The Wizard of Oz |
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The Wizard of Oz Cast |
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Other InformationAwardsBest Classic Film DVD Release Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA [2006] (Won/Nominated: Won) Outstanding Youth DVD Satellite Awards [2005] (Won/Nominated: Nominated) Outstanding Overall DVD Satellite Awards [2005] (Won/Nominated: Nominated) Outstanding DVD Extras Satellite Awards [2005] (Won/Nominated: Nominated) Outstanding Classic DVD Satellite Awards [2005] (Won/Nominated: Won) Jackie Coogan Award Young Artist Awards [1985] Best Picture Academy Awards [1940] (Won/Nominated: Nominated) Best Effects, Special Effects Academy Awards [1940] (Won/Nominated: Nominated) Best Cinematography, Color Academy Awards [1940] (Won/Nominated: Nominated) Best Art Direction Academy Awards [1940] (Won/Nominated: Nominated) Best Music, Original Song Academy Awards [1940] (Won/Nominated: Won) Best Music, Original Score Academy Awards [1940] (Won/Nominated: Won) Plot SummaryThe third and definitive film adaptation of L. Frank Baum`s 1900 children`s fantasy, this musical adventure is a genuine family classic that made Judy Garland a star for her heartfelt performance as Dorothy Gale, an orphaned young girl unhappy with h... TaglineThe Greatest Picture in the History of Entertainment The Mighty Miracle Show That Is the Talk of America! Biggest Screen Sensation Since "Snow White"! Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer`s Technicolor Triumph Gaiety! Glory! Glamour! Let`s go "Over the Rainbow" with Judy in her greatest hit! (1955 re-release) Hear beloved star JUDY GARLAND sing "Over The Rainbow" and other songs ! (re-release) Great On The Wide Screen ! (1955 re-release) What is Oz? (re-release) Mighty Miracle Show Of 1000 Delights ! Amazing Sights To See ! The Tornado . . . Munchkinland . . . Horse Of A Different Color . . . Startling Balloon Ascent . . . Flying Monkeys . . . Trees That Talk And Throw Apples "The Wizard" Musical Returns By Unprecedented Demand! [UK re-release] Related MoviesWizard of Oz [Version of] (Year of movie: 1925) The Wiz [Version of] (Year of movie: 1978) DiscographySinglesScherzo in E-Minor Home Sweet Home Night on Bald Mountain March of The Winkies In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree The Happy Farmer If I Were King of the Forest The Merry Old Land of Oz Optimistic Voices If I Only Had the Nerve If I Only Had a Heart We`re Off to See the Wizard If I Only Had a Brain You`re Off to See the Wizard Follow the Yellow Brick Road `We Welcome You to Munchkinland` `Lollipop Guild `Lullaby League` `Ding Dong The Witch is Dead` `As Coroner, I Must Aver` `As Mayor of the Munchkin City` `The House Began To Pitch` `Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are` Over the Rainbow |
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Trivia |
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Trivia and QuotesQuotes Cowardly Lion: Read what my medal says: "Courage". Ain`t it the truth? Ain`t it the truth?
Dorothy: You go away or I - I`ll bite you myself!
Auntie Em: Dorothy!
Tin Woodsman: Now I know I have a heart, because it`s breaking
[last lines]
Dorothy: Oh, but anyway, Toto, we`re home. Home! And this is my room, and you`re all here. And I`m not gonna leave here ever, ever again, because I love you all, and - oh, Auntie Em - there`s no place like home!
Wizard of Oz: Why, anybody can have a brain. That`s a very mediocre commodity. Every pusillanimous creature that crawls on the Earth or slinks through slimy seas has a brain. Back where I come from, we have universities, seats of great learning, where men go to become great thinkers. And when they come out, they think deep thoughts and with no more brains than you have. But they have one thing you haven`t got: a diploma.
Wizard of Oz: Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.
Tin Woodsman: Go away and leave us alone.
Cowardly Lion: Oh, scared huh? Afraid, huh? Ah, how long can you stay fresh in that can? Ha ha ha ha.
Wicked Witch of the West: I`ll get you my pretty... and your little dog too!
Wizard of Oz: You, my friend, are a victim of disorganized thinking. You are under the unfortunate impression that just because you run away you have no courage; you`re confusing courage with wisdom.
Cowardly Lion: Put `em up, put `em up! Which one of you first? I can fight you both together if you want. I can fight you with one paw tied behind my back. I can fight you standing on one foot. I can fight you with my eyes closed. Oh, pull an axe on me, eh? Sneaking up on me, eh? Why, I`ll... Ruff!
Dorothy: Weren`t you frightened?
Wizard of Oz: Frightened? Child, you`re talking to a man who`s laughed in the face of death, sneered at doom, and chuckled at catastrophe... I was petrified.
Cowardly Lion: I do believe in spooks. I do believe in spooks. I do, I do, I do, I do, I *do* believe in spooks,
Cowardly Lion: Courage! What makes a king out of a slave? Courage! What makes the flag on the mast to wave? Courage! What makes the elephant charge his tusk in the misty mist, or the dusky dusk? What makes the muskrat guard his musk? Courage! What makes the sphinx the seventh wonder? Courage! What makes the dawn come up like thunder? Courage! What makes the Hottentot so hot? What puts the "ape" in apricot? What have they got that I ain`t got?
Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Woodsman: Courage!
Cowardly Lion: You can say that again! Huh?
Dorothy: Lions and tigers and bears! Oh, my!
Auntie Em Gale: Almira Gulch. Just because you own half the county doesn`t mean that you have the power to run the rest of us. For twenty-three years I`ve been dying to tell you what I thought of you! And now... well, being a Christian woman, I can`t say it!
Cowardly Lion: [noticing the snow that fallen on the poppy field] Unusual weather we`re having, ain`t it?
Professor Marvel: Better get under cover, Sylvester. There`s a storm blowin` up, a whopper. Just speakin` the vernacular of the peasantry. Poor little kid, I hope she gets home all right.
Zeke: [to pigs] Get in there, before I make a dime bank out of you. Miss Gulch: [stopping bicycle and getting off] Gale?
Uncle Henry Gale: Well, howdy, Miss Gulch.
Miss Gulch: [comes into the Gales` yard] I want to see you and your wife right away about Dorothy!
Uncle Henry Gale: Dorothy? Well, what has Dorothy done?
Miss Gulch: What she`s done? I`m all but lame from the bite on my leg!
Uncle Henry Gale: Oh! You mean she bit you?
Miss Gulch: No, her dog!
Uncle Henry Gale: Oh, she bit her dog, eh?
[Uncle Henry tries to shut the gate, but it hits her on the backside]
Miss Gulch: [exasperated] No!
Auntie Em: Now you go feed those hogs before they worry themselves into anemia!
Trivia The name for Oz was thought up when the creator, Frank Baum, looked at his filing cabinet and saw A-N, and O-Z, hence "Oz." The film began its legendary run on network television on 3 November 1956, as an installment and series finale of the musical anthology series "Ford Star Jubilee" (1955). The broadcast was a smash, but the film was not shown on TV again until 1959. In a programming stroke of genius, it was decided to air it at an earlier hour (6:00 P.M., E.S.T.) as a Christmas season special, independent of any anthology packaging. This broadcast attracted an even wider audience, because children were able to watch, thus beginning the tradition of showing the film annually on television. The annual network run of the film ended in 2000, after which it was officially integrated into the WB/Turner vault of motion pictures. In 1939, Montreal lifted its law restricting minors under 16 from admission to theaters, presumably without an accompanying adult. This lift was done exclusively for this film and apparently sent a rush of children to theaters, according to a 1939 issue of Variety. Earlier that year, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) unsuccessfully attempted to lift the ban.
The movie notched two more achievements when it was reissued nationwide in April 1949. The picture broke into moneymaking status for the first time, and reassessments by film critics were near-universally adoring. Enthused "Time" magazine in its May 9, 1949 edition: "The whimsical gaiety, the lighthearted song and dance, the lavish Hollywood sets and costumes are as fresh and beguiling today as they were ten years ago when the picture was first released. Oldsters over ten who have seen it once will want to see it again. Youngsters not old enough to be frightened out of their wits by the Wicked Witch (Margaret Hamilton) will have the thrill of some first-rate make-believe (`We`re off to see the Wizard, the Wonderful Wizard of Oz...`)."
The Munchkins were awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in November, 2007. Seven of them attended the ceremony: Mickey Carroll, Ruth L. Robinson, Margaret Pellegrini, Meinhardt Raabe, Karl `Karchy` Kosiczky, and August Clarence Swenson.
A recent study claimed that this is the most watched movie in film history, largely due to the number of television screenings each year as well as video which has enabled children of every generation to see it. The Wizard was originally supposed to have a song routine where he hands out the awards to the Scarecrow, Cowardly Lion, and Tin Woodman. This was scrapped because E.Y. Harburg, the lyricist, felt the scene would work better as a non-musical one, so he translated the lyrics into prose form. The Tin Woodsman costume worn by Jack Haley was reportedly so stiff that he had to lean against a board to rest. Thirty-eight years later, Anthony Daniels (who played C-3PO in the Star Wars movie series) had the same problem with his costume. The shot of Dorothy`s house falling from the sky was achieved by filming a miniature house being dropped onto a sky painting on the stage floor, then reversing the film to make the house appear to fall towards the camera. When Dorothy and her friends are in the Haunted Forest, the Lion has a spray pump with "Witch Remover" printed on it. In the next shot, it`s gone. The reason is because there is a deleted scene in which the lion says that "the Witch Remover doesn`t work but it`s wonderful for threatening with". Disgusted, the Scarecrow takes the spray pump and throws it away. There is a close shot in which the spray pump hits the ground and vanishes. One pair of the famous Ruby Slippers were sold to Hollywood memorabilia collector David Elkouby for $666,000.00 in a May 2000 auction. Toto`s real name was Terry. She died in 1945 and was buried in her trainer`s yard. Frank Morgan (Professor Marvel and the Wizard) actually played five roles in the film. Uncredited, he also played the gatekeeper of the Emerald City, the cab driver with the "horse of a different color", and the Wizard`s Guard who finally lets Dorothy and her friends in after Dorothy cries because she is told she cannot see the Wizard. It is also possible that Morgan was made up for the spooky projected image of the Wizard`s face transposed on the billowing smoke in his Throne Room. Frank Morgan posed for a test for The Wizard, made up to look as the Wizard looked in the book; this makeup was discarded and the final look was only reached after at least five more tries. The Wicked Witch has two eyes in the movie and only one eye in the book. In fact, Dorothy and her friends are the only characters who look like the ones in the book, because of changes having to do with the Hays Office. Terry (Toto) was stepped on by one of the witch`s guards, and had a double for two weeks. A second double was obtained, because it resembled Toto more closely. Herbert Stothart, who scored this film, also scored Marie Antoinette (1938). A recycled piece from that film can be heard during the scene in which Dorothy and her friends attempt an escape from the Witch`s castle. The uniforms of the Flying Monkeys match the uniforms worn by the Witch`s castle guards (Winkies). The woods where the Tin Man is first discovered is inhabited by a number of exotic birds. Look for a small toucan in the tree (where the Witch is hiding) at the opening of this scene; and at least one (perhaps more) large, crane-like birds in the background of where the Tin Man stands for most of the scene. There are many alleged lyrics to the "Winkie Chant" performed by the Witch`s guards, including "All we own, we owe her", "Oh we love the old one", and "Oh we loathe the old one". However, the correct version, seen in the film`s screenplay, is "O-Ee-Yah! Eoh-Ah!" and any other interpretations are simply the result of the listener`s mind treating the chant as an audio ink blot. In the first take of the scene when the Wicked Witch of the West leaves Munchkinland, the smoke that was supposed to go up around her came early, and started forming before she stepped on the platform she was supposed to be on. On the second take, part of Margaret Hamilton`s cape got caught in the platform when the burst of fire appeared. She got severely burnt, and the producers used the first take. You`ll notice the early appearance of the red smoke. When The Witch tries to get off the Ruby Slippers, fire strikes her hands. This "fire" was actually dark apple juice spewing out of the shoes. The film was sped up to make it look like fire. The music and vocal tracks for all the deleted sequences have survived and can all be heard on Rhino Records` Deluxe 2-CD soundtrack edition of the film`s songs and score. Every track on that album is heard in the exact order in which it would have appeared in the film had the movie never been edited to its final release length. The Munchkins are portrayed by the Singer Midgets, named not for their musical abilities, but rather for `Leo Singer`, their manager. The troupe came from Europe, and a number of the Munchkins took advantage of the trip to emigrate and escape the Nazis. A small sign to the left of the door of Professor Marvel`s wagon lists "Exhibition Balloonist" as one of his talents The movie`s line "There`s no place like home." was voted as the #23 movie quote by the American Film Institute (out of 100). The movie`s line "I`ll get you, my pretty, and your little dog, too!" was voted as the #99 movie quote by the American Film Institute (out of 100). The movie`s line "Toto, I`ve got a feeling we`re not in Kansas anymore" was voted as the #4 movie quote by the American Film Institute The much quoted line "Fly my pretties, fly" doesn`t actually appear in the movie. The Wicked Witch of the West actually says, "Fly, Fly, Fly." When it first opened in 1994, the MGM Grand Casino in Las Vegas had extensive decor related to this film decorating the casino and various parts of the resort, including life-sized statues of the main characters (including Toto) near the casino entrance. In 2000 nearly all of this decor was removed in a major renovation, and the casino is now generically themed around motion pictures. In the song "If I Only Had A Heart", the girl who says, "Wherefore art thou, Romeo?" is Adriana Caselotti, the voice of Snow White in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937).
Judy Garland`s portrayal of Dorothy was the main inspiration for the character of Mary Ann on "Gilligan`s Island" (1964). According to legend, the coat Frank Morgan wore as Professor Marvel, which was handpicked from a second-hand clothing rack, once belonged to Oz author L. Frank Baum. The inside pocket had his initials on it. After completion of the film, the coat was presented to Baum`s widow who confirmed it was indeed his. A sequence in which Dorothy and her companions make a triumphant return to the Emerald City after melting the Wicked Witch, known as the "restoration scene," was cut. Meinhardt Raabe, who played the Coroner of Munchkinland, was, at one time, the shortest licensed pilot in the U.S. During WWII, he volunteered for military service and was turned down. He was accepted as a volunteer instructor in the Civil Air Patrol. The steam shooting from the Tin Man`s cap startles Toto, who runs out of the shot. MGM paid $75,000 for the film rights to L. Frank Baum`s book, a towering sum at the time. Of all the Munchkins, only two are heard speaking with their real-life voices - the ones who give Dorothy flowers after she has climbed into the carriage. All others are dubbed. Rick Polito of the Marin Independent Journal printed in Northern California is locally famous for his droll, single-sentence summations of television programs and movies which the newspaper reports will be broadcast. For the Wizard of Oz, he wrote, "Transported to a surreal landscape, a young girl kills the first person she meets and then teams up with three strangers to kill again." Glinda`s gown was first used by Jeanette MacDonald in San Francisco (1936). One pair of authentic Ruby Slippers in the Smithsonian are obviously not a matching pair. Rhys Thomas, author of `The Ruby Slippers of Oz`, speculates that there might be one to two pairs of authentic pairs unaccounted for. Two styles of ruby slippers were tested for Dorothy by the MGM wardrobe department before they settled on the low schoolgirl-style pumps with bows. Early test photographs show Judy Garland wearing one of a pair of unique slippers known as the Arabian Test shoes (created by designer Adrian), which today belong to Debbie Reynolds. The other shoe is from a pair known as the Bugle Bead shoes. These pumps are without bows and have yet to publicly surface. Although most of screenwriter Noel Langley`s ideas were used in the finished film, and he is credited as being the principal screenwriter as well as the adaptor, there were some revisions to his material. Langley was incensed that they had been done, and walked out on the project several times, although he was always persuaded to return. He was bitterly resentful of the final screenplay, and is on record as saying that he hated the finished film when he finally saw it. Judy Garland would later refer to the pint-sized Oscar Juvenile Award she won at 1939`s Academy Awards as the Munchkin Award. Margaret Hamilton suffered a serious injury on the set when her make-up heated up and nearly caught fire in the scene where she disappears in a cloud of orange smoke and fire. As it was, she suffered second- and third-degree burns to her hands and face. It was later discovered that one of the key components in her make-up was copper. Some see L. Frank Baum`s story containing political and social satire. The little girl from the Midwest (typical American) meets up with a brainless scarecrow (farmers), a tin man with no heart (industry), a cowardly lion (politicians, in particular William Jennings Bryan) and a flashy but ultimately powerless wizard (technology). Although the little people keep telling her to follow the yellow brick road (gold standard), in the end it`s her silver (in the original story) slippers (silver standard) that help her get back to the good old days. Originally contracted for six weeks, Margaret Hamilton ended up working for 23.
After Ray Bolger successfully lobbied for the role of the Scarecrow, Buddy Ebsen (originally cast in that part) quite happily stepped into the part of the Tin Man. Unbeknownst to him, however, the make-up for the Tin Man contained aluminum dust, which ended up coating Ebsen`s lungs. One day he was physically unable to breathe and had to be rushed to hospital. The part was immediately recast and MGM gave no public reason why Ebsen was being replaced. The actor considered this the biggest humiliation he ever endured and a personal affront. When Jack Haley took over the part of the Tin Man, he wasn`t told why Ebsen had dropped out (and in the meantime, the Tin Man make-up had changed from aluminum dust to aluminum paste as one of its key components). Walt Disney was the unwitting impetus behind getting the film started. Louis B. Mayer was determined to come up with something that would equal the success of Disney`s runaway smash, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) which had become the most successful film of all time in a matter of months. Walt originally wanted to make ‘The Wizard Of Oz’ after ‘Snow White’ but MGM owned the rights to the book. In the 80`s the Disney studios made a semi-sequel Return to Oz (1985). The House of Winston made a pair of real ruby slippers to celebrate the film`s 50th anniversary in 1989. These are valued at $3 million. Bert Lahr`s costume weighed 90 pounds. Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr and Jack Haley had to eat their meals in their dressing rooms, as the make-up they wore frightened the other diners in the MGM cafeteria. For the film`s 1998 theatrical re-release, Warner Brothers was considering editing the extended Scarecrow "If I Only Had A Brain" sequence into the movie (it was deleted from the film before its 1939 premiere) but ultimately decided not to.It is available as a supplemental feature on the Warner Bros Special Edition DVD of the film. The producers at one point considered using a live lion for the Cowardly Lion, and then dubbing in an actor`s voice. In 2007, the American Film Institute ranked this as the #10 Greatest Movie of All Time. Ranked #1 on the American Film Institute`s list of the 10 greatest films in the genre "Fantasy" in June 2008. The song "Over the Rainbow" was ranked #1 by the American Film Institute in 2004 on the 100 Greatest Songs in American Films list. Dorothy`s hair changes lengths throughout the course of the film, most noticeably in the Scarecrow cornfield sequence. This was the first sequence to be shot. As production progressed, refinements were made to Judy Garland`s hair and make-up. At the end of filming, reshoots were done of the cornfield sequence and, thus, the shots do not match. The reshoots are believed to have been done by King Vidor, who also directed the Kansas sequences, including "Over the Rainbow", after director Victor Fleming left the production to direct Gone with the Wind (1939). There are thought to be seven pairs of ruby slippers, of which the whereabouts of five are known. Each has an estimated value of $1.5 million, making them the most expensive Hollywood memorabilia. They have been dubbed by some as "The Holy Grail" of all Hollywood nostalgia. The ruby slippers were silver (like in the book) until MGM chief Louis B. Mayer realized that the Technicolor production would benefit from the slippers being colored. The film started shooting on 13 October 1938 and was completed on 16 March 1939 at a then-unheard-of cost of $2,777,000. It earned only $3,000,000 on its initial release.
The yellow brick road originally showed up as green in the first prints. This stopped production and required everything to be repainted so it would show appropriately on the Technicolor film. If you look very closely at the Wicked Witch that Miss Gulch transformed into while Dorothy looks out her bedroom window during the tornado, you will see a shimmer from her shoes-she`s wearing the Ruby Slippers. That means that she is the Wicked Witch of the East, who is soon to be killed when Dorothy`s house falls on her. Margaret Hamilton has never been credited for playing this role (which is practically a cameo). This shimmer from her shoes is even more obvious when watching a better-quality copy of the film, such as the 1989 50th anniversary laserdisc version or the 1999 60th anniversary Warner Bros. DVD restored version. L. Frank Baum`s novel is considerably more gruesome than MGM`s rendition. For example, the Tin Woodsman uses his axe to lop off the heads of beasts, and the Wizard sends Dorothy and the gang to actually kill the Wicked Witch of the West. During the "Wash and Brush Up Co." scene, the lyrics "We can turn a dimpled smile into a frown/Can you even dye my eyes to match my gown" are sung in counterpoint to the orchestra playing "Somewhere Over The Rainbow." References to elements in the book not included in the script can be seen in the movie: (1) It is the kiss Glinda gives Dorothy on the forehead that protects her from the Wicked Witch, as none dare harm someone who bears the kiss of the Good Witch. (2) The golden cap Nikko hands the witch is explained in the book to be how she summons the Winged Monkeys. It can only be used three times, and this is the Witch`s third time using it. (In the book, Dorothy takes the cap and the Winged Monkeys, grateful to be freed from the Witch`s tyranny, become her allies.) In the movie Glinda is the good witch of the North. However, in L. Frank Baum`s book, Glinda is the good sorceress of the South.
In the earlier drafts of the script, the writers often created new incidents to liven up the story. The original idea was to turn the story into a slapstick musical comedy, so there were a few deviations from what was written in the book. Some of the earlier scripts included a son for the Wicked Witch of the West whom she wanted to put on the throne of Oz, a stuck-up niece for Miss Gulch, a rescue from the Wizard`s balloon by the Munchkin fire department, a singing princess and her cowardly suitor who gets transformed into a lion, a rainbow bridge that the witch constructs as a trap for Dorothy, and a romance between Dorothy and one of the farmhands. When the script got too bogged down, however, writers Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf would turn to L. Frank Baum`s book for inspiration, and the result was closer to the whimsical fantasy Baum had written. When MGM bought the rights to L. Frank Baum`s novel, "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz," it also purchased the rights to the 1902 stage musical by Baum and Paul Tietjens, and the Wizard of Oz (1925), `Larry Semon (I)``s failed silent comedy. From the latter it derived Dorothy`s companions as farmhands she knew in Kansas, and the it-was-all-a-dream ending - an element of fantasy literature Baum decried in several essays but used in his "Laura Bancroft" titles for very young readers. From the former, it took only the snowstorm summoned by the Good Witch of the North to destroy the poppies, which in the play was a huge set piece that concluded Act I. (In the novel, the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman carry Dorothy out and hoist the Lion onto a truck that is pulled on strings by hundreds of mice.) Lengthy debate occurred at MGM as to whether or not to include the songs from the play, but as the vaudeville-style show mostly included songs of no relevance to plot or characterization, they were replaced with new ones. The pre-release 112 minute version was only seen once, while the film was in test showings before its official release. For its 1998 theatrical re-release; Warner Bros. had considered re-inserting the extended Scarecrow dance number into the film (which had been removed for its 1939 release) but they ultimately decided against it. The theatrical trailer for the 1998 theatrical re-release (viewable on the 2000 Warner Bros. DVD) features the Kansas footage in black and white instead of its proper sepia tone. The sepia tone footage was restored to the film during its 1988 restoration and was thus available; but Warner Bros. choose to show it in its black and white form for the trailer. The film had five different directors. Richard Thorpe shot several weeks of material, none of which appears in the final film. The studio found his work unsatisfactory and appointed George Cukor temporarily. Cukor did not actually film any scenes; he merely modified Judy Garland`s and Ray Bolger`s makeup. Victor Fleming took over from him and filmed the bulk of the movie, until he was assigned to Gone with the Wind (1939). King Vidor filmed the remaining sequences, mainly the black and white parts of the film set in Kansas. Producer Mervyn LeRoy also directed some transitional scenes. Professional singers dubbed most of the Munchkins` voices; many of the actors playing them were from Central and Eastern Europe and didn`t speak much English, and most of the ones who did speak English couldn`t sing well. The horses in Emerald City palace were colored with Jell-O crystals. The relevant scenes had to be shot quickly, before the horses started to lick it off. The "tornado" was a 35-foot-long muslin stocking, photographed with miniatures of a Kansas farm and fields. When filming first started, Judy Garland wore a blond wig and heavy, "baby-doll" makeup. When George Cukor assumed the role of intermediate director (after MGM fired the original director and before they found a replacement), he got rid of the wig and most of the makeup and told her to just be herself. The Cowardly Lion`s facial makeup included a brown paper bag. Actor Bert Lahr couldn`t eat without ruining his makeup. Tired of eating soup and milkshakes, he decided to eat lunch and have his makeup redone. At the beginning of the "We`re off to see the wizard" sequence, there is a disturbance in the trees off to the right. This was long rumored to be one of the crew (or, by some accounts, one of the dwarf actors) committing suicide by hanging himself, but it is in fact a large bird stretching its wings. "Over the Rainbow" was nearly cut; MGM felt that it made the Kansas sequence too long, as well as being too far over the heads of the children for whom it was intended. The studio also thought it was degrading for Judy Garland to sing in a barnyard. A reprise of "Over the Rainbow" was filmed, in which Dorothy was remembering Kansas while being imprisoned in the Witch`s castle. Judy Garland began to cry, along with the crew, because the song was so sad. It was later cut. According to lead Munchkin Jerry Maren, the "little people" on the set were paid $50 per week for a 6-day work week, while Toto received $125 per week.
Ogden Nash wrote an unused screenplay. Fred Stone, who played the Scarecrow in the 1902 stage musical of "The Wizard of Oz", was briefly considered for the role in the movie. However, at age 65 in 1938 he was physically not up to the demands of the role. Shirley Temple was the original choice to play Dorothy. However, she was under contract to 20th Century Fox at the time. A deal was put in place to loan her to MGM Studios in exchange for `Clark Gable` and `Jean Harlow` going to 20th Century Fox for a film. However, after Jean Harlow`s untimely death the deal was revoked. Although Judy Garland was always the favorite to play Dorothy, there were many other actresses in Hollywood who were also considered to play her. Among them were Shirley Temple, who was closer to the actual age of Dorothy and extremely popular at the time. However, her vocal talents were deemed by producers Mervyn LeRoy and Arthur Freed to be inadequate for the scope of the role. Deanna Durbin, the operatic rival to Garland, was also a consideration, as was Bonita Granville. The original concept for the Wicked Witch of the West was to have her resemble a strikingly beautiful woman much in the same way the Evil Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) was conceived. Producer Mervyn LeRoy originally cast MGM beauty Gale Sondergaard in the role as a sleek, sexy Wicked Witch of the West. However, the presence of a sexy Wicked Witch left a large plot hole within the script, for it played against the idea that bad witches were ugly. Convinced that the point was important, LeRoy retested Sondergaard as an ugly witch. Looking hideous in the make-up, she immediately declined the role and was replaced with Margaret Hamilton. Judy Garland very much wanted to adopt Terry after the two spent so much time together shooting the film. Unfortunately, the owner of the dog wouldn`t give her up, and Terry went on to a long career in films. During the haunted forest scene, several actors playing the Winged Monkeys were injured when the piano wires suspending them snapped, dropping them several feet to the floor of the sound stage. Charley Grapewin came out of retirement to play Uncle Henry. Judy Garland had to wear a painful corset-style device around her torso so that she would appear younger and flat-chested. Although no footage of Buddy Ebsen as the Tin Woodsman has to date been released, surviving still photos taken on the set suggest he filmed at least part of the Wicked Witch`s castle sequence. A scene was filmed in which the Tin Woodman was turned into a "human beehive" by the Wicked Witch; after he crushes a bee, the tin woodman cries and rusts his jaw shut, then has to be oiled by Dorothy to get his jaw working again. This scene was cut and so the scene of Dorothy and her companions that comes after where the "beehive" scene had to be flipped to match their continuity in the earlier scene, causing them to appear blurred slightly. An extended scene of Dorothy`s triumphant march through Oz just after the Winkies reprise of "Ding-Dong the Witch is Dead" was at one time restored to the CBS broadcast version for a short time. Apparently, CBS later cut both scenes for "running time." It is believed they are lost forever, as they were cut from one of the "master" copies. This is discussed in the "Making of The Wizard of OZ" featurette hosted by Angela Lansbury, in the 2000 MGM DVD release. The film`s running time was originally 120 minutes. Producer Mervyn LeRoy realized that at least 20 minutes of the film needed to be deleted to get it down to a manageable running time. Three sneak previews aided LeRoy in his decision in what to cut. The original film in its entirety was only seen once by an audience in either San Bernadino or Santa Barbara and it was the only time the famed Jitterbug number was seen by the public. After this preview LeRoy cut the aforementioned Jitterbug number and the Scarecrow`s extended dance sequence to "If I Only Had a Brain". A second preview was held in Pomona, California, where the film ran 112 minutes. After the preview, LeRoy cut Dorothy`s "Over The Rainbow" reprise and a scene in which the Tin Man turned into a human beehive, and the Emerald City reprise of "Ding Dong The Witch is Dead", as well as a few smaller scenes and dialog, notably two Kansas scenes in which the Hickory character was building a machine to ward off tornadoes, as well as dozens of threatening lines by the Wicked Witch of the West. By the third preview, held in San Luis Obispo, the film finally was down to its 101-minute running time, where it has remained ever since. The movie`s line "There`s no place like home." was voted as the #11 of "The 100 Greatest Movie Lines" by Premiere in 2007. The movie`s line "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain." was voted as the #24 of "The 100 Greatest Movie Lines" by Premiere in 2007. The movie was named as one of "The 20 Most Overrated Movies Of All Time" by Premiere. When the film proved popular with audiences, MGM considered re-uniting the original cast for a sequel. Plans never got past the development stage, however, when Judy Garland became a major star, Margaret Hamilton expressed hesitation at reprising her role, feeling that the character of the Wicked Witch was already too scary for children, and the extreme budget overruns and production delays making the original film deterred the studio from moving forward. After a number of popular stars rejected the role of the wizard as too small, the producers decided to include the roles of Professor Marvel, the doorman and palace guard, as well as the role of the coachman who would perform a musical number, in hopes of balancing the screen time for the actor playing the wizard with that of the rest of the cast. Many of the Wicked Witch of the West`s scenes were either trimmed or deleted entirely, as Margaret Hamilton`s performance was thought too frightening for audiences. To compensate for the extreme make-up demands on this film, MGM recruited extra help from the studio mail room and courier service. As most of the Oz extras required prosthetic devices (false ears, noses, etc.), and since application of prosthetics requires extensive training, the recruited make-up artists were each instructed in one area of prosthetic application and then formed an assembly line. Each extra would then move from one station to another to complete make-up application each morning. The movie`s line "Toto, I have a feeling we`re not in Kansas anymore." was voted as the #62 of "The 100 Greatest Movie Lines" by Premiere in 2007. Margaret Hamilton, a life-long fan of the Oz books, was ecstatic when she learned the producers were considering her for a part in the film. When she phoned her agent to find out what role she was up for, her agent simply replied, "The witch, who else?" Throughout the rest of his career, Jack Haley denounced the idea that the making of this film was enjoyable. He frequently quipped "Like Hell, it was; it was work!" The film received a mention in the Guiness Book of World Records as the film to which a live-action sequel was produced after the longest period of time (Return to Oz was released 46 years after The Wizard of Oz). While Buddy Ebsen had been taken off the project from his allergic reaction to the Tin Man`s makeup, his vocals remain whenever the song "We`re off to see the Wizard" is played. Jack Haley`s vocals were never used during the song, but were used for "If I only had a Heart" and "If I only had the Nerve." Ebsen`s vocals can also be heard in the soundtrack for the extended version of "If I were King of the Forest," though the spoken segment has Jack Haley. George Cukor not only changed Judy Garland`s physical appearance in the film to the way it looks in the finished version, but also modified the Scarecrow`s makeup. Later, when Victor Fleming had been assigned to direct, Jack Haley began filming his first scene as the Tin Man, the scene in which Dorothy and the Scarecrow first discover him. Buddy Ebsen, who had been playing the Tin Man, had to back out because of an allergic reaction to his makeup, and never filmed this scene; he had only filmed scenes that take place in the second half of the film, after the four travelers have been to the Wash and Brush Up Co. at the Emerald City. Haley had been filming his first scene for three days before anyone realized that he had no "rust" on his "tin" costume, even though in the story he was supposed to have been standing rusted for an entire year. The rust was immediately applied to it. At the time this film was made, film soundtracks were generally quite simple, with most of the sound recorded on the set, with post-production dubbing and looping being used only when necessary. However, due to the large number of special sound effects in this film, it was one of the rare cases in the 1930s of the use of a sound designer (another was Murray Spivack on King Kong (1933)), whose job it was just to work out and design the sound elements of the soundtrack. O.O. Ceccarini (a close friend of Albert Einstein), who occasionally did special sound work at MGM, was brought in to design the soundtrack, with the assistance of special sound effects engineer Franklin Milton (who would later head up the MGM post-production sound department, replacing Douglas Shearer and Wesley C. Miller in the 1950s). Ceccarini was a brilliant mathematician as well, and he applied mathematics to achieving some of the more complicated sound elements. Judy Garland`s dress and blouse were in reality not white but pale pink. True white did not photograph properly in Technicolor and made the blue of her checked dress seem too bright. Some sources say that the transition between Dorothy`s house (in sepia tone) and Munchkinland (in color) was achieved by the substitution of a stand-in wearing a dress that had been dyed to appear as if it were sepia tone itself. This would seem plausible, given that Dorothy walks completely off camera as the sepia tone section ends, and then back on again after the color section has already begun. However, others say that this effect was achieved in post-production, when individual frames were painstakingly hand-stenciled in sepia using a technique similar to hand-coloring used in the silent film era. It may well be a combination of both. MGM had originally planned to incorporate a "stencil printing" process when Dorothy runs to open the farmhouse door before the film switches to Technicolor; each frame was to be hand-tinted to keep the inside of the door in sepia tone. This process-cumbersome, expensive, and ineffective-was abandoned in favor of a simpler and more clever alternative (a variation of this process was used, however, in 1939 release prints of The Women (1939)). The inside of the farmhouse was painted sepia, and the Dorothy who opens the door from the inside is not Judy Garland but her stand-in wearing a sepia-rinsed version of the famous gingham dress. Once the door is opened and the camera advances through it, Garland (wearing her bright blue dress) walks through the door and the audience is none the wiser. This effect does not work on older video/TV prints where the Kansas scenes appear in true black and white, as the changeover to color is all too apparent. With the Kansas scenes returned to their original sepia tints, however, they closely match the magical opening door and the effect is powerful. The first album of songs from the film, issued by Decca in 1940, featured only Judy Garland from the cast. Her only vocal tracks on that album, "Over The Rainbow" and "The Jitterbug" (which featured "Oz" composer Harold Arlen as the Scarecrow, Bud Lyon as the Tin Man and Gurney Bell as the Cowardly Lion), had already been recorded in 1939 and released that year as a 78-RPM single, but they were later included as part of the 1940 album. This was not really a soundtrack recording at all, despite what some websites say, although it did contain the film`s songs. It was, instead, a sort of "cover version" featuring Garland (this procedure was common practice at a time when there really was no such thing as a record album made directly from a movie soundtrack). The other songs on this 1940 Decca album were all sung by the Ken Darby Singers, and in some songs in which Dorothy is featured another vocalist substituted for Garland. It was not until 1956 that an official soundtrack album (featuring the film`s cast, of course) was issued. This 1956 MGM Records album featured extensive dialogue from the film (enough for listeners to follow the story), and was taken directly from the movie`s final printed soundtrack, which meant that it also featured the film`s sound effects. In 1994, the original pre-release vocal and music tracks were discovered and used to make an all-new soundtrack recording which featured the background music and the songs, without dialogue and without sound effects. This was released on Rhino in 1995 as a Deluxe 2-CD set. Margaret Hamilton said that whenever she saw the scene where Frank Morgan as the Wizard is giving Dorothy`s friends gifts from his "black bag" (a diploma for the Scarecrow, a ticking heart for the Tin Man, and a medal for the Cowardly Lion), she got teary eyed, because "Frank Morgan was just like that in real life - very generous". Richard Thorpe, the original director of the film, had shot around two weeks of footage before he was fired. Among the scenes he shot were Dorothy`s meeting of the Scarecrow on the Yellow Brick Road along with his song and dance, as well as all the scenes involving the Wicked Witch`s castle. Thorpe`s footage had a remarkably different look from what was seen in the finished film. Most striking was the look of Judy Garland`s Dorothy, who in Thorpe`s footage had a blonde tousled hairstyle with baby doll make-up. Ray Bolger`s Scarecrow also had different make-up as well as trousers. Margaret Hamilton had different make-up as the Wicked Witch of the West. In addition, Buddy Ebsen was playing the Tin Man. In Thorpe`s footage the Yellow Brick Road also had a different look, as it was not curbed and made up of artificial looking oval bricks, instead of the curbed real rectangular ones in the finished film. Thorpe`s footage has not been seen since it was shot in 1938 but surviving home movies, taken by composer Harold Arlen, shows a few shots of a blonde Garland and Bolger rehearsing their Scarecrow meeting scene, giving the viewer a glimpse of what Thorpe`s Oz would have looked like. Producer Mervyn LeRoy had originally intended to use MGM`s Leo the Lion in the role of the Cowardly Lion and dub an actors voice in for the dialogue. However, that idea was dropped when Bert Lahr came up for consideration for the part. The famed Jitterbug number was in actuality a leftover of an abandoned subplot that was discarded in early rewrites of the script. In the original Oz movie there was to be a large subplot involving characters named Princess Betty and the Grand Duke of Oz, to be played by MGM contract players Betty Jaynes and Kenny Baker. Jaynes, known for her refined operatic style of singing, was supposed to offset Judy Garland`s jazz type of singing and a number was devised highlighting the differences. The Jitterbug number was devised by Harold Arlen and `E.Y Harburg` to showcase Garland`s talents. Both Jaynes` and Baker`s characters were deemed unnecessary in early script rewrites and were removed from the picture, as well as their subplot. However, the Jitterbug number survived in the script and was filmed for the movie, although it too was cut from the picture in early previews. A reference to the Jitterbug number survives in the Wicked Witch`s orders to Nikko, when she tells him to "send the insects on ahead to soften them up" before the Flying Monkeys take off. Originally Betty Jaynes was cast as Princess Betty of Oz and Kenny Baker was to play her lover, the Grand Duke. They were to share the vocal load with Judy Garland. Eventually, after multiple rewrites, their characters were written out of the film. Buddy Ebsen had been cast as the Scarecrow, and now switched roles with Bolger. But the aluminum powder makeup for the Tin Woodsman was toxic and Ebsen apparently had an allergic reaction to it as well. He left the picture, but his voice can still be heard in "Off to see the Wizard". Ray Bolger was originally cast as the Tin Woodsman. However, he insisted that he would rather play the Scarecrow - his childhood idol, Fred Stone had originated that role on stage in 1902. The title role was written with W.C. Fields in mind. Producer Mervyn LeRoy wanted Ed Wynn, who turned down the role. MGM executive Arthur Freed wanted Fields, and offered him $75,000. Fields supposedly wanted $100,000. According to a letter from Fields` agent (which he claimed was written by Fields) Fields turned down the role to devote his time to writing the script for You Can`t Cheat an Honest Man (1939).
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