The Wizard of Oz

MGM, 1939
Starring Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, and Margaret Hamilton
Directed by Victor Fleming and others
Music by Harold Arlen; Lyrics by E.Y Harburg

And now, we travel over the rainbow to take on one of the most famous films - in any genre - of all time. While not a huge hit when it first came out, it's become a classic in re-releases and on TV. The tale of Dorothy and her companions and their journey to the Emerald City has become a touchstone to families and children of all ages. Let's head to Kansas to see if the movie is truly worthy of that legacy...

The Story: Dorothy Gale (Garland) is not having an easy time in dull Sepia-toned Kansas. Her aunt, uncle, and their farm hands don't listen to her when she tries to explain that the local grouchy old lady Mrs. Gulch (Hamilton) has threatened to take her beloved dog Toto away. To Dorothy's horror, they don't have a choice about letting him go when Gulch shows up with court orders. Toto escapes, and Dorothy runs away to save him. She's found by a traveling fortune teller (Frank Morgan) who encourages her to go home. She gets back just in time to run inside just as the farmhouse is hit by a tornado.

The twister lands her and Toto in the Technicolor land of Oz, where she's greeted by tiny little people called Munchkins. They're celebrating because her house landed on the Witch of the East, who had been persecuting them. Glinda, the pretty Witch of the North (Billie Burke), sends Dorothy along the Yellow Brick Road to ask the Wizard who rules Oz to help her find her way home. Along the way, she meets three familiar friends who join her on her journey, a goofy cowardly lion (Lahr) who wants courage, a wobbly scarecrow who wants brains (Bolger), and a very sentimental tin woodsman (Jack Haley) who wants a heart. They're dogged every step of the way by the nasty Witch of the West (Hamilton again).

The witch captures Dorothy when the Wizard sends them to her domain to get her broomstick. Dorothy doesn't really want to kill anyone, but she doesn't have a choice. She's not happy with what the Wizard turns out to be, either. He does offer her a ride home, but Dorothy misses the trip. It's Glinda who helps her see that she had the way home all along...and that no matter how far over the rainbow we go, home is never far from our hearts.

The Song and Dance: Making this movie was a long and arduous process, but it was absolutely worth it. The Sepia and Technicolor cinematography both glow with an incandescence that makes that rainbow pale. Everyone puts in fine performances; Garland won a special award for best child performer at the Oscars. Hamilton's green-faced witch has frightened generations of children with her fireballs and cackling voice. Bolger, Haley, and especially Lahr are delightful as Dorothy's beloved companions. The movie has one of the most famous scripts in film history, and probably some of the most quoted lines. ("People come and go so quickly here!" "There's no place like home!")

Favorite Number: Thank goodness Harburg insisted they keep "Over the Rainbow!" The executives thought it was too slow, but it really defines the whole movie, well before Dorothy hits Oz. Garland sang it frequently throughout her career, and it's still associated with her to this day. I've always enjoyed the three versions of "If I Only Had...," sung by each of Dorothy's friends when she meets them.

Trivia: There was originally supposed to be another number, "The Jitterbug," which had Dorothy and her friends being attacked by a bug sent by the Witch on the Yellow Brick Road. It was deemed extraneous and was deleted, along with reprises of "Over the Rainbow" and "Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead." The footage for all three numbers is now lost, but the audio recordings survive and are frequently included as extras on DVDs and CD soundtracks.

What I Don't Like: Unfortunately, deleting the "Ding Dong" and "Rainbow" reprises does mean that there's no musical numbers in the last third of the film. The two songs might have added a little more meat to the second half. Some people today consider the basic message of never leaving home to be a bit on the dated side. And yeah, there are times, especially with the moving trees and the obvious painted backgrounds, where the older effects are pretty obvious.

The Big Finale: Not my all-time favorite musical, but I like it enough to understand why it's so beloved. I probably don't need to recommend this one to anybody. If you haven't seen it yet, do so, especially if you have young children.

Home Media:  Goes without saying that this one is pretty easy to find. While it's no longer an annual TV event, it turns up fairly frequently on Turner Classic Movies, and it's available on most formats.

DVD
Blu-Ray
Amazon Prime