Judy Garland
Dorothy Gale
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The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). An adaptation of L. Frank Baum 's 1900 children's fantasy novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, it was primarily directed by Victor Fleming, who left production to take over the troubled Gone with the Wind.
King Vidor. Writers. Noel Langley. Florence Ryerson. Edgar Allan Woolf. Stars. Judy Garland. Frank Morgan. Ray Bolger. See production info at IMDbPro. STREAMING. +2. Add to Watchlist. Added by 265K users.
- (429K)
- Adventure, Family, Fantasy
- Victor Fleming, King Vidor
- 1939-08-25
- Overview
- Production notes and credits
- Cast
- Academy Award nominations (* denotes win)
The Wizard of Oz, American musical film, released in 1939, that was based on the book of the same name by L. Frank Baum. Though not an immediate financial or critical success, it became one of the most enduring family films of all time. Deemed “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant” to America’s film heritage, it was among the first films selected in 1989 for inclusion in the Library of Congress’s National Film Registry.
(Read Martin Scorsese’s Britannica essay on film preservation.)
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Dorothy Gale (played by Judy Garland), a young girl from Kansas, decides to run away from her aunt and uncle’s farmhouse with her dog, Toto, who is in danger of being put down for biting a neighbour. After an encounter on the road with fortune-teller Professor Marvel, a well-meaning charlatan, Dorothy is persuaded to return home to her family. Before they can be reunited, however, she is knocked unconscious during a tornado. When she awakens, she and her farmhouse, along with Toto, are being transported to the Land of Oz, a magical place inhabited by strange characters, including munchkins, talking trees, and witches. Dorothy’s house lands in the midst of Oz’s Munchkinland, and she soon realizes it has fallen on and killed the Wicked Witch of the East, whose powerful ruby slippers are magically transported onto Dorothy’s own feet. Though the munchkins celebrate Dorothy for her inadvertent act, the evil witch’s sister, the Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Hamilton), vows to kill Dorothy in order to avenge her sister and retrieve the powerful ruby slippers. Glinda the Good Witch (Billie Burke) instructs Dorothy to follow the yellow brick road that runs to the Emerald City, where it is said that a powerful wizard will be able to grant her wish to return home.
On her way Dorothy befriends a Scarecrow (Ray Bolger) in search of a brain, a Tin Man (Jack Haley) looking for a heart, and a Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr) in need of some courage. They are tormented by the witch on their journey but manage to reach the Emerald City. Before the Wizard of Oz will grant their wishes, however, he demands that they bring him the Wicked Witch of the West’s broomstick. After battling flying monkeys, they infiltrate her castle, where Dorothy drenches the witch with a bucket of water, causing her to melt into a harmless puddle. Dorothy and her friends return to the Emerald City with the witch’s broomstick only to discover that the Wizard is a fraud, possessing no real powers. With the help of her magical ruby slippers and Glinda, however, Dorothy is able to return to Kansas, where she is reminded that “there’s no place like home.” In a departure from Baum’s book, her trip to Oz is portrayed as an elaborate dream sequence.
•Studio: MGM
•Directors: Victor Fleming and King Vidor
•Writers: Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson, and Edgar Allan Woolf
•Music: Harold Arlen
•Judy Garland (Dorothy Gale)
•Frank Morgan (Professor Marvel/Wizard of Oz)
•Ray Bolger (Hunk/Scarecrow)
•Bert Lahr (Zeke/Cowardly Lion)
•Jack Haley (Hickory/Tin Man)
•Billie Burke (Glinda)
•Picture
•Cinematography (colour)
•Special effects
•Art direction
•Score*
•Song* (“Over the Rainbow”)
- Lee Pfeiffer
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical comedy-drama epic fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and the most well-known and commercially successful adaptation based on the 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. The film stars Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale.
Victor Fleming. Produced by. Mervyn LeRoy. Screenplay by. Florence Ryerson, Edgar Allan Woolf, and Noel Langley. Distributed by. MGM. Release date. August 25, 1939. " Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore..." ― Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale (1939) The Wizard of Oz is a Hollywood musical produced by MGM in 1939.
Apr 11, 2024 · The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, children’s book written by L. Frank Baum and first published in 1900. A modern fairy tale with a distinctly American setting, a delightfully levelheaded heroine, and engaging fantasy characters, the story was enormously popular and became a classic of children’s literature.
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In 1908, author Baum produced a stage show entitled Fairylogue and Radio-Plays that included filmed scenes with characters from the Oz books, and in 1914 Baum formed the Oz Film Manufacturing Co., which produced four feature films, three of which were based on Oz books.
