Mothra vs. Godzilla

Mothra vs. Godzilla (モスラ対ゴジラ Mosura tai Gojira) is a 1964 Japanese science fiction tokusatsu kaiju film produced by Toho Co. Ltd and directed by Ishiro Honda. It is the fourth entry in the Godzilla film series.

Distributed in the United States by American International Pictures as Godzilla vs. The Thing, its alterations were much less dramatic than its predecessors.

Background
In early 1964, American producer Henry G. Saperstein acquired the picture's distribution rights from Toho and originally intended to release it in the U.S. through UPA, under the title Godzilla vs. The Giant Moth, but the plans fell through and Saperstein sold the rights to Sam Arkoff and James Nicholson of American International Pictures. In a move quite similar to Columbia Pictures' marketing campaign for Mothra, efforts were taken to conceal Godzilla's opponent's identity and appearance, giving Mothra the alias "The Thing". Posters and other publicity material depicted Godzilla locked in mortal combat with a grotesque, tentacled monstrosity, hidden behind a large question mark or "CENSORED!" card. Oddly enough, Mothra still appeared in AIP's theatrical trailer for the film. The picture opened on September 17, 1964, five months after its Japanese premier.

An entirely new scene was added to the American version depicting the U.S. Navy offering support and attacking Godzilla on the coastline, with new "Frontier" type missiles. The sequence itself is a carryover from the first draft of the film, in which the fictional Rolisicans from Mothra would attempt to deter Godzilla from their country with the same missiles. Though it was shot, it was never used in the final cut of the Japanese version, presumably because some viewers would find the notion of American weapons being used once again on Japanese territory offensive. Not wanting to scrap it entirely, Toho kept the scene intact for international releases. The sequence has rarely appeared as supplementary material on Japanese home video release and the original performances of the actors present remain missing in action.