Bride of Godzilla?
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- This page is about the unfilmed screenplay. For the titular robot, see Bride of Godzilla. For the song, see "Bride of Godzilla" (song).
Bride of Godzilla? (ゴジラの花嫁？ Gojira no Hanayome?) is an unfilmed Godzilla screenplay submitted by actor Hideo Unagami to Toho producer Tomoyuki Tanaka in 1955.
Plot
At the Godzilla Countermeasures Center in Tokyo, Dr. Zenji Shida advances the idea that Godzilla and Anguirus lived in a hollow earth cavern before emerging to menace Japan. In the event of Godzilla's unthawing after the events of Godzilla Raids Again, he has invented a giant humanoid robot, the Bride of Godzilla, to combat him. He also showcases Eve, a human-sized robot with advanced A.I.
An enormous blood-sucking flea menaces a village outside Kyushu. Zenji's brother Yoshi, in charge of the mining company there, leads a team to kill it. They bring in Dr. Yanai, a former colleague of Dr. Shida's to examine his remains. A reporter startles Yanai by pointing out that Eve closely resembles his wife Riko, who chose him over Zenji years ago. Yanai, a Christian, believes that Zenji is tampering in God's domain with his creations. Riko visits Zenji's laboratory after hearing the news, and is stunned by the sight of Eve and a "foster daughter" robot named Riko, though she eventually has an amiable meeting with the latter. Back in Kyushu, miners discover an underground cavern just as Zenji predicted, containing a second Anguirus, a giant bat, and a family of mermaids. They flee as Godzilla bursts out of a lake and tell Yoshi their story. He agrees to call in Zenji, but an earthquake suddenly seals the entrance to the cavern. Following a mermaid sighting, they realize there is a second, underwater entrance. After watching the mermaid family battle a giant octopus, the robot Riko follows them home and charms them with a dance. She finds still more creatures in the cavern: a giant Archaeopteryx and chameleon. Though she tries to befriend him too, Godzilla swings at the cliff she's standing on, causing her to fall into the water below. The mother mermaid returns her to Zenji, with a JSDF diver rescuing her and Riko from a sea serpent along the way.
With Godzilla's return to Japan imminent, Zenji downloads Riko's memories into the Bride of Godzilla. The machine's unclothed body resembles that of the human Riko's, while she possesses the machine Riko's face. The monster attacks Wakamatsu Port, along with Anguirus and the chameleon, while the Archaeopteryx rises out of the mine. Godzilla destroys a church Yanai was hiding inside, killing him, though Riko survives. As a power plant charges up the Bride of Godzilla, the JSDF dispatches fighter jets against the monsters. They manage to kill the chameleon, but are no match for Godzilla and the Archaeopteryx. The Bride of Godzilla activates and promptly kills Anguirus by tearing out his throat, then impressing Godzilla by shrugging off his atomic breath. After she breaks the Archaeopteryx's neck, he sets it on fire in a display of affection. Shida announces that a wedding of sorts is imminent, as "it is the foreplay of love to be beaten." Monster and robot continue battling underwater, with Godzilla's ray creating another entrance to his subterranean home. They enter the cavern and embrace before the Bride detonates a hydrogen bomb Zenji planted inside her.
Zenji tries to make amends with the widowed Riko, but she rejects him again. As the mermaid family surfaces, they can only watch as a frightened soldier shoots the child.
Appearances
Monsters
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Weapons, vehicles and races
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History
Toho actor Hideo Unagami submitted Bride of Godzilla? to producer Tomoyuki Tanaka in 1955, following the release of Godzilla Raids Again. Though the script was unsolicited, Tanaka was sufficiently intrigued to order two more drafts, the last of which was dated June 17, 1955.[1] In The Big Book of Japanese Giant Monster Movies: The Lost Films: Mutated Edition, John LeMay theorized that the hollow-earth setting, underwater scenes, and plans for color photography made the story too expensive to film. He also notes that special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya, a Roman Catholic, likely would have objected to Dr. Yanai's fate, which would have also complicated any plans to release the film in the United States. The next film in the Godzilla series, King Kong vs. Godzilla, would not be released until 1962.
Elements of Bride of Godzilla? turned up in 1956's Rodan: a giant insect running amok in a mining village before being overshadowed by a winged prehistoric reptile who emerges from underground and battles fighter jets. Though Unagami appeared in the film, he did not receive a story credit. Soon after, he wrote the original story which inspired The H-Man, though he passed away before filming started.
In 1978, with the Godzilla series on hiatus, Tomoyuki Tanaka asked screenwriter Hideichi Nagahara to rewrite Bride of Godzilla? He completed three drafts, retaining the giant flea, which became Shockirus in The Return of Godzilla. In the rewrites the plot is changed drastically. The titular robotic Bride was changed to look like a female of Godzilla's species in the first draft and then changed into an actual female of Godzilla's species in the second draft, abandoning the robot concept all together. All other monsters sans the aforementioned Shockirus were completely removed in the first two drafts, however Godzilla's son briefly appears in the third draft. The mermaids continued to appear across the drafts, but to a diminished degree compared to the 1955 treatment. Instead of a hollow earth concept, the setting is instead moved to a remote island with a hollow cavity. Nagahara was not satisfied with the attempts, but did recognize some potential in several ideas such as Godzilla returning in a destructive capacity and mutated parasites. These were reworked into the 1977-1978 story pitch, Godzilla, King of the Monsters, which served as an influence of what became The Return of Godzilla.[2]
Trivia
- In 2020, Daphne Sharp adapted Bride of Godzilla? for the third episode of the fan audio drama series Godzilla Unmade.[3]
References
This is a list of references for Bride of Godzilla?. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]
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Comments
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