The Movie Room

The Wizard of Oz 1939, directed by Victor Fleming

Rating: 10/10

This movie is a classic for a reason and no matter how many times or at whatever age I watch it, it is still great. I love old movies, and 1939 is famously one of the best years for movies, but this movie holds up in a way that is special and different from a lot of other old, great films.

First off, this movie is just gorgeous to look at. The rightfully famous shot of Dorothy leaving her color-drained house for the Technicolor world of Oz is just magical every time I see it. Even when I look for tell-tale signs of how it is faked, it does not matter—the illusion works and it is a marvel to behold and that never loses its shine. The journey through Oz then delivers set piece after set piece of beautifully designed sets, with amazing costumes, fantastic staging, and gorgeous color. I love the look of Technicolor, even when mimicked in something like Pearl, and The Wizard of Oz is one of the best examples of why this color process is so amazing. Even the parts in Kansas look great, and the way the camera moves around and frames the farm signifies that this movie is going to be a visual feast before we even get to Oz. 

Another reason why this movie achieves a kind of timeliness is that it mixes together its source material and its old-Hollywood sensibilities so well. The movie definitely adds a bunch of things and makes a lot of changes from L. Frank Baum’s novel from 1900, but it keeps true to the spirit and language of much of the text. Baum’s writing is very Carroll-esque, so the film updates 39 years later what was already a take on Alice in Wonderland 35 years prior to that. This game of telephone makes the ideas in it belonging to multiple eras, which allows the ideas to remain of all eras going forward. This timelessness is aided by great performances, especially Judy Garland as Dorothy. What was happening behind the scenes with Garland at MGM is despicable, but nothing was able to dampen her magnetic screen presence. I don’t often love her movies that much, but even in the most hacky MGM musical, she shines as a charismatic performer. Her childish wonder and exuberant delivery and beautiful voice do their best work here as Dorothy and help guide the viewer through this magnificent world in the right mindset. 

L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a great classic piece of literature (and I also enjoy—to some degree—all 13 of the sequel novels Baum wrote), but Fleming’s film version does a great job of differentiating itself and creating its own legacy. There have been many imitators, homages, appropriations, etc. of this movie in the years sense, including this year’s Agatha All Along and Wicked, but none of them (well, presumably not Wicked, I will have to wait until I see it tomorrow to judge fully) have equaled it.