TOHO COMPANY, LIMITED
FRANKENSTEIN
vs. BARAGON
1945
ALLIED FORCES INVADE GERMANY
EUROPE, NORTH SEA THE ENGLISH CHANNEL
INDIAN OCEAN
Crash dive!
Depth 45!
Enough.
- Sighted her, sir!
- I see.
- It's dangerous during the day, sir.
- I imagine so.
Even at night, if it takes too long...
What is it that they want us to take?
A human being, perhaps.
Hitler?
Hardly.
Germany has reached the end of her line.
We'd appreciate it, if it's a powerful secret weapon!
Standing by to take over delivery!
Surface!
Is it so important?
They sent it all the way from Germany and even sacrificed a submarine for it?
HIROSHIMA ARMY HOSPITAL
Salute!
Thank you for your trouble, but I'm afraid you were a bit late.
Why, sir?
I mean we aren't ready, nor do we have the time for further research work.
Here.
The key, sir.
You want to see what is inside, don't you?
Yes, sir.
The thing you risked your life to bring back.
It's Frankenstein's heart.
Frankenstein?
Is it a living heart?
It will never die.
Never die?
Have you ever heard about Frankenstein?
Yes, I have, but not in detail.
A long time ago, a German scientist named Frankenstein sewed up...
...a corpse that had been cut into little pieces...
...and used electric shocks to revive it.
Is this for an important research?
To make soldiers who will never die from getting shot.
Are you trying to pull my leg, Doctor?
I really mean it.
If we could solve the mystery of this heart as well as...
...the activities of the cell bodies...
...80 to 90% of the soldiers who die in wars could be saved.
AUGUST 6TH, 1945
15 YEARS LATER
Take care of yourselves.
I'll come again.
How do you feel?
Please take this, Doctor.
For me?
Yes.
Thank you very much for everything.
It's very beautiful. Thank you.
- Did you sleep well?
- Yes.
That's fine.
She knows her end is near.
Perhaps so. She is a bright girl.
Yes.
That's why she hurried to finish this embroidery for you.
Please look, Dr. Bowen.
The cells that have been exposed to twice the lethal dose of radiation have...
...become active.
Did she die?
Tazuko Towoi in Ward No. 11...
It's worse than death.
She lingers on, wondering from day to day when she'll die.
It's a shame that our research work...
...hasn't reached the point where we can save her.
Her parents were also killed by the A-bomb, weren't they?
All alone since she was a baby...
How can we describe her life...?
The story of Hiroshima is too tragic.
But it's also a fact that it has given us...
...the opportunity to study the cellular tissues of the human body.
We must work to turn tragedy into eternal peace and happiness in the future.
Did you see a strange-looking boy just now?
- Yes, he ran in that direction.
- Would you believe it?
He killed our dog and took it with him. I think he's going to eat it.
Is he a waif?
There were lots of them just after the war. Please be careful.
- There's no telling what he'll do.
- Yes.
I'm the first!
- Second!
- Third!
What's up?
A rabbit!
Teacher!
Teacher! Teacher!
A DEGENERATE? DEAD RABBIT IN SCHOOLROOM
Your kimono is very becoming, Doctor.
Thank you.
- A happy birthday to you.
- Oh!
Thank you very much. Please come in.
This way, please.
Thank you.
Please sit down.
Thank you.
I'm afraid it's a very modest meal.
Thank you.
It's good, isn't it?
How do you make this soup?
- First I put dried fish in...
- No...
That's second. First, you scoop up some dried fish.
It takes time to learn to understand American humor.
Japanese humor is very hard to grasp too.
Please.
Thank you.
Are you going to remain in Japan to carry on your research work?
I am afraid not.
But what about your research?
Sueko, I came here after the war, because I was one of the people...
...concerned about the A-bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima.
I wanted to spend my life rehabilitating mankind, not in destroying it.
But...
But...?
But the more research work I do, the more I am troubled by doubts.
So I'm thinking of returning to America to start all over again.
Drop dead!
You're not hurt?
That boy.
That boy?
The waif I told you about the other day.
Wait a minute.
Working on Sunday?
Doctor...
They don't have any Sundays either.
Do you remember Tazuko Towoi?
Yes. Today is the anniversary of her death.
Don't squint at bacteria all the time.
How about driving out to visit Tazuko's grave?
Yes, I'd love to.
Thank you, Doctor.
Her grave is up on the mountain in back.
Let's go.
There's a waif!
Come on. hurry!
Waif?
Let's go.
It's dangerous, Children. Stay away.
Come out!
He's the boy from that night?
I can't just shoot him.
Does he really eat dogs and cats?
Yes. Chickens and rabbits too.
He's just like a wild beast himself.
He's gone farther inside. Go around to the back.
Say, don't try to run away! Come out!
Hurry, come out!
Come out!
No use trying to get away!
Come out!
We'll bring him out, so please send everyone away.
- No, it's dangerous.
- I've fed him once.
Too many will only upset him. Leave us alone.
Please be careful then.
Come out.
There's nothing to worry about. Come out.
Come out. No one will hurt you.
Please don't use a flash. We don't want him to go on a rampage.
Drink this.
Strange to say, this boy's a Caucasian.
- A half-caste abandoned by a prostitute?
- No, he is a full-blooded white boy.
He received radiation when he was a baby.
And the important point is that he did not develop radiation poisoning.
Instead, his body is building up strong resistance to radiation.
Radiation?
I can't believe a white boy was abandoned just after the end of the war.
Wasn't he born much later than that?
In any case, he's very important from a scientific point of view.
I'd like your help in finding out who his parents are, where he was born...
...and in what sort of environment he grew up.
AKITA OIL FIELDS
It says there's a boy in Hiroshima who shows a strong resistance to radiation.
VICTIM OF A-BOMB? A WAIF HAVING STRONG RESISTANCE TO RADIATION
Hundreds of thousands of people were killed.
I wouldn't be surprised if a child like that was born.
You said you saw a heart in Hiroshima that will never stop beating, didn't you?
Yes.
It's a silly story.
So many peculiar things happened around the time the war ended.
An earthquake?
It seems like a big one.
Run for it!
Run!
Run to the mountain in back!
Hurry! Run!
Are you all right?
Hurry!
He doesn't show any signs of recognizing words.
He has strange blue eyes.
Could it be caused by anemia?
No.
Why are you so violent?
Eat quietly.
Miss Togami.
He won't harm me.
Now, sit down.
Anyway, we'd better put him in a cage or chain him...
He grows with amazing speed. Is it due to radiation?
If we only knew that, we could say we'd half succeeded in our research work.
As far as we know, radiation is detrimental to human beings.
I'm back.
How was it?
There were four hundred letters, including those sent to newspapers...
...and TV stations.
I went through all of them, but none were of any help.
I see.
However, one of the letters says he may be the boy that used to be...
...seen playing in the ruins of the Army Hospital.
- At the Army Hospital?
- Yes.
I went to see the sender, but I couldn't find out anything about his parents...
...just that he'd been seen playing in the ruins.
- Alone?
- Yes, always alone.
But even if the story is true...
...how could he have grown up there from the time he was a helpless baby...
...if he were all alone?
He has become so big we had to put him in here.
He still grows like a baby.
Why is that?
We don't know.
- Is he ever violent?
- No, he isn't.
It's just a precautionary measure.
I'd like to go in and take some pictures.
Please do.
Is it safe?
Yes, while I am with him.
Wait a minute. I'll bring you something to eat right away.
We don't know when he will become violent.
We can't keep him here any longer.
We've decided to build a place for him with the laboratory budget.
So only until it is completed...
- I'm afraid I can't give you an answer alone.
- What do you suggest then?
How about asking the Zoo to keep him?
He's a human being!
He's precious. There's no one like him in the whole world.
Dr. Kawaji and Dr. Togami, please return to the laboratory at once!
I don't know if I'll be of any help or not, but...
I couldn't forget the news of the boy who had grown up in the...
...ruins of the Army Hospital.
Just after Berlin fell, we received Frankenstein's heart from a German submarine...
...and delivered it to the Army Hospital in Hiroshima.
I heard then that the heart would never die.
Did you see it?
Yes.
Was it alive?
Yes.
It was preserved in liquid. It was beating regularly.
But how the heart...
Why did they bring it to Japan?
I was told that they'd make soldiers who'd recover instantly from bullet wounds.
It was a study on the activities of the cell bodies that...
...would never die as long as you replenish protein to them.
Let's find the scientists in Germany who were involved in this at that time.
FRANKFURT, GERMANY
What you would like to know is...
...whether the creature in Hiroshima is Frankenstein or not, isn't it?
Yes, sir.
Dr. Frankenstein's monster that you are talking about...
It is said the monster died many times, but always came back to life.
However, its heart has never died. Not even once.
If the protein supply is sufficient, the active cells will quickly mend the body.
Even if the arms are cut off, new ones will grow on again.
When you return to Japan, cut off his arm or leg.
If he is Frankenstein, he will grow new ones.
Moreover, I'm sure the arms or legs that have been cut off will also live on.
Here's your food.
Doesn't it hurt?
But it's eating into your wrist.
I'll order a larger chain at once.
You must be tired.
Is anything wrong?
It's nothing.
Let's ask Sueko's opinion too.
Dr. Togami's certain to oppose it.
What are you two talking about?
I met Dr. Rissendorf in Frankfurt. He said that...
...the only way to prove whether he's Frankenstein or not is to cut off...
...his arm and leg.
If a new arm or leg grows in again, he's Frankenstein without a doubt.
I'm absolutely against such a cruel thing!
There's no other way to find out.
What if no new arm or leg grows back on?
He's not a human being anyway.
You refused to let him be sent to a zoo by insisting he's a human, didn't you?
But just as gorillas aren't human beings, right now he's...
No! He's a human being. So was Frankenstein.
He wasn't an ordinary human being.
- He was man-made.
- Even so, a human being just the same!
Let's think it over carefully. It would be terrible if we made a mistake.
It's good.
Thank you. Thank you.
I cook mine too long.
It's simple. First, be sure to get good meat.
No, that's second.
First, you lasso a big cow, don't you?
Dr. Kawaji's late, isn't he?
He said he had some work left, but I'm sure he'll be here soon.
Say, be careful! Steps here!
Camera here!
- Listen, who's in charge here? Are you?
- We're from a TV station.
The hospital official gave us the go-ahead to take pictures.
It's okay to take pictures.
But he's really in a bad humor although he seems quiet enough.
I wish he'd cut up a little. He's not worth filming as he is now.
It's no joke.
Ready?
Lights okay.
- Ready! Start shooting!
- Stop!
- Stop it! Stop, I tell you!
- Please don't come out!
Is it safe?
Turn off the lights! Turn them off!
- Lights off!
- Amazing.
Run! Run!
The monster's become loose!
The phone!
Call the police!
Hello!
Hello! Get me the hospital official! The hospital official, please!
Hospital official? Is anything wrong with the Boy?
He's cut his chain and has become loose! Is Dr. Bowen there?
Yes, he is.
- Please ask him to come over at once!
- Yes!
I'll go too.
No, it's dangerous!
The boy will listen to me. He needs me.
He's no longer a boy.
We're in terrible trouble.
What can we do?
Gather all the fire extinguishers! We'll blind him! And get ropes!
Bring all the fire extinguishers!
Hurry, hurry!
It's dangerous! Don't go too near!
Go!
Don't kill him!
At 7:30 tonight, the giant that was being kept at the laboratory of the International...
...Institute of Radio therapeutics became wild and has suddenly disappeared.
Emergency orders have been issued.
All the police force and firemen are requested to return to their positions...
...and wait for further orders. I will repeat...
What is it?
Wait!
You can't escape!
Wait!
Come back!
Over there! Over there!
Regardless of all the sacrifices, you believe that he shouldn't be killed?
Yes!
He is very important scientifically!
It is not for us to decide whether he should be killed or not.
But as scientists, we can only say we hope that he will not be killed.
- Weren't those deaths due to negligence?
- Yes.
The problem is what sort of chain was used on him.
Let's check and see!
It's very strange. Was the handcuff too big?
That's it! It must have slipped off.
They should be held responsible for it then.
I don't see anything.
It was here! I'm sure it was!
It's strange!
Doctor, it's Frankenstein! There's no doubt about it!
Frankenstein, did you say?
The movement seems to have become slower.
Yes.
I'll make the protein culture solution at once. We must keep the hand alive.
What a surprise!
Now, we can't shoot him, can we?
- Are you going to kill him?
- Is there any other way of killing him?
I don't think he'll offer any resistance if I go.
Can you stay with him 24 hours every day all year round?
Hello.
For you.
Thank you.
Hello.
There was trouble at a hog ranch in Okayama!
What about it?
A hog ranch! Five hogs were killed!
Are you telling me that Frankenstein went to Okayama?
What else can we think?
Ate everything except the bone and skin!
All right! I'll be right back!
He's escaped to Okayama!
It's out of our hands then, sir?
Don't look so relieved yet.
OKAYAMA
An emergency announcement!
It has been confirmed that Frankenstein is somewhere in the vicinity...
...of Okayama City.
According to the Hiroshima Police...
...he hunts for food mostly during the night...
...and remains in the mountains and valleys during the daytime.
Anyone who sees him, please report it...
...to the nearest police station or to the city office.
Be sure to listen in on all news about him from now on.
Eyewitnesses say that he is four times bigger than a human being.
He's grown bigger since he left Hiroshima.
He's so big and you haven't found him yet?
Our patrol cars are of no use.
And he can think like a human being which makes it even worse.
Yes.
What I would like to say, sir, is that he's always a jump ahead of us.
What do you want me to do?
We need tanks more than patrol cars.
That's being considered already at a higher level.
- Will they be in time for tonight?
- You're...
It's imperative that we take every precaution tonight.
- Okay.
- Yes.
- A success, isn't it?
- Yes, it's a success!
Has it been revived?
Look closely, the nails seem to have grown longer too.
The hand will be able to remain active now...
...without the aid of the electro-magnetic device, won't it?
It only needs nourishment now.
HIMEJI CASTLE
- Good morning. - Good morning.
This place is right in the middle of the city, so I guess he wouldn't come here.
I guess not, but I'd like to get a look at him if he's so big.
Scared, but you want to see him?
Help!
OSAKA
OSAKA POLICE HEADQUARTERS
Yes?
Oh, they are here.
- Hello.
- Thank you for coming. Hello.
How do you do?
We're sorry to trouble you, but we decided to request your presence...
...in case something completely unexpected came up.
Please sit down.
Thank you.
I hope we can help you.
Do you think Frankenstein has any purpose in coming to Kyoto, Osaka, or Kobe?
Not particularly, since he does not know the cities you mentioned.
You insisted at first, did you not, on not having him killed?
As a scientist, I still do.
But as you know, we have preserved his hand...
...so if you decide that he must be killed after all the harm he has done...
...we will bow to the inevitable...
...and will not try to prevent it.
Hello.
What? Lake Biwa?
Something 500 meters ahead!
- Slow speed ahead! - Slow speed ahead!
- Hard starboard 15°. - Hard starboard 15°.
Captain!
Calm down! Calm down!
There's nothing we can do but go home.
He's right.
But we have his hand. We can still continue our studies with it.
HATO (DOVE)
- Is anything wrong?
- Yes...
The hand's gone!
What?
When? When did it happen?
I noticed it when I came to work this morning.
There's not a single drop of fluid left...
Look for it again, all of you! Hurry!
Dr. Bowen!
Find it?
It's dead!
But it's grown very large!
We made a great mistake. The larger it became, the more protein it needed.
MT. IBUKI
HEIKE-DAKE
DAINICHI-DAKE
SHIRAKAWA VILLAGE
- Thank you for coming.
- Glad to be of help.
Where did you see him?
This morning at the woodcutter's hut.
It was destroyed by a big log that flew through the air, they say.
How about the village?
Nothing seems to be wrong there.
- Are you all right?
- Yes, sir!
It's a boar!
Is it cold in the Japanese Alps?
Yes.
People can ski in the snow valleys there even in summer.
He instinctively seeks a climate like that of Frankfurt.
That is, a cold Place.
I imagine the coolness of the Japanese Alps has pleased him.
Yes, Frankfurt's situated in latitude 50°N.
Why did he return to the warm lowlands again then?
There isn't enough food containing protein in the mountains.
He moves along the railroad tracks because there are towns and villages...
...where he can get food easily.
Poor thing, he'll be hunted down and killed in the end, won't he?
No, he must not be killed!
- But...
- We must appeal...
...to the scientific world and to the public and save him.
When he reaches a place that satisfies him...
...we must give him food, so that he will settle there.
I believe he will stop next at some place half-way up Mt. Fuji.
SHIRANE HUTS
Let's dance.
Yes.
What's the matter?
Did you hear anything just now?
No.
Don't worry. Don't worry.
This is terrible.
Why is it that there's no one around not even the employees working here?
We can only think that Frankenstein became violent again.
Please.
Thanks.
Are you still of the opinion that Frankenstein must be protected and kept alive?
We are not certain yet whether he caused all that destruction or not.
- You don't think he did it?
- No.
Judging from his former movements, Mt. Shirane is too far away for him.
He was seen to the north of Shizuoka last, so...
...if he's been moving he would be somewhere near the foothills of Mt. Fuji now.
He hasn't harmed anyone of his own accord even once.
- Are you of the same opinion, Doctor?
- Yes, I am.
No one has seen Frankenstein at Mt. Shirane.
Everyone that saw him was killed.
- Thank you very much.
- Thank you.
It's hard to make them believe us, isn't it?
I wonder.
A cave-in!
This is terrible!
Shimamoto!
- Mr. Kaneshima!
- Miyaguchi!
Let's go!
Are you all right?
- Done for.
- What?
Let's go in.
Wait. It's dangerous if it's filled with poisonous gasses.
Oh! What's that?
It's moving!
It's an animal!
The food that we threw down yesterday hasn't been touched.
It wasn't him at the Shimizu tunnel, was it?
Frankenstein doesn't eat people.
I know he's around here somewhere.
Our home's smashed to pieces!
Mother!
Daddy!
Mommy said she'd be at the south quarry today.
Yes.
Mother!
Daddy!
Advance!
This place was used as a powder magazine during the war.
It's over a mile long in there.
We'd like to go in too.
Well, if you do, please be very careful.
Yes.
Standing by!
All right!
We're all ready, sir!
All right!
There he is! Fire!
Did they find him?
Fire!
Stop firing! It will only make him angry!
Go back! Go back!
Get back!
Stop it! Get back!
Retreat! Retreat!
- Get back! - Hurry!
Hurry, Sueko! Hurry!
Hurry! Run!
Help!
Cease firing!
It was Frankenstein after all, wasn't it, at Shimizu tunnel?
So it seems.
We can't possibly keep him alive now.
No...
Shall we leave the rest to the authorities and leave?
I wish we could have a finger of his.
Yes?
- Why, Mr. Kawai.
- It's been a while.
Please come in.
Excuse me.
I saw the papers and came.
- All the way from Akita?
- Yes.
Please sit down.
Thank you for coming.
There's something I would like to tell you.
I believe there's another monster beside Frankenstein that's doing all that harm.
Why do you say that?
These newspaper clippings of the Shimizu tunnel...
...and village cases mention that a strange light went on and off.
Which part of Frankenstein's body glows like that? His eyes?
No, they don't glow.
Then what is it that glows?
There's a reason for my believing it to be different from Frankenstein.
During the earthquake in Akita, I saw a mysterious light that went on and off.
It happened during the blackout.
I think the light came from a very low position.
I told myself that the violent earthquake...
...had upset me so much that it had made me imagine things.
Frankenstein walks on land, so how could he travel...
...from Shirane to Mt. Fuji without being seen by a single person?
However, this monster can travel underground.
Doctor!
Frankenstein must not be killed!
Would you tell your story to all the newspapers?
Yes.
It burrows underground, so it dislikes the rays of the sun.
It did appear in the daytime at a quarry in Shizuoka...
...but that was probably due to the thick fog.
- Like a ninja, huh?
- What?
It's nothing.
If we only had a picture of the monster or something, we could write it up.
But I'm afraid just your words haven't enough news value.
Some deep-sea fish are bioluminescent.
Yes.
This monster lives underground all year round, so...
It wouldn't be strange if it is bioluminescent.
However, when it comes to burrowing itself beneath the ground...
...it is so huge that it's quite a difficult thing to do.
The way I look at it is like this...
In the Mesozoic Age, mammoth reptiles vanished from the earth...
...because the earth's surface cooled off. Am I correct?
Yes.
Some of them escaped to the deep underground and may have...
...continued to multiply and lived until today.
I won't say it is impossible to happen...
...but I can't agree with you either...
...since such a thing is highly improbable.
No one would believe my story. They all treated me like a mad man.
We're very grateful to you.
Thank you for coming all this way.
No, yours is the hard work.
I hope you find Frankenstein very soon and save him.
- Please.
- Thanks.
The best of luck.
Goodbye.
When I have enough time and money, I'll come again.
Goodbye.
I'm afraid we're running out of time and money too.
Did the hospital in Hiroshima send word?
They said to drop this futile search and return to work.
We can't depend on the scientific world to help us any more either.
How about money?
The hotel will wait for payment, but...
...it costs so much to hire the helicopter every day.
Come on...
Yesterday's food is all gone! Throw more down in the same place!
Okay.
Circle the place once more!
Do you think he remembers me?
- I'm not sure.
- We can't decide anything now.
The thing is to find and take care of him somehow.
Boy!
This way.
My compass doesn't work.
Let's go on anyway.
Yes.
The weather has become very bad.
It's impossible to find him, isn't it?
Yes.
It's not safe. Let's come again.
Please go ahead.
Dr. Kawaji!
- I'm quite safe alone.
- No, Dr. Kawaji!
Dr. Bowen!
Even if Frankenstein remembers Dr. Togami, we don't know...
...if she can tame him now.
I agree with the public opinion that says to kill him!
But all our hard work up to now would go to waste if he were shot to pieces.
I'd like his heart intact, and some of his flesh too.
It would be easier for us to take care of it.
But you can't do it alone!
I think he is most vulnerable...
...here, his eyes.
I brought something to blind him.
If he's blind, he will be in my hands.
That's crueler than killing him outright!
He's doomed to be killed anyway.
If we can keep his heart intact...
...it's the only way to save Frankenstein's life, don't you see?
I don't know how you intend to do it, but if you fail...
...and anger him, it will be very dangerous.
We'll never be able to get near him again.
I can't fail.
Stay back!
The underground monster!
Hurry! Run!
Sueko!
Dr. Bowen!
Dr. Togami!
Dr. Bowen!
Dr. Togami!
Frankenstein!
Dr. Kawaji!
Dr. Kawaji! Dr. Kawaji!
Are you all right?
Hurry!
Watch where you go...
Hurry! Hurry!
- Is there a first aid kit?
- Yes.
- Baragon's about 2 miles from here.
- Is that true?
Head for the hills! Head for the hills!
Head for the hills!
Head for the hills! Hurry!
Watch your feet!
Watch where you walk.
- Are you all right now?
- Yes.
That monster dives underground so fast. Frankenstein's no match for him.
As Mr. Kawai said, the oil fields, hot springs and volcanoes...
...may have something to do with underground passages.
The deepest place under the earth... we don't know so many things about it.
The forest is burning!
You're all safe?
Yes, there's another monster beside Frankenstein!
What?
- Are all the men in their positions?
- Yes, sir!
- Report the current status!
- Yes, sir!
What's that?
That's a giant octopus!
- Isn't the main force here yet?
- Orderly, step out!
Move Platoon 5!
Yes, sir!
- Move Platoon 1 to Area A!
- Yes, sir!
He'll lose! He can't win!
That octopus!
Did Frankenstein die?
No, Frankenstein will never die.
I think he'll return again somewhere, sometime.
Perhaps, the best thing would be for him to die. After all, he's only a monster.
All platoons clear out!
Clear out!
THE END