Godzilla, King of the Monsters, was one of the first films in the new "alternate reality" genre. Directed by James Stewart, the film, while seen as a getaway from the dreariness of the post-war of the Union, Stewart had created it as an anti-war and anti-superbomb protest. Stewart, an actor, and discharged Marine officer, was in Philadelphia when the first superbomb went off. While not injured, Stewart assisted those in need and buried the dead. Learning the truth about this weapon and taken ill due to the fallout , Stewart would dedicate his remaining years to a pair of passions: film and ending the development of the superbomb.
Godzilla would be an immense success, garnering 11 Academy Award nominations, and winning 7 (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (James Dean), Best Supporting Actress (Natalie Wood), Best Score (Bernard Hermann) and two awards for Willis O'Brien and Eiji Tsuburaya (a Japanese expatriate, whom moved his family to the Union, rather than let his son be drafted for duty in Russia) in the field of special effects. Using a mix of stop motion animation and a man in an elaborate and scary suit (Ben Chapman was the first), they created a believable, terrifying monster that destroyed Philadelphia and could not be harmed by normal means.
Sadly, Stewart would not live long to see his creation blossom. Hospitalized for lung cancer, Stewart would ask friend and fellow Marine, Edward D. Wood the Second, to end his suffering...which he did.
Godzilla has spawned close to 30 sequels, each varying quality, although to the same ideal that the monster ( i.e. the Bomb) couldn't be stopped and man is to blame for its terrible existence.
Godzilla's first international success would come in 1960, where Director Orson Welles and writer Richard Matheson would send into battle against a rival from the Southern film industry...King Kong