The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: 50 Years of Magic

This 1990 documentary to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the magical 1939 film "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" is well worth a watch as it's informative and tells the whole story about the behind the scenes making of the film from it's money issues and casting changes to it's release and how it became a national icon. It even shows clips of Oz footage in different countries and how the film sounds in their respective languages! And interviews from the cast are shown as you get to hear from Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, Margaret Hamilton, and it tells a lot of historical background about Judy Garland and her grown children are even interviewed. This is hosted by the classy and fine TV character actress Angela Lansbury plus it's directed by the son of the "Tin Man" in one Jack Haley Jr. So if your an "Oz" fan this is one documentary not to miss so go over the rainbow with it's bundle of information!

For one of the greatest films of all time, this documentary is merely OK. At 60 minutes I think perhaps the problem is that it is too short. There are some great remembrances from participants and some good back stage footage, but what they do present leaves you wanting more. How much better if they could extend it another 30 or 60 minutes. I'd especially be interested in seeing more of the deleted scenes.

Don't get me wrong. You should see it. But don't get your hopes up too high.

Everything you ever wanted to know about the making of THE WIZARD OF OZ, the original premiere, the Academy Awards dinner in February of 1940 (at which GWTW was the big winner), the reception the film received when it opened at New York's Capitol theater with Garland and Rooney as the stage attraction--it's all here, as well as a behind-the-scenes look at cast members discussing their participation in the MGM classic. A brief look too at all the film titles that made 1939 such a memorable year.

ANGELA LANSBURY narrates the whole thing with her usual charm, taking us on a brief tour of the history of the Oz stories by Frank L. Baum and the casting decisions that had to be made regarding the film. RAY BOLGER and JACK HALEY talk about the difficulties of wearing the heavy make-up and costuming under bright Technicolor lights and their inability to eat in the studio commissary; JUDY GARLAND is shown in a couple of TV clips exaggerating stories about Victor Fleming and The Munchkins while daughter LISA MINNELLI observes that her mother had a marvelous sense of humor but stretched the truth; director MERVYN LeROY talks about working with directors Richard Thorpe and George Cukor before choosing VICTOR FLEMING to direct the opus; and Garland and Rooney are shown being surrounded by mobs of photographers and fans at Grand Central Station when they arrived for their personal appearances at the Capitol theater in NYC and Judy and Mickey are both shown with Mayor LaGuardia at 1939's New York World's Fair in Flushing, Queens. Garland is also shown receiving her special Oscar for Best Juvenile performance that year at the Academy dinner.

Filled throughout with scenes from the film illustrating various points, it's a fascinating glimpse into movie-making magic. Especially of BUDDY EBSEN's make-up for The Tin Man causing him to be hospitalized and replaced by JACK HALEY; and MARGARET HAMILTON's account of suffering severe burns when her disappearing trick through fire and smoke went awry. She recalls how her agent told her they were interested in her for a role in the film and she was delighted. "Who do I play?" she asked. "The Witch--naturally. Who else?" Actually, at first they visualized a beautiful witch and had GALE SONDERGAARD doing make-up tests as a lovely Wicked Witch of the West but this idea was scrapped and they even tried "ugly" make-up on her but nobody was happy with the result. Sondergaard never regretted it because she didn't want to appear ugly at that early stage of her career. There's even an illustration of how the special effects for the cyclone were handled.

It's the kind of documentary you would want to have about the world's most famous children's classic--as entertaining as it is informative.

Angela Lansbury hosts a documentary looking back at the iconic 1939 movie. Of course, it's nostalgia for the movie but there is a bit of nostalgia for the late 80's. There is a lot of what-if in the casting. I'm surprised that I never considered Shirley Temple for the role. It seems obvious once it's mention. Too bad she can't sing. There are some great deleted scenes like the scarecrow dance. I didn't realize that the Wizard is also many different characters. That adds something to the wizard if he's running around playing different roles. I like many of the previous performances for these actors. As Judy Garland mentions, the actors never stop talking the makeup. Liza does call out her mother for telling tall tales. It's a little surprising but immensely adorable. I'm sure that there are insights in other documentaries that is missing here but this is plenty enough. This is a wonderful look back.

Wonderful Wizard of Oz, The (1990)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Angela Lansbury hosts and narrates this documentary that gives a look at the making of the classic 1939 film THE WIZARD OF OZ. Just about everything you'd want to know about the production of this film is talked about within the 51-minute running time. We learn why MGM wanted to make this film, the trouble getting a cast together and the fight about who should play Dorothy. Once the film started shooting there were more problems ranging from accidents on the set to certain items just not working the way they should. Even after filming the movie would get some bad news in terms of not making its money back and it losing big to GONE WITH THE WIND at the Oscars. What so good about this documentary is that we get all sorts of archival video including a lot taken at the Oscar ceremony where all sorts of famous faces can be seen. We also get some deleted scenes from the movie and a lot of production stills taken on the set. Fans of the movie are certainly going to love seeing all of this stuff and the history of the movie is so rich that even if you're not a fan you're probably going to enjoy this. We get interviews with all the main cast members as well as older interviews from those like Garland who weren't around when this was made. Margaret Hamilton gets some great time and tells a couple wonderful jokes about what happened when her agent called her to be in the film. She also discusses the accident on set that could have killed her and did end up burning her. The film also goes into the history of the film over the past few decades and how it kept getting more and more popular even though millions first saw it on television in B&W.