THE 3D IMAX WIZARD OF OZ is here!

So it’s a bit early, but if any motion picture deserves a year-long celebration it’s this one. This weekend, film goers are getting a true treat. The 1939 (August to be exact) classic THE WIZARD OF OZ is back on Imax screens and in 3D for the very first time. Sure most of you have seen it on cable TV or on home video, but an opportunity to see this gem on the big screen should not be passed up. I mean this is a film that has become a huge part of our culture . The movie itself is legendary as are the stories about its making. There’s even a feature film comedy (UNDER THE RAINBOW) that’s set backstage (but I wouldn’t consider that Chevy Chase flick a classic).

Since I’m sure you’re familiar with the plot, lets’ talk about some of the backstage stories. This was not the first screen version of L. Frank Baum’s 1900 children’s’ book, “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”. There were two silent adaptations, one in 1910 and another in 1925 starring silent comic Larry Semon along with a young clean-shaven Oliver Hardy. Then in 1933 a Canadian film company produced a sound nine minute cartoon that went to color when Dorothy left the black and white farm and landed in Oz. But it was not that short that made MGM chief Louis Mayer decide to turn the tale into a live-action feature film. It was the surprise success of Walt Disney’s first feature-length animated film SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS. You probably heard that Mayer desperately wanted box office princess Shirley Temple to play Dorothy, but she was under contract to Twentieth Century Fox and chief Darryl Zanuck was not about to loan her out, no matter how many MGM stars were offered (Clark Gable, Joan Crawford, and so on). WC Fields was also considered for the main title role. Some stars screen tested while another actually shot a few scenes. Famously Buddy Ebsen had to bow out after the Tin Man makeup proved toxic to his skin. Here’s a test photo of him in costume and makeup…

Looks like they were trying to emulate the original book illustrations with the drawn facial lines. Now here’s an actress they tested for the role of the Wicked Witch of the West. A few years before she tormented Basil Rathbone’s Sherlock Holmes as the deadly Spider Woman, Oscar- winner Gale Sondergard was a glamorous spellcaster perhaps foreshadowing Veronica Lake in I MARRIED A WITCH and Elizabeth Montgomery in TV’s “Bewitched”…

Then they opted for a more traditional haggard crone (which did not please Ms. S) look before the part went to Margaret Hamilton.

WIZARD is one of the first films to owe much of its popularity to television. Before cable TV and home video, the only place to see the film (besides the big city revival movie theatres) was once a year, usually on CBS. This was a big annual event for families of the sixties and seventies who would gather around the set. I remember the thrill of seeing Dorothy opening the door to reveal Munchkin Land in breath-taking Technicolor on our brand new (and first in the neighborhood) color TV. Great memories…

And this weekend you can be part of a new movie memory for your wee ones (but this is truly a flick for all ages). The film technicians have treated this classic with the respect it deserves. The color dazzles more brightly than ever. The opening Kansas scenes have a sepia glow which enhances the impact of that iconic shot I mentioned earlier. Luckily that old film stock texture has not been completely scrubbed away. Although I’ve seen the film countless times, I still noticed new details. With the DVD I saw that Dorothy had freckles like most corn-fed farm girls. This time I was aware of red stripes on the witch’s broom. In the scene introducing the Tin Man  I was surprised to see all of the background aviary (cranes, flamingos, etc.) I imagined Mayer sputtering, “Put some birds back there!” after a set visit. In the final scenes I was impressed by the burlap texture of the Scarecrow’s face. The Imax screen gives us a chance to really appreciate the artists who worked at MGM’s dream factory.

Well, how’s the 3D, you may ask. It’s pretty terrific especially when Glinda the Good Witch twirls her wand as she explains things to a stunned Dorothy. Later the Wicked Witch’s green, claw-like hand almost flicks your nose as she reaches for those ruby slippers. At one point I thought the entire first row of the theatre had gotten up to leave till I realized that it was the Munchkins sending Dorothy off on the Yellow Brick Road. The up-conversion is much more subtle that the recent work on JURASSIC PARK and TITANIC which almost seemed like the old GAF View Master toys with such extreme forced depth, but still miles above the lackluster STAR WARS: PHANTOM MENACE. And I got none of the strain and headaches that accompanied many of those early up-converts (hey CLASH OF THE TITANS, you owe me a couple Tylenol!). Kudos to everyone involved!

Since it’s on that big screen, the sound has been spruced up too! Every lyric from Arlen and Harburg’s wonderful songs are crisp and crystal clear. Herbert Stothart’s background score sounds swell even as he “borrows” from a few classics (love hearing “Midnight on Bald Mountain” in the witch’s castle). And you’ll hear some hilarious “throw-away” lines of dialogue, as when Zeke tells some slow-moving pigs, “I’ll ‘toyn’ ya’ into a dime bank!”. I wondered how did this New “Yawwker” ended up working on a Kansas farm. Perhaps that’s a story for a prequel (as long as it’s not revisionist hokum like “Wicked” or OZ: THE GREAT AND POWERFUL). This will remind you of Bert Lahr’s considerable comic gifts. And there’s Ray Bolger’s rubber-limbed, flaying dance skill and Jack Haley’s dreamy, breathy line delivery. Billie Burke’s flittery Glinda is still a delight. On the big, big screen we can almost see Hamilton stifling a smile as she spews her threats as she relishes her villainous role. And then there’s Judy. Sweet, fresh-faced, and devastatingly lovely. She has a vulnerability that most young actresses could not attain. And that voice! How could the producers have ever considered cutting “Somewhere Over the Rainbow’? Just a warning , the screen ratio hasn’t been altered so there’s thankfully no stretched out images. And they’ve not put in any deleted scenes like the legendary, thought to be lost, “The Jitterbug” number, nor do we see Bolger bouncing off the rubber fence at the end of his big solo. Nope it’s the film many of us grew up with and boy is it spectacular. What a remarkable technical achievement considering that movies just began to talk a dozen years earlier. To think this film was directed by a real macho guy, former auto racer/mechanic Victor Fleming who would go right from Oz to Tara for GONE WITH THE WIND (which beat OZ for the 1939 Best Picture Oscar).  What a great first film for the little ones, even though the MPAA has rated it PG (huh?). When people say they don’t make em’ like they used to, they’re referring  to films like this! If ever, oh ever, a wiz there was, indeed!

The movie, of course it’s 5 out of 5

And the upgrade is 4.5 out of 5!