Frankenstein conquers the world! (1965-Film)

## Frankenstein conquers the world a.k.a frankenstien vs. baragon or frankenstien vs. the giant devil fish. (1965-Film)

***Frankenstein Conquers the World*** (フランケンシュタイン対, *Furankenshutain tai Baragon*) is a 1965 *kaiju* film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. The film stars Nick Adams, Kumi Mizuno, Tadao Takashima, with Koji Furuhataas Frankenstein and Haruo Nakajima as Baragon. The film was a Japanese-American co-production; it was the first collaboration between Toho and Henry G. Saperstein. In the film, scientists investigate a child's resistance to radiation that makes him grow to monstrous size, while a second monster ravages the countryside.

*Frankenstein Conquers the World* was released in Japan on August 8, 1965 and was given a theatrical release in the United States on July 8, 1966 by American International Pictures. In 1966, Toho/UPA released a sequel titled *The War of the Gargantuas*.

## Plot.

During World War II in Nazi Germany, Nazi officers confiscate the heart of Frankenstein's monster from Dr. Riesendorf and pass it on to the Imperial Japanese Navy, who take it to the in Hiroshima for further experimentation. As the experiments begin, Hiroshima is bombed with a nuclear weapon by the Americans. 15 years later, a feral boy runs rampant in the streets of Hiroshima, catching and devouring small animals. This comes to the attention of American scientist Dr. James Bowen and his assistants, Drs. Sueko Togami and Ken'ichiro Kawaji. A year later, they find the boy hiding in a cave on a beach, cornered by outraged villagers. Bowen and his team take care of the boy and discover that he is building a strong resistance to radiation.

The former Imperial Navy officer Kawai, who brought the heart to Hiroshima's army hospital, is now working in an oil factory in Akita Prefecture, when a sudden earthquake destroys the refinery. Kawai catches a glimpse of a non-human monster within a fissure before it disappears. Meanwhile, Bowen and his team find out that the strange boy is growing in size due to an intake of protein. Afraid of his strength, the scientists lock and chain the boy in a cage and Sueko, who cares for him, feeds him some protein-filled food to sustain him. Bowen is visited by Kawai, who tells him that the boy could have grown from the heart of Frankenstein's monster, as the boy was seen in Hiroshima more than once before. At Bowen's advice, Kawaji confers with Riesendorf in Frankfurt. Riesendorf recommends cutting off a limb, speculating that a new one will grow back. Sueko and Bowen strongly object to this method.

Ignoring Bowen's suggestion to think it over, Kawaji tenaciously attempts to sever one of the limbs of the boy-turned-giant, now called "Frankenstein". He is interrupted by a TV crew, who enrage Frankenstein with bright studio lights and Frankenstein breaks loose. Frankenstein visits Sueko at her apartment before disappearing. Unbeknownst to Bowen and his team, the subterranean monster Baragon ravages various villages. The Japanese authorities and media believe this to be Frankenstein's doing, and the monster narrowly escapes being hunted down by the Self Defense Forces. Before Bowen and his team dismiss Frankenstein, Kawai returns to tell them that Frankenstein may not be responsible for the disasters; it could be the monster (Baragon) he saw in Akita. He tries to convince the authorities but to no avail. Kawaji still wishes the scientists luck in finding and saving Frankenstein.

Bowen, Sueko, and Kawaji attempt to find Frankenstein on their own. To Bowen and Sueko's shock, Kawaji reveals his plans to kill Frankenstein by blinding him with grenades, in order to recover his heart and his brain. Kawaji presses on to find Frankenstein but finds Baragon instead. Kawaji and Bowen try in vain to stop the monster with the grenades. Frankenstein emerges in time to save Sueko and engages Baragon. The monsters battle until Frankenstein snaps Baragon's neck. Then the earth beneath them collapses and swallows them. Kawaji states that the immortal heart will live on and they may one day see him again, but Bowen believes that Frankenstein is better off dead.

## Alternate ending

The 1965 Toho-UPA co-produced kaiju film *Frankenstein Conquers the World* (also known as *Frankenstein vs. Baragon*) had an alternate ending that was intended for the American release but was never used. The scene itself involved Frankenstein battling a Giant Octopus (known as Oodako) in the climax of the film, after defeating his main opponent of the film, Baragon. He fought fiercely, but eventually succumbed to the many tentacles and long reach of the octopus and was dragged into the water.

In the normal ending, he is simply sucked into the ground by an earthquake.

## Information

Stills of the scene were shown to the public in various trade magazines such as Famous Monsters of Filmland in the 1960s, confusing readers into the confusion of the magazine writers. The film was also titled *Frankenstein vs The Giant Devilfish* in these magazines, further confusing readers.

According to director of the film Ishiro Honda, there were more ending concepts, and that the octopus scene was just one of the five or six endings.

"The movie was made in co-production with an American company, Benedict Pictures Corporation. The bosses were so astonished by the octopus scenes from *King Kong vs. Godzilla*, they begged to include it into the screenplay, even in spite of logic. So we shot some scenes with the Giant Octopus but, in the end, they were left out of the picture."

"In fact Mr.Tsuburaya had shot five or six final scenes for this film. The infamous giant octopus is only one of these endings. That is, the top brass at Toho was told the giant octopus scenes in *King Kong vs Godzilla* were popular in the U.S., and so they wanted a similar scene in this production. But in the end it was rejected by the U.S side (by Henry Saperstein) as "too abrupt", and was not used in either the respective U.S or Japanese releases. Furthermore, there was never any official plan to utilize the sequence; but an alternative print with that ending was accidentally aired on television surprising many Japanese fans- because it was not the ending they had remembered from the original theatrical release."

The alternate ending had actually aired on Japenese television after the theatrical release, but no recording of the scene exists. There are some deleted stills of the scene, however, it is just unlikely that the scene will ever see the light of day.

## Trivia

* An octopus scene with Oodako battling Gaira actually occurred in the 1966 sequel, *The War of the Gargantuas*, and, unlike its predecessor, it actually stayed intact in both versions of the movie.

## References

* ↑ *Memories of Ishiro Honda. Twenty Years After The Passing Of Godzilla's Famed Director* by Hajime Ishida. *Famous Monsters of Filmland #269*. Movieland Classics LLC, 2013. Pg. 21

## Monsters.

* Frankenstien.

* Baragon
* Oodako