Episode 47: ‘Godzilla, King of the Monsters’ (1956) (feat. Elijah Thomas)

The Monster Island Film Vault

Hello, kaiju lovers! “Godzilla Redux” continues with Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (the original and not the 2019 film covered on MIFV a few months ago). Elijah Thomas (aka “The Littlest Gatekeeper”) from the Kaiju Conversation podcast joins Nate to discuss this Americanized version of the original 1954 kaiju classic. While it’s often been derided by both fans and critics alike, Nate and Elijah argue that it’s not only an important time capsule commenting on American-Japanese relations in the mid-1950s, but it just might be more culturally significant than Ishiro Honda’s original film! You read that right! If it wasn’t for Raymond Burr playing reporter (not comedian) Steve Martin in this version, the Godzilla franchise may have stalled and faded into the arthouse ether. That’s just a taste of these boys’ defense of the film!

Before the broadcast, Nate gets a call from Legal Action Team paralegal Gary, who says he’s meeting with a private investigator concerning their case against the Board—just when William H. George III, the Board’s special envoy, pays Nate a visit to make some veiled threats. After the broadcast, which includes several reports about an escaped Gyaos, Raymund Martin comes demanding to know if Nate has seen Gary that day—and tells Nate and Jimmy about a tragedy on the Island.

Listen to Nate and Travis’s spinoff podcast, The Henshin Men Podcast, on Redcircle.

This episode’s prologue and epilogue, “Gary and the Gyaos,” was written by Nathan Marchand with Michael Hamilton and Damon Noyes.

Guest stars:

• Michael Hamilton as William H. George III
• Damon Noyes as Gary & Raymund Martin

Additional music:

• “Rondeau” by Jean-Joseph Mouret
• “Opening the Way” by Pablo Coma
• “Chant My Name!” by Masaaki Endo
• “Abandoned by God” by RoeTaKa

Sound effects sourced from Freesound.org.

We’d like to give a shout-out to our MIFV MAX patrons Travis Alexander and Michael Hamilton (co-hosts of Kaiju Weekly); Danny DiManna (author/creator of the Godzilla Novelization Project); Eli Harris (elizilla13); Chris Cooke (host of One Cross Radio); Bex from Redeemed Otaku; Damon Noyes, The Cel Cast, TofuFury, and today’s guest host, Elijah Thomas! Thanks for your support!

You, too, can join MIFV MAX on Patreon to get this and other perks starting at only $3 a month!

Check out MIFV MAX #4 to learn how you can help make Episode 50—MIFV’s second anniversary special—possible!

Buy official MIFV merch on TeePublic!

This episode is approved by the Monster Island Board of Directors.

Timestamps:

• Prologue: 0:00-4:37
• Intro: 4:37-16:30
• Main Discussion: 16:30-1:28:59
• Listener Feedback, Housekeeping & Outro: 1:28:59-1:39:13
• Epilogue: 1:39:13-end

Podcast Social Media:

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Instagram
• Follow Jimmy on Twitter: @NasaJimmy
• Follow the Monster Island Board of Directors on Twitter: @MonsterIslaBOD
• Follow the Raymund Martin and the MIFV Legal Team on Twitter: @MIFV_LegalTeam
• Follow Crystal Lady Jessica on Twitter: @CystalLadyJes1
• Follow The Henshin Men Podcast on Twitter: @HenshinMenPod

www.MonsterIslandFilmVault.com

#JimmyFromNASALives #MonsterIslandFilmVault #Godzilla #GodzillaKingoftheMonsters

© 2021 Moonlighting Ninjas Media

Bibliography/Further Reading:

• Brothers, Peter H. Mushroom Clouds and Mushroom Men: The Fantastic Cinema of Ishiro Honda.
• Galbraith IV, Stuart. Japanese Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films: A Critical Analysis and Filmography of 103 Features Released in the United States 1950-1992.
• Glownia, Dawid. “Socio-Political Aspects of Kaijū Eiga Genre: A Case Study of the Original Godzilla.” Silva Iaponicarum, vol. 37.
• Godzilla, King of the Monsters! Commentary by Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziszewski (Classic Media DVD)..
• Godzilla, King of the Monsters! Commentary by David Kalat (Criterion Blu-Ray).
• Hein, Laura. “Revisiting America’s Occupation of Japan.” Cold War History, Vol. 11, No. 4, November 2011, 579–599.
• Hoberman, J. “Poetry After the A-Bomb” (2011 Criterion Blu-Ray booklet).
• “International Military Tribunal for the Far East” (Wikipedia).
• Kalat, David. A Critical History and Filmography of Toho’s Godzilla Series, 2nd
• Kaijuvision Radio - “Episode 4: Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (US) (1956) (Occupation of Japan Part 2: Tokyo Tribunal).”
• LeMay, John. The Big Book of Japanese Giant Monster Movies Volume 1: 1954-1982.
• Napier, Susan J. “Panic Sites: The Japanese Imagination of Disaster from Godzilla to Akira.” The Journal of Japanese Studies, Vol. 19, No. 2 (Summer, 1993), pp. 327-351. Published by: The Society for Japanese Studies.
• Noriega, Chon. “Godzilla and the Japanese Nightmare: When ‘Them!’ Is U.S.” Cinema Journal, Vol. 27, No. 1 (Autumn, 1987), pp. 63-77. Published by University of Texas Press on behalf of the Society for Cinema & MediaStudies.
• Rhodes, Sean, and Brooke McCorkle. “Chapter 3: Godzilla, Nature and Nuclear Revenge.” Japan’s Green Monsters: Environmental Commentary in Kaiju Cinema.
• Ryfle, Steve. “Godzilla’s Footprint” (Classic Media DVD booklet).
• Ryfle, Steve, and Ed Godziszewski. Ishiro Honda: A Life in Film, from Godzilla to Kurosawa.