THE WIZARD OF OZ

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CREDITS

1939, 101 minutes, Technicolor with B&W sequences.
Producer, Mervyn Le Roy; Director, Victor Fleming; Screenplay, Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson, Edgar Allan Woolf; Cinematography, Harold Rosson; Music Direction, Herbert Stothart; Art Direction, Cedric Gibbons, William A. Horning; Choreography, Bobby Connolly; Special Effects, A. Arnold Gillespie and Douglas Shearer.

CAST

Dorothy Gale, Judy Garland; Professor Marvel/The Wizard, Frank Morgan; Hunk/The Scarecrow, Ray Bolger; Zeke/The Cowardly Lion, Bert Lahr; Hickory/The Tin Man, Jack Haley; Miss Gulch/The Wicked Witch, Margaret Hamilton; The Good Witch, Billie Burke; Uncle Henry, Charles Grapewin; Aunt Em, Clara Blandick; Toto, Toto; Nikko, Pat Walshe; The Singer Midgets.

SONGS

Over the Rainbow; Munchkinland; Ding Dong the Witch Is Dead; Follow the Yellow Brick Road; We're Off to See the Wizard; If I Only Had a Brain/a Heart/the Nerve; If I Were King Of the Forest; The Merry Old Land of Oz; Optimistic Voices by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg.

PLOT SYNOPSIS

". . .Dorothy Gale, unhappy on her drab, sepia-tinted Kansas farm, is knocked out during a tornado. . .and dreams that she is over the rainbow in the colorful land of Oz. There she meets the adorable Munchkins and goes off on the Yellow Brick Road to see the all-powerful Wizard in the Emerald City. Despite the machinations of the Wicked Witch of the West, Dorothy and her new friends the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodsman, and the Cowardly Lion complete the journey only to discover that the Wizard is a fraud. He does, however, convince the little girl's companions that they already possess the desired brains, heart and courage, and Dorothy wakes up from her dream convinced that there's no place like home."
- Stanley Green, Hollywood Musicals, Year By Year

NOTES

"The Wizard of Oz was an enchanting entertainment that really lived up to the blurb - "for children of all ages." Today, it still seems as fresh as it was in 1939, when it became an instant movie classic and made an international star of 17-year-old Judy Garland."
- Clive Hirschhorn, The Hollywood Musical

"There's an audience for it wherever there's a projection machine and a screen."
- Variety

"I don't see why children shouldn't like it, but for adults there isn't very much except for Bert Lahr."
- Richard Mallet, Punch

ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATIONS:
Best Picture
Art Direction
Special Effects


ACADEMY AWARD WINNER:
Best Song - "Over the Rainbow
Original Score

Director Richard Thorpe originally began production on the film; after scrapping his footage, MGM brought in George Cukor, who lasted three more days. Although Victor Fleming received sole director credit, King Vidor directed the opening and closing scenes in black-and-white.

Buddy Ebsen was originally cast in the role of the Tin Man.

Billie Burke's singing voice was dubbed by Lorraine Bridges.

The song The Jitterbug by Arlen and Harburg was cut from the final release print.

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