This One Takes Me Back

Rating: 10/10 (29 April 2005)

It's nearly impossible for me to write objectively about the quality of "The Wizard of Oz," so bundled up is it with associations from my childhood. It's like trying to do a critical analysis of "Star Wars." Sorry, can't be done---at least, not by me. "Oz" is such a strange movie, in some ways so creaky and old-fashioned, in other ways so incredibly ahead of its time. Few films I've seen during my lifetime have such a complete vision as "Oz" does---such painstaking care went into the look and design of the film; it's as if the filmmakers really did create a whole other world for this film to take place in. It's odd that during a time in American film history, when movies were being cranked out like cars on an assembly line, a film could feel like such an auteurish product (increasingly odd, since the credited director, Victor Fleming, actually shared directing duties with several others. The same is true for "Gone with the Wind," released in the same year and also bearing Fleming's name as sole director. He was quite a lucky guy in 1939).
The plot and feeling of "Oz" veers quite a bit from that of the book on which it is based. The book is much nastier and darker, but the film manages its fair share of grimness for all that. The Wicked Witch is spectacularly scary (Margaret Hamilton admits to regretting the intensity with which she approached this character) as are the Flying Monkeys. There's such a feeling of ominous dread under-laying this entire film. As if the land of Oz is a bit too beautiful and perfect, like a perfectly ripe piece of fruit that at any moment can begin to rot at the edges.
Really, despite her scariness, the Witch is the most fun character in the film---it's really a riot to watch this film as an adult and enjoy her sarcasm and nastiness; it's refreshing as juxtaposed to the goody goodiness of the other characters. Frank Morgan in a variety of roles is also great.
A cloud of darkness has come to surround this film over the last couple of decades, due to the urban legends about the stagehand supposedly caught on film hanging himself and the truly bizarre stories about the arduous process of making the film (and the many accidents and tragedies that occurred along the way). This reputation may be responsible for the cult status that has arisen around this film and perhaps even for elevating it to the level of admiration it has received.
On a side note, an excellent book by Gregory Maguire called "Wicked" offers back story to the events leading up to "The Wizard of Oz," and most particularly focuses on the early life of the Wicked Witch of the West. It's an outstanding book, and I venture that you won't be able to watch "Oz" in quite the same way again after reading it.
Grade: A-