Though it may not have pleased all fans at the time, Toho's surreptitious swindle of Willis O'Brien's proposed King Kong vs Frankenstein has since gained sentimental acclaim. As such, the sixtieth-anniversary release (Aug 11, 1962) of Ishiro Honda's King Kong vs Godzilla is one to celebrate.
Sure, it may have been more spectacular if it had been rendered with start-to-finish, stop-motion animation, or the marked moodiness that distinguishes Gojira 1954/1956, but this chapter recharged Godzilla with an eternal, box-office verve that remedied the disappointment left in the wake of Raids Again. In this regard, Kong's victory gave Godzilla cause to resurface again and again, losing and winning against a barrage of bad-ass opponents for decades onward. (It also gave his hairy opponent an energetic, Toho-Rankin/Bass, espionage sequel, King Kong Escapes.)
The movie sure as hell left a chest-pounding impression on my younger self, enough so that I never missed a UHF airing of the movie, and to this day I never decline a chance to revisit its satirical splendors, let alone the chance to ogle the marvelous Mie Hama.
Whether one views the original, Japanese edition or the U.S. (Universal International) modification (released June '63), this original clash is a creme-de-la-creme, men-in-monster-suits gem. So pop some corn, grab a nice, big soda pop and enjoy King Kong vs Godzilla for the well deserved, umpteenth time!
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