Happy June! Since it
is my birth month, I am being self-indulgent and writing about all of my
favourite movies. For some of the more
well-known movies out there, I will be mostly reflecting on the why it
is one of my favourites, as opposed to the usual format of a plot rundown and a
wee little bit of reflection. Not all of
my favourite movies are classics – some fall into the guilty pleasure category
– but whatever. It’s my birthday month,
deal with it. OK, disclaimer out of the
way, let us begin…
#352: The Wizard of Oz (1939). This is one of my all-time faves because it
is one of the first movies I ever watched.
I can remember sitting in the family room, or Dad’s office, watching
this movie over and over on video disk (a technology that blipped on the radar
just before VHS and Beta). This movie
introduced me to Judy Garland, my lifelong role model, and who I aspired to be
for a long time. So, before I get into
it too much, here are the players:
Dorothy Gale: Played by Judy Garland. Dorothy is unhappy with her hum-drum life,
and wants something more exciting and fulfilling than her life on her Kansas
farm. She has a pet dog who frequently
gets her into trouble, and lives with her Aunt and Uncle. Is she an orphan? What’s the story there? Anyway, her only friends, aside from her dog,
are the farmhands.
Zeke/The Cowardly Lion: Played by Bert Lahr. Zeke is another farmhand, and in Oz is
represented as a cowardly lion.
Miss. Gulch/The Wicked Witch of the West: Played by the
brilliant Margaret Hamilton. She is the
villain of the piece, both in Kansas
and in Oz. She has an axe to grind, and
she wants to grind it on Dorothy’s head…
Professor Marvel/The Wizard of Oz: Played by Frank
Morgan. Morgan also appears as various
characters in Oz. Professor Marvel is
who convinces Dorothy to go home after she runs away, and the Wizard grants
everyone’s wishes in Oz. Sort of?
Glinda the Good Witch: Played by Billie Burke. One of the only people in Oz without a Kansas
counterpart. She helps Dorothy
throughout her journey in Oz.
Auntie Em and Uncle Henry: Played by Clara Blandick and
Charley Grapewin. Auntie Em and Uncle
Henry are the guardians of Dorothy (again, what happened to her parents?) and
are stern but love her very much.
OK, so here’s the thing.
If you’ve never seen this movie… seriously? How can someone have never, not once,
in their life see this movie? I feel
sorry for you and your childhood if you’ve never seen it. Now, there are people who think that this
movie is overrated and not their taste, and I respect that, but come on… So,
because of the fact that everyone has seen it at least once, I’m skipping the
recap and going to hit up personal highlights instead.
“Over the Rainbow”.
Fun fact: this song was almost cut from the movie. Not kidding.
the powers that be at MGM thought that it slowed down the pace, and at
the time Judy Garland was a rising star – they didn’t want her singing in a
barnyard. It wasn’t dignified. However, wiser heads prevailed, and the song
was kept in. Thank GOD, because it is
the single best moment in the movie.
I’ve been watching this movie over and over for about 30 years, and this
one, simple little song still makes me cry.
Every.Time. It became Judy’s
signature anthem, sung at the end of every concert she gave in her later
years. It speaks to everyone who has ever
searched for more in their life. It is a
simple, but beautiful and poignant song. And I'm sorry, but no body can sing it like Judy...
The transition from the Kansas
house to Munchkinland. This is still
amazing, even if you’ve seen it a million times. When Dorothy makes her way through her house,
and opens the door to a Technicolor dream world, it smacks you in the face so
hard you can’t help but smile. And
all done without computer gobbeldy-gook – they had a sepia painted house, Judy’s
stand-in in a sepia-died dress and wig walk through the house, so that when the
door opened, you could see the colour.
That’s right – the whole thing was done with no trick-photography, no
computers, not hand-coloured (as previously misunderstood by many) just plain,
old-fashioned practical movie magic.
Love.
The songs. They are
all earworms, and delightful ones at that.
The fact that a few are referenced all the time in pop-culture (most
notably “Ding, Dong! The Witch is Dead!”) is a testament to their
longevity. My personal faves are, of
course, “Over the Rainbow”, but also: “If I Only had a Heart”, “The Merry Old
Land of Oz” and the removed “Jitterbug”.
If you don’t have the DVD with “The Jitterbug” on it, check it out on
YouTube. It’s a catchy little
ditty. I prefer the “Heart” song to the
other two simply because I adore Jack Haley’s rendition.
The Wicked Witch. I
have always been partial to villains, and she was my first. She also used to scare the hell out of me
when I was a kid, but I still love her to pieces. This movie went through several incarnations,
including one where the witch was beautiful.
When they decided to make the witch ugly, the actress originally cast
walked, and in stepped Margaret Hamilton.
And she is beyond brilliant, throwing herself into the role with
abandon, and making her a true threat.
Ah, the days when studios has no qualms about instilling fear into
children…
The relationships. I
adore Dorothy’s relationship with the three guys, both on the farm and in
Oz. They are the big brothers everyone
wishes they had – fun, helpful, and protective.
There is an innocent familial bond between them, and it is so
beautifully done, and believable.
Especially between Dorothy and the Scarecrow. Maybe it’s because she meets him first, maybe
it’s because of the undeniable friend-chemistry between Judy and Ray
Bolger. Whatever it is, it is
delightful.
The sets. I want to
go to Oz. It is colourful, imaginative,
scary, mysterious, and just plain stunning all at once. Technicolor was still relatively new when this
movie came out, and was used to perfection here. The use of light/shadow and colour is dead-on
perfect, the different areas of Oz are distinct, so you know exactly
where you are as the journey continues. Props
to the designers who made Oz come to life so vividly.
Judy Garland. I have
seen pretty much everything this woman has been in, and she will appear a few
more times this month, if not this year, but this is the Judy I love. Mainly because this was my first Garland
movie, but she is just so good in this.
You truly feel everything Dorothy is feeling, because she is so
convincing. She is beautiful, innocent,
and heartbreaking. The studio worked her
hard, but you would never have guessed it from her performance. Even at sixteen, she was a consummate
professional, and a delight to watch in this movie.
I will admit, even thought I have nothing but absolute love
for this movie, there are a few things which I feel they could have done
better, and none have anything to do with the technology available to them at
the time. So, a couple of “lows” for me:
Glinda. She doesn’t
really do much to help Dorothy out, although that is how Dorothy learns
her lesson, I guess. Even still, she is
pretty much the reason Dorothy is being hunted down by The Witch of the West,
and other than causing it to snow on the poppy field, she’s not much help. I wish they had done a little bit more with
her, but then it would have cut down on screentime with the guys, so I’m ok
with it.
“King of the Forest ”. OK, so they wanted to cut “Over the Rainbow”
for pacing, but left this in? Did Bert
Lahr have dirt on the director or something?
This is the single most boring part of the whole film. I guess it serves as a time-killer while they
wait to hear back from the Wizard’s guard, but there could have been a better
song, something sung by all four of them, or even some dialogue. Anything would have been better than this.
This movie had a profound effect on my life, and still
manages to touch me, make me smile, laugh, cover my eyes, etc. As technology goes racing by, it makes me appreciate
the effort put into this movie, a true pioneer in special effects. The tornado is still brilliant, and
sufficiently scary.
In 1999, the movie was re-released for its 60th anniversary
to theatres. I excitedly went and saw it
and was blown away. As I walked out of
the theatre, wiping the tears out of my eyes, I heard a woman talking to her
kid who couldn’t have been more than about 9 or 10. She was telling him “Well, the special
effects weren’t the same back then as they are now.” My heart dropped. Apparently, the kid thought it was boring or
something, and was disappointed that the tornado didn’t look like Twister. This is my beef with current movie-going
kiddoes. They can’t appreciate beautiful
movies with compelling stories and characters unless some really cool technical
stuff is involved. I guess I was
spoiled, being raised on all of the classics.
Those of you who are parents, or plan on it, I strongly encourage you to
show some of these classics to your kids when they’re young. It will help them to appreciate film in
general (I believe these old movies are the reason I am film-obsessed), as well
as simplicity. OK, climbing off my
soapbox.
The Wizard of Oz is a true classic. Like I said, if you haven’t seen it, you have
led a very sheltered life, and really should rent it ASAP. If you haven’t seen it in a while, I
encourage you to do the same and re-visit it.
Tomorrow: Another one of my all-time faves. Bet you can’t guess which one! And that’s a wrap!
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