This full-page ad, which appears as the back cover for the industry publication Motion Picture Herald’s April 27th 1966 issue, dates from just a few days after Gamera vs. Barugon‘s domestic release in Japan. No mention is made of an available English track (as Daiei did for some available features), though one was produced and has been presented on some video editions.
The film follows Barugon, loosed from its giant gemstone egg by treasure hunters, as it lashes out against the cities of Kobe and Osaka and comes into conflict with the giant monster Gamera. Gamera vs. Barugon debuted in Japanese cinemas on April 17th, 1966. Shortly thereafter American International Pictures’ TV imprint released an abridged English version straight to US television as War of the Monsters.
Motion Picture Herald was a trade publication primarily for exhibitors and owners of theater chains, and was in publication from 1931 (when it was consolidated under that banner from a number of other trade publications owned by Chicago-based publisher Martin Quigley) until 1972.
