The Wizard of Oz (1939)

                  Dorothy and Friends

'The Wizard of Oz' is a fantasy adventure film musical made by MGM in 1939, based on a children's novel 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz' written in 1900 by L. Frank Baum. The movie was directed by Victor Fleming, with King Vidor and others, and starred the teenaged Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale.

Because of its extensive national television exposure the movie has been seen by more people then any other and it has become one of the best loved classic family movies of all time. In a People Magazine poll, it was chosen as the favorite movie of the twentieth century and it is still the film for which Judy Garland is best remembered.

Its signature song, "Over the Rainbow," which was almost cut from the film as being too sophisticated for the young Garland, won an Oscar for Best Song and has been voted the greatest movie song of all time by the American Film Institute. Judy Garland, who was only sixteen, won a special Oscar for the best performance by a juvenile, for her role in the movie. It was her only Academy Award.

'The Wizard of Oz' ranks at number 2 on the AFI's list of Greatest Musicals of All Time.

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Plot Summary

She offends the Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Hamilton), but is protected from the old hag's wrath by the ruby slippers that she wears. At the suggestion of Glinda, the Good Witch of the North (Billie Burke), Dorothy travels down the Yellow Brick Road to the Emerald City, where dwells the all-powerful Wizard of Oz, who, she hopes, will be able to help her return to Kansas.

En route, she meets and befriends a group of friendly characters, each of whom has an inner wish he would like the Wizard to grant. The Scarecrow (Ray Bolger) would like to have some brains, the Tin Man (Jack Haley) needs a heart, and the seemingly ferocious lion (Bert Lahr) actually lacks courage. They reach Oz and the Wizard agrees to grant their wishes if they can first prove themselves worthy by bringing him the broomstick of the Witch of the West.

After many adventures they are successful in killing the Witch and bringing back the broomstick. They discover that the Wizard is really an ordinary man from Kansas and he explains that they each already possessed the qualities they had been searching for all along.

Dorothy tearfully bids farewell to her friends and then follows Glinda's instructions to get home. She wakes up in bed at home surrounded by her family and some farmhands whom she remembers as her three friends from Oz. Dorothy states the moral of the tale - 'There's no place like home.'