WIZARD OF OZ: DVD
SYNOPSIS:
Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland) is swept away to a magical land – with her dog Toto - in a tornado and embarks on a quest to see the Wizard who can help her return home. She meets a starnge assortment of fellow travellers like The Scarecrow (Ray Bolger) The Lion (Bert Lahr), The Tin Man (Jack Haley) and the Goopd Witch of the North (Billie Burke) as well as the Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Hamilton).
Producer Mervyn LeRoy was nearly fired from MGM for spending over US$2 million on the
production of The Wizard of Oz – but that was 1939, and things were different in
Hollywood. It was a great vintage for movies, and you get a strong sense of that on this
DVD, quite apart from the fabulous film itself. There is, for instance, footage from the
Oscars, with Bob Hope presiding, and three or four comfy armchairs behind the microphone
for him to sit out the acceptance speeches. . . . The myriad glimpses into Hollywood of
1939 are worth the price of this DVD; it’s impossible to absorb it all in one sitting
– or even two.
(It is our constant gripe that DVD producers/distributors do not include on the disc
slick, running times for the extra features: on this, at least they’ve included the
running time for one of the extras, the audio program.)
Fans of the film will need no convincing, of course, that this is one of the great,
eternally enjoyable films of all time, a happy confluence of talent and technique,
determination and dreammaking as only the dream factory could. Here, in the extensive
background material presented - in a sliver of a disc that could fit into Dorothy’s
skirt pocket - the producers capture much of the socio-historic context in which the film
was made. There are many insights and behind the scenes stories that are either moving
(how Buddy Ebsen was to be the original Tin Man and why he couldn’t do it), or
suprising (how George Cukor lent a hand  in directing and changed Judy Garland’s
hair). Some of the cast, interviewed for a 1979 PBS doco, reveal that it was not all fun
– costumes and schedules were often burdensome.
Indeed, the footnote that Judy Garland and her stage partner of the time, Mickey
Rooney, performed five half-hour shows a day – by the by helping to promote
Judy’s film – is just one of many that puts things in perspective for us: stars
in 1939 worked like slaves.
Presented by Angela Lansbury, the doco is positively inspiring. There are marvellous
and varied asides – such as the ones about the little people who play the Munchkins
enjoying alcohol – and the overall impact is to feel we are part of it all, somehow
connected to this historic movie. This feeling is no doubt helped by the inclusion of
interviews with many of the stars and filmmakers, as well as Liza Minelli and other
offspring of those involved.
It is all very entertaining, informative, candid and dramatic. But see the film first.
Andrew L. Urban
 
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We gratefully acknowledge the complimentary use of a DVD player from Philips.
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Published: October 5, 2000
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 HEAR Louise Keller & Andrew L. Urban talk about this DVD (and an audio treat) in Real Player.
You can buy it HERE - next day delivery within Australia
WIZARD OF OZ, THE (G)
(US)
CAST: Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, Jack Haley, Billie Burke,
Margaret Hamilton, Charley Grapewin and The Munchkins
DIRECTOR: Victor Fleming
SCREENPLAY: Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson, Edgar Allan Woolf
RUNNING TIME: 98 minutes
DVD RELEASE: September 4, 2000
DISTRIBUTOR: Warner Home Video
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Digitally remastered
Behind the Scenes documentary
Audio Program of Original Recording session Material & Radio Broadcasts (6 hrs)
Oz History
Oz Afterlife
Deleted Scenes
Languages in Doby Surround 5.1: English
Languages in Doby Mono 1.0: French, Italian
Subtitles: English, French, Italian, Dutch, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese, German,
Romanian, Bulgarian
English & Italian for hearing impaired
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