Judy Garland Follows the Road to Cinematic Immortality in The Wizard of Oz

              One of the most perfectly crafted and renowned films ever produced by Hollywood, 1939’s The Wizard of stands tall in the pantheon of Classic Hollywood films. Based on the 1900 novel by Frank Baum, director Victor Fleming (having one of the all-time banner years, with Gone with the Wind also on his roster), working with top MGM production values across the board, somehow manages to pull all the creative forces involved in this monumental undertaking into a cohesive, gratifying whole, allowing the film to convincingly shift from the early sepia-toned Kansas sequences to the florid Technicolored fantasy of Oz, with all its equally colorful characters, without any awkwardness or sense of phoniness coming into play. One of the greatest assembled casts and original music (composed by Harold Arlen, adapted by Herbert Stothart, with ingenious lyrics by Edgar “Yip” Harburg) aid Fleming in bringing life, humor and conviction to the tale of young Dorothy Gale who, accompanied by her faithful dog Toto, encounters the denizens of Oz, and learns many life lessons in the process.

The seventeen-year-old Judy Garland was rapidly ascending at MGM in 1939, after first making an impression onscreen in 1936 via an appealing film debut (on loan out to 20^th Century Fox; MGM signed Garland in 1935) in Pigskin Parade, and alongside Deanna Durbin in the MGM short Every Sunday. Following much vaudeville work with her sisters, after a debut at the tender age of two singing “Jingle Bells,” the phenomenally gifted Garland would spend her early years at MGM learning her craft in a few programmers and larger-scale productions, including costarring with ideal partner Mickey Rooney for the first time in 1937’s Thoroughbreds Don’t Cry and stealing the show singing “Dear Mr. Gable” in Broadway Melody of 1938. Gaining this viable film experience, Garland was ready for the major breakthrough Oz granted her.

As the sensitive Dorothy Gale, Garland’s prodigious talent as a singer, dancer and powerhouse actor were given ample opportunity to shine. Using an emotionally-driven performance style, Garland is in beautiful synch with Dorothy’s every desire, from her yearning for a life “Over the Rainbow” to her quest to meet the Wizard in order to return home. Singing “Rainbow” with a plaintiveness, maturity and sincerity that would help establish the song as her signature tune, Garland expresses the dreamy longings for all those seeking happiness outside the norm. Interacting with her costars in a graceful, earnest manner, Garland’s believably “in the moment” throughout, allowing viewers to fully buy into the story’s fantastical premise as the awestruck Dorothy meets a wide variety of colorful Oz characters in creative, unusual surroundings. She adeptly alternates between joyful, comic musical sequences and interactions with some of the most convincing, riveting dramatic acting yet seen on film, as the tremulous Dorothy plunges the depths of despair when faced with serious conflict, causing audiences to strongly identify with Dorothy on an unusually personal level, and resulting in an unforgettable characterization that still stands as one of the ultimate performances committed to film.

After Oz, Garland immediately confirmed her status as one of the brightest new stars in film alongside Rooney in Babes in Arms, a major 1939 hit released just after Oz, and would go on to become one of MGM’s biggest draws in the 1940s in a slew of hit, Grade-A musicals, For Me and My Gal, Meet Me in St. Louis, The Harvey Girls and Easter Parade among them, with 1945’s The Clock (directed by husband Vincente Minnelli) showing what Garland could do dramatically, and as a romantic lead in a beautiful pairing with Robert Walker. Leaving MGM, which had worn the constantly in-demand Garland down with little regard for her welfare, after 1950’s Summer Stock, a revitalized Garland went on to conquer stage, film and television during the 1950’s and 1960’s (with 1954’s A Star is Born and her #1 1961 Judy at Carnegie Hall Grammy-winning album highlights), before her untimely passing at 47 in 1969, leaving behind a legacy unmatched in entertainment history.

Ray Bolger utilizes his dexterity and skill as a veteran dancer to fill the role of the Scarecrow, the animable, smarter-than-he-thinks colleague Dorothy first encounters on her path down the yellow brick road to Oz. The nimble Bolger adopts a pleasant, airy style to match the light-on-his-feet physicality he displays as the Scarecrow ambles his way along with Dorothy. Jack Haley also scores strongly as the dreamy, serene Tin Man, specifically impressing with his ability to remain dexterous dancing around during his “If I Only Had a Heart” number in one of film history’s most inhibiting costumes. As the Cowardly Lion, Bert Lahr uses his extensive vaudevillian background to squeeze every drop of comedy gold out the juicy character. Lahr’s gusto-ladened line readings (“Tell Me When It’s Over!” “I Wanna Go Home!”) prime mugging and all-out spontaneity, wherein he often appears to be adlibbing with fearless comic abandon, allows for some of the choicest laughs in the film, with Lahr still managing to work in beautiful synch with his trio of adroit costars.

Margaret Hamilton stakes her claim as one of the screen’s most sinister and electrifying miscreants as the Witched Witch of the West, who is green with envy over Dorothy’s possession of the prized ruby red slippers and determined to get them at any cost. Hamilton’s intense, fireball (literally, at one point) approach is so transfixingly real, her ability to terrify viewers of all ages has remained undiminished. In contrast, Billie Burke’s bubbly persona, sing-song vocal delivery and beatific appearance in a stunning pink gown as Glinda the Good Witch helps to assuage audiences’ qualms, although one wonders if Glinda might have offered Dorothy a little more info up front, regarding what to do at a fork in the road, how to utilize those slippers to take a fast track back home, etc. Finally, as Dorothy’s most loyal and true supporter, Toto, the gifted terrier Terry steals many moments and must be in the running for the most beloved pet in film history.

With Fleming’s firm hands at the helm, Oz overcame a plethora of challenges (such as cast changes and filming issues) to achieve timeless perfection on screen. Upon release in August of 1939, Oz gained solid box-office returns, but would not initially make back its understandably high cost of production. Aided by largely excellent critical notices, the film would fare well in at the Academy Awards in a landmark, very competitive year, scoring five regular Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Bets Art Direction and Best Special Effects, and richly-deserved wins for Best Original Score and Best Song. Judy Garland was bestowed a special Academy Juvenile Award (for both Oz and Babes in Arms), while the timeless appeal of the film has kept it a favorite among audiences for over eight decades, greatly assisted by regular television broadcasts starting in 1956, which continually reaped huge ratings while exposing the wonders of Oz to several generations. The movie has been popular via VHS, DVD, Blu-ray and 4K presentations, often in elaborate special edition packages offering abundant extra features detailing the history of the film. In the process of becoming one of the cinema’s most beloved films, Oz has gained ever-increasing accolades, which include (among many others), placement among the inaugural films chosen by the National Film Registry for preservation; coming in at #6 and #10 on the American Film Institute’s 1998 and 2007 lists of the 100 Greatest Films; and gaining the #1 slot on the AFI’s 2004 list of best songs for “Over the Rainbow.” The film’s influence has spawned sequels and prequels, which have met with various degrees of success with critics and audiences, without any of them supplanting The Wizard of Oz in the hearts of fans old and new, with countless repeated viewings simply confirming Oz to be one of the greatest, most enchanting movies ever made.

                On another note, the newest take on the Oz legend to hit the Silver Screen, Wicked (based on the smash Broadway production culled from Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel) covers the musical’s first act (Part II is coming next year) and serves as a prequel to Oz, starting with the demise of the Wicked Witch, then working back to tell the story of how the friendship between the outcast Elphaba and the popular Galinda evolved. Although the production is super-scale and at over 2.5 hours lacks some of the focus and charm of Oz, the sense of fantasy and joy found in the 1939 classic is strongly conveyed by director Jon M. Chu, with mega-talented stars Cynthia Erivo and Adriana Grande beautifully meshing to illustrate the depth of friendship existing between Galinda and Elphaba, while giving dynamic, moving and funny performances that keep the film centered and riveting (Chu, knowing what he had, wisely keeps the focus on Erivo and Grande). Wicked has met with major and deserved critical and box-office success, and it's easy to see the endearing 2024 film serving as a quality companion piece to the 1939 classic at many future viewings.