"The Wizard of Oz" is an incredible film based on L. Frank Baum's fairy tale "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz". The special effects are amazing for when the movie was made (1939), and the story and acting are equally amazing.
Life in Kansas
Garland Home
The movie begins in Kansas, presumably at around the turn of the century. Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland) is an orphan girl of about twelve who lives with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry on a farm. Dorothy is concerned because her dog Toto had bit the stern Almira Gulch (Margaret Hamilton, who later portrays the Wicked Witch of the West), and Dorothy fears the worst from her. She tries to get advice from her three farm hands Hunk (Ray Bolger, who later portrays the scarecrow), Hickory (Jack Haley, the Tin Man), and Zeke (Burt Lahr, the Cowardly Lion), but they don't take her concern too seriously. Almira returns with an order from the sheriff authrorizing for her to have Toto destroyed, whence she places Toto in a basket and rides away on her bike. Toto escapes from the basket and returns home while Miss Gulch is riding away. Dorothy then decides she needs to run away with Toto, so she runs to the house of Professor Marvel (Frank Morgan, who later plays the Wizard as well as other roles). He sneaks a peek at a photo of Aunt Em, then pretends to see her in a crystal ball and tells Dorothy he sees her crying in order to try to dissuade her from running away. Dorothy and Toto then hurry back home. Meanwhile, a cyclone begins to appear. By the time Dorothy returns home, everyone is hiding in the storm cellar. Dorothy goes to her room, where the wind blows the window out of its frame, hitting her head and knocking her unconscious. She awakes to find her house being carried away by the cyclone. She looks out the window, first seeing some people she knows, then she sees Miss Gulch riding her bike and being transformed into a witch and her bicycle into a broomstick. A few moments later, the house lands along with Dorothy and Toto in Munchkinland, a wonderful village with small houses, trees, and brooks (now shown in vivid color).
Munchkinland
Dorothy is greeted by Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, who arrives in a bubble and tells her that her house fell on the Wicked Witch of the East, killing her. The Munchkins, the inhabitants of the land, come out and introduce themselves to Dorothy. Once they verify that the Wicked Witch is in fact dead, they celebrate, praising Dorothy. But then the Wicked Witch of the West appears, who happens to be the sister of the Wicked Witch of the East, and threatens to get even with Dorothy as well as Toto. Glinda makes the ruby slippers of the Wicked Witch of the East appear on Dorothy's feet so that the Wicked Witch cannot harm her. The Wicked Witch then disappears. Dorothy expresses her wish to return home to Kansas. Glinda and the Munchkins tell her that in order to get home, she needs to follow the yellow-brick road, which leads to Emerald City, where lives the Wizard of Oz, who can get her home.
Dorothy's Journey
Dorothy takes their advice and begins her journey along the yellow-brick road to Emerald City. Along the way, she runs into a talking Scarecrow who claims he needs a brain, a Tin Man who says he needs a heart, and a Cowardly Lion who needs courage. The four end up journeying together to see the Wizard, who hopefully can solve all their problems. The Wicked Witch tries to stop them a couple of times. As they finally see Emerald City from a field of poppies, she casts a spell to make them fall asleep, whence Dorothy, Toto, and the lion fall asleep. The Tin Man and the Scarecrow are immune to the spell, however, so they call for help. Glinda casts a counterspell by making it snow, which wakes everyone up, whence they continue to the gate of Emerald City.
Emerald City
Once they arrive, they try ringing the bell, but the man at the gate tells them shows them a sign on the door saying, "Bell out of order, please knock", whence they knock on the door and he answers them. Then they tell them they came to see the Wizard, but he tells them no one can see him. He finally lets them in when Dorothy shows him the ruby slippers she's wearing, whence he says, "Now that's a horse of a different color!" He then takes them through Oz on a horse whose color changes several times. From there, they're taken to a salon and pampered in various ways. As they're about to see the Wizard, the Wicked Witch flies overhead on her broom and forms in skywriting "SURRENDER DOROTHY".
The Wizard
Finally the four are led in to see the Wizard, who appears in a large room in the form of a large floating head surrounded by fire and smoke. He tells them that he can only help them if they bring him the broomstick from the Wicked Witch. Shortly after they leave, the Wicked Witch sends out a host of flying monkeys, which capture Dorothy and Toto and carry them back to the witch's castle.
Dorothy's Capture and Rescue
Once inside the castle, the Wicked Witch tries to get Dorothy's slippers but can't, realizing that they won't come off as long as Dorothy is alive. Thus, the witch tries to kill Dorothy, turning over an hourglass and telling her that she'll die as soon as the sand runs out. Meanwhile, Toto escapes from the castle and joins up with Dorothy's friends, who then go to try to rescue her. They manage to find her and rescue her from the castle just as the last sand falls from the hourglass. Once outside, the witch sets the scarecrow on fire. Dorothy douses him with a bucket of water, some of which splashes onto the Wicked Witch, causing her to melt, leaving behind her dress, hat, broomstick, and a few wisps of steam. To everyone's surprise, the witch's soldiers are delighted that she is dead, having been liberated, and they praise Dorothy for killing her.
Return to the Wizard
Now with the broom in hand, the four return to the Wizard and ask him to deliver on his promises, but he still refuses. Toto then runs to a curtain and grabs it, revealing a man behind the curtain working at a control pad. The Wizard's voice says, "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!" Soon they discover that this man really is the Wizard in disguise. He turns out to be very good as a man, though, and solves each of their problems. First he hands the scarecrow a Diploma, then hands the Tin Man a heart-shaped clock, and finally gives the Cowardly Lion a medal of honor for helping to rescue Dorothy and fight the Wicked Witch. He then tells the four that he arrived in Oz from Kansas in a hot-air balloon and offers to take Dorothy and Toto back with him in it. But just before takeoff, Toto spots a cat outside and runs out of the balloon basket to chase it. Dorothy goes after Toto, whence the Wizard, no longer able to control the balloon, floats off by himself.
"There Is No Place Like Home"
Dorothy fears she's trapped in Oz along with her friends, but then Glinda appears. She tells Dorothy that she and Toto had the power all along to return home, the power residing in her slippers. She tells Dorothy that she didn't tell her this at first because she wanted her to learn a lesson, namely that true happiness lies in her own backyard. After Dorothy says goodbye to her friends, Glinda tells her to tap her heels together and repeat the words, "There's no place like home." She follows these instructions and sure enough returns home to Kansas, shown once again in sepia tone. She finds her friends surrounding her in her room, expressing gratitude that she survived the cyclone. Dorothy recants her journey. Everyone tells her that it was a dream, though she insists that it was real. In any case, she is delighted to be back and concludes that there really is no place like home.
The Wizard of Oz Movie Review - Starring Judy Garland-Frank Morgan-Ray Bolger-and Burt Lahr
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