The Writer's Life 10/5 - Phenomenon

Last night This-TV, channel 111 in NYC on Cablevision, ran a Godzilla marathon. I took brief looks at three while channel hopping. Except for an annoying lecture on environmentalism, they were goofy fun. I got to wondering how many films there are in the series, so this morning I checked at Wiki. I don’t know if it’s the all-time champ of franchises, but there were 28 made in Japan alone and three in the west. Three others, the original, which was released in 1954, King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963) and Godzilla 1985, contain added footage geared toward western audiences. The first was released here in 1956 as Godzilla, King of the Monsters, and features Raymond Burr as a reporter in its added scenes. It was a staple on Channel 9 back in the day. Japanese TV also had two series that featured the monster, and two animated series popped up on Saturday mornings in America. And there are a slew of video games that feature the beast. And Random House published a series of fiction geared mostly toward kids. Titan Books issued a tie-in novelization of the 2014 version. And Blue Oyster Cult did a song titled Godzilla, and many other musical artists have worked the beast into their work. Pop culture is always fascinating. Who would have guessed that such a cheesy idea would endure? Here's an awesome poster from the 50's:

I will guess that the most prolific film character of all-time has been Dracula, and Sherlock Holmes second. If I've overlooked anyone, please comment below. As for the most successful franchise financially, it's the James Bond series, its 23 films taking in $14,626,911,942.

My thanks to the kind folks who bought books today on Bay Parkway. I had a visit from B.S. Bob, who has been telling me about his proposed screenplay, Christmas 1945, for a year. He has yet to put a word to paper. Here's an example of why I suspect he's a bull artist: He said Frank Capra, who directed It's Wonderful Life (1946) and other classics, wasn't Italian. I was sure he was wrong, but I didn't argue. I just looked it up at Wiki: Born: May 18, 1897, Bisacquino, Sicily, Italy.

Vic's 4th novel: tinyurl.com/bszwlxh

Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3

Vic's Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx
Vic's Short Story Collection: http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tiny.cc/0iHLb Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kx3d3uf
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/rP7o9

Vic's Rom-Com Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/kny5llp

Vic's Horror Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3f

Vic's Blog: http://vicfortezza.blogspot.com/

Vic's Web Site: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/