August 15, 1939– The Wizard Of Oz premiered at Grauman’s Chinese Theater, a cinematic event that changed many lives and altered pop culture forever.
Little Stevie Rutledge:
“Mommy, Mommy…please let me stay up and watch The Wizard Of Oz, please, please! I promise to be good!“
From 1956 to 1998, The Wizard Of Oz was an annual television viewing tradition at my house and for families all over the USA. Because of these broadcasts, it has become one of the most famous films ever made. The Library of Congress names The Wizard Of Oz as the most-watched film in history. It often ranks among the Top 10 Films in most critics’ Best lists and in popular polls. It certainly is a favorite of mine.
The Wizard Of Oz has provided plenty of enduring quotes for our popular cultural consciousness. Its signature song, Over The Rainbow, as sung by young Judy Garland, has been voted the Greatest Movie Song Of All Time by the American Film Institute.
The film resonates profoundly for queer folk. At the very least, it brought us the term “Friend Of Dorothy”, a codified slang for a gay guy that goes back to World War II. Plus, the screenplay by Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson, and Edgar Allan Woolf gave us so many other catchphrases that have entered our gay lexicon:
“Lions, and tigers, and bears! Oh, my!“
“Are you a good witch or a bad witch?“
“Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.“
“I’ll get you, my pretty, and your little dog, too!“
“Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.“
“You have no power here! Begone, before somebody drops a house on you, too!“
Do gay people identify with young Dorothy, or is it with young Garland in her most iconic role? Do we think of ourselves as the self-proclaimed sissy The Cowardly Lion, The Tin Man in need of a heart, or The Scarecrow (the ultimate twink), or maybe even Toto?
If you are a gay guy of a certain age, you probably spent some time in the closet, presenting yourself to society as straight before having an opportunity to be your true self. Most of us needed to escape the lonely, oppressive, hetero-normative, black and white world of a Kansas farm. But, we got over that rainbow and arrived at the Technicolor Land of Oz where we were free to perform song and dance numbers, encounter fantastical creatures, enjoy narcotic poppies, and experience excitement and transgression. We chose a rainbow as a symbol of our pride!
Coming out was sometimes a terrifying journey. The world had green-skinned Witches and freaky flying monkeys. Oz might jus a bad LSD trip. On her return to monochrome, safe Kansas, Dorothy says:
“If I ever go looking for my heart’s desire again, I won’t look any further than my own back yard.“
Much of the story was always confusing to me. What is so evil about a wicked witch wanting those ruby slippers? Why, when water would kill her, does the Wicked Witch of the West live in a place with a moat and where there are buckets of water all around? Glinda The Good, played by Billie Burke, doesn’t seem to think murder is a problem, apparently neither does Dorothy. It was all rather gay to me. Even as a kid, I picked up a queer vibe.
Nothing about putting together this film version of The Wizard Of Oz was easily for producer Mervyn LeRoy and musical producer Arthur Freed. There were so many rewrites. During filming, they continued to add and cut scenes. Jack Haley and Bert Lahr wrote some of their own dialogue for the Tin Man and The Cowardly Lion. Because the screenwriters just weren’t getting it, lyricist Yip Harburg (Harold Arlen wrote the music) wrote much of dialogue that setup the songs including the part where they give out hearts, the brains and nerves. He was the final script editor, and brought the film some cohesiveness.
Shirley Temple was originally going to play Dorothy; the great W.C. Fields was cast as The Wizard. Ray Bolger was originally cast as The Tin Man and Buddy Ebsen (most famous as Jed Clampett on the 1960s television series The Beverly Hillbillies) was going to take the role the The Scarecrow, but before filming started they convinced LeRoy to let them switch roles. Ten days in to filming, Ebsen had a severe reaction to the aluminum powder makeup he wore and it coated his lungs. Ebsen was hospitalized in critical condition. He was replaced by Haley. MGM somehow forgot to tell Haley about the makeup thing. He thought Ebsen had been fired.
The original director was Norman Taurog. He replaced by Richard Thorpe who was replaced by George Cukor who didn’t actually shoot any scenes; he took on the major artistic decisions and set the tone for the film as we know it. Cukor left to direct Gone With The Wind and Victor Fleming took over. Then Fleming left to take over Cukor’s work on Gone With The Wind and King Vidor became the fifth director of The Wizard Of Oz. Vidor shot the black and white Kansas scenes, including Garland’s singing of Over The Rainbow and the tornado sequence.
Filming was long, wild, difficult and dangerous. Half of the cast was either injured or nearly died while making the movie. MGM had to find and then screen test hundreds of little people actors.
MGM designer Adrian had to do over 100 costumes for the Munchkin sequences. Then he had to photograph and catalog each little person in costume for continuity each day of production. Margaret Hamilton as the Wicked Witch of the West was severely burned making her entrance in Munchkinland. She spent six weeks in the hospital before returning to the set. The Flying Monkeys were almost strangled by the wires used to fly them.
After the film opened, Garland and her pal Mickey Rooney soent the next month performing a live act for the movie audience, quite the deal for 25 cents a ticket (Toto was paid more per week than most Americans did in the 1930s).
The Wizard Of Oz received enthusiastic reviews when opened, but it lost money in its initial release. It grossed about three million dollars ($25 million was spent on advertising for the film’s 2013 re-release). It didn’t go into profitability until it was re-released in 1950. Now it is recognized as a landmark achievement in filmmaking. For me, it’s also a bit of a mess: Dorothy’s hair changes lengths from scene to scene, props change or disappear, the lighting reflects back on the shiny sets. But, as the mayor of Munchkinland says to Dorothy:
“From now on you’ll be history!“
Still, I say thatThe Wizard Of Oz should be seen by everyone on the planet at least once. Dorothy says it like this:
“Someplace where there isn’t any trouble? Do you suppose there is such a place, Toto? There must be. It’s not a place you can get to by a boat or a train; it’s far, far away, behind the moon, beyond the rain…“
