6 Behind-the-Scenes Stories You Didn’t Know About the Making of ‘The Wizard of Oz’
With Wicked‘s big-screen adaptation about to compete for a boatload of Oscars this Sunday, it’s the perfect time to reflect on the movie that started it all – 1939’s The Wizard of Oz. Adapted from Frank Baum’s 1900 children’s book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the groundbreaking film won two Oscars and quickly came to be regarded as a timeless classic. However, the film’s production itself was anything but magical. Follow us down the road and learn more about the making of The Wizard of Oz!
1 The action was hot, literally!
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The Wizard of Oz was one of Hollywood’s first movies to be shot in Technicolor, which required cameras everywhere, along with plenty of lighting that threw heat in every direction. Temperatures on set were recorded at up to 100 degrees, forcing director Victor Fleming to occasionally turn off the lights, open up the studio doors and air out the production area while the actors stepped outside to cool down. The sight of crew members or actors fainting and being carried off set was not uncommon, making for plenty of challenging shooting days.
2 The Scarecrow’s costume permanently damaged Ray Bolger’s face
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Broadway star Ray Bolger was cast as The Scarecrow after eventual The Beverly Hillbillies star Buddy Ebsen passed on the role. Unfortunately, good ol’ Ray had no idea what he was getting into, but he quickly learned that he’d be forced to wear a tight, uncomfortable face mask every day. Since the mask had no real porousness to speak of, Bolger found out that his skin simply had nowhere to breathe or sweat – a particularly uncomfortable conundrum given the extremely hot temperatures in the studio. Simply peeling the mask off of his face took an hour each night, leaving Bolger with permanent lines between his mouth and chin.
3 Horrifying fire on set
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We all remember the famous scene where the Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Hamilton) attempts to set Scarecrow on fire, only for Dorothy to quickly extinguish the flames with a bucket of water, which melted the witch. Apparently, Hamilton has some safety-related concerns about this scene after an earlier experience where her broom went up in flames.
While Hamilton’s concerns were largely about her costar’s safety, perhaps she should have been more worried about her own. As part of her character’s “melting” sequence, the actress was to be lowered through a trap door while dry ice created what appeared to be smoke. Unfortunately, one crucial take was mistimed and she ended up being lowered before the fire was fully extinguished. This caused her heavy green make-up to melt while still on her face, causing third-degree burns.
4 Toto was a female
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Toto, assumed by most to be a male puppy, was actually not only a female Cairn Terrier named Terry, but also a veteran of the silver screen. In fact, the classy canine had already appeared in Ready for Love, not to mention Bright Eyes (alongside Shirley Temple, no less!). For The Wizard of Oz, Terry was paid a handsome $125 a week — the equivalent of around $2,200 today —more than what many of her human costars received! Over time, Terry ended up starring in 16 films before passing at the age of 11.
5 Director switcharoo
The Wizard of Oz was largely directed by the aforementioned Victor Fleming. However, he had to leave the project early to take over the struggling production of Gone With the Wind. King Vidor ended up stepping in to finish the job, directing some of the classic Kansas scenes we all know and love — including Dorothy’s rendition of “Over the Rainbow” and the unforgettable tornado sequence.
6 Dorothy went from blond to brunette
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Fleming and Vidor weren’t the only directors involved in The Wizard of Oz. In pre-production, the film had several different directors, starting with Mervyn LeRoy, who was fired and replaced by George Cukor (who was also directing Gone with the Wind before eventually being replaced by Fleming on both movies – got it?).
Cukor wasn’t around long, but he did make one change that shaped the way we think about the movie, as he made the call to switch Dorothy from a blond-haired debutante to a more natural, down-home brunette. Noting the similarities between Garland and her character’s lives (both were simple Midwest girls thrown into crazy new world – Oz and show business, respectively), Cukor believed that a more fish-out-of-water dynamic would make the film’s story more resonant with audiences. All these years later, it’s safe to say that he got this one absolutely right.
Remind
Hollywoods Golden Year
April 2024
Return with us to the year film fans acknowledge as the finest in Hollywood history, 1939.
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