In the mid-sixties, United Productions of America’s Henry Saperstein went shopping for high quality monster movies for North American distribution. Toho Studios shared with Hammer Studios in England the reputation of producing a steady supply of monster movies with a consistent level of quality. Choosing to deal with Toho rather than Hammer, Saperstein eventually won the confidence of Toho producer Tomoyuki Tanaka.
Saperstein’s involvement began with Frankenstein Conquers the World, which was then already in preproduction, and continued for years—on to the likes of War of the Gargantuas, and later Godzilla’s Revenge and Terror of Mechagodzilla.
Monster Zero would be Saperstein’s first full-fledged co-production, and boy is it a doozy. (Check it out Sunday the 28th for yourself)
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Saperstein’s first order of business was to have a talking to with screenwriter Shinichi Sekizawa. Your stuff is so formulaic it’s like you’re writing by Mad Libs.
“Most of the pictures . . . opened up with a press conference or a government conference of scientists and officials,” explained Saperstein, “The exposition always went on forever from there, telling the viewer all about what the story was and what was about to happen… We convinced them that we needed to get into the picture a lot quicker. The conference could take place later on. [Monster Zero] jumps right in. Otherwise we might lose the attention of the American TV audience, which doesn’t want to wait for all that.”
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
And so, instead, Sekizawa wrote this for Monster Zero: two astronauts travel to a mysterious new planet (“Planet X”) where the strike a bargain with the planet’s seemingly friendly but incredibly weird inhabitants. The deal involves trading Godzilla and Rodan to Planet X in exchange for miracle cures for all diseases.
Turns out, though, it’s all a trick to get Earth’s monsters out of the way for when Planet X invades. (Darn it!)
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Meanwhile, a goofy inventor has developed a “Lady Guard Alarm” (an electronic rape whistle?) that emits a grating high-pitched whine, which just happens to wreak havoc with the aliens’ cybernetic systems.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
A little judicious use of the noisemaker can free Godzilla and Rodan from alien mind control, at which point their nature instincts (destroy everything in sight) might just work to Earth’s advantage.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Akira Kubo, who plays the nerdy inventory who saves the world, began his long and successful acting career at age eleven. Although he never received formal, professional acting training, Kubo became a popular child star, and went on to become one of Akira Kurosawa’s players. After appearing with Toshiro Mifune in Kurosawa’s Throne of Blood and Sanjuro, Toho passed him to Ishiro Honda.
His celebrity status having been earned with such teen dramas as The Sound of Waves, he surprisingly took a career left turn into small, supporting roles in science fiction films like Gorath, Attack of the Mushroom People, and Monster Zero.
Before long, his natural charisma vaulted him into leading man roles in Toho’s fantasy films.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
The leading role in Monster Zero was actually given to an American star–another of Saperstein’s marketing suggestions. Toho had in the past occasionally tapped Westerners living in Japan to play supporting parts, but those performers were chosen for their ethnicity and not their acting ability. American stars had also been inserted after the fact into Godzilla, Half-Human, and Varan the Unbelievable. But Saperstein lobbied for Toho to cast a professional American star to appear with the Japanese cast in the original version. Through a long, odd, and ultimately tragic path, that role came to be filled by Nick Adams.
Adams was a second-string American actor, confined to supporting roles in films as varied as Rebel Without a Cause, Pillow Talk, and The Interns. He had also appeared in two unremarkable television series, The Rebel and Saints and Sinners.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
By 1963, Adams was desperate for higher billing, and he lobbied feverishly for an Oscar nomination for his role in Twilight of Honor. He explained publicly, “A nomination for me means that Twilight of Honor will bring in another million dollars and supply more funds for Hollywood pictures. Next, it means that I, as a Hollywood star, can make more films in Hollywood and stop this runaway production which is killing Hollywood. I will never make a picture abroad.”
So… yeah. Vote for me or it will ruin the entire industry.
When Melvyn Douglas won the Best Supporting Actor for his role in Hud, Adams promptly left Hollywood to make pictures abroad. Let that one sink in.
After appearing with Boris Karloff in the British production of Die Monster Die in 1965, he moved to Japan to appear in Frankenstein Conquers the World, Saperstein’s first involvement with Toho. Saperstein had nothing to do with Adams being cast in Frankenstein, but was on the lookout for someone to cast in Monster Zero.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
In Frankenstein, Adams costarred with Kumi Mizuno. Playing lovers onscreen, Adams and Mizuno allegedly began an offscreen affair, as well. In February 1965, Adams appeared on the Les Crane Show where he announced he was divorcing his wife Carol. She, however, had heard nothing of this decision prior to the broadcast. For the next two years, they battled out their private lives very publicly. In order to stay close to Mizuno, Adams began living in Japan.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Saperstein found it difficult to persuade American actors to stay in Japan long enough to play the kind of major role he had in mind for Monster Zero. Adams, perfectly happy to remain in Japan indefinitely, and a veteran of the Tsuburaya/Honda kaiju eiga, fit the bill perfectly. Monster Zero reunited him with Mizuno, so it was a win/win all around.
After multiple divorces and remarriages with Carol, Nick eventually returned to Hollywood in 1966. And, two years later, he committed suicide, only 37 years old.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
There’s been speculation that the impetus for his suicide was Mizuno’s rejection of continuing their affair. Others believe his drug overdose was an accident and not a suicide at all, and cite the lack of any suicide note as supporting evidence of this claim. For reasons never made clear, Toho withheld Monster Zero from American release until 1970, long after its American star’s unfortunate death.
Of Adams, Saperstein had nothing but praise, “Nick Adams was terrific, a real professional. Very cooperative, always on time, ready with his lines, available, totally cooperative. He loved being there.”
And, as a fan of these films, all I can say I loved having him there.
