"The Wizard of Oz"

OK, everyone has seen this film, so there is no point writing a review on it.  Instead, how about a little trivia to spark up your Friday?  behind the scenes photos? Coming right up. 

The infamous opening titles.

First fun fact: the Wizard in the screenplay was intended for W.C. Fields in mind. Makes sense, huh?

But Mr. Fields didn't want the role, he wanted more cash and they said no. Diva. Nobody else wanted the role either because it was too small, so they pulled a 'high school play' move and made the new wizard role also get to play the guard, horse and buggy driver, and the gate keeper. Fun!

Buddy Ebsen was cast to play the tin man. He filmed for a while until the silver paint they used on him had dust in it and made Buddy so sick he couldn't breath, had to be rushed the hospital, and back out of the role. Jack Haley took the part not knowing all this, but the paint was changed so lawsuit #2 wouldn't happen.

Judy Garland had to wear a painful corset to make her thinner younger looking and make her look like she had not yet hit puberty. Successful?

Poor Toto, who's real name was Terry, was injured for two weeks and needed his doggie understudy when an actor stepped on him. Judy wanted to adopt him after the film but his owner said no. Leave it to actors, trying to adopt dogs that already have parents!

The munchkin characters were paid $50 a week, and Toto was paid $125 a week. Ouch.

Everyone has heard the urban legend of the hanging suicide that happened to a crew member in the background. MGM claimed it was just a bird stretching, but many still believe....

What do you think?

The colored horses got thier color from Jell-O crystals. They had to film fast before the horses started licking themselves!

In the book the slippers were silver, and that is what they started out with on the set until L.B. Mayer saw this and thought making them "ruby" would be better. Love the pastel blue and red combo!

Jeanette MacDonald wore Glinda the Good Witch's dress first in the film "San Francisco" in 1939. So fashion faux pas.

When the Bad Witch attempts to take Dorothy's shoes off, fire spits out onto her hands. Apparently this was just apple juice that was made to spray out of her shoes and was sped up to look like fire.(I am not making this up!)

I love this film, just like every other human on the planet, and it never gets old. All this blogging makes me want to watch it again. Better dust off my copy or I will have to wait until Thanksgiving.