Washington Times: Article on Wizard of Oz (1939)

[George Kincaid]

http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/au ... l-classic/

VAULTS: After 70 years, 'The Wizard of Oz' still a classic
By Gary Arnold Sunday, August 16, 2009


MGM's justifiably beloved musical version of "The Wizard of Oz," which first opened at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood on Aug. 18, 1939, was always astute about fundamentals of human nature and psychology, beginning with such bedrock items as fear, wonder, homesickness and bombast.

It also seems to have gotten a head start on teasing modern self-esteem therapies, wittily anticipated when Frank Morgan as the Wizard contrives to "cure" the inferiority complexes of Dorothy's valiant companions just before her departure from Oz by awarding the clever Scarecrow a college diploma, the Cowardly Lion a medal of courage and the Tin Man a testimonial to his good-heartedness, a large pocket watch inside a bright red heart-shaped case.

Journalism might have been enhanced by gag awards for the most pretentious think pieces of any given year, perhaps presented at the outset by Ray Bolger while costumed as the Scarecrow. It's satisfying to speculate that the movie has achieved more salubrious effects for its paying customers than 70 years of many formal therapies. For example, the song score has remained reliably enchanting and playful, while the orchestrations always seem to be anticipating and enriching moods with pinpoint timing and finesse, starting with the surging phrase that underscores MGM's own Leo the Lion when the company logo begins the show.

The very frailties of the characters lend themselves to doctrines of fortitude and persistence. Judy Garland's Dorothy and her new friends share scaredy-cat tendencies that require a successful witch hunt to be surmounted. In various ways, they could serve as metaphors for the disabled, considering the Scarecrow's absence of muscle tissue, the Tin Man's creaky joints and the Lion's ill-concealed deficits when simulating roars or belligerent postures. His hesitation when contemplating the task of rescuing Dorothy from the palace of the Wicked Witch of the West was probably appreciated by many men in uniform: "Fellas, talk me out of it." Undaunted in the last analysis, they risk their hides and emerge as heroes.

In the initial American Film Institute poll designed to determine "America's 100 greatest movies," "The Wizard of Oz" placed sixth, behind "Citizen Kane," "Casablanca," "The Godfather," "Gone With the Wind" and "Lawrence of Arabia." It's difficult to imagine "Oz" ever losing a hold on the Top Ten, in part because of the enduring magnitude of its popularity since becoming an annual television staple in 1956.

The three-disc DVD edition released five years ago makes it one of the most lavishly illustrated and documented classics in the repertory, with enhancements that include obscure silent film adaptations of "Oz" stories, a number of "Making of" featurettes, outtakes, a commentary track, color publicity stills and replicas of the opening night programs. Unless every priceless surviving TV interview in which the principal cast members reminisced about "Oz" can be gracefully folded into 75th anniversary or centennial editions, there might not be plausible room for improvement in the historical supplements available for this picture.

Nominated for six Academy Awards, "Oz" took the competitive prizes for best song ("Over the Rainbow," to the everlasting credit of Academy voters) and original score, plus a special juvenile prize for Judy Garland's embodiment of Dorothy. Victor Fleming's Oscar for directing "Gone With the Wind" could also be interpreted as a convenient salute for "Oz," since he inherited the direction of the latter before being reassigned to the former, a back-to-back relief stint that should remain too fabulous to be rivaled, although it has pleased several historians to underrate it.

Associated more often than not with adventure movies revolving around male protagonists, Mr. Fleming may have been particularly susceptible to the "Oz" offer because of a recent domestic enhancement: He became the stepfather to a pair of very young daughters. According to the movie's producer, Mervyn LeRoy, quoted in Michael Sragow's recent biography of Mr. Fleming, the basic desire was a bit too good to be true: to make a picture "that searched for beauty and decency and sweetness and love in the world."

Happily, the movie achieved those desirable qualities while sustaining melodic variety, scenic novelty, a hardheaded outlook, a suspenseful plot and an irrepressible sense of humor. "The Wizard of Oz" remains a great movie experience in part because it has made a recurrent pleasure of seeing trust and virtue rewarded.

TITLE: "The Wizard of Oz"

RATING: No MPAA rating: Released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1939, decades before the advent of the film rating system; generally regarded as the equivalent of a G, despite occasional ominous episodes

CREDITS: Directed by Victor Fleming, with additional direction (uncredited) by King Vidor. Screenplay by Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson, Edgar Allan Woolf and (uncredited) John Lee Mahin, based on L. Frank Baum's novel "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz." Produced by Mervyn LeRoy. Associate producer (uncredited): Arthur Freed. Music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by E.Y. Harburg. Musical scoring, adaptation and arrangements by Herbert Stothart, George Stoll, George Bassman, Murray Cutter, Paul Marquardt and Ken Darby. Musical numbers staged by Bobby Connolly. Cinematography by Harold Rosson. Art direction by Cedric Gibbons and William A. Horning, with set decorations by Edwin B. Williams. Costume design by Gilbert Adrian. Special effects supervised by Arnold Gillespie. Film editing by Blanche Sewell.

RUNNING TIME: 101 minutes, plus hours of supplementary material

DVD EDITION: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment

WEB SITE: www.warnervideo.com

[budongsmith]

I guess that is true that the journalism might have been enhanced by gag awards for the most pretentious think pieces of any given year.


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