Godzilla King Of The Monsters 1956 Vs 2019
Hedvig Horning
In 1955, Edmund Goldman acquired the 1954 film from Toho and enlisted the aid of Paul Schreibman, Harold Ross, Richard Kay, and Joseph E. Levine to produce a revised version for American audiences. This version dubbed most of the Japanese dialogue into English, and altered and removed key plot points and themes. New footage was produced with Burr interacting with body doubles and Japanese-American actors in an attempt to make it seem like Burr was part of the original Japanese production.
Godzilla, King of the Monsters! was theatrically released in the United States in late April 1956, and was followed by an international release. In the U.S., it received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $2 million at the box office against an estimated $100,000 production budget. The film was responsible for introducing Godzilla to a worldwide audience, as the 1954 film remained unavailable officially outside of Japan until 2004.[10]
Injured American reporter Steve Martin is brought from the ruins of Tokyo to a hospital filled with maimed and wounded citizens. A recent acquaintance, Emiko, discovers him by chance among the victims and attempts to find a doctor for him. Martin recalls in flashback stopping over in Tokyo, where a series of inexplicable offshore ship disasters catches his attention. When a victim of those disasters washes up on Odo Island, Martin flies there for the story, along with security officer Tomo Iwanaga. There he learns of the island inhabitants' long-held belief in a sea monster god known as "Godzilla", which they believe caused the ship disasters. That night, a heavy storm strikes the island, destroying houses and killing some villagers. The islanders believe that Godzilla was actually responsible for the destruction.
Martin returns to the island with Dr. Yamane, who is leading a team to investigate the damage. Huge radioactive footprints and prehistoric trilobite are discovered. An alarm rings and Martin, the villagers, and Dr. Yamane's team head up a hill for safety. Near the summit, they encounter Godzilla, and they quickly flee downhill. Upon Dr. Yamane's later return to Tokyo, he deduces that Godzilla is 400 feet (120 m) tall and was resurrected by the repeated hydrogen bomb testing in the Pacific. To Yamane's dismay, the military responds by attempting to kill the monster using depth charges. Martin contacts his old friend, Dr. Daisuke Serizawa, for dinner, but Serizawa declines due to a previous commitment with his fiance, Emiko, Dr. Yamane's daughter.
Emiko goes to Serizawa's home to break off her arranged engagement with him because she is actually in love with Hideo Ogata, a salvage ship captain. Dr. Serizawa, however, gives her a demonstration of his secret project, which horrifies her. She is sworn to secrecy and unable to bring herself to break off the engagement. Godzilla surfaces from Tokyo Bay, unharmed by the depth charges, and attacks the city, destroying a train before returning to the bay. The next morning, the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) supercharges the tall electrical towers along Tokyo's coast to repel the monster.
Godzilla resurfaces that night and breaks through the electrical towers and JSDF defense line using his atomic heat breath. Martin documents Godzilla's rampage via tape recorder and is injured during the attack. Godzilla returns to the sea and the flashback ends. Martin wakes up in the hospital with Emiko and Ogata. Horrified by the destruction, Emiko reveals to them the existence of Dr. Serizawa's Oxygen Destroyer, which disintegrates oxygen atoms in saltwater and causes all marine organisms to die of acidic asphyxiation. Emiko and Ogata go to Dr. Serizawa to convince him to use his powerful weapon on Godzilla, but he initially refuses. After watching a television broadcast showing the nation's continuing plight, Serizawa finally gives in to their pleas, then burns his notes and papers on the formula.
A ship takes Ogata, Serizawa, Yamane, Martin, and Emiko out to the deepest part of Tokyo Bay. In hardhat diving suits, Ogata and Serizawa are lowered down by lifelines near Godzilla to plant the weapon. Ogata is pulled up, but Serizawa delays his ascent and activates the device. He radios the surface of its success and wishes Emiko and Ogata happiness together. Serizawa cuts his lifelines, taking the secret of his invention to the grave. Godzilla succumbs to the Oxygen Destroyer, which dissolves its body and bones. All aboard the ship mourn the loss of Dr. Serizawa. Martin reflects that the world can "live again" due to Serizawa's ultimate sacrifice.
"We weren't interested in politics, believe me. We only wanted to make a movie we could sell. At that time, the American public wouldn't have gone for a movie with an all-Japanese cast. That's why we did what we did. We didn't really change the story. We just gave it an American point of view."
In 1955, Manson International co-founder Edmund Goldman approached Toho International Inc. (a Los Angeles-based subsidiary created to distribute Toho films overseas) about purchasing the rights to Godzilla. Toho had shown Goldman advertising materials, which interested him in a screening of the film. Goldman then made Toho an offer of $25,000 for the theatrical and television rights, which they accepted quickly.[4] The contract was signed on September 27, 1955. The contract stipulated that Toho and Goldman agreed that the film would be "narrated, dubbed in English and completed by the revisions, additions, and deletions," with final approval by Toho.[14]
Paul Schreibman assisted in the film's acquisition.[15] Samuel Z. Arkoff of American International Pictures also made a bid for the film, negotiating with Toho for three months until he discovered the rights had already been sold to Goldman.[4] Goldman enlisted the help of Harold Ross (sometimes credited as Henry Rybnick) and Richard Kay of Jewell Enterprises to distribute the film. According to Goldman, Ross and Kay's idea was to dub the film and hire Raymond Burr. Goldman would later sell his interest to Jewell Enterprises.[4]
Ross and Kay turned to Joseph E. Levine to further finance the project. The duo arranged a screening of the film for Levine in Los Angeles. The film's possibilities excited Levine and paid $100,000 for half of the rights. This arrangement allowed the rights to Godzilla to be split between Jewell Enterprises and Levine's Embassy Pictures. Levine enlisted Edward Barison to create Trans World Releasing Corp., to distribute the film. Levine also enlisted producer Terry Turner to develop promotional strategies, which cost $400,000.[4][16] Turner managed to get the film mentioned by Steve Allen on The Tonight Show. Levine and Turner initially considered the title Godzilla, the Sea Beast, but eventually settled on Godzilla, King of the Monsters.[15] Ross and Kay hired Terry O. Morse to direct the film. Schreibman had arranged for Burr to participate in the film.[15] Morse was paid $10,000 for re-writing and directing the film and Burr was paid the same amount for a single day's work.[11]
Alterations and new footage with Burr interacting with body doubles were produced to appeal to American audiences, as foreign films held no appeal to the mainstream public at the time.[17] Morse viewed the original Japanese cut, with an English translation of the script, to find key scenes in which Burr could be inserted.[18] Rather than dub the entire film, Morse chose to retain most of the original Japanese dialogue and have Frank Iwanaga translate, albeit inaccurately, those scenes and alternate with Burr narrating. Burr worked with body doubles, who were filmed over their shoulder to conceal their faces. Editing techniques were also used to mask the body doubles and the original Japanese actors. Asian-American extras were hired to play minor roles. The new footage was filmed in three days on a rented soundstage at Visual Drama Inc.[11] Burr shot his footage over six days although he later said it was one day and he worked twenty-four hours.[19] Set decorator George Rohr provided mock-up sets that resembled the sets in the original Japanese cut.[20] Overt references to the atom bomb and hydrogen bomb, such as the bombing of Nagasaki, the Bikini Island tests, radioactive contamination of tuna by American and Russian bomb tests, were omitted.[21]
The dubbing required for the entire film was recorded in under five hours. James Hong and the other voice actors have not given any details of the film's production. The voice actors were locked in a room with Morse and were told to read for every role. Each line was recorded at different speeds and the best one was chosen to match the footage. The voice actors never saw the film as they recorded their lines. The voice actors dubbed the entire film sitting at a table with a microphone before them.[11] Hong confirmed that several Japanese actors auditioned for the voice-over job. However, Hong and Sammee Tong were hired due to their versatility. Tong recorded voices for six older characters, while Hong recorded for seven younger characters.[22]
Godzilla, King of the Monsters! opened on April 4, 1956, in Loew's State Theater in New York City.[6] It was theatrically released in the United States in late April, 1956.[1][23] The film earned more than $2 million at the box office during its initial theatrical run.[6][7] The film earned a $200,000 profit for its producers. The TV rights were sold to RKO, and it made its television broadcast debut in 1959 on KHJ-TV in Los Angeles.[6] The film was theatrically released in Japan on May 29, 1957, as Kaijū Ō Gojira (Monster King Godzilla) to a positive reception from Japanese audiences, with the English dialogue subtitled in Japanese and the film cropped in Toho Pan Scope 2:1.[1][24]
It was the first Japanese feature to become a commercial success in the United States and was, at the time, the fourth foreign film to have grossed more than $1 million at the American box office.[25] Goldman originally acquired the film to distribute in the American and Canadian markets. Due to the film's commercial success, however, foreign distributors became interested in acquiring the American cut. Trans World, therefore, renegotiated with Toho to license the American version to foreign markets.[26]
c80f0f1006