The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
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The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
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This film has been preserved in the National Film Registry in 1989.
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Oh, we're off to see the wizard! The Wonderful Wizard of Oz!
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The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 musical fantasy film directed by the late Victor Fleming and based on the 1900 book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. Starring Judy Garland, the film was hailed as one of the best films ever made. It was MGM's very first family film.
Plot
A girl named Dorothy (Garland) gets caught in a tornado and lands in the land of Oz. There, she meets a brainless Scarecrow (Ray Bolger), a heartless Tin Woodman (Jack Haley), and a Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr). They go on a journey to the Emerald City to meet the Wizard (Frank Morgan) so that Dorothy can go home to Kansas and her friends get what they want.
Why We're Off to See the Wizard
- While L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was already part of the most successful fantasy franchise in American history– not only being the first in a series of fourteen children’s books, but also having a hit Broadway production in the early 1900s, and several film adaptations both before and after Baum’s death – MGM’s Technicolor take L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is still one of – if not the – most iconic/beloved adaptation even today.
- While various other studios would release fantasy films in the late 30s and early 40s as an attempt to cash in on the success of Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, MGM studio head Louis B. Meyer made an economic commitment to the project that was far larger than the revenues he could hope to recoup. His backing helped make The Wizard of Oz a much greater film.
- The film pushed the limits of technology with special effects and cinematography, gave career-defining roles to its cast members, and introduced several hit songs.
- The film's allegory of just what the novel and the film adaptation are meant to represent can be interpreted in many ways, which just goes to show how skilled Baum was as a writer.
- Some say it's a political allegory about Populism as exemplified by the Greenback and Progressive parties.
- Some say it's an argument against the prevailing monetary policies of Baum's time
- Some say it's the search for psychological unity (with the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion representing elements of personality has Dorothy to acquire.
- Various critics have tried to align the MGM version with the world events of 1939, finding a political subtext between the Wicked Witch and the benevolent Wizard of Oz, which adds to the film's hidden level of depth beneath its saccharine appearance.
- Another aspect that makes this film special is how they adapted old, familiar material for a new audience.
- MGM developed a two-pronged approach to Oz, making sure that through spectacle, comedy, and adventure it would entertain young viewers who may be unfamiliar with the plot and characters. Over a dozen screenwriters simplified Baum's novel eliminating characters and incidents and focusing on the element of homesickness as a theme for the film.
- As a way to keep adults interested, MGM added a score by Harold Arlen and E.Y. "Yip" Harburg, cast vaudevillians like Roy Bolger (Scarecrow), and Bert Lahr (Cowardly Lion), and stage veterans like Frank Morgan (the title character) and Billie Burke (Glinda the Good Witch). Crucially, MGM played the film straight, without the irony that could have deflated the story's whimsy.
- The story and details behind the film's rather disastrous production are so vast and complex, that it was covered in numerous books and documentaries that often go into extensive detail about the many screenwriters, composers, directors, cameramen, and other crew members involved with the film. And yet, despite all of the turmoil, accidents, and changes in the cast and crew, the film still managed to become a groundbreaking hit.
- Incredible acting from Judy Garland Margaret Hamilton and the entire main cast.
- Excellent set designs for Munchkin Land and the Emerald City.
- The songs are all timeless and memorable such as Over the Rainbow, Ding Dong The Witch is Dead (see the Trivia section,) If I Only Had a Brain/Heart/Nerve and Merry Old Land of Oz.
- Decent makeup and special effects (for a 1930s movie).
- Despite not appearing too often in the film, The Wicked Witch of the West is one of the best movie villains ever.
- Although it is not the first movie in color, the seamless transition from the sepia world of Kansas to the colorful world of Oz is breathtaking.
The Only Bad Quality
- There are a few plot holes, one of which is related to the novel it was based on:
- Glinda never tells Dorothy that the ruby slippers are her trick to going home until the end despite giving them to her. In the book, it wasn't Glinda (the Witch of the South in the book) who gave Dorothy the slippers, but her sister the Good Witch of the North. However, because the movie fused Glinda and the Good Witch of the North into one character, it kinda comes off as Glinda just putting Dorothy in danger.
- Despite kicking off the main plot, Miss Gulch and her plan to have Toto put down is never even mentioned again when Dorothy gets back to Kansas. It's possible that the Wicked Witch would symbolize Gulch's death as well.
- Why does The Wicked Witch Of The West have a bucket of water in her castle, knowing damn well that’s what kills her?
Trivia
- Following the death of the former UK prime minister Margaret Thatcher on April 8, 2013, a social media campaign, whose Facebook page had been set up in 2007, emerged among anti-Conservative activists to encourage sales of the song so that it would go up to #1 on the UK Singles Chart; Ding Dong The Witch is Dead reached #2 on the chart behind Duke Dumont and A*M*E's "Need U (100%)", and peaked atop the Scottish Singles Chart. The late Ruth Duccini and the late Jerry Maren, who portrayed Munchkins in the movie, criticized the campaign, with Maren calling the efforts "shocking" and Duccini stating, "Nobody deserves to be treated in such a way. When we were filming the movie no one intended it to be used in this way. I am ashamed, I really am".
Controversy
Infamous background of the film's development
The film, while being successful, had a terrible story behind the scenes.
- Judy Garland, Dorothy's actress, was sexually harassed by MGM workers, and Mayer himself. She was also forced on a strict diet, and to take drugs.
- Mayer even went as far as calling Judy "his little hunchback."
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