Growing up I never really liked this movie, but oddly enough my wife loves this movie. So I had to give it another shot. I just remember as a kid that I thought the munchkins were stupid and the flying monkeys scared the shit out of me. And let's be fair, as a child it's more of a 'girl' movie. I mean, if the Tin Man ended up being Sgt. Slaughter, the Scarecrow Brutus the Barber Beefcake and the Cowardly Lion was Cobra Commander then I'd be all over it!
Alas, I didn't write this book.
What's been pretty great in doing any research for this blog is that I end up reading the Wikipedia page for every movie and learn a lot of interesting tidbits. For example, and I had heard this before, but Shirley Temple was pegged to play Dorothy originally...but they didn't like the way she sang. Enter stage left: Judy Garland.
If only Judy had started her barbiturate addiction while filming the flying monkey scene, that would be precious. Or maybe those poppies that make them pass out were the ultimate gateway drug for her. And that white powdery 'snowy' stuff that makes them all alert and wakes them up...is that really snow?
Anyways, I digress.
The original Scarecrow and the original Tin Man originally were to play each other's roles but the Tin Man idolized the actor who played the Scarecrow on Broadway or something like that and forced them to switch. No biggie I guess.
At the end of the day, watching it again all the way through as an adult (questionable) it really is an impressive movie. A few things, apart from the crazy story, is how colorful this film is. You know, that's probably about all I like about this movie.
Oh, Toto is pretty awesome too.
What I don't get, is that at the beginning of Dorothy's adventure in Oz - she's already got the slippers on. And the 'good' witch could've just told her right then and there to click her heels and all this crazy shit would go away. But no.
At the end of the day, for 1939 this is pretty impressive. It lost Best Picture to Gone With the Wind. Maybe if Clark Gable played Toto or something it would've had a chance. Or if Oz was really Gettysburg or Savannah.
Not my favorite, but maybe I should crush 12 beers and watch it. That would probably help.
No comments:
Post a Comment