It might be almost a century old, but The Wizard of Oz continues to charm audiences of both children and adults alike to this day. Released in 1939, here are some facts and stories from one of the Golden Age of Hollywood’s greatest ever pictures.
CUT!
Incredibly, it took the work of five different directors to bring The Wizard of Oz to the big screen. Originally the movie was due to be directed by Norman Taurog, who had recently won the Best Director Oscar for the comic film Skippy. Having initially developed the screen story for The Wizard of Oz and assigned many of the crew, Taurog left the project not long into its development and was replaced by Richard Thorpe. Thorpe in turn filmed just nine days’ worth of footage before he too was forced from the project after two weeks on set. In his place came George Cukor, but at that time Cukor remained attached to Gone with the Wind, and could not adequately commit to both productions. When he left in the fall of 1938, production was handed over to Victor Fleming, who retained creative control of The Wizard of Oz for the next six months. The majority of the movie was ultimately shot under his direction; but in February 1939, Fleming too was forced to abandon the project (ironically, to take over from George Cukor on the set of Gone with the Wind) so completing The Wizard of Oz ultimately fell to King Vidor. He finally oversaw the direction of the iconic tornado scene and Judy Garland’s performance of Over the Rainbow.
NOWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW
Despite being one of the most famous movie themes of all time, Somewhere Over the Rainbow almost didn’t make the final cut. It was the last track written for the picture by composer Harold Arlen (who, wanting a simple, lyrical tune for the movie’s main musical number, based the melody on a children’s piano exercise) and spliced it into the movie late in the production. When MGM chief executive Louis B Mayer finally saw it, he demanded the song be cut because he thought it “slowed down the picture.” Luckily, he was overruled. The song was later reinstated and went on to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 1940 Oscars.
GALE FORCE
Somewhere Over the Rainbow wasn’t the only iconic addition to The Wizard of Oz that nearly didn’t make it the final cut—the movie’s central star, Judy Garland, almost missed out too. Reportedly, MGM’s first choice for the role of Dorothy Gale was the 10-year-old starlet Shirley Temple, who by 1939 was already a hugely bankable box office star. The official reason why Temple was not cast remains unclear (it is, of course, the subject of countless rumors), but at the time she was signed with Warner Bros., and it’s likely the studio was reluctant to lease her to their rivals at MGM. Another version of the tale claims that a reciprocal deal in which Clark Gable and Jean Harlow would both be loaned out to Warner Bros. in exchange for Temple’s involvement fell through when Harlow unexpectedly passed away in 1937.
MAN DOWN
Comic actor Buddy Ebsen (who later went on to star in 1960s comedy series The Beverly Hillbillies) was the original Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz, but when he suffered a terrible allergic reaction to the aluminum-based makeup he was made to wear, he was compelled to leave the production. He was replaced by Jack Haley, but Ebsen’s characteristic singing voice can still be heard in many of the ensemble musical numbers, which had already been recorded before Haley was involved. Ebsen wasn’t the only cast member to fall foul of their makeup, too. Margaret Hamilton, who stole the show as the Wicked Witch of the West, suffered terrible burns to her face and hand during a scene using a pyrotechnic effect, when sparks from a controlled explosion ignited the flammable bright green powder that had been used to color her makeup.