“I can’t believe that Godzilla was the only surviving member of its species… But if we continue conducting nuclear tests, it’s possible that another Godzilla might appear somewhere in the world again.” Of course, Godzilla appeared in the world again, many, many times! Join this episode’s Grue Crew – Chad Hunt, Whitney Collazo, and Jeff Mohr – as they go back to 1954 when it all started with Godzilla (original title: Gojira).
Decades of Horror: The Classic Era
Episode 58 – Godzilla (1954)
American nuclear weapons testing results in the creation of a seemingly unstoppable, dinosaur-like beast.
IMDb
- Director: Ishirô Honda
- Writers: Takeo Murata, Ishirô Honda, Shigeru Kayama (story)
- Music: Akira Ifukube
- Special Effects Director: Eiji Tsuburaya
- Featured Cast:
- Akira Takarada as Hideto Ogata
- Momoko Kōchi as Emiko Yamane
- Akihiko Hirata as Dr. Daisuke Serizawa
- Takashi Shimura as Dr. Kyohei Yamane
- Fuyuki Murakami as Dr. Tanabe
- Sachio Sakai as Hagiwara
- Ren Yamamoto as Masaji Yamada
- Toyoaki Suzuki as Shinkichi Yamada
- Toranosuke Ogawa as President of the Nankai Shipping Company
- Kokuten Kōdō as The Old Fisherman
- Kenji Sahara as partygoer
- Haruo Nakajima as Godzilla and a reporter
- Katsumi Tezuka as Godzilla & Newspaper deskman
With the 31 May 2019 release date of Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) looming large on the horizon, the Grue Crew decided it was time to cover the original classic from Toho, Godzilla (Gojira, 1954), one of the all-time greats! They also dip a bit into the American version, Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956).
Chad loves all the Godzilla films but this one is special and has a much darker, almost nightmarish, tone than 1960s Godzilla fare. He also talks about how Akira Ifukube created Godzilla’s roar. As a youngster, Whitney was introduced to Godzilla films by her brothers and she found the monster itself to be intimidating and movies to be entertaining. This time around, she spots Honda’s artistic training in his filmmaking. Of course, Jeff dives into the historical relevance and discovers some of the reasons behind the decisions made in the American version. Joseph finds the drama and weight given to the human characters to be extraordinary, giving the military versus the scientist conflict more depth.
The Grue Crew all agree that Godzilla is much more than a monster movie and deserves its place as a genuine cinema classic.
The Decades of Horror: The Classic Era Grue Crew plan to release a new episode every other week. Hey, where else will you hear podcasts on films ranging from King Kong (1933) to Half Human (Jû jin yuki otoko, 1955) to The War of the Gargqantuas (1966)? The next episode in our very flexible schedule will be the first Amicus portmanteau, Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors (1965).
Please send us feedback on the films we cover, ideas for future films, or the podcast itself. After all, without you, we’re just four horror freaks talking about the films we love. Send us an email at feedback@gruesomemagazine.com or leave us a message, a review, or a comment at GruesomeMagazine.com, iTunes, the Gruesome Magazine Horror News Radio Facebook group or your friendly neighborhood podcast aggregator.
To each of you from each of us, “Thank you so much for listening!”
Jeff has written for Horrornews.net and SQ Horror Magazine. He currently writes for Gruesome Magazine and is a co-host of the Decades of Horror podcasts - The Classic Era, 1970s, and 1980s - and the Gruesome Magazine Podcast.
