The Wizard of Oz (1939)

The Wizard of Oz is the title of a 1939 musical film based on the L. Frank Baum book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. It stars Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, Bert Lahr, Billie Burke, Margaret Hamilton, Charley Grapewin and Clara Blandick. Buddy Ebsen had initially been cast in the part of the Tin Woodsman, but he developed an allergy to the metallic makeup, and had to be replaced by Jack Haley.

The film was adapted by a huge list of writers (only the first three were credited): Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson, Edgar Allan Woolf, Irving Brecher, William H. Cannon, Herbert Fields, Arthur Freed, Jack Haley, E.Y. Harburg, Samuel Hoffenstein, Bert Lahr, John Lee Mahin, Herman J. Mankiewicz, Jack Mintz, Ogden Nash and Sid Silvers. It was directed by Victor Fleming, Richard Thorpe and King Vidor.

The movie was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. It won for Best Music, Song for Over the Rainbow, by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg.

The Wizard of Oz is one of those movies that has developed a great deal of legend around it. A persistent urban legend tells of a technician who hanged himself on the set, and whose body can be seen hanging from a tree. In fact, it is an animal wrangler corraling an errant bird that had escaped. In addition, the large cast of "little people" who were cast to play the Munchkins were rumored to have had wild drunken orgies, but these stories are likely to have been exaggerated. Another legend had it that the coat worn by Frank Morgan actually belonged to Baum.

There are several coincidences between this movie and the Pink Floyd album, Dark Side of the Moon. If you begin the album on the third roar of the MGM lion (using the NTSC version of the movie, not the 25 fps PAL version which runs a little over 4% faster) the coincidences include (but are not limited to):

• The line "balanced on the biggest wave" comes as Dorothy balances on the fence.
• The song "On the Run" starts as Dorothy falls off the fence.
• "The Great Gig in the Sky" begins when the tornado first appears.
• The song "Us and Them" is played when Dorothy meets the Wicked Witch of the West.
• The line "black and blue" is repeated when Dorothy and the Witch are talking to each other (Dorothy in her blue outfit, the Wicked Witch in black).
• The line "the lunatic is on the grass..." coincides with Dorothy meeting the Scarecrow.
• When we first see Miss Gulch on her bicycle, the song "Time" starts with its bells and alarms.
• Dorothy asks Professor Marvel what else he sees in his crystal ball as the line "thought I'd something more to say" comes along in the song "Time".
• As the Scarecrow sings "If I Only Had a Brain", Pink Floyd sing "Brain Damage".
• Side 1 of the original vinyl album (up to the end of "The Great Gig in the Sky") is exactly as long as the black and white portion of the film.
• As Dorothy listens to the Tin Man's chest, the album ends with the famous heartbeat sound effect.

The Wizard of Oz became a classic when it ran every year on television.