Wizard vs Wicked: Wizard Still Reigns as Most Magical Adaption of Baum, Far Better than "Wicked".

Rating: 10/10 (21 June 2009)

The 1939 MGM production of "The Wizard of Oz" still stands as the best theatrical adaption of L. Frank Baum's timeless classic. The songs, although maybe a little light-hearted by today's standards, are still the best and the most memorable of any other production, be they film or musical. The witty lyrics by Yip Harburg withstand on their own terms and help feed into the rhetoric and humor of the story, particularly "Over the Rainbow", "The Wicked Witch is Dead", and "If I were King of the Forest". The cast is perfect, the sets incredible, and the effects stand-up well against many CGI films today. And the script retains the spirit of Baum's original novel but never lapses into too much gushy sentimentality.
The cast have become immortalized in their own right. Who could imagine anyone else playing Dorothy other than the young Judy Garland whose rendition of "Over the Rainbow" still brings tears even after 70 years? Bert Lahr as the Cowardly Lion was a choice made in Heaven. Lahr, who was probably the most experienced Vaudevillian in the cast, practically steals the show with his rendition of "If I were King of the Forest", which he sings to the hilt in a manner reminiscent of Ethel Merman. His only rivals are Maragaret Hamilton as the Wicked Witch of the West who seems like she was born to play the role of Dorothy's arch-enemy, and Frank Morgan as the wizard. Morgan, like Lahr, brings a theatrical quality to the entire production as he plays four different characters on-screen. Billie Burke as Glinda, Ray Bolger as the Scarecrow, and Jack Hayley as the Tin Man also deserve honorable mention.
The well-known story concerns a Midwest farm girl, Dorothy, who goes on an unexpected trip to a faraway land known as Oz. Her line "I've a feeling we're not in Kansas any more." has become one of the most quoted in the annals of motion pictures. It is practically an allusion meaning to be in an unknown place. After making enemies with the Wicked Witch of the West, Dorothy desires to return home. She is told that the only person in Oz who can help her is the great Wizard who resides in the Emerald City. Along her journey to the city, she befriends three of the most famous characters of children's literature: a scare crow, a tin man and a cowardly lion. Together they seek audience with the great Wizard of Oz. The only Hollywood shortcoming is that the entire experience is related as a dream which was not how it was characterized in the original book. Still a triumph of early cinema that seems like it could have been made just a few years ago instead of a half century plus a score of years ago. A must for children.