There frequently seems to be confusion among contemporary viewers as to the differences between the original "Godzilla" (1954), and "Godzilla: King of the Monsters" (1956). In fact, they are essentially the same film. Almost.

What became the monster (no pun intended, of course) Godzilla franchise began with the original 1954 film, directed and co-written by Ishirō Honda, produced by Toho. It is by any standards a very emotionally dark film, as it was meant to be less than a decade after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

For the distribution of an English-dubbed version of the film in the U.S., new "framing" footage was shot in the U.S., featuring actor Raymond Burr and other actors, to "insert" him, as it were, into the story as an observer and participant in the action. This was edited to create the 1956 "King of the Monsters" version that ran extensively on U.S. television during the 1960s and beyond.

So there you are:

Godzilla: King of the Monsters = (Godzilla + Raymond Burr)