Daikaijû Baran (1958)

Country of Origin: Japan
Year of Production: 1958
Running Times: 70 mins (USA)     87 mins (Japan)
Length: 2377.74 metres
Format: black and white     35mm     TohoPanScope
Ratio: 2.35:1
Sound: mono

CREDITS

PRODUCTION
Production Company: Toho Company Ltd
Producer: Tomoyuki Tanaka
US Version Producer: Jerry A. Baerwitz
Production Manager: Shôtarô Kawakami

SCRIPT
Script: Shinichi Sekizawa
US Version Script: Sid Harris
Story: Ken Kuronuma

DIRECTION
Director: Ishirô Honda
US Version Director: Jerry A. Baerwitz
Assistant Director: Koji Kajita
US Version Assistant Director: Leonard Kunody

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: Hajime Koizumi
US Version Director of Photography: Jacques R. Marquette

EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION
Editor: Kazuji Taira
US Version Editors: Ralph Cushman (real name: Rudolph Cusumano), Jack Ruggiero

MUSIC
Music: Akira Ifukube
US Version Music: Albert Glasser (from Earth vs the Spider (1958) and Beginning of the End (1957) (uncredited))
US Version Musical Director / Editor: Peter Zinner

SOUND
Sound Recordist: Wataru Konuma
US Version Sound Recordist: Victor B. Appel
US Version Sound Effects Editor: Kurt Hernfeld
Sound System: Westrex Recording System

COSTUMES AND MAKE-UP
US Version Make Up / Costumes: Robert Cowan

SPECIAL EFFECTS
Director of Special Effects: Eiji Tsuburaya
Special Effects Photography: Teisho Arikawa
Special Effects Art Director: Akira Watanabe
Monster Suit Designer: Teizo Toshimitsu

VISUAL EFFECTS
Optical Photography: Hiroshi Mukoyama

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Production Designer: Kiyoshi Shimizu
US Version Property Master: Sam Harris

STUNTS
Stunt Choreographer: Haruo Nakajima

CAST
Kôzô Nomura (Kenji)
Ayumi Sonoda (Yuriko)
Fumito Matsuo (Horiguchi)
Koreya Senda (Dr Sugimoto)
Akio Kusama (Military Officer Kusama)
Yoshio Tsuchiya (Military Officer Katsumoto)
Minosuke Yamada (Secretary of Defense)
Akihiko Hirata (Dr Fujimora)
Fuyuki Murakami (Dr Majima)
Akira Sera (village high priest)
Takashi Ito (Ken)
Fumiko Honma (Ken's mother)
Hisaya Ito (Ichiro)
Nadao Kirino (Yutaka Wada)
Akira Yamada (Issaku)
Yoshikazu Kawamata (Jiro)
Yoshifumi Tajima (Captain)
Yasuhiro Kasanobu (Sankichi)
Haruo Nakajima, Katsumi Tezuka (Baran)
Hiroshi Angeizu
Anzai Sakamoto
Mitoko Taira
Keisuke Yamada
Rinsaku Ogata
Soji Oikata
Tokio Okawa
Yasuo Onishi
Masashi Shinohara
Hideo Shibuya
Koji Suzuki
Toriko Takahara
Toshiko Nomura
Toku Ihara
Keiichiro Katsumoto
Jiro Kumagai
Mitsuo Matsumoto
Junichirô Mukai
Eisuke Nakanishi
Ko Narita
Sen Hayamizu
Masashi Hirose
Ryuichi Hosokawa
Kakue Ichibanji

US VERSION CAST
Myron Healey (Commander James Bradley)
Tsuruko Kobayashi (Anna)
Clifford Kawada (Captain Kishi)
Derick Shimatsu (Matsu)
Kôzô Nomura (Paul Isoh)
Ayumi Sonoda (Shidori Isoh)
Fumito Matsuo (Paul's friend)
Hiroshi Hisasume (Private Seki)
Yoneo Iguchi (radio operator)
Hideo Inamura (doomed soldier)
Yoshio Tsuchiya, Akio Kusama (soldiers)
Yoshifumi Tajima (Captain)
Koreya Senda, Akihiko Hirata (observers)
Minosuke Yamada (Secretary of Defense)
Akira Sera (worshipper)
Hisaya Ito, Nadao Kirino (surveyors)
Fumiko Honma (screaming woman)
Roy K. Ogata, George Sasaki, Michael Sung (extras)

PLOT SUMMARY

A team of scientists set off on an expedition up the the Kitanami River searching for a rare species of butterfly. The expedition disappears and another group set off after them. They befriend a young local boy but while trying to save him from drowning in a lake, accidentally awaken the giant monster Baran.

AVAILABILITY

Japan
Theatrical Distributors: Toho
Video Distributors: Toho (TG4225)

Canada
Theatrical Distributors: Astral Films

USA
Theatrical Distributors: Crown International Pictures
Video Distributors: United Video; VCI

TIMELINE

1958
October
14: Japan – theatrical release

1962
December
7: USA - theatrical release

ALTERNATIVE TITLES

Baran: Monster from the East
The Great Monster Baran
The Monster Varan
Varan the Unbelievable - US title

KEYWORDS

giant monsters, kaiju eiga, monster

Last Updated: 1 January, 2009