The Wizard of Oz movie

[Emcee4ever]

Posted: 10/21/06 at 1:58pm

This is the thread to discuss the 1939 MGM movie The Wizard of Oz! ^_^ You know, the one with Judy Garland.

When my dad was little, he was scared of the Wicked Witch of the East's feet shriveling up and going under the house. I was scared of the noise the Tin Man made when he was rusted :p

I have a cute screenshot of Glinda with Dorothy. Here it is. She looks a little like the Glinda from Wicked in this shot.



I can't think of anything else to talk about, so now you can talk about it! :)

*wanders off humming 'If I only Had a Brain'*

[rubyslippersxo]

Posted: 10/21/06 at 2:08pm

My favorite movie. :] I was terrified of the Wicked Witch of the West when I was little. I always had my mom fast forward the parts with her.

[WickedGeek28]

Posted: 10/21/06 at 2:10pm

Whyen I saw the now infamous red smoke I'd run to the other room until my mom told me came to get me. She sounded like Glinda "She's gone . . . "

[BroomstickBoy]

Posted: 10/21/06 at 2:13pm

My favorite movie.

One of my favorite quotes EVER came from this movie.

"How can you talk if you haven't got a brain?"
"I don't know, but some people without brains do an awful lot of talking, don't they?"

[actor]

Posted: 10/21/06 at 2:19pm

HAHAHA what a great quote!

[MusicalMan76]

Posted: 10/21/06 at 2:21pm

My favorite movie as well... I remember the first time I saw it -- I was at my grandparents house, very little -- 4 or 5. I remember when Judy Garland starting singing "Over the Rainbow", I turned to my mom and said "That's not really her singing, right?" And my Mom said "No, she's not really singing there." (Meaning... they had PRE-RECORDED her voice and she was lip-syncing.) What I was actually asking was if that was her real voice! When she realized what I was asking, she corrected herself. I found out that it was her real voice and I was blown away!

In my final year of university, I was given the opportunity to Musical Direct the stage version (the accurate RSC version) with an orchestra of 30 re-creating the film scores -- and that still ranks up there as one of my top 3 shows ever having conducted! :)

[rose_pearl]

Posted: 10/21/06 at 2:35pm

One of my all-time favorites. I was terrified of the flying monkeys, though. I still don't like monkeys to this day! LOL.

[thejcm]

Posted: 10/21/06 at 3:00pm

I'm 19 and I'm still terrified of the flying monkeys. I love the movie though.

[StageManager2]

Posted: 10/21/06 at 3:03pm

I was obsessed with this movie as a kid! MARY POPPINS, THE WIZARD OF OZ, and THE LITTLE MERMAID were my top 3 favorites.

Coincidentally, I began obsessing over this movie just prior to the 50th anniversary of the film's release. I recall there being much hoopla about it. Toys, board games, costumes, ruby slipper Jellies, Dixie cups, figurines -- you name it!

At the time, I didn't grasp the significance of the event. I just assumed everyone loved the movie as much as I did.

[actor]

Posted: 10/21/06 at 3:07pm

The apple trees scared my friends when I was little. I always thought that they were hilarious.

[Fiction Writer]

Posted: 10/21/06 at 3:18pm

I love this movie, but don't own it, anymore. It's on the list of movies I need to buy.

The Wicked Witch of the West scared the **** out of me when I was younger. The green skin, bad hair and pointy nose was too much for a 5 year old gay boy to handle!

[StageManager2]

Posted: 10/21/06 at 3:20pm

Wow! People were really freaked out by this movie? I wasn't scared at all, just in awe of its splendor, especially during the Oz sequence.

Of course, I was already exposed to HALLOWEEN, FRIDAY THE 13TH, NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET et al, so the Wicked Witch of the West and her Flying Monkeys paled in comparison. I reckon I may have had a different reaction to her/them had I been more sheltered. (No offense to anyone's upbringing.)

Updated On: 10/21/06 at 03:20 PM

[ShbrtAlley44]

Posted: 10/21/06 at 3:28pm

I loved it, but wasn't obsessed with it. I did like the tornado (I have this inexplicable obsession with them) and was amused when I found out it was actually a long muslin stocking.

[Gypsy9]

Posted: 10/21/06 at 3:32pm

In a book about the making of the film is an account of what happened when Margaret Hamilton as the Wicked Witch of the West "disappeared" in a cloud of red smoke followed by a ball of fire. Apparently the first shooting of that scene went off well and then everyone was dismissed for lunch. When they returned after lunch the director wanted to repeat the shooting of that scene as "insurance".There was an elevator under the stage to allow for this disappearance under a movable section of the yellow brick road. Well, the red smoke and the ball of fire started too early, before the elevator had a chance to drop the witch below the stage, and Margaret Hamilton was very badly burned on her face and hands, made worse by the toxic green make-up. She was out of the production for many weeks, recuperating. She never sued because she feared that if she did she would never work in a movie studio again.

The book is "The Making of the Wizard of Oz" by Aljean Harmetz, copyright 1977, and makes for fascinating reading. There are many black & white and color photographs in the book.

I loved the film and the book from which it was made, as well as some 14 sequels that author L. Frank Baum wrote.

[kec]

Posted: 10/21/06 at 3:40pm

Also one of my favorites, and yes, I, too, was scared of the Wicked Witch of the West and her flying monkeys. I can remember as a child running to sit next to my grandmother when the witch came on.

I've read most of those sequels, Gypsy! They were a lot of fun.
Updated On: 10/21/06 at 03:40 PM

[One Song Glory]

Posted: 10/21/06 at 5:03pm

When I first saw the movie, I asked my mom for a flying monkey as a Christmas present.

[neddyfrank2]

Posted: 10/21/06 at 5:07pm

Is it true about the directors son hanging during the Jitterbug scene?

[Emcee4ever]

Posted: 10/21/06 at 5:13pm

No, and it's not in the Jitterbug scene either. It's when Dorothy, the Scarecrow, and the Tin Man go down the Yellow Brick Road. The supposed perosn that hung himself is actually a bird strecthing its wings.

[broadway_show_fan]

Posted: 10/21/06 at 5:20pm

neddyfrank2 - emcee4ever is right. in that scene, they wanted some exotic birds in the background because it's right before dorothy, the scarecrow, and the tin man go into the woods. they got the exotic birds on loan from a zoo - i believe the san diego zoo - and it is indeed a bird flapping its wings.

trivia - height-related questions: what was judy garland's during taping? how tall was the tallest munchkin? which munchkin was the shortest?

[mateo]

Posted: 10/21/06 at 7:27pm

Something I made back in the day to make the tornado more ominous.

[best12bars]

Posted: 10/21/06 at 8:59pm

Very cool, mateo!

I've said this on several threads already, but it's my all-time favorite film as well. And I've discussed the many reasons why already as well. That is NOT to say it's a "closed subject" with me, by any means!

Also mentioned that I knew Margaret Hamilton (the witch herself), who agreed to be my 2nd grade "pen pal" for the school year. We corresponded for several years, after I first met her in NY back in 1969 (at the age of 7). I also got be friends with Mrs. Jack Haley (a former Ziegfeld girl herself) who was a dear and wonderful lady, when I first moved to L.A.

I'm an admitted Oz geek. A total Oz trivia buff, and a "junior class" collector of memorabilia, autographs and other "Oz" related stuff. I have a few photos of me sitting with a real pair of the Ruby Slippers worn by Judy in the film (owned by a private collector in Los Angeles, who had these same beloved shoes STOLEN not too long ago). I also have several photos (one of which ran in our local newspaper in Kansas) of me riding one of the small black ponies that was seen in the Munchkinland sequence pulling Judy around in a "flower petal" shaped carriage. This same pony was also featured as the horse that threw Bonnie Blue Butler to her death in "Gone With the Wind." (the pony was around 30 years old when I rode it as a kid!)

I'm always glad to meet fellow lovers of this film and chat about anything relating to it, or Oz in general.

And here's a little "wickedness" coming your way...

[Caroline-Q-or-TBoo]

Posted: 10/21/06 at 9:03pm

however much I like The Wizard of Oz (and I do like it quite a lot), I shamefully perfer The Wiz movie.

you know, the really crappy one with Diana Ross. for some reason... I just LOVE it

[best12bars]

Posted: 10/21/06 at 9:06pm

*chokes on CQT's comment*

[broadway_show_fan]

Posted: 10/21/06 at 9:09pm

best12bars - so jealous! that's so awesome!

this is definitely my all-time favorite movie. i'm the only college girl i know who has windowcards and wizard of oz posters and pictures on my walls instead of random rock bands and alcohol.

so no one knows the answers to my random questions from before? I am proud to be Judy's height from when she taped the show - 4'11". The tallest munchkin was only an inch shorter than that at 4'10" and the shortest munchkin was the shortest of the lullaby league girls.

[best12bars]

Posted: 10/21/06 at 9:21pm

Yes, the shortest Munchkin was Olga Nardone at 3'4". She is the FIRST Munchkin to be seen, stepping out of the bushes, when Glinda first sings "Come out, come out, wherever you are." They thought it would have more of an initial impact to have her be the first one seen on screen... and they were right. In addition to her being the first Munchkin out of hiding in Munchkinland, she also performs "double duty" (as several others did in this extended sequence) by playing one of the Lullabye League girls.

(see what I mean? too much trivia!)