Godzilla (1954): 21 Shocking Facts You Totally Missed

Godzilla: the movie America never saw, a roar made on a double bass and a real fishing boat that came first. For fifty years most Americans watched a different film. Gojira ran about 96 minutes in Japan; Godzilla, King of the Monsters! reached US theaters in 1956 with new scenes of Raymond Burr shot in Los Angeles. He never stood next to the Japanese cast. Months before filming, the Lucky Dragon No. 5 sailed into the fallout of the Castle Bravo H-bomb test. Director Ishiro Honda had walked through the ruins of Hiroshima, and the American cut quietly removed most of the talk about the bomb. Akira Ifukube dragged a resin glove across a contrabass to create the roar. Haruo Nakajima studied elephants at Ueno Zoo before climbing into a 220 pound suit, and Takashi Shimura went from Seven Samurai to Dr. Yamane. And the bonus: the real Lucky Dragon still stands in a Tokyo museum, and admission is free. 0:00 Intro 0:32 A Different Movie 1:55 The Lucky Dragon 3:24 Raymond Burr 4:44 The Roar 5:52 The Man in the Suit 8:15 King Kong Influence 10:39 Ishiro Honda 14:25 Takashi Shimura 16:48 The 25,000 Dollar Deal 18:09 What America Never Heard 22:30 Emiko Returns 23:34 Meeting King Kong 24:46 Hollywood Star 25:58 Bonus 👇 Which fact surprised you most? Tell us in the comments!