Mothra (1961)

Intrepid reporter Bulldog Fukuda (Frankie Sakai) sneaks aboard an expedition to a forbidden island once used for nuclear testing. But the island is unexpectedly teeming with strange life, including the two beautiful fairies (Emi and Yumi Ito), who are taken by unscrupulous foreign businessman Clark Nelson (Jerry Ito) to perform in a vaudeville show. However, the fairies' song is also a distress signal, calling on the goddess of their native island, the mysterious, terrible Mothra, to come and rescue them.... Made in 1961 by the team that created Godzilla, Mothra was a family film that grappled with sensitive subjects-foreign intervention, Cold War paranoia and nuclear anxieties. Controversial for its treatment of both radiation and religion, it remains one of the classics of the Japanese monster movie genre.