The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)

The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
MGM · Public domain · source
Name	The Wizard of Oz
Director	Victor Fleming
Producer	Mervyn LeRoy
Based on	The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
Starring	Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, Bert Lahr, Margaret Hamilton
Music	Harold Arlen, Yip Harburg
Cinematography	Harold Rosson
Studio	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Released	1939
Runtime	101 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

The Wizard of Oz (1939 film) is an American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and directed principally by Victor Fleming. Adapted from L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the film stars Judy Garland in a breakthrough dramatic and musical role alongside Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, Bert Lahr, and Margaret Hamilton. The picture became a defining work of Hollywood's Golden Age, notable for its use of Technicolor, song-and-dance numbers, and enduring popular imagery.

Plot

Dorothy Gale, a young woman from Kansas, lives with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry on a farm, where a severe tornado transports her house to the vivid realm of the Land of Oz. Accompanied by her dog Toto, Dorothy meets Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, and learns that the house has landed on the Wicked Witch of the East, freeing the Munchkins; she receives ruby slippers and is urged to seek the Emerald City to consult the Wizard. Along the Yellow Brick Road Dorothy encounters the Scarecrow, who desires a brain, the Tin Man, who wishes for a heart, and the Cowardly Lion, who yearns for courage; the quartet journeys toward the Emerald City to request help from the Wizard of Oz. In the capital they confront the Wizard, who appears as a giant head and other manifestations, and is ultimately revealed to be an ordinary man from Kansas City operating complex machinery. The Wizard offers solutions that prompt character revelations: the Scarecrow's intellect, the Tin Man's compassion, and the Lion's bravery are affirmed, while Dorothy learns from Glinda that she can return home by clicking her ruby slippers and repeating "there's no place like home."

Cast and characters

Judy Garland portrays Dorothy Gale; Garland's performance followed earlier work at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and collaborations with producer Mervyn LeRoy and director George Cukor (briefly during production). Ray Bolger appears as the Scarecrow, Jack Haley as the Tin Man (succeeding original actor Buddy Ebsen, who left due to health issues), and Bert Lahr as the Cowardly Lion. Margaret Hamilton plays the Wicked Witch of the West, while Billie Burke portrays Glinda the Good Witch. Frank Morgan fills multiple roles including Professor Marvel and the Wizard himself, and Clara Blandick and Charley Grapewin play Aunt Em and Uncle Henry respectively. Supporting Munchkin roles featured veteran character actors from Vaudeville and stage, and the choreography included dancers associated with Broadway and Ziegfeld revues.

Production

Development began when Samuel Goldwyn and later MGM acquired rights to Baum's novel; producer Mervyn LeRoy and screenwriters including Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson, and Edgar Allan Woolf adapted the narrative. Directorial duties shifted among Richard Thorpe, George Cukor, and Victor Fleming, with Fleming credited; cinematographer Harold Rosson utilized Technicolor three-strip process to differentiate Kansas's sepia palette from Oz's saturated color. Makeup designer Jack Dawn and special effects technicians employed practical effects for the tornado sequence, matte paintings, and optical compositing; the ruby slippers were created by costume designer Gilbert Adrian and shoemaker Kent Warner. The production faced challenges including set construction at MGM Studios, script rewrites, casting changes, and the replacement of Buddy Ebsen after pulmonary complications from aluminum dust makeup. Musical scoring and soundstage recording were overseen by studio musicians and arrangers accustomed to studio system production methods.

Music and soundtrack

The film's score features songs by composer Harold Arlen and lyricist Yip Harburg, notably "Over the Rainbow", which Judy Garland performed in a Kansas farmhouse setting. The soundtrack blends solos, ensemble numbers, and diegetic music arranged for studio orchestra conductors linked to MGM's music department and Hollywood musical traditions. Orchestrations by Murray Cutter and others supported dance sequences featuring choreography by professionals from Broadway and film musicals. "Over the Rainbow" became an Academy Award-winning song and a standard recorded by numerous artists across genres connected to Columbia Records, Decca Records, and later reissues; published sheet music and soundtrack albums propagated the film's tunes into radio programming and jukebox culture.

Release and reception

Released in 1939, the film premiered amid a notable year for Hollywood releases including Gone with the Wind and other studio pictures; initial box office returns and critical assessments were mixed, with some contemporary reviewers praising the technicolor imagery and Garland's performance while others debated pacing. Over time the picture received widespread acclaim, winning Academy Awards for Best Original Song and technical categories and achieving recognition from institutions such as the Library of Congress when later preserved by the National Film Registry. The movie circulated through theatrical reissues, television broadcasts on networks like NBC and CBS, and home video formats issued by rights holders that traced through corporate successors including Turner Entertainment and Warner Bros. Pictures.

Legacy and cultural impact

The film established enduring iconography—ruby slippers, the Yellow Brick Road, the Emerald City—that permeated American popular culture and influenced filmmakers, playwrights, and television creators from Busby Berkeley-inspired musicals to fantasy cinema and stage adaptations. It catalyzed merchandising and fan communities, inspired scholarly work in film studies at institutions such as UCLA and Film Society of Lincoln Center, and has been referenced in works by directors like Tim Burton and Steven Spielberg as well as contemporary music, theater, and literature. The movie's representation of childhood, dream logic, and moral lessons has been examined in interdisciplinary research by scholars associated with Harvard University, Yale University, and University of California, Berkeley. Annual screenings, museum exhibits at venues such as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Smithsonian Institution, and adaptations including stage musicals, animated reinterpretations, and sequels attest to its persistent cultural resonance. The film remains a fixture in lists compiled by trade publications like Variety and The Hollywood Reporter and is frequently cited in preservation efforts and retrospectives celebrating cinema history.

Category:1939 films Category:American musical films Category:Films based on books