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Monday, September 21, 2009
The Wizard of Oz: Happy 70th birthday!
The Wizard of Oz turns 70 this year, and I intend to celebrate by attending one of the hi-def theatrical screenings of the movie on Wednesday - it plays at 7 PM at the Regal in Beavercreek, and at Showcase Cinemas Dayton South. Click here to see if another location suits you better.
What is there to say about this film that hasn’t already been said? I can only offer my own perspective. It’s one of my 10 favorite movies of all time. Next to Yellow Submarine, it’s probably the movie I’ve seen more often than any other. I think Oz has got it all over that other “great” movie of 1939, Gone with the Wind, which I think is considerably overrated.
And I’ll go even further to state that Judy Garland should have been nominated as Best Actress, rather than tossed the miniature juvenile award. - and I think she should have won over Vivien Leigh. And if you take issue with that, frankly, dear reader, I don’t give a damn.
But I’m not here just to trump Oz at Gone with the Wind’s expense. I can’t think of a movie that’s more beloved than Oz, nor can I think of one that’s permeated the national consciousness as deeply. Think about it. I’ll bet at least once a month you’ll hear someone make reference to the film in some way, whether it’s an anguished “I’m melting” or someone playing the Wicked cast recording for the umpteenth time.
Its regular airings on CBS for years and years (which I actually miss) went a long way toward giving that movie the foothold that it has on our hearts. Are you like me in that even when you watch a DVD of Oz, you still expect there to be a commercial after the Cowardly Lion dives out the window in the Emerald City?
And I have a personal connection with Oz a lot of people can’t claim. Earlier this decade, I toured the Sony movie lot in California. That used to be the MGM lot, where The Wizard of Oz was filmed. (Indeed, the only exterior shot in the entire movie is the clouds behind the opening titles.)
Since Sony owns the lot now, the emphasis is very understandably on Sony product - but a little too much so for my taste. And here’s a glaring example of that.
My group was walking around the sets on one of the big soundstages, and the tour guide was droning about a law drama with Tony Danza that was on TV at the time (and was off the next year, I believe). I will NEVER forget how we were walking out the door, and almost as if he were teasing us, the tour guide casually said “Oh, by the way, this is where ‘If I Only had a Brain’ was shot.”
I just about choked and I wasn’t even eating. I wanted to stay there and breathe the air a little longer!
Oh, and one other thing. I hate to break it to you, but that’s not really a man who hung himself in the background after the Tin Man joins them. It’s one of the birds they placed on the set to make it look more exotic. I know, the truth is no fun, but the myth is ridiculous. (The Dark Side of the Moon synch IS fun, though).
So why does The Wizard of Oz endure for you? What are your favorite scenes? Do the flying monkeys and the witch still give you nightmares? What do the kids today think of it?
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