The Wizard Of Oz (1939)

Category:MGM Home Entertainment releases
Category:MGM films
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 fantasy musical based on the 1900 novel of the same name. While not well received upon a released it soon went on to become one of the best films of all time.
== Plot ==
Teenager Dorothy Gale lives on a Kansas farm owned by her Uncle Henry and Aunt Em as well as three farmhands. When Dorothy's dog Toto bites the wealthy Almira Gulch after getting in her garden, Miss Gulch obtains a sheriff's order authorizing her to seize the dog to be euthanized. Toto escapes and returns to Dorothy, who runs away to protect him. Professor Marvel, a charlatan fortune-teller, convinces Dorothy to return home because Aunt Em still loves her and is heartbroken that she is missing. Dorothy returns just as a tornadoapproaches the farm. Unable to get into the locked storm shelter, Dorothy takes cover in the farmhouse and is knocked unconscious by the violence of the storm. The tornado then lifts the house and drops it into an unknown land.
Dorothy awakens and is greeted by short people known as Munchkins, and a good witch named Glinda, who explains to Dorothy that she is in Munchkinland in the land of Oz. The Munchkins are celebrating because the house landed on the Wicked Witch of the East. Her sister, the Wicked Witch of the West, appears in a puff of smoke. Before she can seize her deceased sister's ruby slippers, Glinda magically transports them onto Dorothy's feet and tells her to keep them on, as they must be very powerful. Because the Wicked Witch has no power in Munchkinland, she leaves in another puff of smoke, but only after telling Dorothy, "I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog too!" Glinda knows of only one person who might know how to help Dorothy return home: The Wizard of Oz. Dorothy is directed to follow a yellow brick road that goes to the Emerald City, the Wizard's home.
Along the way, she meets the Scarecrow, who wants a brain; the Tin Man, who wants a heart; and the Cowardly Lion, who wants courage. The foursome and Toto eventually reach the Emerald City, despite the best efforts of the Wicked Witch. Dorothy is initially denied an audience with the Wizard by his doorman. The doorman relents on hearing that they were sent by Glinda, and the four are led into the Wizard's chambers. The Wizard appears as a giant ghostly head and tells them he will grant their wishes if they bring him the Wicked Witch's broomstick.
During their quest, Dorothy and Toto are captured by flying monkeys and taken to the Wicked Witch, but the ruby slippers protect her. The Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion free Dorothy, but are pursued by the Witch and her guards. They are cornered by the Witch, who sets fire to the Scarecrow. When Dorothy throws a bucket of water onto the Scarecrow, she inadvertently splashes the Witch, which causes her to melt away.
The Witch's guards gratefully give Dorothy her broomstick. The four return to the Wizard, but he tells them to return tomorrow. When Toto pulls back a curtain, the Wizard is revealed to be just an ordinary man, operating machinery that projects the ghostly image of his face. The four travelers confront him, upon which he confesses that he, like Dorothy, accidentally arrived in Oz from America. He then "grants" the wishes of Dorothy's three friends by giving them tokens that symbolize that they always had the qualities they sought.
The Wizard offers to take Dorothy back to Kansas with him aboard his hot air balloon. However, after Toto jumps off and Dorothy goes after him, the balloon accidentally lifts off with just the Wizard aboard. Dorthy is heartbroken and while The Lion tells her to stay she says that it is not to be. Seconds later Glinda reappears and tells Dorothy she always had the power to return to Kansas with the help of the ruby slippers, but had to find that out for herself. After sharing a tearful farewell with her friends, Dorothy heeds Glinda's instructions by tapping her heels three times and repeating the words, "There's no place like home." She is transported back to Kansas.
She awakens in her bed with a washcloth on her injured head and is attended to by her aunt, uncle and the farm hands. Professor Marvel stops by as Dorothy describes Oz, telling the farm hands and the Professor they were there too. (The actors who portrayed Marvel and the farmhands also played the characters in Oz.) Unfazed by their disbelief, Dorothy gratefully exclaims, "There's no place like home!"
== Cast ==
* Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale
* Frank Morgan as Professor Marvel (also the Wizard of Oz/Gatekeeper/Carriage Driver/Guard)
* Ray Bolger as "Hunk" (also the Scarecrow)
* Bert Lahr as "Zeke" (also the Cowardly Lion)
* Jack Haley as "Hickory" (also the Tin Man)
* Billie Burke as Glinda
* Margaret Hamilton as Almira Gulch (also the Wicked Witch of the West)
* Charley Grapewin as Uncle Henry
* Pat Walshe as Nikko
* Clara Blandick as Auntie Em
* Terry as Toto (credited as Toto)
* The Singer Midgets as The Munchkins (For a list of all the Munchkin actors/actresses in the film, see Munchkin§Actors and actresses.)
* Mitchell Lewis as the Winkie Guard Captain (uncredited)
* Adriana Caselotti as the voice of Juliet in the Tin Man's song "If I Only Had a Heart" (uncredited)
* Candy Candido as the voice of the Angry Apple Tree (uncredited)
Category:Films considered the Best
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Category:1939 films
Category:Fairy tale films
Category:Live-action films
Category:Based on book
Category:Musical films
Category:Warner Bros. Home Entertainment releases
Category:Warner Bros. films
Category:Warner Bros. Pictures films
Category:Warner Bros. Family Entertainment films
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