King Kong vs. Godzilla
Director: Ishirô Honda
Year: 1963
Rating: 5.5
This is Godzilla's comeback film. If you recall the last time we sighted
him was in the 1955 Godzilla Raids Again where at the end of the film he
was encased in an iceberg. That kept him trapped all this time as did the
mediocre box-office results of the film. But Toho did not sit around waiting
for Godzilla to break out but produced Rodan, Mothra and Varan in the Kaiju
genre. Now though they were ready to rumble with the Big Boy once again and
whom better to face than the former champion from way way back, King Kong.
Two greats matching up. King Kong you might wonder? What the hell is King
Kong doing in Japan - on a junket tour? Weirdly enough the genesis of this
idea came from none other than Willis O'Brien who had been the special effects
man behind the original King Kong and then later Mighty Joe Young. He had
been going around to the studios with a script in which King Kong fights
another giant beast - not Godzilla but something more American. Well, Universal
liked the idea and bought the script from Willis and then immediately kicked
him off the project and went to Toho and said how about King Kong vs Godzilla
and thus this film. Universal had the North American rights and took the
finished product and added and subtracted scenes as they tended to do in
those days.
It struck me that Toho upped the silly content considerably from the earlier
films. Goofy at times. Watching two guys in suits wrestle each other for
15 minutes is hard to take seriously. Give me Godzilla or King Kong walking
through cities causing mass destruction and panic or picking up a subway
full of people and I am all in but the fights between the monsters makes
me feel foolish to be watching it. It didn't help that it looks like they
budgeted about $50 for King Kong's moth eaten suit from a second hand shop.
Which is odd because it was watching King Kong as a child that inspired special
effects wizard Eiji Tsuburaya to go into this field. King Kong has one expression
and it is hard to tell if he is laughing or screaming. Maybe he didn't want
to overshadow Godzilla. Some including director Ishirô Honda saw this
as America vs Japan and that was the sense I had while watching it.
It begins with a few things going on. An American nuclear sub is investigating
an iceberg that is radiating. A bad idea it turns out. Back in Japan a pharmaceutical
company's ad men decide that they need a monster too in order to promote
their pills. Evil even back then. They have heard rumors that there may be
one on an island near the Solomon Islands and two men are sent to look it
over. They find it and a tribe of natives who look a lot like Japanese in
black-face who worship it and chant a piece of music that seems inspired
by Carmina Burana. The two Japanese buy their loyalty with a transistor radio
and cigarettes.
A giant octopus (a real one by the way which ended up as dinner later that
night) comes ashore looking for snacks and King Kong fights it off and then
drinks a few gallons of "juice" to celebrate. Not a real good drinker - one
of those that just falls asleep - and they brilliantly decide to take King
Kong back to Japan on a raft. Let's see - why don't we take a giant monster
back to the country that has been ravaged by Godzilla and Rodan so that we
can promote our product. And no one says that is a really bad idea - they
only run into trouble with customs - you have to declare it and pay taxes
on it. I sort of hope that was an in-joke. I think a lot of the film is taking
pokes at Japan.
Eventually of course King Kong breaks loose and Godzilla comes to Japan like
a homing pigeon. And they take a dislike to one another. I don't know why.
They should be allies. Mie Hama - from You Only Live Twice - does the Fay
Wray role here - she gets picked up by King Kong and he climbs a building
with her best screaming - not that the Japanese had anything like the Empire
State Bld back then - a small building and clutches a toy doll - I mean Mie.
Later it probably made being with the hairy Sean Connery more palatable.
Don't worry about King Kong - he shows up in four years in King Kong Escapes
but I am a few movies from there. And then the 2021 Godzilla vs Kong which
is way way off for me. This had a bit too much foolishness for my taste
but it is still Godzilla.