" was treated like an actual disaster. I truly respect that.

Tomoyuki Tanaka really knew how to tell a war related story (war films in Japan were illegal at the time) and make his dinosaur the biggest star (literally) in the world. Steve Martin(Raymond Burr) and Dr. Serizawa are among the best known human characters in the entire series. I give this movie little more credit than before because of how it was made and the angle it was going for. Long live the King!