My Five Favorite Godzilla Movies

In honor of the opening of the new Godzilla feature film, here is a list of my five favorite Godzilla movies. I'm have a feeling some of you reading this will say "Aren't all Godzilla movies the same?" Well, they're not. I realize there are a number of folks who think Godzilla films are shoddy crap....but I love them. The wild plots, the monster fights, the various models & miniatures...all that stuff fascinated me when I was a kid, and they still do today. You need to have a certain type of imagination to appreciate these movies--and that type of imagination is sadly lacking in today's society.

You may notice that most of this list is comprised of entries from the mid-1960s. In my opinion that is when the Godzilla series was at its apex. I'm using the common American titles for these films because....I'm an American.

1. GODZILLA VS. MONSTER ZERO (1965)
Not only my favorite Godzilla movie, it's one of my favorite movies of all time. This one has everything--direction by Ishiro Honda, FX by Eiji Tsuburaya, a thunderous musical score by Akira Ifukube, aliens trying to use various kaiju to take over the earth, guest star roles for King Ghidorah and Rodan, a monster fight on the moon....and there's more! You also get the best leading man in Japanese fantastic film (Akira Takarada), the best leading lady in Japanese fantastic film (Kumi Mizuno), and a American guest star (Nick Adams). The ultimate Godzilla adventure.

2. GODZILLA VS. THE THING (1964)
The "Thing" is Mothra. Many kaiju movie experts (yes, there are people like that out there) consider this the greatest Godzilla outing. This has some spectacular battle scenes, and some of the best miniatures in the entire series. Akira Takarada is in this one also.

3. GHIDORAH, THE THREE-HEADED MONSTER (1965)
This outing features the introduction of the stupendous King Ghidorah, the three-headed golden winged dragon who is Godzilla's greatest foe. Ghidorah is such a threat that Rodan and Mothra have to help the King of the Monsters in defeating him. Just pure monster madness.

4. DESTROY ALL MONSTERS (1968)
Toho Studios was planning to this to be the final Godzilla movie, so they pulled out all the stops and included just about every kaiju from all of their fantastic films made over the last 15 years. Not only do you get Mothra, Rodan, and Ghidorah, you also have Manda, Anguirus, Baragon, etc. This is another "aliens using monsters to try to take over the Earth" plot...but this time the aliens send the monsters all over the world, not just Japan (for example, we are shown Godzilla attacking New York, way before that....certain movie was made). This film also explains the set-up of Monster Island.

5. GODZILLA (1954)
The original...a movie which has almost nothing in common with the rest of the series. A brooding and atmospheric cautionary tale about the use of nuclear weapons. Even the America version of this movie (with Raymond Burr) is far darker than the usual 1950s monster flick. Would the Godzilla series have continued as long as it did if it had kept the originals attitude? Probably not.

GODZILLA ON MONSTER ISLAND (GODZILLA VS GIGAN) On Blu-ray

My look at Kraken Releasing's three Godzilla movie Blu-rays comes to a conclusion with GODZILLA VS. GIGAN. Despite the disc packaging featuring the GODZILLA ON MONSTER ISLAND title, GODZILLA VS. GIGAN is the title shown on-screen.

This entry in the Toho Godzilla series came after the wild & wacky GODZILLA VS. THE SMOG MONSTER. For this feature Toho brought back a director (Jun Fukuda) and a screenwriter (Shinichi Sekizawa) who had previously worked on the series. The film's script is something of a return to Godzilla's past--it deals once again with aliens who try to use various monsters to help them take over the planet Earth.

While in the past aliens tried to control Godzilla, the extraterrestrials concerned here decide to destroy him, by summoning the legendary King Ghidorah and the ridiculous-looking Gigan. It's always great to see Ghidorah in action, since that kaiju is one of Godzilla's greatest foes. Unfortunately the same can't be said for Gigan--he seems to have wandered in from a Gamera film.

Godzilla does have some help in the form of Anguirus (who fought Godzilla in GODZILLA RAIDS AGAIN). However Anguirus isn't exactly one of the most famous Japanese monsters, and one wonders why he was chosen to be in the story. It might have been that Anguirus was in much of the stock footage used for GODZILLA VS. GIGAN--there's a ton of scenes from earlier Godzilla films used here.

The "aliens vs. monsters" plot is one of the staples of Japanese fantastic cinema, but it doesn't work as well this time around. Almost the entire story takes place in a children's amusement park, which happens to be the aliens' hideout. GODZILLA VS. GIGAN is far from a globe-spanning sci-fi epic.

The Kraken Blu-ray of GODZILLA VS. GIGAN does not have the excellent picture quality of the company's other Godzilla releases. This may be due to the large amount of stock footage that was used in the film. The DTS audio does a fine job of showcasing Akira Ifukube's music score. The Blu-ray has the original Japanese dialogue track (with English subtitles) and a English-dubbed dialogue track. The only extra is the original Japanese trailer, which is subtitled in English.

All of the Kraken Releasing Godzilla Blu-rays (see my earlier posts for this month) can be had for an affordable price. These Blu-rays are more than likely going to be the best American home video versions of these particular films.

COUNTESS DRACULA On Blu-ray

Synapse Films' latest Hammer Blu-ray release is 1971's COUNTESS DRACULA, directed by Peter Sasdy and starring Ingrid Pitt.

Despite the title (and the film's original ad campaign), COUNTESS DRACULA has nothing to do with Dracula, or vampires whatsoever. The movie's story is based on a real-life Hungarian Countess who lived during the Middle Ages--Elizabeth Bathory, who according to legend murdered hundreds of young girls and bathed in their blood.

Ingrid Pitt plays the aged Countess (in this story named Elisabeth Nadasdy) who soon after the death of her husband discovers she can regain her youthful beauty through a young girl's blood. The Countess also discovers that her beauty is not permanent, and she must have more and more blood to stay youthful.

The Countess eventually has her own daughter kidnapped by the devoted Captain Dobi (Nigel Green) and begins to pose as her, attracting the attention of a young lieutenant (Sandor Eles). But all the various murders and deceptions come back to haunt the Countess.

COUNTESS DRACULA was meant to be a follow-up to Ingrid Pitt's huge success as Carmilla in Hammer's THE VAMPIRE LOVERS. The role of the Countess was certainly a great showcase for her....unfortunately her voice was dubbed in the final film. Pitt gives an excellent performance but one can only wonder how much better it could have been with her own voice on the soundtrack. (Why Hammer would dub the voice of an actress they were trying to build up as a new star makes no sense, especially considering that Pitt was an actual native of Eastern Europe.)

The vastly under appreciated Nigel Green steals the film (just like he did in ZULU and JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS). His role as Captain Dobi is a complex one, as the character is in love with the Countess before she regains her beauty and totally loyal to her--despite the fact that he is repulsed by her actions. Green has enough screen presence to make Dobi believable despite his conflicting persona.

COUNTESS DRACULA is really more of a historical melodrama than a straight horror film (we see more gypsy dancing than we do severe bloodletting). The movie is more along the lines of Hammer's earlier RASPUTIN THE MAD MONK. I'm sure there were plenty of viewers back in 1971 who were disappointed that this was not a full-fledged vampire thriller. There's really very little gore (this movie was actually rated PG!), and by the end of the tale it seems to play out like a costumed soap opera. Peter Sasdy gives the movie plenty of style and ambiance (just like he would for two other Hammers he directed, TASTE THE BLOOD OF DRACULA and HANDS OF THE RIPPER), and COUNTESS DRACULA looks way better than most Hammer product released during this period. It's not a bad movie...but when you have the combination of Hammer and the legend of Elisabeth Bathory, one expects a lot more.

COUNTESS DRACULA had been previously released on DVD under MGM's "Midnite Movies" line. Synapse's Blu-ray is a major improvement, showing off the lush costumes and sets and making Ingrid Pitt look more gorgeous than ever (that is, when she's not being a horrific old woman). The sound (in DTS 2.0 mono) is very vibrant for a film of this type. There's also some impressive extras, courtesy of Ballyhoo Productions. These include a seven-minute stills gallery, a ten-minute featurette on Ingrid Pitt's film career (one wishes this had been way longer), and a eight-minute archival interview with Pitt (unfortunately the disc cover provides no information on when and where this interview was recorded). Also included is the audio commentary which accompanied the original COUNTESS DRACULA DVD. This features Ingrid Pitt, Peter Sasdy, and screenwriter Jeremy Paul. This package also includes a DVD of the film.

COUNTESS DRACULA isn't the best Hammer movie ever made, but Synapse has done a fine job in making this feature look and sound fantastic.

GODZILLA VS. THE SMOG MONSTER (GODZILLA VS. HEDORAH) On Blu-ray

Next up on my look at the Kraken Releasing series of classic Godzilla Blu-rays is GODZILLA VS. THE SMOG MONSTER (also known as GODZILLA VS. HEDORAH). This is one of the most famous Godzilla movies of all time, mostly because of the title, and for the lousy reputation it has.

The monster Hedorah is actually a product of mankind's pollution (although it is suggested in the story that the original version of Hedorah may have come from outer space). Hedorah is not only made of pollution, it feeds on it as well--which makes it almost impossible to destroy. Hedorah may be one of Godzilla's goofiest foes, but he certainly does give the King of the Monsters a run for his money (Godzilla acts rather silly throughout most of the film, and appears to be off his game).

GODZILLA VS. THE SMOG MONSTER (1971) is usually considered by most to be a horrible film, even by hardcore Kaiju fans. It's not so much bad as bizarre. On the one hand the movie has a wild early 70s psychedelic vibe to it--there's a theme song, a scene at a disco, weird animated sequences, and even some split-screen work. But on the other hand there are a lot of dark moments in the story--we see several views of dirty rivers and seas, smoke-filled skies, and various detritus and decay. The movie certainly does not have the bright, colorful look of the earlier Ishiro Honda/Godzilla extravaganzas. We are also shown individual deaths of innocent victims--something that was almost never seen in a Japanese fantasy film since the earlier Toho monster movies of the 1950s.

The combination of wacky weirdness and dark foreboding over the Earth's ecology makes for a story that resembles a Gamera tale instead of a Godzilla feature. There is of course, an annoying "cute" kid, who apparently "dreams" Godzilla into showing up to fight Hedorah. And not only is there the aforementioned disco scene, there's also a teenage rave held on the slopes of Mt. Fuji (I'm sure that if there were a couple of giant monsters fighting in my vicinity, I could think of better things to do).

The most memorable highlight in this production (other than the title song, which I'll get to) is the scene where Godzilla.....flies. Yes, that's what I said--the big G tucks his tail between his legs and uses his atomic breath as a sort of jet propulsion, and off he goes. I have to admit it's a rather impressive feat, but Godzilla never attempted the stunt again (maybe there were insurance concerns).

As for the title song, it is one of the reasons for so many people looking down on this film. That's because in the American version of this, the song was dubbed into English and called "Save the Earth". On this Kraken Blu-ray the song is in the original Japanese...but it is NOT subtitled, which is a shame. I think Kraken should have tried to include the English-dubbed version of the song as an extra, since it is one of the most remembered parts of the movie (for better or worse).

Kraken Releasing's Blu-ray of GODZILLA VS. THE SMOG MONSTER is without doubt the best version of this title so far. The picture quality is fine (even though the film is supposed to be somewhat murky-looking), and the sound is excellent. There is the original Japanese dialogue track with subtitles (except for the songs, as mentioned) and there is a English-dubbed dialogue track. The only extra is the original Japanese trailer.

GODZILLA VS. THE SMOG MONSTER is one of the weirdest films of all time. It tries to be a dark 1970s ecological thriller, while at the same time it is also a goofy kid-friendly monster flick. The fact that the director (Yoshimitsu Banno), the composer (Riichiro Manabe), and the FX supervisor (Teruyoshi Nakano) were all brand-new to the Godzilla series may account for the film's uneven tone. Monster movie and Kaiju fans will still want to add this Blu-ray to their collection.

GODZILLA VS. THE SEA MONSTER (EBIRAH--HORROR OF THE DEEP) On Blu-ray

The upcoming release of the new GODZILLA film has led to a number of new Godzilla-themed products. Among them are three classic Godzilla movies being released on Blu-ray in America for the first time by a company called Kraken Releasing. Of course I've purchased all three of them (what did you expect?). I got them for about $13 each from Amazon. The first one that I have viewed is GODZILLA VS. THE SEA MONSTER (also known as EBIRAH--HORROR OF THE DEEP).

This entry in the Toho Studios' Godzilla series was made after INVASION OF ASTRO-MONSTER. GVSM is an okay Kaiju tale but certainly not as good as ASTRO-MONSTER. The story concerns strange activities on an uncharted island (called "Devil's Island" in the movie) where a SPECTRE-like organization called the Red Bamboo are building nuclear weapons. The evil group has also been kidnapping natives from nearby Infant Island and using them as slave labor, which is not a good idea, considering Infant Island is the home of Mothra.

The Red Bamboo uses a lobster/crab/shrimp-like creature known as Ebirah to help guard their lair. Ebirah is not one of the best of Godzilla's foes...one wonders why it takes so long for Godzilla to take him out (they spend most of their first battle bouncing a giant rock at each other). The film is more than half over before Godzilla wakes up from his "hibernation", and Mothra only gets into action at the very end.

Most of the film is taken up with the story of Ryota, who steals a yacht to search for his brother, who is missing due to a shipwreck. Ryota and his companions (including Akira Takarada, somewhat cast against type as a thief) are attacked by Ebirah and are washed up on Devil's Island, where they encounter one of the kidnapped Infant Island natives--the lovely Dayo, played by famed Toho actress Kumi Mizuno. Having Akira Takarada and Kumi Mizuno in the cast certainly helps the non-monster sequences, of which there are plenty of.

GODZILLA VS. THE SEA MONSTER represents a change in the Toho Godzilla series. Usual director Ishiro Honda was replaced in this entry by Jan Fukuda, who used a more leisurely pace in this movie. The film's music score was by Masaru Sato instead of Akira Ifukube. Sato's musical choices were a bit strange to say the least--during a battle between Godzilla and the Red Bamboo's air force, Sato uses a 1960s Go-Go theme. Sato later underscores a Godzilla-Ebirah fight with what sounds like a rip-off of the "Batman" TV theme.

The legendary Eiji Tsuburaya is credited with the FX, but according to August Ragone's biography of Tsuburaya most of the effects work was overseen by Sadamasa Arikawa. The Red Bamboo's complex is expertly realised, and as expected in a Toho Kaiju feature the monster battles are the major highlight of the film.

With elements such as an evil organization bent on world conquest, a secret island lair, an exotic leading lady, and a nuclear bomb set to detonate at the climax, GODZILLA VS. THE SEA MONSTER seems more like a James Bond movie instead of a Kaiju film. It is not on the same level as the earlier Ishiro Honda Godzilla classics, but it is unusual enough to be worthy of a monster movie fan's attention.

Kraken's Blu-ray of this feature is very impressive. The picture quality is excellent--I doubt that you will see this movie look any better than it does on this disc. The audio is in DTS mono, and the disc features the original Japanese dialogue track with English subtitles and a English-dubbed track. The sound is very vibrant overall. The only extra is the original Japanese trailer, which is subtitled--a very nice touch.

I have not seen the other two Kraken Godzilla Blu-rays (I will be reviewing them soon), but I have to say that Kraken has done a fine job with GODZILLA VS. THE SEA MONSTER. Considering the low price, I'm sure many monster fans will be picking this up.

SMARTY

This is my contribution to The Romantic Comedy Blogathon.

I love participating in blogathons for a number of reasons. One is that it showcases my blog to various people who may not have been aware of it. Another reason is that it gives me a challenge--I always try to pick a movie that is not well-known, or I try to look at the subject being blogged about from a different angle.

When it comes to romantic comedies, I'll admit I'm certainly no expert on the subject, being a pathetic single guy and all. The "comedy" I've chosen to look it dates from 1934, which makes it an entry from the pre-code era. The term "pre-code" has now become a marketing slogan, and just about every Hollywood film made between 1930 and 1934 has been called a pre-code classic. But not all pre-code films are provocative, or subversive, or scandalous....some of them are just plain weird.

Which leads us to SMARTY, released by Warner Bros. in 1934 and directed by Robert Florey.

SMARTY starts out with upper-class married couple Tony (Warren William) and Vicki (Joan Blondell) getting ready for a night on the town. Vicki suddenly changes her mind about going out, and decides to have a bridge party at home with friends, which does not make Tony happy.

While playing bridge with Vernon (Edward Everett Horton), Anita (Claire Dodd), and George (Frank McHugh), Vicki goes out of her way to aggravate Tony. Tony finally loses it, knocks over the bridge table, and slaps Vicki.

This is a pretty shocking act--but almost immediately everyone in the cast begins making bad jokes about it, and it is rather obvious that Vicki is not exactly emotionally torn by the incident. Vicki starts immediately making a play for Vernon--who happens to be a divorce lawyer--and the next thing you know, Vicki is married to Vernon. But Vicki starts tormenting Vernon, all the while keeping and eye on Tony.

 

Joan Blondell

Joan Blondell had the best smile (and the best curves) of just about any actress of the early 1930s. She became hugely popular during the decade for playing several tough, working-class girls with a wicked sense of humor. The character of Vicki, however, is about as far removed from the typical early 30s Blondell role as you can get. Vicki spends the entire film being as annoying to Tony and Vernon as possible, all with a coy smile on her face and her expressive eyes working overtime. To Vicki being slapped in the face seems to be an excuse to have fun at every one's expense. Vicki knows she's attractive enough to wrap Tony and Vernon around her fingers, and the more angry both men get at her the more happier she becomes.

Vicki drives Vernon nuts by phoning him at his office, demanding that he meet her at a clothes boutique, and making him wait there for her for over 90 minutes. After Vernon leaves Vicki buys a dress that Vernon specifically told her not to buy, and then wears it at a dinner party that the couple are hosting that evening. Of course, Vicki invites Tony, and he shows up with a date (this being a pre-code film, Tony's date happens to be married to someone else). Vicki then enrages Vernon enough to the point where he slaps her, which causes Vicki to run out. She goes to Tony's apartment and hides before Tony and his date get back. Tony arrives, followed soon by Vernon, looking for Vicki. One thing leads to another, and Vernon says he's going to grant Vicki a divorce, and Vicki and Tony decide to get back together--but not before Vicki starts aggravating Tony again, casing him to rip off her dress, grab her hair, slap her, and pick her up and throw her on the couch, where Vicki looks up at him and moans dreamily: "Tony...hit me again!"

To paraphrase Bugs Bunny: "Romantic...ain't it?"

A description of the plot of SMARTY can not really give it justice.This is a movie that features lines of dialogue such as "Every girl needs a good smack at least once in her life" and "If he had really loved me, he would have hit me a long time ago." Apparently this is all supposed to be hilarious. Maybe if the movie where more of an out-and-out slapstick riot it could be understood as a satire, but it is hard to figure out what SMARTY is trying to be. On one hand, the movie seems to be trying to have the audience get a kick out of Vicki being adorable and annoying--but at the same time, the movie also seems to be saying that Vicki deserves to be slapped. There doesn't seem to by any reason for Vicki to act the way she does--you could understand her trying to get revenge on Tony for slapping her, but she aggravates Vernon for no good reason either--all the while trying to get back to Tony.

As most film buffs know, Warren William was the King of Pre-Code, the ultimate scoundrel and cad. Here he's not a cad at all--Tony is genuinely sorry that he struck Vicki, and he's the only character in the story that seems disgusted by all the outlandish behavior. (As a matter of fact, William looks as if he's not all that happy about being in the film period.) William and Blondell have a great chemistry together, just like they did in the earlier GOLDDIGGERS OF 1933. Unfortunately that chemistry is wasted in a story like SMARTY.

If there is anything stranger than a comedy about a woman getting slapped by her husband, it is a comedy featuring a love triangle of Warren William, Joan Blondell, and....Edward Everett Horton? Horton was best known for playing stuffy, prissy white-collar types--and seeing him lick his chops over winning Joan Blondell is somewhat off-putting. Horton's Vernon spouts several lines about how horrible it is that a man would strike his wife--and the way Vernon says these lines, you would think he was speaking out against Mom, America, and apple pie.

And that is the big problem with SMARTY--the whole attitude of the movie is that wife-slapping is pretty funny. I know that this is just a 1930s film comedy, and maybe one shouldn't read too much into it (I can only imagine what kind of blog a college-graduate feminist would write about SMARTY), but I have to wonder--did movie-goers back in 1934 actually think this was funny? Did they really think this was entertaining?

SMARTY was directed by Robert Florey, who is considered today as a visual stylist. The thing is, SMARTY is basically a filmed stage play (it was based on one), with almost no visual touches whatsoever. It is only 65 minutes long, and like most Warner Brothers pictures of the period, it moves. All the characters spend almost the entire movie wearing either tuxedos or evening dresses, and Joan Blondell in particular looks fantastic (the very first thing we see in the movie is a shot of Joan's legs). SMARTY has all the elements to be a great romantic comedy--but it's almost impossible to laugh at the subject, no matter what context you place it in. SMARTY is one rom-com you don't want to take a date to.

(NOTE: According to various sources on the internet, the British title of SMARTY was....HIT ME AGAIN!)

 

BROADWAY BILL

My latest DVD-R purchase from the Warner Archive Collection is 1934's BROADWAY BILL. Why did I get this? Because it was one of the few films directed by Frank Capra that I had never seen.

Out of all the features Frank Capra made during his time at Columbia, BROADWAY BILL may be the most obscure. Capra remade the film for Paramount in 1950 with the title RIDING HIGH, and the original became unavailable to the public for several years. Even today BROADWAY BILL is rarely shown on television and it had been out of print on home video until the Warner Archives released it recently.

BROADWAY BILL was made after IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT and before MR. DEEDS GOES TO TOWN. It is nowhere near the status of those two films, despite the fact that Capra was working with frequent collaborators Robert Riskin (who did the screenplay) and Joseph Walker (who did the cinematography).

The title BROADWAY BILL refers to a racing horse, owned by Dan Brooks (Warner Baxter). Brooks is married to a daughter of the wealthy Higgins family, and he runs one of Mr. Higgins' factories. Despite his supposed successful lifestyle Dan would rather be back in the horse racing game, and he leaves town with Broadway Bill to try and re-enter the sport. Dan is helped out by his wife's younger sister Alice, played by the ever-adorable Myrna Loy. Alice is secretly in love with Dan, even though there doesn't seem to be a compelling reason why (unless it is an act of rebellion against her snobbish family).

Capra and Riskin try hard to convince the viewer that Dan Brooks is a "regular guy", but he's a far cry from Mr. Deeds and Mr. Smith. For most of the film Dan begs, borrows, and cons from just about everybody he meets in order to finance his horse racing venture. According to Joseph McBride's acclaimed biography of Capra, the part of Dan Brooks was written in mind for Clark Gable. Gable would have been far better in the role--he had the charm and the screen presence to make someone like Dan Brooks appealing to an audience (and if Gable had been cast, it would have been a lot easier to accept Myrna Loy falling in love with the character). Warner Baxter is okay, but he comes off as desperate and irresponsible (it does have to be pointed out that the script doesn't do Baxter any favors).

BROADWAY BILL has a lot of the typical Capra touches, such as a dramatic scene staged during a rainstorm, an impressively edited momentum-building sequence (where Capra shows how a small misunderstanding can lead to a large shift in the odds of an important horse race), and a roster of great character actors including Walter Connolly, Douglass Dumbrille, Margaret Hamilton, Ward Bond, Charles Lane, and Clarence Muse. What it does not have is most of the populist themes which inhabit Capra's more renowned films. At one point in the story Capra and Riskin try to advance the notion that Broadway Bill is the "Horse of the People", because so many ordinary folks have placed small bets on him, but that idea never gets fully developed.

As would be expected the finale features a horse race. It is here that Capra pulls the rug right from under the audience. I won't reveal what happens in the end, but let's just say the climax of BROADWAY BILL is another prime example of how all those "lame old movies" had more complexity than most people give them credit for.

Compared to the rest of Frank Capra's 1930s output, BROADWAY BILL does not hold up too well. It's an okay movie, but it certainly didn't deserve to be remade, and one has to wonder what Capra saw in the project to begin with. No matter how talented a film director may be, he or she cannot make a classic every single time.

The sound & picture quality of the Warner Archives release of BROADWAY BILL is acceptable, but nothing special. There is one extra--an introduction to the film by Frank Capra Jr. (the copyright year on this is 1992!).