![]() The choreography for the sequence was by Bob Connolly. Much more sedate than the final version, it was sung by Bolger in a much softer voice and with a slower tempo, with simpler staging to contrast with his lively manner. Shot in November of 1938 under Thorpe, "If I Only Had a Brain" was originally very different than what would end up in the final film. "If I Only Had a Brain" - Original Version Staying with the film for less than a week, he was brought on to help shape the film.Īll footage from Thorpe's reign was scrapped, and like the Taurog footage is presumed to be lost. Thorpe was subsequently fired.Īs a new director was sought out and hired, director George Cukor took over while waiting for his next film, Gone With the Wind, to begin filming. He also believed that the footage lacked the childlike wonder and innocence the production needed. After unforeseen circumstances caused the production to shut down temporarily, producer Mervyn LeRoy reviewed Thorpe's footage and thought that the director was rushing the production. The scenes filmed included Dorothy and the Scarecrow's first encounter in the cornfield and various sequences in the Wicked Witch's castle. ![]() On October 13th, filming began on the MGM Studios lot and continued for a total of nine days. According to the book The Wizard of Oz: The Official 50th Anniversary Pictorial History, Thorpe "had a reputation for bringing in pictures on budget and on schedule, which must have been a real attraction as the studio watched pre-production costs mount on The Wizard of Oz." ![]() Though some pictures from the set have survived, the test footage shot by Taurog is presumed lost.ĭirection Under Richard Thorpe - Fall 1938Īfter Taurog's reassignment, MGM brought in director Richard Thorpe to work on the film. Working on the film during the extensive wardrobe and makeup tests for the summer of 1938, Taurog was paid for three days of directorial work for the project, most likely for test shots performed in July-August.ĭuring the first week of September, Taurog was replaced by Richard Thorpe and reassigned to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which would be released on February 10th, 1939. In July 1938, MGM announced that they had tapped director Norman Taurog, who had a reputation of guiding young performers, to helm their upcoming film adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Due to Koshay's make-up and wardrobe, this photo was likely taken during a visit to Fleming's set. She later left her husband for the mayor, which we can all agree was a huge step up.Bobbie Koshay (Judy Garland's stand-in) and who appears to be Norman Taurog alongside some of the Munchkins on the Munchkinland set. One of the apparently less in-hand Munchkin actors, Charles Kelley, brought two loaded guns to set one day to either intimidate or legitimately injure the mayor of Munchkin City for flirting with his wife, who also played a Munchkin. With regards to those hangovers, the Munchkins were known for getting wild after hours, with Garland later claiming, “They got smashed every night, and the police used to scoop them up in butterfly nets,” and producer Mervyn Leroy writing that they “they had orgies in the hotel, and we had to have police on about every floor,” though he excused their behavior by explaining that “to make a picture like The Wizard of Oz, everybody had to be a little drunk with imagination.” The Munchkin actors insisted that only a handful of them were big partiers, but how big does an orgy have to be before it’s a situation? 2 When a Munchkin Brought a Gun to a No-Fight The Cowardly Lion suit was made out of real lion pelts that weighed nearly 100 lbs., and the body odor of an actor forced to move around in a heavy, unbreathable animal carcass combined with the smell of, you know, an animal carcass resulted in an unimaginable stink. They did get to use a real lion - in a fashion. Then they realized it would be way less dangerous to just put a guy in a suit. 15 The Cowardly Lion Was Almost a Real Lionĭuring pre-production, a lot of wild ideas were tossed around about how to present the Cowardly Lion, including stealing Disney’s thunder and animating him in or, somewhat less riskily, using Leo the Lion from MGM logo fame and dubbing his lines. Even eight decades later, there are almost certainly no other movies that were as chaotic behind the scenes. ![]() If The Wizard of Oz were a person, we’d be checking them into a home and politely nodding our heads while they tell us about the time they blew up Margaret Hamilton, but that’s not a dementia-induced invention. Not to alarm you, but The Wizard of Oz is 83 years old.
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