From Walkersville to Berwyn and Beyond! Safe, healthy & happy Halloween/Halloween 2023 greetings to all fellow wonderful Super Svengoolie/Super Sventoonie SvenPals/Super “Toon In With Me” Tooners/Super “Mystery Science Theater 3000” MSTies/fellow Super classic mammopth film & TV aficionados/fellow Super readers of “Silver Screen Reflections!”
Whether you were trick-or-treating, watching your favorite classic mammoth horror/monster/creature/sci-fi feature film/TV show masterpieces, classic Sven, classic Sventoonie, classic “Toon In With Me” and/or dancing along to your favorite Halloween tunes including the legendary & iconic Sven & the legendary and iconic Freddy “Boom Boom” Cannon’s “The Svengoolie Stomp,” I hope everyone had a safe, fantastic, fun & wonderful Halloween/Halloween 2023! Again, safety first, be good, keep healthy, stay well, cheers, peace & “Hi-Keeba” to all my fellow wonderful Super SvenPals, Super Tooners, Super MSTies, Super classic/cult film & TV enthusiasts & Super readers of “Silver Screen Reflections” throughout the galaxy! Sven & Halloween 2023 Cheers! Peace! Yippee! “Yee-Howdy!” Hooray! Woo-Hoo! “Hi-Keeba!” -C.H,, a.k.a. “Sven Hamby” for Halloween 2023!
Fellow Super Svengoolie SvenPals everywhere will be dancing and jumping for joy for his big classic mammoth double-feature masterpiece festival of a big premiere of a classic mammoth 1972 made-for-TV supernatural movie masterpiece & one of the classic mammoth definitive Japanese kaiju creature feature film masterpieces for “Halloween Boo-nanza 2023!”
Svengoolie’s twinset of “The Night Stalker” (1972) & “Gojira/Godzilla, King of the Monsters!” (1954/56)
The legendary and iconic Berywn/Chicago-based classic mammoth sci-fi/supernatural/creature feature film masterpiece host will present his big coast-to-coast double-feature twinset supernatural/kaiju creature feature film masterpiece showcase of “The Night Stalker” (1972) and “Gojira/Godzilla, King of the Monsters!” (1954/56). The aforementioned Sven double-feature twinset of “The Night Stalker” (1972) and “Gojira/Godzilla, King of the Monsters!” (1954/56) will begin this Sat., Oct. 21 at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central on Me-TV!
At 12:30 a.m. Eastern/11:30 p.m. Central, a bonus episode of Rod Serling’s classic mammoth CBS-TV supernatural masterpiece series, “The Twilight Zone” will also be showcased- along with a festival of another classic mammoth supernatural masterpiece TV series that’s connected to one of the feature films that Sven will be showing in this week’s twinset- additional details will be revealed later in this edition of “Silver Screen Reflections.” -C.H.
Alongside Sven’s upcoming “Halloween Boo-nanza 2023” big broadcast festival of “The Night Stalker” (1972) and “Gojira/Godzilla, King of the Monsters!” (1954/56), the bonus “Twilight Zone” episode and the surprise series festival in connection to one of Sven’s twinset features for this week, other Sven features and specials that will be showcased throughout the Oct. 2023 “Sven Saturday Halloween Boo-nanza” festival showcase on Me-TV will include:
Oct. 28, 2023:Svengoolie’s big double-feature finale twinset broadcast featuring his big broadcast premiere of Dan Curtis’ classic mammoth ABC “Kolchak” supernatural made-for-TV movie sequel masterpiece with Darren McGavin and Simon Oakland, “The Night Strangler” (1973, at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central) and Sven’s big broadcast of Curtis’ classic mammoth ABC made-for-TV horror anthology movie masterpiece with Karen Black, “Trilogy of Terror“* (1975, at 10: 30 p.m. Eastern/9:30 p.m. Central)! Again, additional episodes of that aforementioned surprise series that will be mentioned later in this week’s “Silver Screen Reflections” will be showcased immediately after the Sven twinset! -C.H.
1990s ABC Video Enterprises/Twentieth Century Fox (Twentieth Century Studios) VHS cover art for the ABC made-for-TV movie production of “The Night Stalker” (1972) with Darren McGavin.
“The Night Stalker” (1972) was produced by veteran TV and feature film director-producer Dan Curtis. Curtis was best-known for producing and directing his own classic mammoth ABC television network gothic horror series masterpiece production, “Dark Shadows” (1966-71) with Jonathan Frid (in the lead role of vampire Barnabas Collins) and Grayson Hall (in the lead role of Dr. Julia Hoffman, also of 1972’s “Gargoyles” fame). Curtis also directed two classic mammoth Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) gothic horror feature film masterpiece adaptations of his ABC-TV “Dark Shadows” series; “House of Dark Shadows” (1970) with Frid and “Night of Dark Shadows” (1971, produced around the same time that ABC cancelled “Dark Shadows”). 20 years after the final ABC broadcast of “Dark Shadows,” Curtis would re-team with MGM to produce a newer, short-lived primetime “Dark Shadows” series for rival network NBC in 1991 with Ben Cross in the role of Barnabas Collins in the latter/brief “Dark Shadows” series revival.
The classic mammoth 1972 Curtis-ABC “Kolchak” made-for-TV movie masterpiece was directed by veteran TV and made-for-TV movie director-producer John Llewellyn Moxey. Moxey previously directed seven episodes of the classic mammoth British action-drama TV series adaptation of Leslie Charteris’ novelizations for Lord Lew Grade’s Associated Television (ATV)/ITC, “The Saint” with a pre-James Bond Roger Moore (Moxey directed episodes of “The Saint” from 1963-67). Moxey later focused on directing productions in the United States. Alongside “The Night Stalker” (1972), Moxey directed one episode of the classic mammoth William Castle/Columbia Pictures-Screen Gems/ABC supernatural/thriller masterpiece series, “Circle of Fear” (Moxley directed the 1972 episode of “Circle of Fear” titled “The New House” with Sebastian Cabot of TV’s “Family Affair” fame, David Birney, Barbara Parkins, Sam Jaffe and a cameo appearance by Castle).
He also directed one episode of the brief CBS/Twentieth Century Fox (Twentieth Century Studios) “Perry Mason” revival with Monte Markham, “The New Perry Mason” (Moxley the 1973 episode “The Case of the Ominous Oath”). To paraphrase Sven, John Lewellen Moxey worked on ‘Almost Perry Mason!’ -C.H. Near the conclusion of his directorial career, Moxey directed 18 episodes of the classic mammoth long-running Universal Studios-CBS detective/mystery masterpiece series with Angela Lansbury, “Murder She Wrote” (Moxey directed his episodes of the series from 1984-91).
“The Night Stalker” (1972) originally aired on the ABC television network on Jan. 11, 1972 as part of the network’s “Tuesday Movie of the Week”/”Movie of the Week: World Premiere” series of feature-length productions produced and/or financed by ABC along with made-for-TV productions produced for the network by the major studios/production firms, according to IMDB.
According to the Jan. 11, 1972 edition of The Frederick Post (News-Post), ABC programmed Curtis and Moxey’s made-for-TV movie production of “The Night Stalker” for their “Tuesday Movie of the Week” showcase between an episode of “The Mod Squad” and an episode of “Marcus Welby, M.D.” During the original Jan. 11, 1972 prime-time big broadcast airing/premiere of the “ABC Tuesday Movie of the Week”/”The Night Stalker,” the alphabet network’s classic mammoth 1972 made-for-TV supernatrual masterpiece production was shown opposite episodes of “Hawaii Five-O” (with Jack Lord) and “Cannon” (with William Conrad) on CBS and a news report along with an episode of “Nichols” (with James Garner) on NBC.
“Incredible Titan of Terror!” 1956 Embassy/TransWorld poster for the U.S. theatrical release of Toho Studios’ “Gojira/Godzilla,” “Godzilla, King of the Monsters!”
“Gojira/Godzilla, King of the Monsters!” (1954/56) was directed by veteran director Ishirô Honda, who was credited under the name of “I. Honda” in the North American theatrical poster artwork for the 1956 theatrical release of the 1954 production.
Alongside “Gojira/Godzilla, King of the Monsters!” (1954/56), Honda’s other best-known classic mammoth kaiju creature masterpiece productions for Toho Studios include “Rodan“ (1956), “Mothra” (1961, released through Columbia Pictures in the United States), “King Kong vs. Godzilla” (1963, released through Universal Studios in the United States). “Mothra vs. Godzilla” (1964, released theatrically in the United States by Samuel Z. Arkoff and James H. Nicholson’s American-International Pictures under the title of “Godzilla vs. the Thing”), “Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster” (1964), “Frankenstein vs. Baragon” (1965), “The War of the Gargantuas” (1966), “Destroy All Monsters” (1968), “All Monsters Attack” (1969, released theatrically in the United States under the title of “Godzilla’s Revenge”) and “Terror of Mechagodzilla” (1975). Several of his non-kaiju classic mammoth sci-fi masterpiece productions for Toho Studios included “The H-Man” (1958) and “Battle in Outer Space” (1959, both of Honda’s Toho productions of “The H-Man and “Battle in Outer Space” were released theatrically in the United States by Columbia Pictures, Sony/Columbia still owns the theatrical re-release, television syndication and home entertainment distribution rights to Honda’s classic mammoth Toho Studios masterpiece productions of “The H-Man,” “Battle in Outer Space” and “Mothra” in the United States).
The 1956 North American theatrical version/theatrical dub of “Godzilla, King of the Monsters!” was lifted from Honda’s classic mammoth Toho Studios kaiju creature masterpiece production of “Gojira” (1954, a.k.a. “Godzilla“); filmed & released in Japan two years before the North American theatrical release.
The screenplay for the classic mammoth Toho Studios kaiju creature masterpiece production was written by Honda, along with veteran screenwriter Takeo Murata. Honda and Murata’s screenplay was adapted from the novel, “The Giant Monster from 20, 000 Leagues Under the Sea;” which was written by veteran Toho Studios special effects supervisor Eiji Tsuburaya; along with writers Tomoyuki Tanaka and author Shigeru Kayama. For the U.S. theatrical release of “Godzilla, King of the Monsters!” (1954/56), the screenplay for the U.S. footage elements and dubbed elements were written by Morse, along with veteran TV producer-writer Al C. Ward.
Original 1972 Newspaper advertising proof/ABC publicity photo of Darren McGavin and Barry Atwater in “The Night Stalker.”
“Book it now!” “It’s the ‘show’ with the showmanship send-off!” 1956 promotional leaflet for the U.S. theatrical dub of “Gojira/Godzilla, King of the Monsters!”
Who was in the classic mammoth ABC made-for-TV movie masterpiece production of “The Night Stalker” (1972)?
The players who appeared in the classic mammoth ABC made-for-TV movie msaterpiece production of “The Night Stalker” (1972) were Darren McGavin (as Carl Kolchak, McGavin previously appeared in the title role of Mike Hammer in the classic mammoth 1958-59 MCA-Revue-Universal syndicated crime drama masterpiece adaptation of Mickey Spillane’s “Mike Hammer;” alongside his roles of Mike Hammer and Carl Kolchak, one of McGavin’s most famous screen appearances was in the role of Old Man Parker in Bob Clark and Jean Shepherd’s classic mammoth 1983 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/MGM holiday-comedy masterpiece with Peter Billingsley and Melinda Dillon, “A Christmas Story”), Carol Lynley (as Gail Foster, Lynley later appeared in Irwin Allen’s classic mammoth 1974 Twentieth Century Fox/Twentieth Century Studios action-adventure masterpiece production of “The Poseidon Adventure”), Claude Akins (as Sherriff Butcher, Akins later appeared in the role of Sonny Pruitt in the 1974-76 NBC drama with Frank Converse, “Movin’ On” and later appeared in the role of Sheriff Lobo in several episodes of the 1978-81 Universal Studios-NBC comedy/adventure production of “B.J. and the Bear;” which led to Akins reprising his role of Lobo in the short-lived 1979-81 Universal/NBC spin-off series, “The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo”), Larry Linville (as Makurji, one of Linville’s best-known appearances was in the role of Maj. Frank Burns in the classic mammoth critically acclaimed Twentieth Century Fox/Twentieth Century Studios-CBS comedy/drama masterpiece adaptation of “M*A*S*H,” Linville appeared in the series from 1972-77), Simon Oakland (as Tony Vincenzo, Oakland previously appeared in the role of Dr. Fred Richman in Alfred Hitchcock‘s classic mammoth 1960 Paramount Pictures suspense-thriller masterpiece production with Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins, “Psycho” and in Peter Yates’ classic mammoth 1968 Warner Bros.-Seven Arts action/crime drama masterpiece production with Steve McQueen and Robert Vaughn, “Bullitt;” Oakland later appeared in the classic mammoth Universal/NBC wartime drama masterpiece production of “Black Sheep Squadron”/”Baa Baa Black Sheep”), Ralph Meeker (as Bernie Jenks), Charles McGraw (as Chief Masterson), Kent Smith (as D.A. Paine), Elisha Cook Jr. (as Mickey Crawford), Stanley Adams (as Fred Hurley), Jordan Rhodes (as Dr. O’Brien) and Barry Atwater (as Janos Skorzeny).
“Gojira/Godzilla, King of the Monsters!” (1954/56):
Who was in the U.S. theatrical edition of Ishiro Honda’s “Gojira/Godzilla, King of the Monsters!” (1954/56)?
The players who appeared in the U.S. dub of the classic mammoth Ishiro Honda-Terry Morse-Toho Studios kaiju creature masterpiece edition of “Godzilla, King of the Monsters!” (1954/56) were veteran stunt performer Haruo Nakajima (in an uncredited role in the trademark Toho Studios “Gojira/Godzilla” kaiju creature suit, akajima appeared in the role of a bandit in Akira Kurosawa’s classic mammoth critically-acclaimed 1954 Toho Studios samurai-drama masterpiece with Toshirô Mifune, “Seven Samurai.” After his appearance in “Gojira””Godzilla”/”Godzilla, King of the Monsters!,” Nakajima made numerous appearances in the Toho Studios trademark Gojira/Godzilla kaiju creature suit role in 11 more of the studio’s classic mammoth “Godzilla”/”Gojira” kaiju creature masterpiece feature film productions from 1954-72. Nakajima also played the famous kaiju creature suit roles of other iconic kaiju creature characters for Toho Studios’ lineup of classic mammoth kaiju creature feature film masterpieces during the majority of his acting career, including Radon”/“Rodan,” “Mothra” and the Magma creature in Honda’s classic mammoth 1962 Toho Studios sci-fi/creature masterpiece production of “Gorath” ), Ryosaku Takasugi (in an uncredited role in additional stunt sequences in the trademark “Gojira/Godzilla” kaiju creature suit), Raymond Burr (as Steve Martin*, Burr was chosen for the role of Steve Martin* for Terry Morse’s scenes due to his earlier appearance for his role of Lars Thorwald in Alfred Hitchcock‘s classic mammoth 1954 Paramount Pictures suspense-mystery masterpiece production of “Rear Window,” One year after his 1956 appearance in the North American dub of “Godzila, King of the Monsters!,” Burr went onto greater fame for his role of attorney Perry Mason in the long-running classic mammoth CBS television drama masterpiece adaptation of Erle Stanley Gardner‘s “Perry Mason” (1957-66) with Barbara Hale, William Hopper, Ray Collins and William Talman. To paraphrase Sven, “Raymond Burr was on.. ‘Perry Mason’!” -C.H. Shortly after “Perry Mason” concluded on CBS, Burr also went onto greater fame for his role of detective Robert T. Ironside in the long-running classic mammoth 1967-75 Universal Studios-MCA–NBC television detective masterpiece series with Don Mitchell, Don Galloway, Barbara Anderson and Gene Lyons; “Ironside,” Burr later reprised his role of Perry Mason in a series of classic mammoth Viacom/NBC “Perry Mason” made-for-TV masterpiece movies with Barbara Hale; “Perry Mason” made-for-TV movie series were produced from 1985 until Burr’s death in 1993; Burr’s final 1993 “Perry Mason” made-for-TV movie aired on NBC in 1994. -C.H.), Takashi Shimura (as Dr. Yamane, Takashi Shimura previously appeared with Hauro Nakajima and Toshiro Mifune in Akira Kurosawa’s classic mammoth Toho Studios samurai drama masterpiece production of “The Seven Samurai” (1954). Shortly after appearing in “Gojira”/”Godzilla”/”Godzilla, King of the Monsters” (1954/56), Kenji Sahara became one of Toho Studios’ major actors shortly after his appearance in the role of Shigeru in Honda’s classic mammoth Toho Studios kaiju creature masterpiece production of “Rodan” (1956) and appeared in numerous latter Toho Studios classic mammoth “Gojira”/”Godzilla” kaiju creature masterpiece productions and additional classic mammoth kaiju creature masterpiece productions for the studio.), Momoko Kochi (as Emiko Yamane), Frank Iwanaga (as security officer Tomo Iwanaga), Akira Takarada (as Ogata), Akihiko Hirata (as Dr. Serizawa), Sachio Sakai (as Hagiwara), Fuyuki Murakami (as Dr. Tabada), Ren Yamamoto (as Seiji), Toyoaki Suzuki (as Shinkichi), Tadashi Okabe (as an assistant to Dr. Tabada), Toranosuke Ogawa (as the company president), Kenji Sahara (in an uncredited role as a passenger on a boat), James Hong (in an uncredited role for the vocal dubbing for Akira Takarada and Akihiko Hirata’s characters for the U.S. theatrical release of “Godzilla, King of the Monsters!,” James Hong rose to greater fame for his role of David Lo Pan in John Carpenter’s classic mammoth 1986 Twentieth Century Fox/Twentieth Century Studios action-adventure-comedy feature film masterpiece with Kurt Russell, Kim Cattrall, Dennis Dun, Victor Wong, Donald Li and Kate Burton; “Big Trouble in Little China” (1986) and his role of Bruce in the 1992 second-season episode of the NBC comedy series with Jerry Seinfeld, “Seinfeld”/“The Restaurant”) Sammee Tong (in an uncredited role for the vocal dubbing for Takashi Shimura’s character in the U.S. theatrical release), Paul Frees (in an uncredited role for the vocal dubbing of unidentified character for the U.S. theatrical release) and Mikel Conrad (in an uncredited role as George Lawrence).
Fellow Svengoolie SvenPals everywhere will be dancing & jumping for joy for his upcoming big broadcast of a classic mammoth kaiju creature battle feature masterpiece from Japan’s Toho Studios.
Original 1966 Toho Studios theatrical release trailer for “War of the Gargantuas” in Japan, featuring Russ Tamblyn’s dialogue track.
“All Brand New!” 1966 Toho Studios concept poster art for the international/worldwide feature film distribution market for “The War of the Gargantuas.”
The legendary and iconic Berwyn/Chicago-based classic creature film masterpiece host will present his big broadcast of “War of the Gargantuas” (1966/70), this Sat.; Sept. 9 at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central on Me-TV.
Several of Honda’s other classic mammoth sci-fi masterpiece productions for Toho Studios outside of the kaiju genre included “The H-Man” (1958) and “Battle in Outer Space” (1959, both of Honda’s Toho productions of “The H-Man and “Battle in Outer Space” were released theatrically in the United States through Columbia Pictures by arrangement with Toho Studios, Sony/Columbia still owns the North American theatrical re-release, television syndication and home entertainment distribution rights to Honda’s classic mammoth Toho Studios masterpiece productions of “The H-Man,” “Battle in Outer Space” and “Mothra”).
Honda also co-wrote the original screenplay treatment for “The War of the Gargantuas” (1966) with veteran Toho Studios screenwriter Takeshi Kimura. Kimura was a screenwriter for Honda’s classic mammoth Toho Studios-Universal Studios kaiju creature battle masterpiece production of “King Kong Escapes” (1967 dubbed for the North American theatrical market under the supervision of veteran stop-motion animation holiday TV masterpiece program producers Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass) and worked on many of the screenplay elements for several of the studio’s latter classic mammoth “Gojira”/”Godzilla” kaiju creature masterpiece feature productions from 1968-73. Kimura received screen credit for Honda’s production of “The War of the Gargantuas” (1967) under the pseudonym of Kaoru Mabuchi.
Honda’s classic mammoth Toho Studios kaiju creature masterpiece production of “The War of the Gargantuas” (1966) was co-produced by veteran executive producer Kenichirô Tsunoda and veteran Toho Studios producer Tomoyuki Tanaka.
Tsunoda previously produced Senkichi Taniguchi‘s classic mammoth Toho Studios fantasy-adventure-action masterpiece production of “The Lost World of Sinbad” (1963) with veteran actor Toshirô Mifune; the aforementioned 1963 Toho Studios production was released theatrically in the United States by Samuel Z. Arkoff and James H. Nicholson’s American-International Pictures.
Tanaka helped supervise many of the classic mammoth Toho Studios “Gojira”/”Godzilla” kaiju creature feature masterpiece productions for the majority of his career; dating back to Honda’s original classic mammoth 1954 Toho Studios “Gojira”/”Godzilla” kaiju creature masterpiece production and concluding with Tako Okawara‘s modern classic mammoth Toho Studios “Gojira”/”Godzilla” kajiu creature masterpiece production of “Godzilla vs. Destoroyah” (1995, the North American theatrical dub release was later handled through Columbia Pictures/Sony’s TriStar Pictures moniker). Alongside Honda, it was noted that Tanaka was the other pioneer of Toho Studios’ classic mammoth kaiju creature masterpiece productions, notably for the studio’s classic mammoth “Gojira”/”Godzilla” feature film masterpiece productions.
“Godzilla Meets ‘Magoo’!” 1985 ad from Broadcasting Magazine (Broadcasting & Cable) for Bocass Communications and their syndication package of UPA cartoons and TV syndication of select classic mammoth Toho Studios feature film masterpieces at the time.
UPA later turned their attention to animated cartoons for TV, including “The Mr. Magoo Show” (1960-61), the classic mammoth animated holiday special masterpiece production “Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol” (1962), a syndicated animated adaptation of Chester Gould‘s “Dick Tracy” (1961) and “The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo” (1964-65). Saperstein decided to focus on the North American theatrical dubbing rights to Toho Studios’ classic mammoth kaiju creature masterpiece productions.
Fellow Svengoolie SvenPals everywhere will be dancing & jumping for joy for his big broadcast premiere of a classic mammoth kaiju monster battle masterpiece from Japan’s Toho Studios.
Original 1968 Toho Studios Japanese-language theatrical release poster for :Destroy All Monsters” in Japan.
The legendary and iconic Berwyn/Chicago-based classic mammoth monster/creature film host will present his big broadcast premiere of “Destroy All Monsters” (1968), this Sat., April 29 at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central on Me-TV.
The classic mammoth 1968 Toho Studios kaiju creature battle masterpiece production of “Destroy All Monsters” was co-directed by veteran Toho Studios feature film director and the father of kaiju creature cinema, Ishirô Honda and veteran Toho Studios feature film drector Jun Fukuda.
Alongside his numerous classic mammoth Toho Studios kaiju creature cinema masterpiece productions throughout the majority of his filmmaking career, Honda also specialized in several classic mammoth sci-fi feature film masterpiece productions for Toho Studios included “The H-Man” (1958) and “Battle in Outer Space” (1959, both of Honda’s Toho productions of “The H-Man and “Battle in Outer Space” were released theatrically in the United States through Columbia Pictures by arrangement with Toho Studios, Sony/Columbia still owns the North American theatrical re-release, television syndication and home entertainment distribution rights to Honda’s classic mammoth Toho Studios masterpiece productions of “The H-Man,” “Battle in Outer Space” and “Mothra”).
Jun Fukuda previously directed the classic mammoth Toho Studios action-adventure spy comedy masterpiece production of “Ironfinger” (1965) with Akira Takarada, Mie Hama and Ichirô Arishima; which was Toho Studios’ answer to the classic mammoth Guy Hamilton-Eon Productions-United Artists “James Bond”/”007” action-adventure spy masterpiece production of “Goldfinger” (1964) with Sean Connery. Fukuda’s first kaiju creature production was his classic mammoth Toho Studios kaiju creature battle masterpiece production of “Ebirah, Horror of the Deep” (1966). His other classic mammoth Toho Studios kaiju creature masterpiece productions include “Son of Godzilla” (1967), “Godzilla vs. Gigan” (1972), “Godzilla vs. Megalon” (1973), “Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla” (1974) and “Terror of Mechagodzilla” (1975).
The original screenplay for the classic mammoth Honda-Fukuda production of “Destroy All Monsters” (1968) for Toho Studios was co-written by Honda, along with veteran screenwriter Takeshi Kimura; who received screen credit under the pseudonym of Kaoru Mabuchi.
Veteran Toho Studios producer Tomoyuki Tanaka produced the original Japanese theatrical release edition of Honda’s classic mammoth 1968 kaiju creature masterpiece production. Tanaka helped supervise many of the classic mammoth Toho Studios “Gojira”/”Godzilla” kaiju creature feature masterpiece productions for the majority of his career; dating back to Honda’s original classic mammoth 1954 Toho Studios “Gojira”/”Godzilla” kaiju creature masterpiece production and concluding with Tako Okawara‘s modern classic mammoth Toho Studios “Gojira”/”Godzilla” kajiu creature masterpiece production of “Godzilla vs. Destoroyah” (1995, the North American theatrical dub release was later handled through Columbia Pictures/Sony’s TriStar Pictures imprint). Alongside Honda, it was noted that Tanaka was the other pioneer of Toho Studios’ classic mammoth kaiju creature masterpiece productions, notably for the studio’s classic mammoth “Gojira”/”Godzilla” kaiju feature film masterpiece productions.
“The Monsters are in Revolt!” “The Battle-Cry that could save the World!” Original 1968 American-International theatrical poster art for the theatrical release of Toho Studios’ “Destroy All Monsters.”
Alongside “Destroy All Monsters” (1968), Arkoff and Nicholson’s American-International Pictures also handled the North American theatrical dub releases of the classic mammoth Toho Studios kaiju creature battle masterpiece, “Godzilla vs. Mothra” (1964, released under the title of “Godzilla vs. the ‘Thing'”) and Yoshimitsu Banno’s classic mammoth Toho Studios “Gojira”/”Godzilla” kaiju creature masterpiece installment, “Godzilla vs. Hedorah” (1971, released in 1972 by American-International under the title of “Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster”).
Who was in Ishirō Honda’s classic mammoth Toho Studios kaiju creature battle masterpiece production of “Destroy All Monsters” (1968)?
Fellow Svengoolie SvenPals everywhere will be dancing & jumping for joy for his upcoming big broadcast premiere of one of the classic mammoth kaiju creature feature masterpieces from Japan’s Toho Studios.
Original 1966 Toho Studios theatrical poster art for the original theatrical release of “The War of the Gargantuas” in Japan.
The legendary Berwyn/Chicago-based classic creature film masterpiece host will present his big broadcast premiere of “The War of the Gargantuas” (1966/70), Sat., Feb. 26 at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central; followed by “Sventoonie” at 10:30 p.m. Eastern/9:30 p.m. Central on Me-TV.
The classic mammoth 1966/70 Toho Studios kaiju creature masterpiece production was directed by veteran Toho Studios feature film director and the father of kaiju creature cinema, Ishirô Honda. Honda’s best-known productions throughout his feature film directorial career include his classic mammoth Toho Studios pioneering kaiju creature masterpiece production of “Gojira”/”Godzilla” (1954, released in the United States under the title of “Godzilla, King of the Monsters!” with added scenes directed by Terry O. Morse that featured Raymond Burr of TV’s “Perry Mason” fame), “Rodan“ (1956), “Mothra” (1961, released through Columbia Pictures in the United States), “King Kong vs. Godzilla” (1963, released through Universal Studios in the United States). “Mothra vs. Godzilla” (1964, released theatrically in the United States by Samuel Z. Arkoff and James H. Nicholson’s American-International Pictures under the title of “Godzilla vs. the Thing”), “Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster” (1964), “Destroy All Monsters” (1968), “All Monsters Attack” (1969, released theatrically in the United States under the title of “Godzilla’s Revenge”) and “Terror of Mechagodzilla” (1975). Several of his non-kaiju classic mammoth sci-fi masterpiece productions for Toho Studios included “The H-Man” (1958) and “Battle in Outer Space” (1959, both of Honda’s Toho productions of “The H-Man and “Battle in Outer Space” were released theatrically in the United States through Columbia Pictures by arrangement with Toho Studios, Sony/Columbia still owns the North American theatrical re-release, television syndication and home entertainment distribution rights to Honda’s classic mammoth Toho Studios masterpiece productions of “The H-Man,” “Battle in Outer Space” and “Mothra”).
Honda also co-wrote the original screenplay treatment for “The War of the Gargantuas” (1966) with veteran Toho Studios screenwriter Takeshi Kimura, who was a screenwriter for Honda’s classic mammoth kaiju creature battle masterpiece production of “King Kong Escapes” (1967, dubbed for the North American theatrical market under the supervision of veteran stop-motion animation holiday TV program producers Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass and released through Universal Studios) and worked on many of the screenplay elements for several of the studio’s latter classic mammoth “Gojira”/”Godzilla” kaiju creature masterpiece feature productions from 1968-73. Kimura received screen credit for “The War of the Gargantuas” (1967) under the pseudonym of Kaoru Mabuchi. .
Honda’s classic mammoth Toho Studios kaiju creature masterpiece production of “The War of the Gargantuas” (1966) was co-produced by veteran executive producer Kenichirô Tsunoda and veteran Toho Studios producer Tomoyuki Tanaka. Tsunoda previously produced Senkichi Taniguchi‘s classic mammoth Toho Studios fantasy-adventure-action masterpiece production of “The Lost World of Sinbad” (1963) with veteran actor Toshirô Mifune; the aforementioned 1963 Toho Studios production was released in the United States by Samuel Z. Arkoff and James H. Nicholson’s American-International Pictures. Tanaka helped supervise many of the classic mammoth Toho Studios “Gojira”/”Godzilla” kaiju creature feature masterpiece productions for the majority of his career; dating back to Honda’s original classic mammoth 1954 Toho Studios “Gojira”/”Godzilla” kaiju creature masterpiece production and concluding with Tako Okawara‘s modern classic mammoth Toho Studios “Gojira”/”Godzilla” kajiu creature masterpiece production of “Godzilla vs. Destoroyah” (1995, the North American theatrical dub release was later handled through Columbia Pictures/Sony’s TriStar Pictures moniker). Alongside Honda, it was noted that Tanaka was the other pioneer of Toho Studios’ classic mammoth kaiju creature masterpiece productions, notably for the studio’s classic mammoth “Gojira”/”Godzilla” feature film masterpiece productions.
Fellow Svengoolie SvenPals everywhere will be dancing & jumping for joy for his big broadcast of one of the classic mammoth pioneering kaiju creature masterpieces from Toho Studios of Japan.
“Incredible Titan of Terror!” 1956 Embassy/TransWorld theatrical poster art for the U.S. theatrical release of Toho Studios’ “Gojira/Godzilla,” “Godzilla, King of the Monsters!”
The legendary Berwyn/Chicago-based classic mammoth creature/sci-fi feature film masterpiece host will present his big broadcast of the classic mammoth Toho Studios kaiju creature/sci-fi masterpiece, “Godzilla, King of the Monsters!” (1954/56), this Sat., Jan. 28 at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central; followed by “Sventoonie” at 10:30 p.m. Eastern/9:30 p.m. Central on the airlanes of Me-TV.
The classic mammoth Toho Studios kaiju creature masterpiece production was directed by veteran director Ishirô Honda, who was credited under the name of “I. Honda” in the North American theatrical poster artwork for the 1956 theatrical release of the 1954 production.
Alongside “Godzilla, King of the Monsters!” (1954/56), Honda’s other best-known classic mammoth kaiju creature masterpiece productions for Toho Studios include “Rodan“ (1956), “Mothra” (1961, released through Columbia Pictures in the United States), “King Kong vs. Godzilla” (1963, released through Universal Studios in the United States). “Mothra vs. Godzilla” (1964, released theatrically in the United States by Samuel Z. Arkoff and James H. Nicholson’s American-International Pictures under the title of “Godzilla vs. the Thing”), “Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster” (1964), “Frankenstein vs. Baragon” (1965), “The War of the Gargantuas” (1966), “Destroy All Monsters” (1968), “All Monsters Attack” (1969, released theatrically in the United States under the title of “Godzilla’s Revenge”) and “Terror of Mechagodzilla” (1975). Several of his non-kaiju classic mammoth sci-fi masterpiece productions for Toho Studios included “The H-Man” (1958) and “Battle in Outer Space” (1959, both of Honda’s Toho productions of “The H-Man and “Battle in Outer Space” were released theatrically in the United States by Columbia Pictures, Sony/Columbia still owns the theatrical re-release, television syndication and home entertainment distribution rights to Honda’s classic mammoth Toho Studios masterpiece productions of “The H-Man,” “Battle in Outer Space” and “Mothra” in the United States).
Original 1954 Toho Studios theatrical release trailer for Ishirô Honda’s classic mammoth kaiju creature masterpiece production of “Gojira“/”Godzilla” in Japan.
The 1956 North American theatrical version/theatrical dub of “Godzilla, King of the Monsters!” was lifted from Honda’s classic mammoth Toho Studios kaiju creature masterpiece production of “Gojira” (1954, a.k.a. “Godzilla“); filmed & released in Japan two years before the North American theatrical release.
The screenplay for the classic mammoth Toho Studios kaiju creature masterpiece production was written by Honda, along with veteran screenwriter Takeo Murata. Honda and Murata’s screenplay was adapted from the novel, “The Giant Monster from 20, 000 Leagues Under the Sea;” which was written by veteran Toho Studios special effects supervisor Eiji Tsuburaya; along with writers Tomoyuki Tanaka and author Shigeru Kayama. For the U.S. theatrical release of “Godzilla, King of the Monsters!” (1954/56), the screenplay for the U.S. footage elements and dubbed elements were written by Morse, along with veteran TV producer-writer Al C. Ward.
Who was in “Godzilla, King of the Monsters!” (1954/56)?
The players who appeared in the U.S. dub of the classic mammoth Ishiro Honda-Terry Morse-Toho Studios kaiju creature masterpiece edition of “Godzilla, King of the Monsters!” (1954/56) were veteran stunt performer Haruo Nakajima (in an uncredited role in the trademark “Gojira/Godzilla” kaiju creature suit), Ryosaku Takasugi (in an uncredited role in additional sequences in the trademark “Gojira/Godzilla” kaiju creature suit), Raymond Burr (as Steve Martin*), Takashi Shimura (as Dr. Yamane), Momoko Kochi (as Emiko Yamane), Frank Iwanaga (as security officer Tomo Iwanaga), Akira Takarada (as Ogata), Akihiko Hirata (as Dr. Serizawa), Sachio Sakai (as Hagiwara), Fuyuki Murakami (as Dr. Tabada), Ren Yamamoto (as Seiji), Toyoaki Suzuki (as Shinkichi), Tadashi Okabe (as an assistant to Dr. Tabada), Toranosuke Ogawa (as the company president), Kenji Sahara (in an uncredited role as a passenger on a boat), James Hong (in an uncredited role for the vocal dubbing for Akira Takarada and Akihiko Hirata’s characters for the U.S. theatrical release of “Godzilla, King of the Monsters!”), Sammee Tong (in an uncredited role for the vocal dubbing for Takashi Shimura’s character in the U.S. theatrical release), Paul Frees (in an uncredited role for the vocal dubbing of unidentified character for the U.S. theatrical release) and Mikel Conrad (in an uncredited role as George Lawrence).
Fellow Svengoolie SvenPals everywhere will be jumping for joy for his big broadcast of a classic mammoth Toho Studios/Universal Studios kaiju creature battle masterpiece.
Original Universal Studios theatrical release trailer for the U.S. theatrical dub/release of Ishirô Honda’s classic mammoth Toho Studios kaiju creature battle masterpiece, “King Kong vs. Godzilla”(produced and released by Toho Studios in Japan in 1962, released theatrically by Universal Studios in the United States in 1963).
Original 1962 Toho Studios theatrical poster artwork for the original Japanese theatrical release of Ishirô Honda’s classic mammoth kaiju creature masterpiece, “King Kong vs. Godzilla; ” released theatrically one year later in the United States by Universal Studios.
The legendary Berwyn/Chicago creature film host will present his big broadcast of “King Kong vs. Godzilla” (1963), this Sat., Nov. 20 at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central on Me-TV.
Produced by Toho Studios of Japan and released theatrically in the United states by Universal Studios, the 1963 classic mammoth Toho Studios kaiju creature battle feature masterpiece was directed by veteran director Ishirô Honda, who was credited in the film under his full name of Inoshiro Honda. Honda’s best-known classic mammoth kaiju creature masterpiece productions for Toho Studios in Japan include “Gojira”/”Godzilla” (1954, released/re-purposed in 1956 under the title of “Godzilla: King of the Monsters!” in the United States with Raymond Burr in the North American dub); “Rodan“ (1956), “Mothra” (1961),“Mothra vs. Godzilla” (1964, released theatrically in the United States by Samuel Z. Arkoff and James H. Nicholson’s American-International Pictures under the title of “Godzilla vs. the Thing”), “Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster” (1964), “Frankenstein vs. Baragon” (1965), “The War of the Gargantuas” (1966), “Destroy All Monsters” (1968), “All Monsters Attack” (1969, released theatrically in the United States under the title of “Godzilla’s Revenge”) and “Terror of Mechagodzilla” (1975). For the Universal/North American filmed segments for “King Kong vs. Godzilla,” the scenes for the North American dubbed edition of Honda’s 1963 production were directed by Tom Montgomery.
The screenplay for “King Kong vs.Godzilla” was written by veteran screenwriter Shin’ichi Sekizawa, who also wrote the screenplay for Honda’s classic mammoth Toho Studios kaiju creature masterpiece production of “Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster” (1964). Alongside producing the Universal/North American dub, John Beck also served in an uncredited position for the screenplay treatment, which was originally written under the title of “”King Kong vs. Prometheus.” Elements were also inspired by an unproduced script titled “King Kong vs. Frankenstein,” which was written by veteran stop-motion visual effects pioneer Willis H. O’Brien. O’Brien worked on the majority of the visual/stop-motion effects for the original Ernest B. Schoedsack– Merian C. Cooper––David O. Selznick–RKO Radio Pictures* classic mammoth stop-motion creature/fantasy masterpiece, “King Kong” (1933, with Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong, Noble Johnson, Victor Wong, Frank Reicher, Bruce Cabot, and the “eighth wonder of the world,” Kong!).
The additional screenwriters for John Beck’s Universal/North American theatrical dub of Ishiro Honda’s classic mammoth Toho Studios kaiju creature masterpiece production of “King Kong vs. Godzilla” (1963) were Bruce Howard and Paul Mason.
This will mark Sven’s fourth big broadcast of “King Kong vs. Godzilla” (1963) on Me-TV. He previously showcased Ishirô Honda’s classic mammoth Toho Studios/Universal Studios kaiju monster masterpiece back in Feb. 2014, March 2015 and April 2016.
Who was in “King Kong vs. Godzilla” (1963)?
The players who appeared in Ishirô Honda’s classic mammoth Toho Studios/Universal Studios kaiju monster masterpiece production of “King Kong vs. Godzilla” (1963) were were veteran stunt performer Haruo Nakajima (in the “Gojira/Godzilla” suit), Shôichi Hirose (in the “King Kong” suit), Katsumi Tezuka (for additional scenes in the “Gojira/Godzilla” suit), James Yagi (as Yutaka Omura), Kenji Sahara (as Kazuo Fujita, Sahara received screen credit under the name of Kenji Sahaka), Ichirô Arishima (as Mr. Tako), Byron Morrow (as Dr. Arnold Johnson), Harry Holcombe (as Dr. Johnson), Mie Hama (as Fumiko Sakurai), Akiko Wakabayashi (as Tamiye), Akihiko Hirata (as Dr. Shigezawa), Jun Tazaki (as Gen. Masami Shinzo), Yû Fujiki (as Kinsaburo Furue) and Les Tremayne (in uncredited roles as the narrator and the dubbed dialogue for Jun Tazaki’s characterization of Gen. Shinzo).
Fellow Svengoolie SvenPals everywhere will be jumping for joy for his big broadcast of a classic Toho Studios–Universal Studios mammoth kaiju creature masterpiece.
Original Toho Studios theatrical trailer for the Japanese theatrical release of Ishirô Honda’s classic mammoth kaiju creature masterpiece, “King Kong Escapes” (1967). Universal Studios handled the North American theatrical release of Honda’s production.
Original Toho Studios theatrical poster artwork for the Japanese theatrical release of Ishirô Honda’s classic mammoth kaiju creature masterpiece, “King Kong Escapes” (1967). Universal Studios handled the North American theatrical release of Honda’s production in 1968.
The legendry Berwyn/Chicago-based creature film host will present his big broadcast of “King Kong Escapes” (1967) this Sat., May 22 at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central on Me-TV.
Honda’s classic 1967 Toho Studios/Universal mammoth kaiju creature masterpiece was produced by veteran Toho Studios producer Tomoyuki Tanaka. Alongside producing the majority of Honda’s classic mammoth kaiju creature masterpiece productions, Tanaka also served as producer for Akira Kurosawa’s classic mammoth Japanese samurai drama masterpiece with Toshirô Mifune for Toho Studios, “Yojimbo” (1961). The North American dub of “King Kong Escapes” was produced for Universal Studios by veteran producer Arthur Rankin Jr. Rankin was known for working with veteran producer Jules Bass on their numerous classic mammoth “Animagic” stop-motion animation holiday television and feature film productions under the name of Rankin/Bass Productions (a.k.a. “Videocraft International”), including “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” (1964) and their classic mammoth Halloween/horror/comedy stop-motion Animagic feature film masterpiece released through Joseph E. Levine’s Embassy Pictures with the vocal characterizations of silver screen horror legend Boris Karloff and comedian legend Phyllis Diller, “Mad Monster Party?” (1967). The North American dub of “King Kong Escapes” (1967) was a joint collaboration between Toho Studios of Japan, Rankin/Bass Productions and Universal Studios.
The screenplay for Honda’s classic mammoth 1967 kaiju creature masterpiece was written by veteran Toho Studios screenwriter Takeshi Kimura, who received screen credit under the pseudonym of Kaoru Mabuchi. Kimura previously wrote the screenplay for Ishirô Honda’s classic mammoth Toho Studios sci-fi/mystery masterpiece, “The H-Man” (1958, released theatrically in the United States by Columbia Pictures). Mabuchi also wrote the screenplay for the latter Toho Studios classic mammoth kaiju creature masterpieces, including “Destroy All Monsters” (1968, under the pseudonym of Mabuchi), “Godzilla vs. Hedorah” (1971, Mabuchi), “Godzilla vs. Gigan” (1972) and “Godzilla vs. Megalon” (1973).
Fellow Svengoolie SvenPals and fellow aficionados of Toho Studios’ kaiju creature films will be jumping for joy for his big broadcast of a 1956 classic.
King Brothers/Distributors Corporation of America/DCA trailer for the North American release of “Rodan” (1956), which was originally released in Japan by Toho Studios.
1956 Toho Studios poster art for the Japanese theatrical release of “Rodan.”
The legendary Berwyn/Chicago monster/horror film host will showcase “Rodan” (1956, a.k.a. “Radon”), this Sat., Sept. 15 at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central on Me-TV!
The 1956 Toho Studios kaiju creature entry was directed by veteran film director Ishiro Honda. Two years before “Rodan,” Honda directed the landmark Toho Studios kaiju creature monster epic, “Godzilla”/Gojira” (1954, released in the United States two years later under the title of “Godzilla: King of the Monsters” in 1956 with additional sequences directed by Terry Morse for the North American cut, Morse’s sequences featured actor Raymond Burr of TV’s “Perry Mason” fame).
This will mark Sven’s second broadcast of “Rodan” (1956) on Me-TV. He previously showcased Honda’s 1956 kaiju creature feature back in April 2017*.
Who was in “Rodan” (1956)?
The actors who appeared in Ishiro Honda’s 1956 Toho Studios kaiju creature entry were Kenji Sahara (of “Godzilla”/”Gojira” fame as Shigeru Kawamura, Sahara was credited in the film as Kenji Sawara), Yumi Shirakawa (as Kiyo, this was one of Shirakawa’s earliest film roles), Akihiko Hirata (as biology Professor Kyuichiro Kashiwagi), veteran Toho Studios stunt performer Haruo Nakajima (of “Godzilla”/”Gojira” fame in the “Rodan”/”Radon” suit), Akio Kobori (as Officer Nishimura), Minosuke Yamada (as Osaki), Yoshifumi Tajima (as Izeki, reporter of Seibu Nippou), Yasuko Nakada (as a honeymooner), Kiyoharu Onaka (as a honeymooner, Onaka was credited as Kiyoharu Ohnaka in the film), a pre-“Star Trek” George Takei (in an uncredited role for the English dubbing of Akihiko Hirata’s character), veteran character actor Keye Luke (in an uncredited role for the English dubbing of Kenji Sahara’s character), veteran voice-over artist Paul Frees (in an uncredited role for the English dubbing of Akio Kobori’s character) and veteran voice-over artist Art Gilmore (in an uncredited role as the narrator).
Fellow Svengoolie SvenPals from coast-to-coast will be excited for the return of a 1965 Toho Studios cinematic kaiju monster creature entry from Japan.
Original Toho Studios trailer for the release of “Invasion of Astro-Monster” in Japan (1965, a.k.a. “Godzilla vs. Monster Zero,” which was released in the U.S. in 1970).
The legendary Berwyn/Chicago-based horror film host will showcase the return of “Godzilla vs. Monster Zero” (released in 1965 as “Invasion of Astro-Monster” in Japan, released in the United States in 1970), this Sat., March 31 at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central on Me-TV.
The 1965 entry in Toho Studios’ kaiju monster creature franchise was directed by veteran studio director Ishiro Honda, who specialized in most of Toho Studios’ classic kaiju creature films. Tomoyuki Tanaka served as producer of Honda’s 1965 cinematic kaiju creature film.
Who was in “Godzilla vs. Monster Zero”/”Invasion of Astro-Monster” (1965/1970)?
The players who appeared in Honda’s kaiju creature battle feature were Nick Adams (of “The Rebel” fame as Glenn Amer), Kumi Mizuno (as Miss Namikawa), Akira Takarada (as K. Fuji), Jun Tazaki (as Dr. Sakurai), Keiko Sawai (as Haruno Fuji), Yoshio Tsuchiya (as the “Planet X” controller), stunt performer Haruo Nakajima (in the “Godzilla”/”Gojira” suit), stunt performer Masaki Shinohara (as “Rodan”/”Radon”), Akira Kubo (as Tetsuo Teri), and Marvin Miller (of “The Millionaire” fame in an uncredited role for the English dubbing of Akira Takarada’s character).
Silver Screen Reflections 
