Produced in 1939, this spectacular film was directed by Victor Fleming, who also directed “Gone With the Wind”. It is the story of Dorothy Gale; a small town girl who is swept away with her dog, Toto, to a magical land called Oz. She is off to see the Wizard, who can help her return home. Based on the children’s classic by Frank Baum, the city OZ got its name from his file cabinets. He needed a name for his magical land, turned away from his desk, saw A-M and O-Z on his file cabinet drawers. Oz was thus born.
There were other actresses besides Judy Garland who vied for the part of Dorothy, although she was the favorite choice from the start. Some others who were considered were Bonita Granville, Deanna Durbin and Shirley Temple, who was very popular at the time and was closer to the character Dorothy’s actual age. She could not, however, sing as well as Judy Garland.
Ray Bolger was originally cast as the Tin Man, but insisted that he would rather play the scarecrow. His reason was because Fred Stone, who was his childhood idol, played the Scarecrow in the 1902 stage musical of “The Wizard of Oz.”
According to lead Munchkin Jerry Maren, the “little people” on the set were paid 50 dollars per week for a six day work week, while Dorothy’s dog, Toto, earned $125 dollars per week!
The famous yellow brick road originally showed up as green in the first prints. This stopped production and required everything to be repainted so that it would show up appropriately on the final cut of the Technicolor film.
As far as Dorothy’s famous red slippers are concerned, there are thought to be seven pairs, of which the whereabouts of five are known. Each has an estimated value of 1.5 million dollars, making them the most expensive Hollywood memorabilia of all time.
What are some of your favorite moments from this timeless classic?