| Collector's Corner May 2002
 The
Wizard of Oz
- Starring: Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray
Bolger, Jack Haley, Bert Lahr, Billie Burke, Margaret Hamilton, Charley Grapewin, Clara
Blandick, and a whole lot of Munchkins
- Directed by: Victor Fleming
- Theatrical release: 1939
- DVD release: 1999
- Video: Original Aspect Ratio (1.33:1)
- Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
A heart is not judged by how much you love; but
by how much you are loved by others.
--The Wizard
Is there anyone reading this who hasn’t seen The
Wizard of Oz? Probably not. But just in case, the story goes like this. Dorothy Gale
(Judy Garland) lives with her Aunt Em (Clara Blandick) and Uncle Henry (Charley Grapewin)
on their farm. She has run all the way home from school because Almira Gulch (Margaret
Hamilton) is vindictively pursuing Dorothy’s precious pup Toto for damaging her
garden. Neither Aunt Em nor Uncle Henry has time to help her. She goes to the farmhands to
get some help, but neither Hunk (Ray Bolger), Hickory (Jack Haley), nor Zeke (Bert Lahr)
have time to help. Miss Gulch shows up and takes Toto, who escapes and returns to Dorothy.
She decides to run away from home to protect her dog. Along the road, she meets Professor
Marvel (Frank Morgan), who, through some sweet-hearted trickery, convinces Dorothy to go
back home.
As she returns, a tornado strikes and catapults Dorothy,
Toto, and her house to somewhere over the rainbow. The house lands on the Wicked Witch of
the East, killing her. Glinda, the Good Witch of the North (played by Billie Burke, a lady
with a fascinating life story worth a little research) tells Dorothy she is a hero for
killing the bad witch and introduces her to the Munchkins. When the Wicked Witch of the
West (Margaret Hamilton, again, but with ghastly green makeup and a prosthetic chin) shows
up, she wants her sister’s ruby slippers, but Glinda gives them to Dorothy. The
Wicked Witch vows revenge on Dorothy. Glinda advises Dorothy to go to the Emerald City and
find the Wizard of Oz, who will help her get back home to Kansas. As she travels the
Yellow Brick Road to Oz, she meets the Scarecrow (Ray Bolger), the Tin Woodsman (Jack
Haley), and the Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr). They all travel, under attack by the West
Witch, to Oz, only to be told that the Wizard (Frank Morgan) won’t help them unless
they can get the Wicked Witch’s broom and bring it to him. And, for the sake of those
few who haven’t seen it, that’s all I’m telling.
At age 63, The Wizard of Oz still delights both
children and adults. Something keeps pulling us back. There are certainly better special
effects available to modern directors. And the acting is of the "lets see who can
chew up the most scenery" style. But the movie draws millions every year. In fact,
MGM claims that over one billion people have seen it and that it is both the most seen and
the most frequently re-watched film in history. What is it that draws us in?
To start with, Judy Garland is simply wonderful. The MGM
brass wanted Shirley Temple for the role. Since the film was going to cost an unbelievable
$2 million, they wanted America’s sweetheart! But when Producer Mervin LeRoy sent his
assistant Arthur Freed to test her, he said she didn’t have the ability to sing the
role. Garland had the chops to knock the lights out on her big song, "Over the
Rainbow." But they thought she was too pudgy and not glamorous enough. And she had
only had two big movies prior to The Wizard of Oz. LeRoy pressed the studio.
"That little girl's vocal chords are her heartstrings," he told them. Lucky for
us, she ended up with the role. Maybe unlucky for her. Despite going on to have a major
career in film (two Academy Award nominations) and on the stage, she was always remembered
for being little Dorothy. She was also remembered for being pudgy (being 4’11"
didn’t help). The studio suits sent her to physicians who addicted her to diet pills
for weight and Seconal for sleep. She was dead at age 47. Listening to her recordings of
"Over the Rainbow" just before she died takes on a very sad patina. But not
nearly as sad as one of the impressive extras on the DVD, a recording of young Judy
singing her song and breaking down into tears.
The traveling chums are also fantastic. Bolger (April in
Paris, Babes in Toyland) originally was cast as the Tin Woodsman and Buddy Ebsen (The
Beverly Hillbillies, Barnaby Jones) got the Scarecrow role. Bolger bitched until Le
Roy relented and gave him the role of the Scarecrow. Ebsen took the role of the Tin
Woodsman but had a bad reaction to the aluminum powder they sprayed on his face, nearly
dying and eventually spending the better part of a year in an iron lung. Bert Lahr (Zaza,
Rose Marie), an old-school vaudevillian that was used to playing to the back rows,
gets the funniest lines and the most opportunity to make us laugh. Next time you watch,
pay attention to his superb comic timing. His role shows no subtlety, but then, how could
a lion (cowardly or not) be subtle?
The best-known star in the movie was the Wizard himself,
Frank Morgan (Green Dolphin Street, Boom Town), a veteran of over 100 films and one
of the few actors to ever be awarded a lifetime contract by the MGM powers. And he
didn’t even need the money. His family had (and has) the Angostura Aromatic Bitters
distributorship for the U.S. In The Wizard of Oz, he played five characters! I
don’t think it was to save money, but I haven’t been able to find out why. Finally, I pity poor Jack Haley (Poor
Little Rich Girl, Wake Up and Live), who took over for the ailing Ebsen. A wonderful character actor with several films
under his belt, his only sin was that he had to appear on the same screen with Bolger,
Lahr, Garland, and Morgan. He was no competition.
In the world of salaries, we can learn a lot about who MGM
thought was important. Morgan and Lahr earned $2500 a week; Bolger and Haley got a bit
more. Garland received $500 per week. Toto got $125 per week, and the low men on the totem
pole were the Munchkins at $50 per week.
Though the actors are a big part of the success of The
Wizard of Oz, they still don’t explain its preternatural popularity. And as much
as we might love director Victor Fleming (Treasure Island, Gone With the Wind), he
didn’t even direct the whole film. He had already signed to do Gone With the Wind
and had to leave The Wizard of Oz early. King Vidor (The Fountainhead, Duel in
the Sun) finished the film, shooting the Kansas scenes. George Cukor and Richard
Thorpe also directed parts of the film. One of the directors had the good taste to hire
Harold Rosson (Singin’ in the Rain, On the Town), cinematographer on over 140
films, many of them classics. For a perfect example of his art, check chapter 8, as the
professor is telling Dorothy her fortune. Look at her extraordinarily pellucid eyes and
how the sepia tones and the careful use of lights reflecting off her huge brown pupils
make them almost unbearably sad and lovely. Most actresses would kill for a photographer
this sensitive to a their best attributes. In fact, throughout the film, Dorothy’s
eyes always have a light reflecting off of them. This helps give the viewer a subliminal,
but powerful, feeling of affection for her character.
Another winning part of the equation is the glorious music.
The Wizard of Oz is one of the
crown jewels of the Hollywood musical. Harold Arlen and E. Y. "Yip"
Harburg’s songs make us laugh and cry: "We're Off to See the
Wizard," "If I Only Had a Brain," "If I Only Had a Heart,"
"If I Only Had the Nerve," and "We Welcome You to Munchkinland." The
lyrics are so witty that the adults laugh as hard as the kids, and the music is so
memorable that you can probably hum any of the songs above right now. If those songs form
the Crown Jewels, "Over the Rainbow" is the Kohinoor Diamond of the score. While
the opening rendition is heart wrenching, go to the extras on the DVD and look for The
Emerald City Menu, then push Over the Rainbow. It turns out, Dorothy was supposed
to sing the song one more time while she was the captive of the Wicked Witch of the West.
A reprise of "Over the Rainbow" was recorded, in which Dorothy was remembering
Kansas while being imprisoned in the Witch's castle. Judy Garland starts to cry more than
actor tears, and, reportedly, there wasn’t a dry eye amongst the film crew. The song
was later cut from the film. My fantasy is that the sadness was so unbearable, they
didn’t think the public could stand it.
In the ultimate analysis, what makes The Wizard of Oz
such a long-lasting winner is the story itself. There are dozens of interpretations of the
"hidden" meaning of the film. Most of them overcomplicate matters. The simple
fact is we have a yarn that mucks around in juvenile feelings and insecurities, some of
which never entirely leave us. No one understands me, no one loves me, and I’m going
to run away from home. What if I get lost and can’t find my way home? Can that person
that hates me really hurt me? How will I muddle through the fear when it strikes? Will I
crumble? Who can I trust? After subjecting us to all of the potential evils, we learn
powerful lessons. We need brains, a heart, and courage. There’s no place like home.
The answers are there if we can only open our eyes and see them. The fears and the lessons
they teach stick in our heads and our hearts.
So do some of the lines. "Lions, and tigers, and
bears! Oh, my!" "Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore,"
"Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain." How many times have you heard
or seen these quotes? They are part of our shared heritage, showing up in everything from
comedy routines to bumper stickers. They are also a forceful reminder of the depth of the
impact this film has had on our society. In the beginning, many of us saw it for the first
time during the annual CBS or NBC TV showing, something that many of us looked forward to
almost as much as the holiday (Easter) it came with. I remember the first time I saw the
film on TV. I was about four years old and the flying monkeys scared me so badly I
didn’t sleep for a week. Like most of my friends, I watched it every year until, as a
teenager, I got too "sophisticated" for it. If you haven’t seen it in a
while, let me assure you, no one is too sophisticated for The Wizard of Oz --
except maybe the Academy Award voters.
Granted, they had a lot of great movies to choose from.
1939 was a banner year for film, maybe the best in the entire history of Hollywood. The
Wizard of Oz, Gone With the Wind, Dark Victory, Goodbye Mr. Chips, Mr. Smith Goes
to Washington, Ninotchka, Of Mice and Men, Stagecoach, and Wuthering Heights
were all nominated that year for Best Picture. The Wizard of Oz was also nominated
for Art Direction, Cinematography, Effects, Score, and Song. At the final tally, it only
won the last two. Instead, The Wizard of Oz had to settle for winning the hearts of
the viewing public.
The Warner Home Video release is exceptional in most ways.
The colors have never looked this vibrant. The sound is superb for its vintage. Best of
all, the extras duplicate almost everything we got from the laserdisc releases by MGM [ML
104755] and Criterion [CC1159L], both of which cost $100 when they were released. I
especially loved the documentary The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: The Making of a Movie
Classic. Granted, it is a little kitschy, but it has fantastic anecdotes. There are
also lots of outtakes, interviews, and a copy of the original shooting script. What we
don’t get, and something that I would love, is a commentary track. One by a fan that
knows all of the scoops and trivia, someone who loves the film and knows why it works. A
commentary like Roger Ebert did for Citizen Kane. But that is my only complaint.
Trust me. Go buy this DVD and enjoy it with someone you
love.
...Wes Marshall
wesm@hometheatersound.com |
