Mothra (1961)
Today I will be reviewing the original Mothra from 1961, a classic monster movie that introduces us to one of the most unique creatures seen on film. I've always had a love-hate thing going with the giant mutant moth Mothra, and I can't quite decide if I like her, or want her to get stomped and mangled by Godzilla. I'm in the minority if I dislike her, as Mothra has become one of the most popular monsters in Toho's zoo, especially in the last two decades and especially in Japan where they think a moth makes a good monster. Personally, I like my monsters with claws and teeth and covered with lots of sharp pointy things all over. A cute fuzzy moth just doesn't do it for me, but that's just my own taste.
Mothra was released in Japan on July 30, 1961, and was first shown in America the following year by Columbia Pictures, who cut a few bits out and added a few bits in but didn't really change it that much. For this review, I will be using a 1988 Goodtimes Home Video VHS tape of the 91-minute Americanized print. The film quality is absolutely terrible, with badly washed-out color, looking 1930s vintage throughout most of the early scenes, and overly dark and murky throughout. I'm sure the DVD version is much better, but I don't have access to that. There are no subtitles, but the literature for this movie is extensive so that wasn't a problem.
All the regular production staff from Toho were on this one: director Ishiro Honda, producer Tomoyuki Tanaka, FX wizard Eiji Tsuburaya and writer Shinichi Sekizawa. As such, the production values are on par with other Toho films of the era, which is to say generally top-notch for the genre.
An important note to begin with: In this movie, the bad guys are from the fictional country of "Rolisica". Despite this funky name, every single internal reference points to Rolisica being the big bad United States of America. Therefore, for the purposes of this review, I will refer to it as the United States. Purists be damned!
And now on to our film...
A quick word on the dubbing. Unlike most Toho films, which were dubbed with Australian or British voice actors, Mothra was dubbed with mostly Japanese actors speaking heavily accented English. The result is an authentic sound about the voices of the Japanese, who actually sound Japanese. Many a monster movie has been ruined by characters speaking in obvious Australian-accented English. The exceptions in this movie are the American characters, whose voices are dubbed by clearly American actors.
I should also say here that Mothra exists in the same timeline as Godzilla. I think. While any other monsters are not explicitly mentioned in this movie, the appearance of Mothra does not elicit as much shock and awe as one would expect if Mothra was the first monster Japan (or the world) had seen. Of course, Mothra officially entered the Godzilla timeline in 1964's Godzilla versus Mothra I, and in that movie people definitely knew about Mothra and her island. Therefore, we can assume that in Mothra's timeline, Godzilla was around, but not recently. Indeed, Godzilla last appeared six years ago in 1955's Godzilla Raids Again, so I'm going to assume that people in this timeline knew about other monsters, but just failed to mention them. [Editor Pam: The human spirit is very resilient, and I suppose that next to a giant radioactive fire-breathing whatever-Godzilla-is, a big moth doesn't look so bad.]
Ok, the opening credits are in English, with some blaring horn set playing over them. Of note is that Columbia Pictures gets top billing but Toho Films does not appear anywhere in the opening credits. The Toho logo does appear in the closing credits, but that seems insulting to the Japanese company that did 99% of the film.
We open in the teeth of a South Seas typhoon, placed explicitly in the Caroline Islands. A container ship named the Kinu Maru is deep in the storm, being tossed around by the ferocious winds and raging waves. The crew sees that they have been pushed near "Beiru Island", which they know is an atomic bomb test site. I should note that in all future Mothra movies, Beiru Island is called "Infant Island". The change in names is a mystery, but there's nothing to suggest that they are two separate islands. For this review, because they use it in this movie, I will go with "Beiru Island".
Beiru Island.
Back to the film. The atomic testing site is the least of the Kinu Maru's worries as suddenly she's driven aground on a reef. Taking water, the ship begins to settle, the captain orders abandon ship, and the men take to lifeboats. In the miserable weather, it will be a miracle if any of them survive. And indeed, we later see that only four men will come back alive.
Some time, perhaps days after the storm passes through the area, a search team is sent out to look for survivors from the ship. We see a helicopter flying around Beiru Island, looking for survivors while keeping high enough to avoid the lingering radiation. The chopper is an American-built Bell 47, tail coded JA7426 and it came from a Japanese Navy ship named the Satsuma. The ship appears to be a former US Navy destroyer escort, one of many loaned to Japan following the war, though I've not been able to track it down any further. The helicopter pilot, by the way, is played by none other than Kenji Sahara, the veteran Toho actor making a cameo appearance here.
Pilot Sahara.
Suddenly, they spy four men on the rocky shore, waving frantically to them. These are the four ship survivors. A launch from the Satsuma is sent for them and they are brought back to safety. Now, logic would say that men exposed to that much radiation would be heavily contaminated and terminally ill, but these men are physically healthy.
Back in Japan, they are taken to the "National Sythesis Nucleus Center" (really, that's what it says on the sign outside the building). There they are examined by a bunch of scientists who are at a loss to explain their survival. The sailors provide the answer themselves: the islanders that rescued them from the sea gave them a special juice to drink. This juice must have somehow kept them safe from the radiation.
This admission sets the scientists abuzz. The amazing anti-radiation juice is forgotten in the excitement about the possibility of people living on an island that has been A-bombed by the Americans. The Japanese press leaps on the story and runs with it.
The scientists talk with the survivors.
As the media circus develops, we meet our two reporter heroes, a newspaper reporter and his photographer. The reporter is named Senichiro Fukuda, played by 32-year old Frankie Sakai, a popular comedic actor known for funny roles in much lighter movies than Mothra. He reminds me of a Chris Farley-type, but from a different era of comedy. In this movie, his nickname is "Bulldog", because "once he gets a hold of a story he never lets go". BTW, in the Japanese version, his nickname was "Snapping Turtle". I'm not sure why the American editors changed it to "Bulldog".
Bulldog.
Bulldog's photographer is a young woman named Michi Hanamura, played by 30-year old Kyoko Kagawa, who was just seen as Princess Miyazu in 1959's epic The Birth of Japan. She would go on to have a stellar movie career, most notably with famed director Akira Kurosawa. I noticed her in 1957's The Lower Depths, playing Toshiro Mafune's love interest, where she looked simply delightful. She will be this film's Designated Hottie, a strong, self-confident woman, fully capable of doing her job as well as any man and still look smashing doing it. She once says that she doesn't believe anything that she "can't see through her lens", a mantra that will be challenged early and often. The horrid film quality and her very conservative fashion style don't allow me to give a good picture of her beauty, but she has a full, expressive face and a curvy figure.
Michi!
We also meet our requisite scientist hero. He's an ethnologist and linguist (really!) named Professor Shinichi Chujo, I will just call him "Professor Smartyhead" for this review. Together with the reporters, Professor Smartyhead will be the voice of reason and intelligence as the monster mayhem starts up.
Professor Smartyhead.
Ok, the scientific community organizes an expedition to go and investigate the island and the mysterious natives. The Americans claim that they checked before they started bombing it and there was no one living there, so they are just as surprised as anyone. The American businessman Clark Nelson is named the head of the team, over the objections of the ranking Japanese scientists.
Nelson is played by Jerry Ito, an American actor living in Japan. Curiously, Ito could not speak Japanese, and his lines were dubbed in the Japanese version as well as the American version. Physically, he resembles a young Harry Connick, Jr., but the voice talent that dubs his voice is channeling a creepy Bela Lugosi here. You will learn to hate Nelson as soon as he shows up on the screen, he's an oily, slimy, smarmy business mogul who has no concern for anything but money and feeding his own ego. If this is really what Japanese thought of Americans in 1961, then it's a sad indictment. In truth, there were probably a lot of greedy, selfish American capitalists in Japan at the time, still taking advantage of America's one-sided postwar relationship with Japan.
Nelson.
Almost immediately, Nelson begins to assert his presumed authority. He first bans all reporters from the trip, ostensibly because they would just get in the way. He then orders that all scientific observations and experiments conducted on the island must be cleared with him before being written up. The scientists are understandably upset and the press begins to wonder what Nelson might be trying to hide.
But the mission goes on. The team is to be transported to the island by a Japanese Navy ship. I think this is a different one than the Satsuma, as this one has "PC-104" on the hull in English and looks much smaller. At the docks, the crowd seeing the ship off is festive and ecstatic (are scientific missions usually the cause of such public spectacles?). As the ship leaves the quays, we see that Bulldog has slipped aboard, though how he did it is a mystery. Michi looks for him in the crowd but he's gone.
The PC-104.
We cut to Nelson in his cabin a while later. He hears a noise and pulls a snub-nosed automatic pistol from a drawer. He's surprised to find Bulldog sniffing around, posing as a cabin steward. Nelson finds his press credentials on him, however, and the jig is up. Nelson doesn't toss him off the ship, however, maybe because he doesn't want any bad publicity. So he makes Bulldog a member of the expedition once he promises not to do any "reportering". Bulldog is assigned as a guard.
During the long trip, the Japanese begin to bristle at Nelson's heavy-handed orders and seemingly endless megalomania. Professor Smartyhead is the most vocal, even confronting Nelson face-to-face once and admirably not backing down. However, Nelson holds all the cards and the Japanese are forced to accede to most of his demands.
Arriving at the island, the men put on radiation suits with large clear faceplates. They carry a number of scientific machines and several of them (including Bulldog) carry M-14 carbines. In general, the Japanese scientists keep to themselves, and Nelson and his American henchmen operate independently.
The suited team.
Most improbably, they find that the center of the island is covered with a lush thick tropical jungle! Clearly, something is counteracting the effects of the hard-dose radiation, which should have made the island sterile.
Professor Smartyhead wanders off a bit, looking for something in a cave. Soon he's entangled in a man-eating vine with dangling tentacles that comes to life and starts to choke him! Some freaky vampire plant, maybe mutated by the radiation? In the struggle, his safety alarm is triggered, sending out a high-pitched siren.
The siren attracts two tiny girls, natives to the island and only a foot tall. The editing here is a little murky, but it seems that the girls get the killer plant to lay off Professor Smartyhead. He then passes out. The rest of the men also hear the siren and come running, finding Professor Smartyhead unconscious but mostly unhurt.
Professor Smartyhead is taken back aboard the ship and treated in the sick bay. When he wakes, he tells them all of the killer plant and the two tiny girls. At first they think he's delusional, but he manages to convince them of his sanity enough to get them to go back to the island to look for the girls.
The Professor in the sickbay.
And so the expedition returns, this time sounding their sirens on purpose to attract the girls. It works and they discover that Professor Smartyhead was telling the truth. These 12-inch tall girls will prove to be the "Shobijin", the Priestesses of Mothra, and little smoking' hotties. The twin girls are played by the sisters Emi and Yumi Ito, both just 20-years old. These girls formed the insanely popular singing duo "The Peanuts", who traveled the world singing Japanese pop tunes and covering such American standards as "Proud Mary" and several Paul Anka tunes. In 1959, they had hit number one on the Japanese pop charts with their debut album, so they would have been instantly recognizable to audiences in 1961. They would reprise their role as the Mothra Fairies in two more movies after this one. In keeping with a tradition I established years ago, I will refer to them as "Mary-Kate and Ashley" for the remainder of this review.
Mary-Kate and Ashley.
The Japanese scientists are duly impressed with the girls, and chatter amongst themselves about what to do now. Nelson and the Americans, being Americans, of course just grab them and pick them up. This effect is realized by the use of dolls and fast editing cuts and is surprisingly well done. Nelson even pulls a gun on Bulldog when he attempts to intervene.
As the girls are being rough-handled, suddenly the trees part and the group is surrounded by a multitude of half-naked, full-sized native islanders. These are your typical South Seas natives, with loincloths and well-tanned bodies, and they beat threateningly on rocks as they approach (screenwriter Sekizawa spent much of WWII starving on isolated atolls in the South Pacific, and his wartime experiences with natives seem to show up in all his movies). The Americans, being Americans, want to shoot their way out, but the Japanese override that and order them to lower their guns. Perhaps feeling a bit unsure for the moment, Nelson relents and orders his men to stand down. He releases Mary-Kate and Ashley, who run off into the jungle.
The natives.
The natives were clearly here just to protect the girls, and as soon as they are released the situation settles down. The expedition retreats to the shore without further incident. I guess this was the last trip to the island, as the ship now leaves for Japan. Hmmm...they didn't do what they intended to do, did they? They were here to check on the natives and figure out why and how they were here.
So two questions will remain unanswered here. One, who are these islanders and where did they come from? From the looks of their society and infrastructure, they have clearly been on this island for some time, so we have to assume that the Americans lied when they said they checked before they bombed it. We're never given any deeper background to this society, where they came from, how long they have been here, anything. And two, we never get any more dialogue about the magical properties of the anti-radiation juice. Certainly this juice would be worth a fortune, and we wonder why Nelson never seeks to exploit it, as he logically should. [Editor Pam: "Worth a fortune" is putting it mildly, and "magical" is the correct adjective. There is unquestionably no such juice in our timeline. This really makes me wonder why Nelson is there, because I assumed that the reason he connived his way into the expedition was to find out if the natives had something to protect themselves against radiation, and if so, could he make money from it.]
So the expedition returns to Japan amongst much fanfare. The Japanese and the Americans then go their separate ways. Apparently, all parties made an oral agreement not to talk about the two little girls, all agree that they are best left on the island and unknown to a world that would probably mess with them.
In an interlude, Bulldog and Professor Smartyhead discuss Nelson and his motivations. Bulldog is certain that the American is an "art thief", and might sneak back and try and raid Beiru Island's native villages. Professor Smartyhead admits that when he was in the cave before the vampire plant attacked him, he found some inscriptions. He has a copy of them and he shows his research to Bulldog. Professor Smartyhead is certain that the language is related to Polynesian and he can read some of it. Of note is a repeated word: "Mothra"!
Back at his newspaper, Bulldog is confronted by his editor, who wants to know why Bulldog won't file a story on the natives or the girls. Bulldog is conflicted by his reporter instincts and his deep feelings for the safety of the natives. The editor is not so sympathetic, asking, "Are you a reporter or a social worker?" To which Bulldog sighs and replies, "In this case, I don't know." The editor is played by 56-year old Takashi Shimura, one of the greatest actors of the century, of any nation. By 1961, he was already a recognizable face, having played the noble Doctor Yamane in the original Godzilla from 1954 and numerous prime roles in Kurosawa Samurai epics.
The editor.
You just know that Nelson isn't going to let the golden financial opportunity that the girls present just pass him by. And indeed, we now cut back out to Beiru Island, where we see Nelson and three of his henchmen are back. Clearly, this is a secret operation, financed and organized by Nelson himself, with neither government aware of what he's doing. They are wearing radiation suits and carrying Thompson submachineguns, and clearly mean business. Mary-Kate and Ashley are captured after a short chase, having been lured by the sirens as before.
Their attempt to leave the area with the girls is opposed by the natives again. Unlike last time, there's no one to urge restraint and the Americans just shoot their way out of the area. The natives advance without fear in the face of a hail of .45 slugs, and at least 14 natives are killed. The deaths are totally bloodless, in keeping with conventions of film decency in 1961 Japan.
Nelson and his tommygun.
One old native, wounded by the gunfire, crawls back to an ornate stone altar. He yells, "Mothra!" as he expires. Above him, he ground begins to shake and roar, and a rockslide reveals a large bluish egg! This will prove to contain a Mothra larva.
Some time later, back in Tokyo, Nelson has organized a glitzy stage show centered around the girls. The show is called "The Secret Fairies Show" and involves dancing girls and elaborate sets and is really quite well done. Mary-Kate and Ashley seem to not mind being kidnapped so much, in fact they continue to sing their little songs and smile sweetly despite the circumstances. They are aware, of course, that they just need to bide their time because something will come to rescue them soon. And we all know what that certain something will be...
The Twins in their show.
Bulldog, Michi, Professor Smartyhead and Smartyhead's little annoying brother Jinji all go to see the show, and are duly impressed by the girls' singing ability. After the show, they go backstage to confront Nelson, accusing him of enslaving the girls against their will. Nelson replies that since the girls won't speak to him, he has to infer by their happy singing that they don't mind being here in Tokyo. This is dicey wordplay and certainly wouldn't hold up in any decent court.
In a strange turn of attitude, Nelson then allows them to go in to see the girls alone, perhaps to give the appearance of being gracious. He first has Michi leave all her cameras behind, but they don't know about her Secret Spy Camera. She indeed takes the girls' photo on the sly, but we never get to see the print of this or learn if it had any effect on public opinion so it was a wasted plot point.
In with the girls, the humans show them that they are friends and will try and help them. The girls say that they are all communicating via "telepathy", which allows them to understand each other despite the language barrier. This is nifty but is never mentioned again in any other Mothra movie (I always just assumed that Mary-Kate and Ashley spoke Japanese). As with other movies, they generally speak in unison, which can get real annoying.
Cute, but annoying.
Mary-Kate and Ashley warn them that Mothra is coming to save them. They are linked with the monster telepathically and she's guided to them this way. The girls are clearly powerless to stop Mothra from coming, and they say that they "will return to our island and that's good. The part that makes us unhappy is you could be..." and they pause ominously before continuing, "and there isn't anything you can do to stop her."
And indeed there's monster trouble brewing. We cut back to Beiru Island where we see the natives are having a non-stop festival of singing and dancing in honor of Mothra. They sing and play music and dance about, calling to the giant egg to open up and send forth Mothra to save the two girls. The dance numbers are elaborate and feature a high level of choreography. Toho has a thing with dance numbers in its movies, and the one here is a gem.
With a flash of multi-colored light and a resounding crash, the egg cracks! Out comes Mothra, here just in larva stage. Yes, it looks just like a giant caterpillar larva, which is really what she is. The beast immediately starts swimming north towards Japan, seemingly doing the breaststroke.
Mothra emerging!
Along the way, Mothra sinks the ocean liner SS Orion, by ramming into the ship. Back in Tokyo, our heroes again confront Nelson, this time with the news of the sunken liner and the fast-approaching monster. Nelson will not budge, and starts threatening to bring in the American embassy on his side. Man, this movie hates America.
Bulldog and Professor Smartyhead decide to go talk to the girls again. To do this, they bullrush the guards around the girls' room. Bulldog proves himself to be a Super Ninja Killer Reporter and he disables the guards with some lame hand-to-hand-fat-guy-fu. Professor Smartyhead begs the girls to turn back Mothra. Mary-Kate and Ashley would love to help, but, again, the truth is they are powerless to stop Mothra from coming to save them.
I'd do them, if I were six-inches tall...
A Japanese F-86F Sabre on patrol spots the swimming Mothra and radios word. Alerted to her approach, the Japanese Military makes plans to try and stop her. Apparently, the rest of the world is content to stand back and let Japan face the monster alone. This is fairly common in Japanese monster movies, but it doesn't say much for international relations.
Meanwhile, the American embassy throws its full diplomatic weight behind Nelson. They claim that they must protect the property rights of its citizens abroad. Wow, America really looks like a big bully in this movie.
Once sighted, Mothra is aggressively attacked by the Japanese Air Force. First up is an attack by a four-plane flight of twin-engine bombers. It's interesting to note that in 1961, Japan was still forbidden to have offensive attack planes. These are clearly transport planes modified to act as bombers, they look like C-46 Commandoes. Unfazed by these attacks, Mothra continues swimming along.
C-46 bomber.
Next up is an attack by a flight of single-engined F-86F Sabre jet fighters. The range of these planes is relatively short, so either Mothra is quite close to Japan at this time, or the jets are operating from island airbases south of the Home Islands. These attacks also fail, and Mothra continues to surge north towards Tokyo.
Freaked, the scientists build a box made of a special amber-colored translucent glass-like substance that can supposedly block radio and telepathy waves. They give this to Nelson, hoping he will see the wisdom of using the box on the girls to save Tokyo from Mothra's wrath. They tell Nelson that they are worried about "the innocent ones, the ones who will suffer for your selfish ways." Nelson reluctantly agrees to use the box.
By now, Mothra has reached Japan. Now, this next part is kinda confusing, but it seems that Mothra first comes upstream a river somewhere near Tokyo. A large dam begins to crumble from Mothra's displacement of the water, I think. However it happens, the dam starts to fall apart as people still stream across, running for safety. Our heroes are here, the reporters coming to check on the breaking news. In a nail-biting scene, Bulldog rushes to save a baby from the rushing waters.
Waah!
Meanwhile, the American embassy has flip-flopped. They now say, to "preserve the traditional relationship between their two nations", that Nelson has to give the two girls back to the islanders. We just know that Nelson isn't going to follow through with that order, don't we?
Back in Tokyo, we see that Professor Smartyhead's annoying kid brother Jinji has gone all Junior James Bond on us. He sneaks past the guards and gains entrance to Mary-Kate and Ashley's room. There he tries to spirit the girls out of the building. He's caught, however, and tied up by Nelson and his henchmen. Professor Smartyhead and Bulldog rush to save Jinji and find him hogtied and Nelson and the girls missing. I'm really not sure the point of this sidebar with the kid. Mothra is not really a kid's movie at all, but perhaps they felt they had to have some sort of hook to draw in the younger viewers.
Oh, and an obscure book tipped me to a quick shot in the above sequence where it's said that Mary-Kate and Ashley can been seen naked (!!!) through the amber glass as Jinji tries to rescue them. So I checked again, and yes indeed, it's clear that the girls have their kimono tops down off their chests and they slide them back on just as Jinji raises the glass wall. Whoa, I don't know what to think about that. What were they doing in the box?
You can't see it, but they're nekkid in there!
No time to worry about my kinky Asian girl lesbian fantasies right now, because Mothra is now in the outskirts of Tokyo! The dialogue is unclear, but I believe most of the action here takes place in the Shibuya District. The Air Force continues to attack her, even in the built-up urban areas. We see a large number of jet fighters, mostly F-86F Sabres but also a number of F-86D Dog Sabres (easily identified by their distinctive overhanging nose), all a well-done mix of stock footage and model work. These air attacks are truly wonderful, with numerous camera angles and quick cuts. These sequences were photographed by Sadamasa Arikawa and show originality in set-up and lighting that was not seen in earlier monster movies. Even twenty or thirty years later, Toho would be hard pressed to make an air attack on a monster look this good.
Sabres attacking!
The Japanese Army quickly forms a defensive line in the Shibuya District. We see a mix of M4A3E8 Sherman tanks and futuristic Missile Tanks, all plastic models of less-than-stellar quality. The Shermans all have large three-digit numbers on their turrets. Many of the numbers are the same as the Shermans in 1957's Earth Defense Force, suggesting that Toho reused the same prop models from that movie. The Missile Tanks appear to be based on the chassis of the M-24 Chaffee light tank, with the turret removed and a twin-missile carousel mounted on top.
Tanks firing!
As terrified citizens flee in droves, the Army unloads a furious barrage on Mothra, who keeps charging through. The firepower seems to have no effect on the monster, despite dozens of hits. As Mothra breaks through the first line, the tanks retreat.
Now fully into the downtown area of the city, Mothra smashes any building in her path, crushing and grinding all beneath her massive body weight. A large clock in the background tells us that it is 7:55pm when Mothra is raging through the area. Perhaps with a subtle anti-western poke, Mothra lovingly squashes a Birelys billboard and a Mobil Gas gasoline station, the camera lingering on the English language signs for a few seconds too long not to be deliberate.
The Army regroups around the area of the Tokyo Tower and reforms the line. The Tokyo Tower is a famous Japanese landmark and looks just like a lighter version of France's Eiffel Tower. It's in the Minato District downtown and was just completed in 1958, so audiences would have instantly recognized it.
Mothra barges up to the base of the tower, again wading through a torrent of shell and missile fire. Adding to the attack are a number of jeep-mounted tube weapons that look like recoilless rifles with big finned grenades on the ends. These have as little effect as the other weapons but do look damn cool.
Mothra reaches the Tower and slithers up the side, her weight breaking off the top half of the Tower. Mothra then shows her first offensive weapon, as a Japanese Army helicopter gets too close. The monster spits out a stream of silk (she's a caterpillar, after all) that fouls the rotors, causing the helicopter to crash in a burst of flame. Mothra then begins to spin a cocoon around herself, anchoring it to the base of the Tower. Curiously, Mothra's cocoon comes out her mouth, while a real-world caterpillar's cocoon comes out her butt. The Army is powerless to stop this and indeed just stands and watches.
Mothra's cocoon.
As to why Mothra chose here and now to spin a cocoon we are left to guess. Since Mary-Kate and Ashley are in their special box at the moment, Mothra is at a loss to find them. Perhaps Mothra was just following the last signal she had, and when that dried up, she just decided to go into cocoon mode. Perhaps she was injured by all the firepower tossed at her and decided to cocoon in an attempt to heal her wounds.
Around Mothra, Tokyo burns brightly and citizens flee. Constructed mostly of wood, the city is engulfed in flames. We see a Toho trademark red firetruck race by, siren wailing. In virtually every Toho monster movie, we get a red firetruck and it has become a game for me to try and find it. I should also note that in several shots of the cocoon at night, there is silence except for the strange barking of numerous dogs. This is a neat effect and perhaps harkens back to survivor reports of earthquakes where afterwards the silence was only broke by animals.
Meanwhile, Nelson his henchmen are on the run, carrying the girls in the telepathy-proof box with them. Word has been passed to the Tokyo police to stop him, but Nelson eludes them with a thin disguise of a pair of glasses and his collar turned up (really!). Along with a fake ID and passport, Nelson manages to board a special jet flight for America.
Nelson sneaking out of Japan.
There is some hint of complicity during Nelson's escape. First he's given a fake passport naming him as a member of the American Embassy staff, which might suggest he has friends in high places still on his side. Then an American Military Police sergeant at the airport seems to recognize Nelson but allows him to go ahead.
Now finally understanding the carnage caused by the monster, the American government is now acting very conciliatory. They offer to arrest Nelson if they catch him in America and assure the safe return of the girls. They also offer Japan their latest weapon system to combat Mothra. This is the "Atomic Heat Cannon", a large fancy sci-fi ray gun.
The two Atomic Heat Cannons arrive the next morning from America and are immediately emplaced to fire on the cocoon. The cannons are massive radar dish-looking weapons, mounted on ten-wheeled flatbed carriers and crewed by many men.
The Atomic Heat Cannons.
At exactly 10am, the two cannons begin firing. The blasts are powerful and blindingly bright, and they quickly have an effect. The cocoon begins to burn and is soon completely engulfed in flames. The fires burn for several hours and everyone is optimistic that Mothra is now dead. A guarded celebration begins in the streets of Tokyo.
We reconnect with Nelson and the girls now. He has arrived in America and is at his "farm" somewhere in the country. They hear about the burning cocoon on the radio and rejoice, sure that the threat posed by the girls' telepathy is now over. He opens the glass cage and encourages the girls to sing their hearts out. Oh, he's going to regret that...
And back in Tokyo, the girls' song reaches the smoldering cocoon. Suddenly it splits open! Out comes Mothra, now a massive beautiful moth. Pandemonium reigns in the streets as Mothra takes to the air, her flapping wings producing enough downdraft to flip cars and tear up roofs. Mothra doesn't waste time here, however, and immediately heads east across the sea for America.
Mothra emerging from the cocoon!
Once the news reaches America, the government institutes a nationwide manhunt for Nelson and the girls. Nelson prepares to leave his farm, now visibly cracking under the stress. He loads his pistol, preparing for the worst.
We also see that the American Embassy has arranged to send Bulldog, Michi and Professor Smartyhead to America. They three were the only ones that Mary-Kate and Ashley seemed to communicate with and it's hoped that if they ever find the girls, they can help.
While they are airborne, Mothra arrives in "Newkirk City". Despite the phonetic similarity to New York City, numerous internal clues point to Los Angeles, California. These include palm trees and sandy beaches, but also Toho took the bold and unusual step of filming much of this footage during a trip to Los Angeles in early 1961. To their credit, the FX people at Toho represented the American city in a totally different style than Tokyo. The buildings are more angular and art deco, the cars are different, even the colors use a brighter pastel palette.
Mothra circles around the city, unsure of the girls' location. From this we can locate Nelson's farm as very near Los Angeles as the girls were singing at the farm and that's where Mothra is now circling. Anti-aircraft guns fire on the monster constantly, scoring numerous hits. Mothra continues to fly, however, her wings blowing vehicles around like little Matchbox cars and even crumbling buildings.
Nelson is now on the run, in his car with the girls. He soon runs into a congested area and is forced to stop. A woman recognizes him and his car is mobbed by enraged citizens. Nelson begins to see the faces of the Beiru Islanders he shot and has a mental breakdown. He jumps out with his pistol and shoots a policeman before two other cops gun him down, ending his days on this earth.
The ugly American.
The girls, still in their glass cage in a suitcase, are guarded by the police until someone of authority can tell them what to do with them. Meanwhile, it's reported that thousands have been killed so far in the city by Mothra's hurricane-force winds. Clearly something must be done and done fast.
Just then Bulldog, Michi and Professor Smartyhead arrive and take possession of the girls in their cage. They are rightfully afraid to open the cage, with Mothra being so close. It's then that Professor Smartyhead looks up and sees a cross upon the steeple of a church, oddly backlit by a bright light. Suddenly his memory shoots back to a strange Mothra symbol he found in the cave back on the island.
The cross!
Professor Smartyhead makes the intuitive leap that Mothra might be attracted to this symbol. He has the city officials go to the airport and paint this symbol as large as possible on the runway. The ringing of the church bells reminds Michi of the singing of the girls' so they also arrange to have all the city's church bells ring at exactly 3pm. Hmmm...all that effort with the bells just because they "sound like the girls"? I think that Mothra can tell the difference, after all she can hear the little girls singing from thousands of miles away.
And so we see a number of Highway Department trucks on the airport tarmac, painting this giant symbol in white paint. Meanwhile Mothra is still circling the city, her winds causing havoc and destruction. Buildings fall, a bridge collapses, container ships in the harbor are sunk.
Ships in LA Harbor are swamped.
At exactly 3pm, the bells begin ringing and Mothra takes notice. Seeing her symbol on the runway, Mothra comes in for a landing. Our heroes open the box and let the girls out. They all exchange goodbyes and happy waves. The girls then run out to Mothra, climb aboard and the monster takes off.
The ending scene is back on Beiru Island, where we get a closing musical number from Mary-Kate and Ashley as they sing their Mothra song one last time. Stop it, stop singing. The end.
Mothra stopping by to pick up her women.
And that's all, folks.
Bonus! Some statistics for you:
13: Number of cigarettes and cigars smoked by our cast.
5: Number of photographs taken by Michi.
2: Number of ships sunk.
Written in April 2005 by Nathan Decker.
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