Warner Bros., Rated G
Directed by Richard Thorpe and King Vidor & Victor Fleming
Written by Noel Langley and Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf based on the book by L. Frank Baum
Really, what can be said about a classic such as this? The Wizard of Oz is the first truly great movie many people ever saw, and its ranking at #6 on the recent AFI list proves that. However, many of us have only seen it on television and I felt robbed all those years when I finally saw this Special Edition on the big screen. The film, about a girl named Dorothy (Judy Garland) going to a magical land and seeking a fabled wizard to take her home after a tornado picks up her house, underwent a new technicolor process that adds a vibrance to the colors never before seen. The supposed dreariness of Dorothy's life in Kansas is represented by it being in black and white, but even that looks glorious now. Still, the beautiful colors give one a sense that they truly are in a new and magical land. We certainly aren't in Kansas anymore. Margaret Hamilton as the Wicked Witch who wants Dorothy's ruby slippers, would forever be remembered as the villainness that all other villains had to live up to. She truly was hiss-worthy, but of course, in a good way. The highlight of the movie, performance-wise, is still the film's three stooges The Scarecrow (Ray Bolger), The Tin Man (Jack Haley) and The Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr). Sure, these three actors would always be typecast in these roles (for that matter, so was everyone else except Garland), but this was for good reason. They provided hilarious comic relief (especially Lahr) at a level above that of many of the children viewing the film. Before Timon and Pumbaa, before the Genie, there was the Lion. Oz may have been ripping off Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarves at first, but Disney owes them a lot today. The moral lesson, about never looking further than your own backyard is great for children, and it's sort of the ultimate coming-of-age story (how many coming-of-age stories do you know that involve flying monkeys). Sure, she was probably still bored to death the next day in Kansas and Mrs. Gulch would still be a problem, but perhaps Dorothy learned to have the strength to stand up for herself in Oz. Plus, who says it was all just a dream? ****
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