El mago de Oz

People talk about The Wizard of Oz as a backdrop to their lives; and how true that is. I just saw it again, DVD, for the first time in--gosh!--20 years. There was a little art house in Lansing Michigan USA that ran it back then, on the popular premise that there's nothing like TWoO on "the big screen." That's the last time I'd seen it, 'til today.

I guess the part that "gets" me about the movie is how the writers made it pretty plain that the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion really already had what they thought they were missing; that their respective problems were in misapprehending their own complete natures. That's a powerful statement for many of us. I found myself most touched in scenes where the Scarecrow was showing wisdom, the Tin Man feeling deeply ("...when I think of Dorothy in that awful place..."), and the Lion...well, maybe accomplishing this effect was harder in his case...what *is* true courage?

Anyway, if you're reading this here, you must be a movie weenie, and you've no doubt already seen the movie, so I'm not going to recite the usual "go see this movie" mantra.

I was just very touching to see this movie again, at this phase in my life.

I will mention a few more things about how I now see this movie as a "growed up" (I'm almost 50): It's interesting how you can see the production values of the time; the lot sets and special effects and so forth. This movie is a powerful example of how a good story overcomes limited means in other areas.

People who look back with disdain on the low-tech chintz of old movies can see in TWoO the magic ingredient; narrative solidity. And I'm not a pollyanna about this: I'm sure the underlying reality behind its making is rife with horror stories of expert disagreement, rewrites, discarding, jerryrigging, and the rest of it. But in the end, something like narrative love won out; and that's the important thing.

Oh: And having Harold Arlen write the music was good luck indeed. And orchestrations which cleverly appropriated very tasty new ideas in composition (polymodalism, non-standard phrasings, etc.) didn't hurt, either!

Geez, this movie is such a little universe....I'd better stop here.

I remember watching this movie when they would air it once a year on CBS a few years back. Now it is shown on a couple of different networks quite frequently. This is a wonderful film for the whole family. Who wouldn't want to take a journey to the magical land of Oz?

I think that it is terrific how well this movie has held up over the years. It's going on sixty-two years since it was first released and yet, it is timeless. It is great to look back on a film that was made in the thirties, and compare it to the movies made in this day and age. This is a film that will just be something that stays around forever.

The Wizard of Oz is enjoyable for people of all ages. Everything about it brings a smile to my face. Wouldn't it be wonderful to just magically be transported to a land of talking trees and little munchkins? Of course it would be. The flying monkeys, a talking lion, the astounding ruby slippers, and everything else adds a special kind of magic to the screen.

The atmosphere and setting is magnificent. This is one of the things that makes the film so stunning. Anyway, the forest, the witch's castle, and even the farm is really well laid out.

I don't think that the casting could have been done any better. Judy Garland shines as the innocent Kansas girl. Her dancing and singing just brightens the whole story up. The lion, tin man, and scarecrow perform amazingly also. Everyone involved down to the littlest munchkin acts so well.

Even though this is a movie for everyone, it is categorized as a children's flick. The writing is good with very simple lines and problems, but slightly complex so we're not falling asleep of boredom.

What's left to say? Other things like the wardrobe, special effects, musical talents, and even the famous yellow brick road, are so well put together. Oz gives us an idea of what an almost perfect world would be like. No matter how old this movie becomes and we still look back on it, we'll still be able to enjoy at least one thoughtful movie. Classics never die. (Hence the name.)

Judy Garland's portrayal of Dorothy, Dorothy's oddball Oz friends, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", and the rest of this fine production of "The Wizard of Oz" have lost little of their magic over the years. While it has become oddly fashionable in recent years to deride this kind of classic, innocent fantasy, the movie itself has aged very well, and it is likely to retain an appreciative audience for some time to come.

There's no doubt that part of the appeal of the story and the characters comes from them being such old friends to so many cinema fans, but there are also good reasons why they have endured for so long, and have been able to hold up even after becoming so familiar. Although Dorothy is not a particularly complex character, she represents an innocent but deep yearning that is easy to identify with. Likewise, the 'Oz' characters are bizarre enough to remain interesting, but there is a core of substance that again is easy to believe in. Who does not feel that he or she could use at least one of the things that Dorothy's friends want?

The adaptation from the original story is done quite well, making fine choices for the characters and episodes that would work on film. The settings and visual effects may not impress the devotees of today's computer imagery, but in their time they certainly demonstrated a great deal of skill and planning, and even now, in their own way they are more believable than are most of the computer tricks that have become so overused.

The popular story has also been used for a number of more recent adaptations, and some of them have had some good points of their own. But this Wizard remains by far the most wonderful of the versions of the classic tale.

This film predates my birth by 19 years, so I've seen it as a child when it was an annual event on network TV, stretched out to hours in length, believably due to commercials and maybe not so believably today due to the network hosting and talking about the film a little during breaks.

Today at age 55, when it shows up on Turner Classic Movies, even though I have in my possession the deluxe "Wizard of Oz DVD Set and Museum in a Box", I'll still stop and watch it from whatever point I catch it to the end. Having the advantage of having seen it at all ages I can truly say that it has enough fantasy and whimsy and spectacle to keep the interest of children without being inane so that adults cannot appreciate it too. I think in all of filmdom only Walt Disney in Walt's time with his animated features and Pixar in modern times have been able to strike that balance. Even "Star Wars" has lost a step or two in the 36 years since its release.

Wizard of Oz has the universal themes of the value of friendship and family, of how many of us have strengths and virtues inside of us we'll never believe we have until tested, and how many powerful people are literally all hot air. "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain" is practically a slogan of American politics as I am writing this in the year 2013. Then there is beautiful Judy Garland when her exterior still matched her voice, before the studio system chewed her up and literally spit her out. She was never more lovely than she is right here. You'd never believe Billie Burke as the good witch Glenda is 55 years old. You'd never believe that Margaret Hamilton as The Bad Witch is only 37. I remember seeing her on a daytime commercial in the 1960's as a child and thinking "Isn't she dead yet?" There is maybe one aspect of this film that is uniquely pre-WWII. The theme of the film - "Never look for anything if you can't find it in your own backyard" is a motto for the isolationist years between the wars that would be left behind in only a couple of years when it became apparent that the U.S. would have to confront the evil expansionist powers growing on both sides of the globe. It is perhaps a unique snapshot in time in that regard only. It also shows the best the studio system could produce in that fabled year of 1939 when it was at the height of its power.

Forgive me for yammering on about a film that has been reviewed hundreds of times, but this one will always have a special place in my heart and my memory.

Where to begin? MGM's elaborate adaptation of L. Frank Baum's 1900 fantasy classic THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ not only became an institution among itself (and practically defined the concept of modern popular culture), but is reported to be the most viewed film ever made. A sharp screenplay effectively condenses the novel's text into a workable film, and director Victor Fleming (along with countless other behind-the-scenes technicians) craft a visually stimulating fantasy world that surpasses the expectations of even the most imaginative viewers. Brimming with stunning visual effects (the film's fierce tornado is an FX feat that has yet to be surpassed by CGI), witty dialogue, and eye-popping Technicolor, THE WIZARD OF OZ truly lives up to it's reputation as a once-in-a-lifetime film where every element comes together flawlessly.

The cast could not be improved upon. The quivery-voiced, solemn-faced Judy Garland will always be Dorothy, the little lost farm girl on the road to Oz, clutching her beloved Toto (impressively portrayed himself by the female canine performer Terry, the terrier). It seems inconceivable that MGM had originally wished to cast Shirley Temple in the role, as Temple's doe-eyed, cutesy-voiced shtick would have been a catastrophic ill-fit for the tone of this picture. Conversely, Garland is perhaps the screen's quintessential woman/child; always seemingly just one step away from reaching full emotional maturity. It is her sadness that transfixes viewers to the screen, the exact same quality that made the film's most memorable Harold Arlen/E. Y. Harburg number "Over the Rainbow" into one of the most exquisite marriages between artist and song ever to be recorded.

The remainder of the cast is similarly exceptional, many of whom perform perfectly even under the most debilitating make-up and costumes. Frank Morgan is marvelously versatile in no less than five roles, the insanely energetic Bert Lahr mugs brilliantly, the handsome Jack Haley swoons sweetly, Billie Burke lends the film an ornate ethereality, and Ray Bolger's gravity-defying physical presence nearly steals the entire picture on several occasions. Perhaps most notable is former schoolteacher Margaret Hamilton's transformation into the wickedest of wicked witches, which certainly remains among the vilest and most terrifying portrayals of full-throttle evil ever to be seen. No matter how it is analyzed, scrutinized, or satirized, the 1939 production of THE WIZARD OF OZ is a top-notch example of how to turn a great story into a fabulous, milestone of a film.