The Wizard of Oz
Short description
The Wizard of Oz follows Dorothy, a girl living on a Kansas farm, who is carried away by a storm to the magical land of Oz. There she learns that only the Wizard in the Emerald City can help her return home. On the journey along the yellow brick road she is joined by a scarecrow who wants a brain, a tin man who longs for a heart, and a lion who wishes to be brave. A witch who covets Dorothy's ruby slippers pursues them, and the travellers must reach the Wizard before she can stop them.
Victor Fleming directed the film, which Mervyn LeRoy and Arthur Freed produced and which came out in 1939, the same year as Fleming's Gone with the Wind; among his credited features it sits between that film and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The screenplay is credited to Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf. Judy Garland plays Dorothy, with Ray Bolger as the Scarecrow, Jack Haley as the Tin Man, Bert Lahr as the Cowardly Lion, Frank Morgan as the Wizard and Margaret Hamilton as the Wicked Witch. Twenty-eight performers and eighty crew members are credited.
Made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for about 3 million dollars, the film has taken roughly 34 million dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds 8.1 out of 10 from about 466,000 votes, and on TMDB 7.6 out of 10 from around 6,300 votes. A critics' rating of 9.7 out of 10 from 170 reviews places it above both audience scores. It runs 102 minutes.
What's left behind the scenes
- MGM's costume department searched for worn but elegant coats to dress the wizard. Incredibly, a coat previously owned by the author of "The Wizard of Oz," Frank Baum, was found in a second-hand clothing store.
- Asbestos was used to simulate snow on the set.
- The film was first released on VHS in 1980.
- The British newspaper The Independent ranked this film first in its "Top 10 Cursed Hollywood Films."
- Buddy Ebsen, who was cast as the Tin Woodman, was hospitalized with severe poisoning: the actor inhaled aluminum powder that covered his costume. Ultimately, the role went to Jack Haley.
- The film has been included in UNESCO's "Memory of the World" program – a program designed to protect documentary heritage, which was founded in 1992.
- Fans of the band Pink Floyd have noticed many coincidences between the lyrics and music of the album "The Dark Side of the Moon" and the events of the film when played simultaneously.
- The entire film was shot on sound stages.
- The song “Over the Rainbow,” performed by Judy Garland, was named the best song of the 20th century by 200 respondents of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
- Filming lasted 136 days, and before that, 300 days were spent creating the sets.
- The costumes for the film were designed by renowned American designers Adrian and Cedric Gibbons.
- The film was shot in color, which was quite rare at the time. Each scene was filmed with a special camera on three reels simultaneously, which were then combined into one – that's how color appeared. This camera was incredibly heavy and could not operate for more than half an hour without a break.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
