Long before he battled King Kong as Millie Bobby Brown and one of the Skarsgårds looked on, Godzilla was a star in his own right, captivating audiences around the globe with not only his atomic breath but also with his embodiment of nuclear destruction. But with all of these terrifying qualities comes some pretty cool set photos, even from his earliest film forays. 

From off-duty smiles to battle sequences in action, here are 23 behind-the-scenes photos of old-school Godzilla flicks.