Eekmail just in from Granny!
I was sitting at my little writing table the other night working away on Part Five of my series of giant monsters radio spots when I heard a knock on my door. Answering it, I saw my uncle Thaddeus standing there, a gleam in his sunken eyes set deep into his gaunt face.
“I have something for you,” he said with a sly grin . He held up a small sack, held tightly between his bony fingers.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Open it,” he said.
I quickly opened the sack and found two 7” vinyl records containing radio spots for Godzilla vs The Thing (1964) and King Kong Escapes (1967). I shrieked. “Where did you find these?”
“I found them in an antique shop over in Spooky Hollow,” he said. “I knew you would want them.”
I thanked him over and over again. I offered to pay him, but he declined.
“But, I will take a bottle of your brew,” he said.
Done! And with that, he left. I was thrilled, but I had work to do. My five-part series had now turned into a six-part series and there was a new Part Five to write. Godzilla vs The Thing! Ahh, what was “The Thing”? The one-sheet poster had a giant question mark with Godzilla, and the half-sheet depicted a tentacled beast which was censored in its entirety, being too horrible to see. What was it? The scary, horrible monster turned out to be….Mothra! What? Cute little (big) Mothra? Hmmm. Okay, it was a reworking of Toho’s Mothra vs Godzilla, but the gang at American International Pictures decided to take a different approach in their marketing campaign and played up the “what is it?” angle. But no matter: It was a fun movie with the usual good effects.
King Kong Escapes was equally fun with Haruo Nakajima portraying King Kong and Hiroshi Sekita playing Mechani-Kong and Gorosaurus. There are many similarities to the original King Kong (1933), and the effects and battles are especially good. The new King Kong suit was an improvement over the one used in King Kong vs Godzilla.
The radio spots for these two movies are excellent, with both playing up the spectacle of the conflicts. Exciting narrations with lots of sound effects add to the appeal of these spots. So sit back, get comfortable, and listen as the giant monsters attack! Let’s start with Godzilla vs. The Thing Radio Spots!
And here are the King Kong Escapes Radio Spots
