Godzilla's Little Brother: Gorgo

During Godzilla's hiatus, Eugène Lourié made a pair of giant monster films, Giant Behemoth, and Gorgo. Gorgo is the first real suitimation film made outside of Japan, and is clearly an homage to Ishiro Honda's Godzilla. There is of course an irony that Eugène Lourié, who directed Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, made a film that is a clear homage to a film that was heavily influenced by his own Beast.



Gorgo takes many tropes from Godzilla, including the isolated island, Nara in Gorgo's case, which has legends of the giant monster, the city-destroying rampage that destroys a bridge, the seat of government (Tokyo's National Diet Building, London's Houses of Parliment). As with Godzilla and the Beast, one of the lines of defense is high-voltage wires, which fail to work. Both feature the helplessness of the military before the beast's onslaught. Gorgo is notable for having the jets stand at a proper distance from the monster, rather than flying so close that the monster can catch them. This didn't even make sense with King Kong, when biplanes fired bullets at the big ape. No jet should ever come within arm's reach of a monster, especially when firing missiles. But it looks good if the monster can swat a fast-moving jet model out of the sky, and from Godzilla to Pacific Rim, monsters have been smacking jets out of the sky. Gorgo is an exception because Eugène Lourié was at odds with the King Brothers, his producers, concerning the role the military should play. Lourié wanted to downplay the military, but the King brothers wanted a lot of exciting gunfire during the climax. The military was added through stock footage and in post-production, so there are no model planes for Gorgo's gigantic mother, Ogra, to swat.

Gorgo also combines ideas from King Kong; the capture of the giant animal, which is put on display in a major city. Gorgo, like Kong, is called the Eighth Wonder of the World. Like Rodan, this features a pair of giant monsters, but in this case, we first see the smaller, thirty-five foot Gorgo, as an immature dinosaur. Later, mother Ogra performs the usual city-stomping duties.



Gorgo doesn't hide it's monsters. Gorgo makes its first clear appearance only sixteen minutes into the film. Lourié knows the audience is there to see the monster, and obliges us through the entire film. We have some build-up, but it isn't the standard giant footprint in the sand. We hear a little talk, evidence of its existence, including a man who died of fright. And then the monster is on us, attacking Nara Island.



Like the Beast, but unlike Godzilla, Gorgo and Ogra aren't nuclear freaks. They are natural monsters that were preserved, and woke up in the modern world due to volcanic activity. They are not tortured by radiation, and this can be seen to have a life cycle, which includes reproduction. Re-imagining the monster as not a singular creature, but something with young and a parental instinct changes the dynamic of the film, giving the monster a motivation other than just being too large. The demonstration of a this, in this case Ogra recovering her young, is the first step in the humanization of the monsters that would lead to Godzilla and Rodan having a conversation three years later in Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster. If we are to believe the oft-repeated story that Lourié's daughter cried when the military detroyed the Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, and that he determined not to kill Gorgo and Ogra in this film, it seems that this is probably the first kaiju film intended specifically for children. Lourié, however, knew that kids like a scare, so this isn't a soft-pedalled film. Someone catches on fire, a doomsday preacher is trampled to death. No one is gruesomely killed, but there are frightful moments. Gorgo doesn't talk down to it's intended young audience, something that many later films, in the genre and outside it, do. And in condescending to kids, they often lose their audience.



Further, this is the first giant monster film to feature a child as a main character. Young Sean is precocious, and ultimately, the first person to understand that the monster has feelings. Gorgo wants its freedom, and Ogra has the power to set her child free. The child protagonist becomes more apparent, and more obnoxious, as the Shōwa era kaiju films continue, reaching their nadir with the Gamera franchise. Young monsters also begin to appear after Gorgo, including Minilla, the much-derided son of Godzilla. Even in the more serious Heisei era created a cute baby Godzilla in 1993's Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla. The influence of Gorgo on Japanese monster films was considerable, even to the point of being remade as Nikkatsu's 1967 film Gappa.



Toho was producing a special effects science fiction film (and Kurosawa film) every year. Godzilla Raids Again in 1955, Rodan in '56, The Mysterians in '57, Varan the Unbelievable in '58, Battle In Outer Space in '59. The same year Gorgo was released, Toho and Ishiro Honda produced Mothra. According to the featurette on the Gorgo disk, the film was first released in Japan, to great reception. I have been unable to find independant confirmation of this. But it is possible that the success of Gorgo may have prompted Toho to revive the Godzilla franchise the next year with King Kong vs Godzilla.



Several tropes are introduced in Gorgo that later become Kaiju standards. Joe Ryan is the prototype of the the greedy entrepeneur, which recurs with Tako in King Kong vs Godzilla, Torahata in Godzilla vs Mothra, and several other Godzilla films, generally those including Mothra. The trope character acts as a foil to the honesty of scientists and reporters, the Godzilla franchise's favorite characters. Interestingly, the character is similar to Clark Nelson in Toho's Mothra also from 1961. So it appears that the exploitative capitalist was a disliked figure across the world, at least by writers of monster films.



1959's Behemoth also ran amock in London. Thanks to the King Brothers financing, this time Laurie had the money to make it look good. Gorgo is a very well-executed film, with plenty of exciement and a very good 20-minute climax which trashes Tower Bridge, the Houses of Parliment, and Picadilly Circus. It seems like the producers may have felt it necessary to add the reporter's narrative during Ogra's rampage. It feels tacked on, and seems like the reporter is standing in front od a rear-screen projection of the film. Most of the military footage is clearly stock, but that doesn't bother me that much.



I wasn't the kind of guy to talk aboutr transfer, but I've seen both the 2005 release, the Widescreen Destruction edition and the Ultimate Collector's Editition, released in 2013. The difference is stark. The Collector's edition's colors are bright, where Destruction Edition's work is muddy, exactly the sort you remember from TV.



Gorgo is like a good cover version of a favorite song. There's a lot to recognize, but here and there, a creative touch that makes it feel different, and sometimes throws a light on the assumptions of the original work. Gorgo is a wonderful monster film, just different enough from the Godzilla franchise to be itneresting, similar enough to be comfortingly familiar. it was also featured on Mystery Science Thrater 3000, which was how I first came to see it. You can watch it in all its older, muddy glory here:



Additionally, there is a sequel, of sorts, called "Waiting for Gorgo," a good short film by Benjamin Craig. There isn't a lot to analyze, but it's fun, and quite worth watching. Very British.



Next Week, a take a quick step back in time and look at scarionetts from Denmark and Los Angeles!

Eugène Lourié Takes Up the Torch: the Giant Behemoth

While Godzilla was hibernating under ice, Eugène Lourié was pressed into service to carry giant monster movies forward. He directed three in the span of eight years, after which he felt he was being typecast. He left directing after Gorgo and made a successful name for himself as an art director.

Sadly, this is sadly the last time we will see the marvellous work of Willis O'Brien on screen. And it's not even close to his best work. In fact, this little film is nobody's best work. The British film industry was struggling at the time; budgets were tight, special effects were expensive. Behemoth is nowhere near as detailed and believable as the Beast from 20,000 Fathoms. The film has been strung together cheaply and the viewer, especially the video viewer who can pause, can see where the corners have been cut.

The first glimpse of the monster shows that it has been influenced by Godzilla. It has a string of fins down its back, and while its breath isn't radioactive, it has a radioactive pulse that it can activate at will. Like original Godzilla, Behemoth is radioactive. The initial attempt to track it is conducted with a scintillation counter.





Giant Behemoth works a little more on the Roger Corman “Don't show the monster” than previous giant monster films. In part, I suspect because of the limited funds available for the production. Our first good look at the monster is fifty minutes in, as it capsizes a ferry. But this is an immobile puppet which can't even move it's mouth. And that's all we see of the monster until an hour in. The stop-moton Behemoth is much more impressive than the puppet, because of the expressiveness of the O'Brien and Pete Peterson model. The rampage is also on a budget, and so only lasts some ten minutes. This makes me realize that part of the genius of Godzilla is that the rampage falls in the middle of the film, which allows Ishiro Honda to show us the aftermath.



Which is not to say Giant Behemoth is a light film. Lourié takes several opportunities to show people dying, something that becomes increasingly rare in kaiju films. The fisherman is shown with horrific radiation burns. The ferry goes down, and people are shown waving their hands and going beneath the water. The last shot is a man floating face-up, radiation burns clearly showing. During its rampage, the Behemoth uses its radiation to kill fleeing civilians as well as destroying a machine gun crew. These moments of horror remind us that this is not just a fantasy film, but has roots in horror. Scenes like this become more rare as kaiju films become more and more child oriented.



Similarities to Beast from 20,000 Fathoms are frequent, and if Internet rumors are true, intentional. Behemoth, the Sea Monster (the original title) starts with stock footage of a nuclear detonation. The expert immediately assumed the giant monster is from the Pacific, and then says that "they" always make for freshwater rivers to die, a gentle reference to the Beast. And it's quite clear that the frst person to run into kaiju are the fishermen. We've seen this in Beast From 20,000 Fathoms, Godzilla and Pacific Rim; the fishermen serve as the canaries for the terrors that come from the sea. Lourié also plays with the sketches of the Behemoth, as he did in Beast. The 'best guess' of the illustrator is very much like the Beast. Also similar to the previous film, the Behemoth is to be destroyed by an injection of radioactive material, in this case Radium delivered by torpedo. Like Godzilla, it breaks the surface one last time before sinking back into the depths.



Giant Behemoth is not a strict remake. For example, Jack MacGowan as Professor Samson is about as far as you could get from tweedy Professor Elson in Beast from 20,000 Fathoms. Samson is young, nerdy and somewhat manic, excited by the possibility of a living dinosaur. He plays the Dr. Yamane role well, disappointed when it's clear the monster must be killed. He shares Dr. Elson's fate, destroyed by the monster he searches for.

There are nods to other films. We get the footprint trope, and the Behemoth crashes through a bridge, although not Tower Bridge, as the brontosaur does in The Lost World. Gorgo, next in Lourié's trilogy, would demolish Tower Bridge.



This film is the last that will use stop-motion animatiopn to portray its monster. For whatever reason, stop motion fell out of favor for monster films, perhaps because of the perceived cost, or the time involved. Virtually every film after this will be suitimation, and there is a brief, unsuccessful flirtation with marionettes. With the exception of the Gamera franchise, this will be the last quadruped monster to thunders across the screen until the era of CG. Ironic, since stop-motion's greatest triumph was the human-like Kong.



Ultimatly, Giant Behemoth isn't all that fascinating. It suffers in comparison, both in action and in the presentation of the titular beast, to Beast from 20,000 Fathoms. Behemoth is in essence a remake with less money and attention to detail. The model is less convincing, and we are much less sympathetic because Behemoth's character is less well-defined than either the Beast ro Godzilla.



Our next film is Lourié's final film as director, but the pinnacle of his giant monster trilogy. And our very first color film.

Just Beastly: The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms

1952, two years before the creation of Godzilla, saw the re-release of King Kong, which made four times what it had on it's initial release. Hoping to capitalize on the success of the film, Warner Brothers set about unleashing a similar film, The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms. Their gamble paid off. Beast was a spectacular hit, and a very clear influence Godzilla.



This is the first of three giant monster films created by Eugène Lourié, who felt with each film that he was being increasinly pigeonholed. Which is a pity: Beast from 20,000 Fathoms and Gorgo are delightful monster films. I'll be discussing The Giant Behemoth next week. The fim's monster was the work of Ray Harryhausen, pupil of Willis O'Brien, who brought Kong and The Lost World's dinosaurs to life.



The rhedasaurus is the first giant monster to be precipitated by a nuclear detonation, a film trope that would continue throughout the 60's and 70's. The explostion is shown through a bright flash, and then stock footage of a Bikini atol detonation. Godzilla had to make do with just the bright flash, but the panic brought on by the unexpectedness of the blast gives the scene more fear than Beast, since the witnesses are all men of science who are expecting it. This is a national difference between the American and Japanese experience with nuclear weapons. To Americans, they are a tool, an experiment. To the Japanese, they are weapons of fear and destruction. Rhedasaurus is not nuclear powered, nor scarred or angry. It was merely woken by the nuclear test.



Nine and a half minutes into the film, the beast is first glimpsed. Beast from 20,000 Fathoms is not ashamed of its monster, perfectly willing to give the audience a preview to whet their appetite for the inevitable city-based rampage. Interestingly, the Beast's first victim is not killed by an attack, but by an avalanche brought on the by the beast's passing. No malice or hunger involved, the human simply was in the wrong palce at the wrong time, emphasizing the destructive capacity of the beast. It is from a different time, and its presence in the modern world is disruptive and deadly.



The rhedasaurus is a magnificent fictional dinosaur. Low-slung on four legs, it does not stand like Godzilla, and can be more aggressive than Lost World's bronotosaur. As with Kong, when the rhedasaurus is on the screen, nothing else is as interesting. All the memorable moments in the film are at the end, during the city-destroying rampage. Harryhausen's technique is every bit as good as O'Brien's, although he does not utilize shots quite as complex. Given the more limited budget of Beast, there are no full-scale mock-ups of any part of the rhedasaurus, forcing Harryhausen to use a small stable of tricks to show interaction between the monmster and the landscape. He does this by picking a car out of a traffic jam of mixed real and miniature cars, deceving the eye aso to where the miniatures begin. When crowds are fleeing into the subway, the Beast rushing toward them, the famous Flatiron Building behind them all.



Other events recur in Godzilla. The military attempts to stop the rhedasaurus with high-voltage wires. We also get a scene in a hospital, where doctors talk about the ancient disease the Beast has. As they talk, they minister to dying patients, and several muffled forms on stretchers are carried bhind them. This moment is the only one in which we see the suffering of those the Beast comes in contact with. Again, this was handled with much more emotional punch by Ishiro Honda.





Structurally, the film The film begins, and is aped by the later Gamera with an arctic nuclear test. The rhedasaurus then smashes a fishing vessel, as Godzilla will do next year. However, Godzilla, rather than leaving the destruction as it was, showed the effects on families and community, showing us the haunted eyes of mothers and sisters whose men would never come home. Godzilla also redefines the protagonist triad of two professors and the pretty female assistant to two professors, a pretty daughter, and a working man, effectively splitting the Tom Nesbitt role into two different characters; Dr. Serizawa, the brilliant scientist, and Hideto Ogata the man of action. Ishiro Honda didn't seem to believe in two-fisted professors.



As is common in science fiction films, the amateur gets to explain how the monster came to be in a hypothetical fashion, in order for it to be dismissed by the “expert”. This allows the information to be handed to the audience, even as it's fantastic and improbably nature is highlighted. And the audience can feel relieved when the world-renowned experd changes his mine and endorses the crackpot theory. After all, he's world-renowned! Professor Elson also makes sure that we know he's about to go on his first extended vacation in 30 years. The Simpsons' portmanteau &lquot;retirony&rquot; seems appropriate here, although Elson does spend his last moments gazing into the mouth of a living specimen of what he has studied for many years.



Beast from 20,000 Fathoms seems caught in between exultation of science, with action professor Tom Nesbitt, and fear of technolgy and scientific advancement, since atomic testing awkaned the creature. But the plusses outweigh the negatives in this case, since a rare radiactive element is what brings the Beast down, delivered by the military (Lee van Cleef, demonstrating that he can shoot and kill damn near anything). As always, it's interesting to look at the film showcasing the technology of the day. The radio announcer, the banks of telephone operators, all are delightfully indicative of the tim period. One of my pleasures when watching a series of Godzilla films is watching the city's height increase from film to film.

Beast from 20,000 Fathoms is a pretty good film. Ray Harryhausen's work on the rhedasaurus is arresting and interesting, and the staging of the its scenes are meticulous and fascinating. A good monster film, highly influential, and essential to anyone who wants to understand the history of giant monster film.



Next week, same director, smaller budget. But tomorrow, I'll be seeing Pacific Rim. If my head explodes I've left strict instructions that someone is to blog about it.