carey@seismo.UUCP (Marie Carey) (10/04/83)
Good Gosh!!!! How could anyone categorize The Wizard of Oz as a bad film ?????!!!!! Were you NEVER a child ? I have agreed so far with the different names of "bad films" people have been submitting to this newsgroup, but I simply can not accept the submission that this particular film is actually "bad". The cinematography was nothing less than excellent. In case you did not realize it, the color in the film began when Dorothy started dreaming and then went back to black and white when she woke up to find herself back in "reality". My two sisters and I used to watch this film every year from the time we were each about two years old up until about the age of ten and we always looked forward to it and certainly never tired of it from year to year. It was almost like a ritual in our house. Near the end our years of watching it, we could remember every characters lines and we used to make a game of saying it right along with them. It was great and I just hope that this film will still be shown when I decide to have children and can share this experience with them.
tommyo@ihuxw.UUCP (10/04/83)
In response to the person who asked why part of "The Wizard of OZ" was in b/w and part in color - if you think about it, it`s pretty obvious. The b/w parts were at the beginning and at the end, when Dorothy was in Kansas. The part in color was when she was in and around OZ. Fantasy/reality = color/black&white. Did anyone see "Ripley`s Believe It or Not" Sunday? The last 10 minutes talked about problems and cast changes in TWOO and showed a clip from a song & dance number that was cut. It happens just as Dorothy and her friends enter the forest. It was almost spooky that this missing clip was shown (taken from home movies someone working on the movie took). The song was called "The Jitterbug" and kinda sounded like a swing tune. Other bits of trivia: Buddy Ebsen (Barnaby Jones, Jed Clampett) was supposed to be the tin man, but had a bad reaction to the make-up and was replaced by Jack Haley, who also had trouble with the aluminum based makeup. Dorothy was originally supposed to be played by Shirley Temple. Ray Bolger was cast as the cowardly lion, but talked himself out of that and into the scarecrow. Margaret Hamilton was not the first choice for the wicked witch, and like Ebsen and Haley, had problems with the make-up. "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" almost got cut because the idea of having the star singing in a cornfield didn`t go over too well with some studio people. The movie didn`t make money till it was sold to tv. I must have seen this movie every time it`s been on tv since I was 4 (that makes 21 viewings) and I never grow tired of it. Tom O`Connor
5113jls@houxr.UUCP (10/04/83)
There were a few details that Tom O'Connor got wrong about what was said about The Wizard of Oz. First, Ray Bolger was to play the tin-man not the cowardly lion. I think he knew what the AL paint was going to do. They stated that the cowardly lion was always going to be played by who did do it (can't remember his name, sorry). In fact no one in Hollywood could think of anyone else who could do it better. Second, the song "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" was cut from the original release of the film. It was thought that the song would slow down the movie and they also did not think that an actress should sing in a 'barn yard'. I think they said that the movie did not make money until after 20 years from its original release. That was after it was sold to TV. This Sunday's comics had an item in the Ripley's Believe it or not section stating that more people have The Wizard of Oz that any other movie. I think they said over 4 billion people have seen it. John (loved the movie) Schantz
bch@unc.UUCP (Byron Howes ) (10/05/83)
While The Wizard of Oz was not the first color film, it was one of only three major-studio color films made in 1939. (Anybody else remember the other two?) One can hardly complain that the film is not high-tech. For 1939 it was about as high-tech as you can get. To correct a few facts presented in Tom O'Connor's article: Ray Bolger was originally cast as the Tin Woodman. Bert Lahr had always been intended as the Cowardly Lion ... the script was written with him in mind (at the time he was a popular and accomplished vaudvillian.) The maker of the "home movies" was none other than Harold Arlan, the composer of all the songs and movies in the film (not to mention a few other popular songs like "Stormy Weather".) The reason the number was cut at the last minute is that "The Jitterbug" had just come out as a popular song/dance and the studio thought that there would be confusion in addition to trying to cut the film to fit a proper (by 1939 standards) length. Byron Howes UNC - Chapel Hill decvax!duke!unc!bch
tgd@clyde.UUCP (Thomas G. Dennehy) (10/05/83)
ONCE AND FOR ALL:
-----------------
I will go through the motions of apologizing to any
and all who MISUNDERSTOOD my JOKE (remember the sideways
smiley :-) ) about the Wizard of Oz.
I do not think it is a bad film.
I never said it was a bad film.
Sorry for the misunderstanding.
Everybody lighten up a little.
-------------------------------------------------------
Tom Dennehy AT&T BL WH {clyde!tgd}ariels@tekecs.UUCP (Ariel Shattan) (10/05/83)
The Cowardly Lion was played by Burt (Bert?) Lahr.
schnitzl@hplabsb.UUCP (10/06/83)
Bert Lahr played the Cowardly Lion, magnificently. I am very tempted to say many wonderful things about him, but I will refrain. Ray Schnitzler, HP Labs
billh@hp-pcd.UUCP (10/07/83)
#R:seismo:-36800:hp-pcd:6500014:000:149 hp-pcd!billh Oct 6 11:17:00 1983 I agree. The Wizard of Oz is sure a fun flick. But why do the networks insist on hacking it up before airing? I know its a dumb question ...
oz@rlgvax.UUCP (10/08/83)
THE WIZARD OF OZ A BAD MOVIE!!!!!!!!!! A pox on you sir/madam whoever you
may be! Not only was it a fine film from a technical stand point, it was
well written, excellently acted and even had a fun music score (although I
doubt that many people ran out to buy the soundtrack). Who can forget
"I'll get you my pretty, and your little dog too."
"THE GREAT AND POWERFUL OZ KNOWS WHY YOU HAVE COME."
"I'm Dorothy the small and meak."
"Alright, I'll go in there, wicked witch or no wicked witch, there is just
one thing I would like you to do."
"WHAT'S THAT?"
"Talk me out of it..."
"There's no place like home,"
OZ
seismo!rlgvax!ozspeaker@umcp-cs.UUCP (10/10/83)
All right, as long as we're on this subject... Remember the scene where the wicked witch sends her wicked flying monkeys out to attack Dorothy et al? She says something to the effect of, "I've sent something ahead of you to soften them up a bit!" Ever wonder what that something was? Scene shifts to the forest where our motely crew are ready to engage the wicked witch. They're armed. The tin man has a large bug spray can, and the lion has a net, and so forth. In the next scene the monkeys fly away with Dorothy to the witch's castle. Now. What happened to the bug spray can? The net? And so forth? The 'something' that the witch sent ahead was a giant spider. The scene where Dorothy and her friends battle the spider (and subsequently loose their weapons) was cut entirely from the movie. Apparently someone thought that this scene was far to gruesome and frightening to show a 1930s audience. Oh, and I almost forgot.... In some of the scenes (typically the wicked witch's castle) you may notice that the wicked witch (Margaret Hamilton) is wearing a green glove, the length of her forearm. Hmmmm... "what's that doing there?" you might ask. Recall how the big W-cubed de-materialized from Munchkinland? They quickly dropped her from the stage through a trap door while flames and smoke covered up her exit. Someone didn't drop her soon enough and a good deal of her left forearm was seriously burned. At this point I believe they were ready to can the film. Margaret Hamilton spent quite a while in the hospital. What makes this even worse is that they ALREADY HAD perfectly fine footage of this scene. She was burned while they filmed the scene a second time for redundancy. -- - Speaker speaker@umcp-cs speaker.umcp-cs@UDel-Relay
bch@unc.UUCP (Byron Howes ) (10/11/83)
In response to OZ' comments and quotations: "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!" (Sorry, I couldn't resist....) Byron Howes UNC - Chapel Hill decvax!duke!unc!bch
john@hp-pcd.UUCP (10/12/83)
#R:ihuxw:-51400:hp-pcd:6500015:000:318 hp-pcd!john Oct 10 09:02:00 1983 When I was young, I could never figure out why Dorothy and friends would fall asleep in the field of poppies. It turns out that poppies grown for opium give off enough odor that a large field of them can overcome a person. Children have been known to fall asleep and never wake up. John Eaton hplabs!hp-pcd!john
oz@rlgvax.UUCP (THE GREAT AND POWERFUL OZ) (12/07/83)
I was surprised to note that no one answered this question before I had a chance to. The WIZARD was played by Frank Morgan. Although as you might have guessed, I somewhat enjoyed the movie, I confess to not knowing any other thing that Frank Morgan ever did. I do feel that he did an excellent job with the part. A good man, but a bad wizard, OZ seismo!rlgvax!oz
markp@azure.UUCP (Mark Paulin) (12/07/83)
It was, of course, Frank Morgan who played "The Great and Powerful Oz," but the only other role I remember him in was that of the old drunk in "White Cargo." Anybody else remember this film? It starred Hedy Lamarr as Tandaleyo (sp?) the native girl, Walter Pigeon (I think) as the man in charge of the rubber plantation, and Morgan as mentioned above. Hedy Lamarr is perhaps best remembered for her role in "Ziegfeld Girl" (sp?) with Lana Turner (I think) and Judy Garland... But *I* will never forget her performance in "The Princess and the Bellboy" in which the bellboy was played by the same actor who was "Bruno Antony" in Hitchcock's classic "Strangers on a Train." Can anybody give his name? From the comfy chair of: Mark Paulin ...tektronix!tekmdp!markp
eich@uiuccsb.UUCP (12/12/83)
#R:azure:-240600:uiuccsb:10000037:000:63 uiuccsb!eich Dec 11 21:56:00 1983 Robert Walker played Bruno Antony on "Strangers on a Train".
jackh@zehntel.UUCP (jack hagerty) (06/15/84)
Damn! I did it again! I promise that this is the last time I'll bother
the net on this subject.
The Wizard's speech to the Scarecrow starts out: "So you want a brain,
eh? That's really a very mediocre commoditiy..." then continues as
previously published. The "disoganized thinking" line started his pre-
sentation to the Lion.
Yours for accuracy,
Jack Hagerty, Zehntel Inc.
!ihnp4!zehntel!jackhbristol@hou2h (06/29/84)
"The Jitterbug" was a musical number that was cut from "The Wizard of Oz". I beleive that in the scene the travelling quartet danced and sang the Jitterbug in the enchanted forest. There was a book published a few years ago called "The Making of the Wizard of Oz." It discusses many of the issues that have recently appeared on the net. It also goes into some of the personalities of the actors actresses, directors (there were four different directors) and reasons why the movie turned out the way it did. I don't remember the author, but if you are interested, send me mail and I will look it up. Gil Bristol hou2h!bristol