The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)

:For the novel, see The Wonderful Wizard of Oz;

Fame

The popularity of the film is primarily due to the large number of times it has been shown on television. The vast majority of people who have seen the film have seen it on television rather than watching it on the big screen. The film It's a Wonderful Life has a similar history of relative neglect and then becoming popular because of frequent showings on television.

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The Wizard of Oz has generated many rumors and stories, some of which have reached the level of urban legends. The most common of these, which refuses to die, claims that one of the cast or crew hanged himself on the set, and can be seen in the Enchanted Forest scene. This is not true. It is in fact a large emu-like bird flapping its wings, a bird that had been seen in the foreground a little earlier in the scene. The re-release of the movie to theaters for a time in the late 1990s settled this issue, as the picture was large enough to reveal the truth that the small TV screen had made to seem ambiguous.

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Additionally, the large group of "little people" cast to play the Munchkins were rumored to have held wild drunken orgies, but these stories are likely to have been exaggerated. This rumor was enhanced significantly by Judy Garland herself. On a late-night talk show in the 1960s, seemingly a little "medicated" herself, the host started to ask about the little people, and she blurted out, "They were drunks!" The audience roared, and that episode fed fuel to the story.

Related Topics:
Munchkins - Orgies

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According to another story, which appears to be true, the coat Frank Morgan wore as Professor Marvel, which was handpicked from a second-hand clothing rack, once belonged to L. Frank Baum (the author of the Oz series of books). The inside pocket had his name on it. After completion of the film, the coat was presented to Baum's widow who confirmed it was indeed his. Ironically, Morgan died in the late 1940s, the one major player in the film who did not live to see the great esteem in which the initially poorly-received film would ultimately be regarded.

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There was occasional talk of a sequel with the original characters, but it never materialized. One story holds that Margaret Hamilton's witch was to be resuscitated somehow. Hamilton, who in real life was a kind and gentle woman, refused to revive that role, saying it would frighten children too much to see the seemingly really-dead, most-sincerely-dead, evil witch come back to life.

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The movie continues to generate a cult following, despite its age and original creative intent as a musical cinematic fable for children. Director John Boorman utilized aspects of the film in his 1974 science fiction classic Zardoz. Wizard of Oz collectibles, such as autographs and props from the film, are among the most sought-after of all movie memorabilia. On May 24, 2000, a pair of ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in the film (with red sequins; seven pairs are believed to exist) sold at auction for $666,000.

Related Topics:
1974 - Science fiction - Zardoz - Autographs - May 24 - 2000

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Several film scholars have written interesting interpretations of the film, including several attempts by structuralist semiologists suggesting that the film was intended to prepare America for entry into war, although this ignores the fact that the Second World War had not yet started. Such obscure and esoteric interpretations usually posit Dorothy as representing a depressed, monochrome America, turning to Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal (the flimflam magician) for hope. She enters a more colourful Europe (Munchkinland), threatened by the Wicked Witches of the East (Stalinism) and West (Fascism). She defeats Stalinism when her house falls upon the Eastern Witch early on, which suggests the overwhelming power of commercial capitalism and its precedence in Western Europe. To defeat Fascism, she receives the aid of Britain (Glinda), the naive peasantry (the Scarecrow), the dehumanized Proletariat (the heartless Tin Man), and the emasculated nobility (Cowardly Lion). The Wizard who encourages and profits from the defeat of the Western Witch turns out to be another version of the same flimflam man she met at home, a cynical politician who realizes that none of Dorothy's allies truly require anything that they didn't already have. He is both a supreme humanitarian and a misanthrope, in that he excels at detecting the weaknesses of others, because he knows his own so well. He is, in fact, the spirit of democracy. And the seemingly "muddled" good witch, Glinda, appears to represent God: all-knowing, all-powerful... and, of course, on the side of the Allies. There is also a similar theory that portrays the elements of the story together as a Populist allegory:

Related Topics:
Structuralist - Semiologists - Second World War - Franklin D. Roosevelt - New Deal - Europe - Stalinism - Fascism - Capitalism - Politician - Democracy - Populist

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L. Frank Baum "was an interesting kind of maverick guy who at one point of his life was an editor of a paper in South Dakota. And this was a time of the Populist revolutions or revolts or whatever you want to call it in the Midwest, because the railroads and the Eastern city banks literally dominated the life of the farmers and they couldn?t get away from the debts that were accumulated from these. And uh, Baum set out consciously to create an American fable so that the American kids didn?t have to read those German grim Fairy stories where they chopped off hands and things like that. You know he didn?t like that, he wanted an American fable. But it had this under layer of political symbolism to it that the farmer, the scarecrow was the farmer, he thought he was dumb but he really wasn?t, he had a brain. And the Tin Woodman was a result - was the laborer in the factories who with one accident after another he was totally reduced to a tin man with no heart, alright, on an assembly line. And uh, the Cowardly Lion was William Jennings Bryan who kept trying, was a big politician at that time promising to make the world over with the gold standard, you know. And the Wizard was a humbug type, was the Wall Street finances - and the Wicked Witch? - Probably the railroads, but I?m not sure." - Ernie Harburg, biographer of Yip Harburg, Wizard of Oz lyricist

Related Topics:
L. Frank Baum - Populist - William Jennings Bryan - Wall Street - Yip Harburg

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There are also several coincidences between this movie and the Pink Floyd album, Dark Side of the Moon. For more detail about this, see Possible film and music synchronizations.

Related Topics:
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon - Possible film and music synchronizations

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The film has been deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.

Related Topics:
Library of Congress - National Film Registry

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In 1998, the American Film Institute ranked it #6 on its "100 Greatest Movies" list, and two songs from the film are on the 100 years, 100 songs list ("Ding, Dong, the Witch is Dead" was #82 and "Over the Rainbow" was #1). It is also consistently in the top 100 on the IMDB Top 250 Films List.

Related Topics:
1998 - American Film Institute - 100 Greatest Movies - IMDB Top 250 Films List

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A 2005 poll by the AFI ranked Dorothy's line "Toto, I've got a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore" as the fourth most memorable line in cinema history http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200506/s1398449.htm.

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In 1977, Aljean Harmetz wrote The Making of The Wizard of Oz, a detailed description of the creation of the film based on interviews and research; it was updated in 1989. ISBN 0-7868-8352-9

Related Topics:
1977 - Aljean Harmetz - The Making of The Wizard of Oz - 1989

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All of the positive attention this movie has garnered since its television debut in the mid-1950s is a fair accomplishment, given that the film was considered an expensive failure in its initial release. The last thing on the minds of its creators, cast and crew likely would have been the legendary and beloved status it eventually achieved. Fortunately, most of the film's stars lived long enough to see and enjoy at least some of that acclaim. The last of the major players to pass on was Ray Bolger. The day after his death, a prominent editorial cartoonist nicely captured the cultural impact of this movie; it portrayed the scarecrow running along the yellow brick road to catch up with the other characters, as they all danced off into the sunset.

Related Topics:
1950s - Ray Bolger

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