US 101m Dir: Victor Fleming Key Cast: Judy Garland
Whilst there are some great performances in this classic film, that of one particular actress stands out: Terry, the cairn terrier who plays Toto. Like many of the cast, Terry found the working on the film unpleasant and was injured on set. Nonetheless she managed to keep going and deliver one of the defining film performances of her species. Despite the huge number of extras, the outlandish costumes and the pyrotechnics, Terry was always where she was supposed to be.
I've been thinking about why The Wizard of Oz has stood the test of time more than any of its contemporaries and how it compares to modern films. In many ways it follows the format of so many fantasy stories- a journey through a new world with a mission to fulfil. It's such a common trope now that but when The Wizard of Oz started filming The Hobbit had only been published a year before. At the same time though it never falls too far into the fantastical with all it's characters being essentially human.
Like any musical the songs are important. I would argue that most of the songs in the film are dreadful and totally forgettable. But you only really need two good songs to make a memorable musical and we get two here. First it 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow', a beautiful song which is sung so well by Judy Garland. Then there's the recurring 'We're Off to See the Wizard' which is incredibly catchy even without being sung four times. The other memorable song is 'Ding Dong the Witch is Dead', though I can't help but imagine the amount of hopeful rehearsal the Munchkins must have done on this under the witches nose.
The film also stars a great villain in the Wicked Witch of the West. She's not a million miles away from the many supervillains of today's superhero films. She hates the hero, has a horde of mindless minions in the form of flying monkeys and is truly horrible. Indeed, there's still something creepy about Margaret Hamilton's performance and I'd wager that modern children still find her unsettling.
One further comparison to modern cinema I can't help but add is the Munchkins. They are short characters who talk in high-pitched voices which is not a million miles away from the minions of the Despicable Me franchise. We still see so many of the basic ideas of The Wizard of Oz in modern cinema so it's no wonder that the 1939 film doesn't feel too old-fashioned to us.
Of course, there are other factors that make it a good film too. It's cast are all great- alongside Toto the other great performance comes from Judy Garland who is so excellent as Dorothy it made her career (but ruined her life). The high production values are obvious with large sets and lots of extras making this feel like a fantasy world rather than the inside of a studio somewhere. There's also the fantastic framing device of having the Kansas scenes in sepia but the Oz scenes in colour which works so excellently.
The Wizard of Oz may be nearly eighty years old but it stands the test of time better than the vast majority of films that have succeeded it.
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