Facts > Films > The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz (1939) Facts
| Director(s) | Victor Fleming, Mervyn LeRoy (uncredited), King Vidor (uncredited) |
| Producer(s) | Mervyn LeRoy, Arthur Freed (uncredited) |
| Featured Cast | Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, Jack Haley |
| Total Facts | 132 |
The ruby slippers were silver (like in the book) until MGM chief Louis B. Mayer realized that the Technicolor production would benefit from the slippers being colored.
The scene in which the wicked witch tries to take off Dorothy's ruby slippers by using a magic force through her hands is the same scene depicted on the Electric Light Orchestra's album "Eldorado", but this album cover version is reversed from the one seen in the film.
The shot of Dorothy's house falling from the sky was achieved by filming a miniature house being dropped onto a sky painting on the stage floor, then reversing the film to make the house appear to fall towards the camera.
The song "Over the Rainbow" was ranked #1 by the American Film Institute in 2004 on the 100 Greatest Songs in American Films list.
The steam shooting from the Tin Man's cap startles Toto, who runs out of the shot.
The theatrical trailer for the 1998 theatrical re-release (viewable on the 2000 Warner Bros. DVD) features the Kansas footage in black and white instead of its proper sepia tone. The sepia tone footage was restored to the film during its 1988 restoration and was thus available; but Warner Bros. choose to show it in its black and white form for the trailer.
The Tin Woodsman costume worn by Jack Haley was reportedly so stiff that he had to lean against a board to rest. Thirty-eight years later, Anthony Daniels (who played C-3PO in the Star Wars movie series) had the same problem with his costume.
The title of the movie would become the nickname of St. Louis Cardinals' Hall-of-Fame Shortstop Ozzie Smith.
The title role was written with W.C. Fields in mind. Producer Mervyn LeRoy wanted Ed Wynn, who turned down the role. MGM executive Arthur Freed wanted Fields, and offered him $75,000. Fields supposedly wanted $100,000. According to a letter from Fields' agent (which he claimed was written by Fields) Fields turned down the role to devote his time to writing the script for You Can't Cheat an Honest Man. Since the role was perceived as being too small, additional roles were written for the actor in hopes of balancing the screen time for the actor playing the wizard with that of the rest of the cast. Thus Frank Morgan plays the roles of the Wizard, Professor Marvel, the Gatekeeper, the cab driver with the "horse of a different color" who performs a musical number, and the Wizard's Guard. It is also possible that Morgan was made up for the spooky projected image of the Wizard's face transposed on the billowing steam in his Throne Room.
The uniforms of the Flying Monkeys match the uniforms worn by the Witch's castle guards (Winkies).
The Wicked Witch of the West never directly speaks to, threatens or even acknowledges the Cowardly Lion except obliquely, as when she says "The last to go will see the first three go before her." Similarly, Miss Gulch never speaks directly to Dorothy and The Wizard never acknowledges Toto except when he mumbles "Somebody get that dog."
The Wicked Witch that Miss Gulch transformed into while Dorothy looks out her bedroom window during the tornado has shimmering shoes as if she is wearing the Ruby Slippers. This suggests that she is the Wicked Witch of the East. Margaret Hamilton has never been credited for playing this role, since it is only a few seconds long. This shimmer from her shoes is even more noticeable when watching a better-quality copy of the film, such as the 1989 50th anniversary laserdisc version or the 1999 60th anniversary Warner Bros. DVD restored version.
The Wicked Witch's crystal ball was previously used as a prop in The Mask of Fu Manchu and Chandu the Magician. The 25-inch diameter ball sold at auction for $126,500 in May, 2011.
The Wizard only has one close-up; when he is revealed behind the curtain and declares himself to be a good man but a bad wizard. All of his other shots are medium close-ups or two-shots. Similarly, Professor Marvel is never shown in a close-up, but rather in medium close-up or two-shots.
The Wizard was originally supposed to have a song routine where he hands out the awards to the Scarecrow, Cowardly Lion, and Tin Woodman. This was scrapped because E.Y. Harburg, the lyricist, felt the scene would work better as a non-musical one, so he translated the lyrics into prose form.
The woods where the Tin Man is first discovered is inhabited by a number of exotic birds. Look for a small toucan in the tree (where the Witch is hiding) at the opening of this scene; and at least one (perhaps more) large, crane-like birds in the background of where the Tin Man stands for most of the scene.
There are a striking number of coincidences between events in the movie and musical cues (and lyrics) on the 1973 Pink Floyd album, "Dark Side of the Moon". It is highly improbable that the band had a print of the movie with them at Abbey Road, and few attempt to claim it to have been deliberate (David Gilmour dismisses it as nonsense), but the coincidences are remarkable nonetheless. If you begin the album on the third roar of the MGM lion (using the NTSC version of the movie, not the 25 fps PAL version which runs a little over 4% faster) the coincidences include (but are not limited to):
- The line "balanced on the biggest wave" comes as Dorothy balances on the fence.
- The song "On the Run" starts as Dorothy falls off the fence.
- "The Great Gig in the Sky" begins when the tornado first appears.
- The song "Us and Them" is played when Dorothy meets the Wicked Witch of the West.
- The line "black and blue" is repeated when they are talking to one another (Dorothy in her blue outfit, the Wicked Witch in black).
- The line "the lunatic is on the grass..." coincides with Dorothy meeting the Scarecrow.
- When we first see Miss Gulch on her bicycle, the song "Time" starts with its bells and alarms.
- Dorothy asks Professor Marvel what else h
There are many alleged lyrics to the "Winkie Chant" performed by the Witch's guards, including "All we own, we owe her", "Oh we love the old one", and "Oh we loathe the old one". However, the correct version, seen in the film's screenplay, is "O-Ee-Yah! Eoh-Ah!" and any other interpretations are simply the result of the listener's mind treating the chant as an audio ink blot.
This was Billie Burke's favorite movie.
Throughout the rest of his career, Jack Haley denounced the idea that the making of this film was enjoyable. He frequently quipped "Like Hell, it was; it was work!"
To compensate for the extreme make-up demands on this film, MGM recruited extra help from the studio mail room and courier service. As most of the Oz extras required prosthetic devices (false ears, noses, etc.), and since application of prosthetics requires extensive training, the recruited make-up artists were each instructed in one area of prosthetic application and then formed an assembly line. Each extra would then move from one station to another to complete make-up application each morning.
Ultimately it took 14 writers and five directors to bring L. Frank Baum's story to the screen.
Voted number 10 in channel 4's (UK) "Greatest Family Films"
When Aunt Em tells Hickory that "she saw him tinkering with that contraption" (after Dorothy falls in the pigpen), she's referring to a wind machine that Hickory is trying to invent, which is focused on in a deleted scene. This machine, consisting of a boiler, funnel, wires, tubes, etc. is intended to break up winds in order to prevent tornadoes.
When Dorothy and her friends are in the Haunted Forest, the Lion has a spray pump with "Witch Remover" printed on it. In the next shot, it's gone. The reason is because there is a deleted scene in which the lion says that "the Witch Remover doesn't work but it's wonderful for threatening with". Disgusted, the Scarecrow takes the spray pump and throws it away. There is a close shot in which the spray pump hits the ground and vanishes.
When filming first started, Judy Garland wore a blond wig and heavy, "baby-doll" makeup. When George Cukor assumed the role of intermediate director (after MGM fired the original director and before they found a replacement), he got rid of the wig and most of the makeup and told her to just be herself.
When it first opened in 1994, the MGM Grand Casino in Las Vegas had extensive decor related to this film decorating the casino and various parts of the resort, including life-sized statues of the main characters (including Toto) near the casino entrance. In 2000 nearly all of this decor was removed in a major renovation, and the casino is now generically themed around motion pictures.
When MGM bought the rights to L. Frank Baum's novel, "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz," it also purchased the rights to the 1902 stage musical by Baum and Paul Tietjen, and the The Wizard of Oz, 'Larry Semon (I)''s failed silent comedy. From the latter it derived Dorothy's companions as farmhands she knew in Kansas, and the it-was-all-a-dream ending - an element of fantasy literature Baum decried in several essays but used in his "Laura Bancroft" titles for very young readers. From the former, it took only the snowstorm summoned by the Good Witch of the North to destroy the poppies, which in the play was a huge set piece that concluded Act I. (In the novel, the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman carry Dorothy out and hoist the Lion onto a truck that is pulled on strings by hundreds of mice.) Lengthy debate occurred at MGM as to whether or not to include the songs from the play, but as the vaudeville-style show mostly included songs of no relevance to plot or characterization, they were replaced with new ones.
When the film proved popular with audiences, MGM considered re-uniting the original cast for a sequel. Plans never got past the development stage, however, when Judy Garland became a major star, Margaret Hamilton expressed hesitation at reprising her role, feeling that the character of the Wicked Witch was already too scary for children, and the extreme budget overruns and production delays making the original film deterred the studio from moving forward.
When the wardrobe department was looking for a coat for Frank Morgan (Professor Marvel / The Wizard), they decided they wanted one that looked like it had once been elegant but had since "gone to seed". They visited a second-hand store and purchased an entire rack of coats, from which Morgan, the head of the wardrobe department, and director Victor Fleming chose one they felt gave off the perfect appearance of "shabby gentility". One day, while he was on set in the coat, Morgan idly turned out one of the pockets and discovered a label indicating that the coat had been made for L. Frank Baum. Mary Mayer, a unit publicist for the film, contacted the tailor and Baum's widow, who both verified that the coat had at one time been owned by the author of the original "Wizard of Oz" books. After the filming was completed, the coat was presented to Mrs. Baum.
When The Witch tries to get off the Ruby Slippers, fire strikes her hands. This "fire" was actually dark apple juice spewing out of the shoes. The film was sped up to make it look like fire.
While filming the scene where Dorothy slaps the Cowardly Lion, Judy Garland got the giggles so badly that they had to take a break in shooting. The director, Victor Fleming, took her aside, gave her a quick lecture, and then slapped her. She returned to the set and filmed the scene in one take. Fleming was afraid that this would damage his relationship with Garland and even told a co-worker he wished that someone would hit him because of how bad he felt, but Garland overheard the conversation and gave him a kiss on the nose to show that she bore no hard feelings. In the film she can still be seen to be stifling a smile between the lines "Well, of course not" and "My, what a fuss you're making".