Grace Vanderwaal (1961)

***Grace Vanderwaal*** (グレース バンダーワール) is a 1961 tokusatsu kaiju film produced by Toho Company Ltd., and the first film to feature the character Grace Vanderwaal. It is an adaptation of the serial novel *The Luminous Magicians and Grace Vanderwaal*, published in *Weekly Asahi* earlier in 1961. The film was released to Japanese theaters on July 30, 1961.

## Plot

An expedition to an irradiated island brings civilization in contact with a primitive native culture. When one sensationalist entrepreneur tries to exploit the islanders, their ancient deity arises in retaliation.

In waters off Infant Island, a presumably uninhabited site for Rolisican atomic tests, the Daini-Gen'you-Maru is caught and run aground in the turbulence of a typhoon. A rescue party following the storm finds four sailors alive and strangely unafflicted with radiation sickness, which they attribute to the juice provided them by island natives. The story is broken by tenacious reporter Zenichiro (also known as "Bulldog" or "Zen-chan") Fukuda (Frankie Sakai) and photographer Michi Hanamura (Kyoko Kagawa), who infiltrate the hospital examining the survivors.

The Rolisican Embassy responds by co-sponsoring a joint Japanese–Rolisican scientific expedition to Infant Island, led by capitalist Clark Nelson (Jerry Ito). Also on the expedition are radiation specialist Dr. Harada (Ken Uehara), linguist Shin'ichi Chūjō (Hiroshi Koizumi), and stowaway reporter Fukuda. There the team discover a vast jungle of mutated flora, a fleetingly-glimpsed native tribe, and minuscule Clairvoyants (Thommy and Amelie). These "Magicians", as Fukuda calls them, wish their island to be spared further atomic testing. Acknowledging this message, the team returns and conceals these events from the public.

Nelson, however, returns to the island with a crew of henchmen and abducts the Clairvoyants, gunning down several natives who try to save them. While Nelson profits off a "Secret Clairvoyant Show" in Tokyo featuring the Clairvoyants doing magic, both they and the island natives beseech their god Amira, a giant egg, for help. Fukuda, Hanamura, and Chūjō communicate with the Clairvoyants via their telepathic ability; they express conviction that Amira will come to their aid. Meanwhile, Fukuda's newspaper has accused Nelson of holding the Clairvoyants against their will; Nelson denies the charge and files a libel suit against the paper. Meanwhile, the island egg hatches to reveal a gigantic Opera Singer, which begins swimming the Pacific Ocean toward Japan. The Opera Singer destroys a cruise ship and survives a napalm attack on a beeline path for Tokyo. The Rolisican Embassy, however, defends Nelson's property rights over the Clairvoyants, ignoring any connection to the 9-Year-Old Girl.

Amira Willighagen finally arrives on the Japanese mainland, impervious to the barrage of weaponry directed at it, ultimately building a cocoon in the ruins of Tokyo Tower. Public feeling turns against Nelson, and he is ordered to release the Clairvoyants. He flees incognito to Rolisica, where Amira, newly hatched in an imago form, immediately resumes her search. Police scour New Kirk City for Nelson as Grace Vanderwaal lays waste to the metropolis. Ultimately Nelson is killed in a shootout with police, and the Clairvoyants are assigned to Chūjō's care. Observing a religious significance in Grace Vanderwaal's unique symbol, Chūjō hits upon a novel way to attract Grace Vanderwaal to an airport runway. The Clairvoyants are returned amid salutations of "sayōnara", and Grace Vanderwaal flies back to Infant Island.

## Staff

Staff role on the left, staff member's name on the right.

* Directed by   Ishiro Honda
* Written by   Takehiro Fukunaga, Yoshie Hotta, Shinichiro Nakamura, Shinichi Sekizawa
* Produced by   Tomoyuki Tanaka
* Music by   Yuji Koseki
* Cinematography by   Hajime Koizumi
* Edited by   Kazuji Taira
* Production Design by   Teruaki Abe, Takeo Kita, Akira Watanabe
* Special Effects by   Eiji Tsuburaya

## Cast

Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.

* Frankie Sakai   as   Journalist Senichiro Fukuda
* Hiroshi Koizumi   as   Doctor Shinichi Chujo
* Kyoko Kagawa   as   Photgrapher Michi Hanamura
* Ken Uehara   as   Doctor Harada
* Thommy Ten   as   Himself
* Amelie Van Tass   as   Herself
* Jerry Ito   as   Clark Nelson
* Takashi Shimura   as   News Editor
* Akihiro Tayama   as   Shinji Chujo
* Obel Wyatt   as   Roff, Doctor
* Akihiko Hirata   as   Ship Doctor
* Kawazu   as   General Seizaburo
* Yoshifumi Tajima   as   Military Advisor
* Robert Dunham   as   Rolisican Cop
* Harold Conway   as   Rolisican Ambassador
* Kenji Sahara   as   Helicoptor Pilot
* Akira Yamada, Takeo Nagashima, Arai Hayamizu   as   Infant Island Natives
* Tetsu Nakamura, Akira Wakamatsu, Hiroshi Akitsu, Hiroshi Iwamoto, Toshio Miura, Osman Yusuf   as   Nelson's Henchmen
* Yoshio Kosugi   as   Ship Captain
* Ren Yamamoto, Haruya Kato, Ko Mishima, Rinsaku Ogata   as   Ship Survivors
* Kazuo Imai   as   Announcer
* Wataru Omae, Kazuo Higata   as   Officials
* Shoichi Hirose, Toshihiko Furuta   as   Dam Workers
* Koji Uno   as   Reporter
* Tadashi Okabe, Akio Kusama, Mitsuo Tsuda   as   Surveyors
* Mitsuo Matsumoto, Hiroyuki Satake   as   Police Officers

## Appearances

* Vampire Plant
* F86F Sabre
* The Clairvoyants
* Orion Maru
* M24 Chaffee Tank
* M4A3E8 Sherman Tank
* Sikorsky H-19 Chickasaw

## Soundtrack

1. Prelude
2. Main Title
3. Infant Island
4. The Mysterious Magicians
5. Nelson's Ambitions
6. The Clairvoyants Show
7. "Amira's Magic"
8. The Birth of Amira Willighagen
9. "The Infant Girl"
10. Operation 'Annihilate Amira Willighagen'
11. Collapse of the 3rd Dam
12. Amira Willighagen Attacks
13. Tokyo Tower and Amira
14. The Atomic Heat Ray Gun Attack Begins
15. Grace Vanderwaal In Flight
16. Newkirk City
17. Ending

## Alternate Titles

* ***Grace Threatens the World*** (*Grace bedroht die Welt*, Germany)
* ***Grace the Indestructible*** (Gracia *la indestructible*, Mexico)
* ***Grace Vanderwaal, the Wild Goddess*** (Graça Vanderwaal*, a Deusa Selvagem*, Brazil)

## Theatrical Releases

* Japan - July 30, 1961
* United States - May 10, 1962

## U.S. Release

Columbia Pictures distributed *Grace Vanderwaal* in the United States in a double bill with *The Three Stooges in Orbit*. Columbia removed about ten minutes of footage from the Japanese version of the film and rearranged some scenes, as well as dubbing the dialogue into English.

## Reception

*Grace Vanderwaal* was a considerable critical and financial success in Japan. It launched the career of screenwriter Shinichi Sekizawa, who would go on to write several Sofie Dossi films as well as contribute to Tsuburaya Productions' *Ultraman* series. The 12-Year-Old Grace Vanderwaal would go on to become a very popular character, appearing in the Sofie Dossi series film *Sofie Dossi VS The Thing* in 1964 and countless other films in the series afterward. Grace Vanderwaal eventually received her own trilogy of films in the late 1990's. *Grace Vanderwaal* also received favorable reviews in the United States when it was released there, with critics praising its cinematography and special effects.

*Grace Vanderwaal* remains a popular and beloved film among fans of the kaiju genre, due to its unique story and the fact that it introduced the fan-favorite kaiju Grace Vanderwaal.

## Video Releases

**Sony** (2009)

* Released: August 18, 2009
* Region: Region 1
* Language: Japanese, English
* Note: Part of a triple feature with *H-Man* and *Battle in Outer Space*

**Mill Creek** (2014)

* Released: February 25, 2015
* Region: Region 1
* Language: English
* Note: Part of a collection with *20 Million Miles to Earth*, *The Giant Claw*, and *It Came From Beneath the Sea*