Dogora (1964 film)

Dogora, the Space Monster
Original Japanese poster
Directed by	Ishirō Honda
Produced by	Yasuyoshi Tajitsu Tomoyuki Tanaka Samuel Z. Arkoff (USA) James H. Nicholson (USA)
Written by	Jojiro Okami (story) Shinichi Sekizawa
Starring	Yosuke Natsuki Yōko Fujiyama Hiroshi Koizumi Nobuo Nakamura Robert Dunham Akiko Wakabayashi Jun Tazaki Susumu Fujita Seizaburô Kawazu Eisei Amamoto
Music by	Akira Ifukube
Cinematography	Hajime Koizumi
Editing by	Ryohei Fujii
Distributed by	Toho United Artists
Release date(s)	August 11, 1964 December 20, 1966
Running time	83 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese English (Dubbed)

Dogora or Dagora, the Space Monster, released in Japan as Uchū Daikaijū Dogora (宇宙大怪獣ドゴラ^?, lit. "Giant Space Monster Dogora"), is a tokusatsu science fiction film produced and released by Toho Studios in 1964. It was directed by the "Golden Duo" of director Ishirō Honda and special-effects director Eiji Tsuburaya.

Plot

Several satellites are destroyed and only a few days later, a group of diamond thieves find that the gems they stole suddenly disappear. The two incidents are linked as scientists discover giant jellyfish-like creatures, mutated from the high levels of radiation over Japan, are consuming all carbon based matter. The creatures start to attack civilian structures such as bridges and ships. The scientists must find a way to stop the creatures before it is too late.

Cast

• Komai - Yosuke Natsuki
• Mark Jackson - Dan Yuma (Robert Dunham)
• Dr. Munakata - Nobuo Nakamura
• Kirino - Hiroshi Koizumi
• Masayo Kirino - Yoko Fujiyama
• Hamako - Akiko Wakabayashi
• Iwasa - Susumu Fujita
• Boss - Seizaburou Kawazu
• Tada - Yoshifumi Tajima
• Maki - Eisei Amamoto
• Sabu - Haruya Katou
• Chief - Jun Tazaki
• Nitta - Jun Funado
• Diamond robber - Nadao Kirino
• Diamond robber - Akira Wakamatsu
• Journalist - Hideo Shibuya
• Truck driver - Haruya Sakamoto
• Truck assistant - Yasuo Araki
• Chief - Yutaka Oka
• Driver - Tyoutarou Tougin
• Dr. Munakata's assistant - Kouji Iwamoto

English Version

As with its release of Attack of the Mushroom People, American International Television bought the rights to Toho's international dub in 1965 for television syndication. Since the film wouldn't play in US theaters, AIP-TV left Toho's English dub intact and added a new Dagora, the Space Monster title card. Allegedly, the name of the monster was changed to "Dagora" so that audiences wouldn't think the monster was a dog. Beyond the removal of the opening credits, the film was unedited. This version played for many years on late night TV and was released on home video by Video Yesteryear in 1983. The Media Blasters DVD uses the same dubbing featured in the AIP-TV version, but the edits are not retained.

Credits

• Teruyoshi Nakano- Director of Optical Effects
• Sadamasa Arikawa- Special Effects Cinematographer
• Takeo Kita- Special Effects Set Director
• Ken Sano- Assistant to the Director

References

• Variety Weekly. August 4, 1965.

• Sanford and Son. 1973. In the episode "Home Sweet Home for the Aged" Fred laments about missing this movie while out on a Sunday drive.

External links

• Dogora (1964 film) at the Internet Movie Database
• Gojiman's World

• "宇宙大怪獣ドゴラ (Uchū Daikaijū Dogora)" (in Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1964/cn002200.htm. Retrieved 2007-07-16.