The Magic Cloak

Fairies weave a magic cloak capable of granting its wearer one wish but cannot decide who should receive it. Finally the Man in the Moon suggests they give it to the unhappiest person they can find. This person as it turns out is Fluff (played by Mildred Harris), on her way to the land of Noland with her brother Bud (as played by Violet MacMillan), their Aunt Rivette and their pet mule Nickodemus to make a new life having just recently lost her {and Bud's} father. After receiving the cloak from the fairies, Fluff wishes for happiness and Bud as luck should have walks right into inheriting a kingdom, making Fluff a princess. Things are well until their pet mule Nickodemus gets captured by robbers and the 683 year old beguiling Queen Zixi of Ix decides to come looking for the cloak, wishing to make herself appear as young and beautiful in her own mirror as others already see her.

The main problem with this movie is it seems to lack focus. While entitled "The Magic Cloak of Oz", the title should probably instead read "The Startling Adventures of Nickodemus the Mule" since Nickodemus (wonderfully brought to life by Fred Woodward) and his animal friends garner most of the attention during this one's running time. Now Nickodemus is often delightfully amusing to watch and really his scenes tend to provide this one's funniest moments. Another problem for some may be there's not enough familiar Oz style characters in this one, aside from the animals and the demanding, soup-eating Rolly Rogues. All in all though, this one's flaws ultimately prove somewhat forgivable since it's such an imaginative journey into a childlike fantasy world.

Whoa....I guess I need to get around to reading those Oz books by Frank L Baum! I haven't yet, but boy are they different from the stuff you saw in the 1939 film!! This film finds a mythical kingdom without a king. Since the dead king had no heirs, the law says that the 47th person to pass through a certain gate will be their new ruler! And, unfortunately, it's Bud--a kid who would rather spend the country's treasury on toys than do anything to help his new subjects. In the meantime, there's a story about a donkey and other animals that are really people dressed up in odd costumes and there is a plot involving a magic cloak. All of this is pretty weird but also pretty entertaining because it is so incredibly strange and oddly entertaining. Overall, it's a really weird but engaging film that made me smile several times due to it's kitschy style and charm. It's NOT a film, however, to show to those unfamiliar with silent films--it might just be too strange and might scare them away from an awesome genre. Fun and weird.

This is not the Wizard of Oz that we all know and love. This is far from it. The only real memorable character is the donkey (which by the way, was a bad costume). It all felt very awkward and was somewhat boring. It was funny at some parts, especially those involving the Donkey. An interesting fact is that Mildred Harris, who was one of Charlie Chaplin's wives, was in this film. The plot overall was decent, but somewhat predictable. The acting was good for its time but was not great. The music was appropriate for the Magic Cloak. There was just enough humor to keep me satisfied.

Overall, I give it a 6/10.

This is the second addition to Frank Baum's personally produced trilogy of Oz films. It's essentially the same childishness as in the other two pictures, although I consider it preferable to the others because it's shorter. As in the other films, there are performers in animal costumes, an adult woman pretends to be a boy, and the characters and plot jump all over the place while the camera-work is static. This time, at the center is a magic cloak that grants wishes, and the boy played by a woman is made a king.

Most of the special effects are witnessed at the beginning. Fairies are represented by multiple-exposure photography. And, there's a man in the moon that looks just like those made by Georges Méliès years before, most famously in "Le Voyage dans la lune" (A Trip to the Moon) (1902). Méliès's imaginative fantasies and creative trick effects made him the leading pioneer of early cinema, and the films he made around the turn of the century were far better and even technically more advanced than this trifling Oz series.

A quarter century before Dorothy and her compatriots danced and sang their way down the yellow brick road, L. Frank Baum founded a production company and made some movie versions of his novels. One was "The Magic Cloak", which won't be immediately recognizable as part of the series. It centers on a cloak that grants the wearer a wish, but the story jumps around a lot. The best part is when the Rolly Rogues invade the town: these big fat guys look just like what anyone would toss into a movie for comic relief.

It's an OK movie, but the other two in this series were better. Even better still is the 1925 adaptation of Baum's most famous novel, featuring Oliver Hardy as the Tin Man.

A historical note for this one is that Fluff is played by Mildred Harris, who was married to Charlie Chaplin for a few years. Milla Jovovich played her in Richard Attenborough's "Chaplin".