Maybe the greatest fantasy film of all-time

Rating: 10/10 (30 April 2006)

This has always been a favorite of mine from childhood through adulthood. A great fantasy film adapted from the famous L. Frank Baum stories with screenplay from noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf and about a dozen others that contributed to dialog including tow of the film's stars Bert Lahr and Jack Haley. The film received six Academy Award nominations winning two for Herbert Sothart's musical score and original song for Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg. It lost the 1939 Best Picture and Best Art Direction Academy Awards to Gone With the Wind and Best Cinematography to Wuthering Heights but incredibly lost Best Effects yo The Rains Came. Director Victor Flemming had a good year in 1939 directing both Gone With the Wind and The Wizard of Oz, two films that endearingly live on for generations. Great cinematography here from Harold Rosson who had a 50 year cinematography career that began in the early silent films and ended with Howard Hawks El Dorado in 1966. Veteran film editor Blanche Sewall skillfully edited this piece but over the years so much of this film has been cut up for television that it wasn't until recently that it's been restored to near it's original form. A fantastic cast with Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, Jack Haley, Billie Burke and Margaret Hamilton. Amazingly Burke who plays good witch Glinda was 54 years old at the time. Five years older than Frank Morgan and 17 years older than Margaret Hamilton. I would like to see a restored version of this as I have not yet had the opportunity to and I would also like to see this up on the big screen. This is true movie magic and I would give it a 10 out of 10.