Wizard of Oz, The (1939)
.jpg)
Director: Victor Fleming
Honors:
-National Film Registry
It is a motion picture full of beautiful color and
unforgettable sound that stands as one of the very most treasured pieces of
cinema ever produced. The Wizard of Oz was a huge jump forward in
the creative genius of motion picture production in Hollywood. This “children’s
movie” would go above and beyond with artistic direction, make-up, special
effects, creativity, and artistic use of color creating a cultural icon that
will last far into the history of film. In the essence of every conversation of
fantasy pictures The Wizard of Oz
will stand as one of the finest films of the genre and of all time. Through its
creative childish whimsy the feature is packed with details that audiences are
still discovering and appreciating generations after its release, claiming new
fans with each passing day.
 |
| Dorothy dreams of being "Over the Rainbow" |
The Wizard of Oz
is a fantasy film of a farm girl whisked away to a vibrant land of colorful
characters as she fallows the yellow brick road to the one person said to help
her back to her Kansas home, the great and powerful Wizard of Oz. Dorothy (Judy
Garland), Kansas naïve farm girl with thoughts of running away from home, is
knocked uncurious during a great tornado and her imaginative dream takes her to
a new and colorful place known as Oz. Bewildered by this new faraway place of
fancy she befouls the Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Hamilton) who blames
Dorothy for the death of her sister, the Witch of the East. Now wishing to
return home Dorothy is set on the yellow brick road to find the Wizard of Oz
(Frank Morgan), who she hopes can return her back to Kansas.
Along her travels she befriends three new companions,
Scarecrow (Ray Bolger) who wishes he had a brain, Tin Man (Jack Haley) who
pines for a heart, and the Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr) who seeks the bravery he
lacks. The new friends all make way to the Emerald City with a few bumps along
the way set by the Wicked Witch in hope that the Wizard will solve all their
problems. Upon arrival the foursome discover the great and powerful Oz is
nothing more than a man of illusions rather than a powerful wizard. Despite
this discovery the Wizard shares that Scarecrow, Tin Man, and the Lion all had
what they wanted inside them all along. While attempting to aid Dorothy, the Wizard and Dorothy become separated when he
attempts to guide her home. Glinda the Good Witch (Billie Burke) appears to her
and manifests the lesson Dorothy has learned that “there’s no place like home,”
allowing Dorothy to send herself back to Kansas by the power of her enchanted
ruby slippers and wishing herself a return home. Upon waking up Dorothy is more
appreciative of her family and loved ones as they are there by her side.
The film is full of the most colorful and elaborate art
decoration ever seen in any fantasy motion picture produced to that time. With
a record budget of over $2 million for MGM the production is fully on display
as the world of Oz blasts its way through the silver screen towards the
audiences in an experience not quite shared like this before. The film sets new
high marks for elaborate make-up, creative sets, masterful cinematography, and
imaginative means to tell a story.
The Wizard of Oz
as a motion picture begins in 1937 when Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs becomes an immediate smash hit in
Hollywood. For Disney, it catapulted the small cartoon studio into the Hollywood
limelight and with its vast profits helped to finance the construction of a
state of the art studio of Walt Disney’s dreams. MGM looking to make a similar
kind of money maker in the fantasy film genre immediately purchased the rights
to the popular L. Frank Baum novel and began the task of bringing the beloved
story to the movie screen.
As the elaborate pre-production ran into filming both cast
and the role of director went through multiple changes. Originally MGM greatly
attempted to attain the use of child star Shirley Temple to fill the role of
Dorothy, but with the difficulty of 20th Century-Fox’s control over
young Temple MGM was forced to look elsewhere. After the consideration of
acquiring the use of Universal’s own powerfully voiced juvenile starlet Deanna
Durbin, MGM dived into their own well of actresses and cast 16 year old Judy
Garland, whose voice talent was seen as more beautiful than her appearance.
Having played primarily smaller roles, most notably the shy and unassuming love
interest in Andy Hardy films, Garland
was handed her first major starring role in what would be the part of her
lifetime. To make the 16 year old Garland look younger and more innocent
filmmakers had her put in a tight girdle and a patterned dress to flatten her
chest and hide her womanly figure to make her appear more child-like.
 |
| The lovable foursome follow the yellow brick road to Emerald City. |
Apart from Garland most of the cast was filled with
character actors instead of headline names. The major part of the Wizard was
cast with the grandfatherly vibrant Frank Morgan. Originally intended to be
filled with Vaudvillian Ed Wynn, then comic star W.C. Fields in the role of Oz,
both actors felt the role too small and overshadowed by Dorothy. To combat this
idea for the actors in question the part was expanding, or rather added to by playing
many other roles to prolong this actor’s time on screen to include Professor
Marvel at the beginning and end of the feature, as well as many other Emerald
City’s inhabitants Dorothy runs into along the way. After much difficulty with both
Wynn and Fields, Frank Morgan was cast in the title role.
Stage dancer and vaudeville performer Ray Bolger would be cast
as the Scarecrow. At first Bolger was set to play the Tin Man, but he always longed
to be the Scarecrow, because, as he stated, it that role he saw as a child that
made him want to be a performer. After much convincing Bolger was recast as
Scarecrow and through his creative acting and marvelous make-up it became one
of the most memorable roles of the film.
Comedian Bert Lahr and Margaret Hamilton would make their
indelible marks each as the Cowardly Lion and the Wicked Witch of the West
respectively. Hamilton’s appearance and performance would become a most common
visual of a witch in popular culture, seen every year as the standard Halloween
costume of the basic witch. It would prove to be the role of the Tin Man that
became the most troublesome in production. After Bolger was recast away from
being the Tin Man small-time, loveable actor and dancer Buddy Ebsen was cast as
the Tin Woodsman. After a couple of weeks of filming due to a near fatal allergic
reaction to the aluminum dust of the makeup Ebsen was hospitalized and replaced
by Jack Haley to fill in his metal shoes. At first the studio believe Ebsen was
making up the illness, but as Haley took on the part the makeup would be
altered from a dust to a cream with dust on top to avoid a similar reaction. An
issue Haley would have to fight later in filming was a bad eye infection from
the makeup finding its way into his eye. It would halt his shooting schedule
for four days while he recuperated.
The decision of director would be another issue entirely for
the film. First hired was Academy Award winning director Norman Taurog who was
known for working well on films with children. After a few color screen tests
Taurog was quickly dropped for Richard Thorpe, and Taurog was reassigned to The Adventure of Tom Sawyer. With Thorpe
it became clear that the vision of the film was going the wrong direction.
Thorpe dressed Garland in a blond wig with overly cute makeup and two weeks
into production after producers saw the dailies Thorpe was taken off the picture.
Visionary director George Cukor would be brought in to save the film after it
stopped shooting. Although he would not shoot a frame of footage he did change
Dorothy to the vision we eventually see on the screen and re-imagined the
layout of the film for when Victor Fleming took on the role as captain of the
film. Fleming became the visionary of the picture that masterfully planned and
produced the stunning visuals and creative blocking of the characters,
garnering some of the finest performances in this fanciful tale.
Fleming’s camera moves and sails through the scenes and spaces.
The performances of the actors are attention filled to great detail. Bolger’s
walk where he consistently is stumbling and needed to be lifted by the person
next to him can be overlook, but it is a fine small detail that carries
throughout. The tail of the Cowardly Lion is in great motion throughout,
shaking fast as he gets excited and moves with purpose when he is dramatic. The
sets are vast and colorful. Shot in MGM’s famous sound stages, the background
seems to go on into the distance, which is accomplished with large background
paintings that even a less than keen eye can spot, but worked so well the
audience allows for the suspension of disbelief as they are so artfully
produced.
One of the most creative elements of the picture is its use
of Technicolor. The Kansas scenes are shot in sepia toned black and white. It
was Baum’s writing that inspired this landscape, describing Kansas as very grey.
It is when Dorothy opens her front door into the world of Oz we are welcomed to
the world of color. To accomplish this most creative shot two Dorothy’s were
used, a stand in for Garland in a sepia dress on a sepia house set, and when
the door opens the land beyond is filled with bright colors as the double moves
away Garland walks into frame in her full color dress.
 |
| Perhaps the most treasured piece of memorabilia in movie history. |
Many changes were made to the story to fit the movie, but
none stands out more in a positive light than that of Dorothy’s ruby red
slippers. In the book the shoes are silver, but for this Technicolor
extravaganza a sparkly pair of red shoes made for a more memorizing look. The
few pairs of these famous slippers stand, years later, as some of the honored
treasures of Hollywood movie history. The legend of The Wizard of Oz’s
colorful creativity leads many casual movie watchers to believe that this
feature is the very first color film, which is obliviously not the case.
The iconic song “Over the Rainbow” would become one of the
most popular songs of the year and of all time. It would become Judy Garland’s
theme, performed by her at many of her events. Ironically the song was nearly
cut out of the picture as producers saw the moment of the movie as
insignificant, but as test screenings played it was apparent that something was
missing in the scene where Dorothy wished to get away from her Kansas home. The
song was reinserted and the rest was history. It would win the Oscar for Best
Original Song to go along with the award for Best Score. “Over the Rainbow”
would be ranked by AFI as the most iconic song of all American cinema, while
“Ding! Dong! The Witch is Dead!” would land as #82 on the very same list.
Surprising for many to discover, The Wizard of Oz was not a financial success originally. With a $2
million budget the feature made a little over $3 million. Despite great
critical acclaim and even nominations for Best Picture it would not be until
its post World War II re-release that the studio was able to capitalize on the fame
of the movie. As television became huge in America The Wizard of Oz would become an often repeated film over the air, enjoyed
by millions of home viewers through the years especially when color televisions
hit the market.
Generations later The
Wizard of Oz is a cultural icon in movie production history. With vast
amounts of re-makes, re-imaginings, self appointed sequels, and countless
homage’s, The Wizard of Oz is
manifested to be loved and cherished by millions the world over. It would
launch Judy Garland into superstar fame that carried her through her carrier
and is a symbol of cinema magic. The
Wizard of Oz made fantasy even more possible for live action as animation
in Snow White set did before in setting
new standards on the genre. Contemporary audiences continue to pay their
tributes to this classic of classics. It has and will stand as a film on a
different plane of cinema existence.
.jpg)
Comments
Post a Comment