Reviews for "The Wizard of Oz"!
- "Whirl from the everyday on the black wings of a tornado - to the mystic land of Oz! See an old lady knitting on a cloud; a cow milked sky-high! In Munchkinland you meet Toto, the wonder dog, and the White Witch...who may give you magic slippers like Dorothy's to take you safely to Oz. Meet the harum-scarum Scarecrow, hanging on a post. Hear him sing his sorrowful song. He is searching for a brain. Dance down the Yellow Brick Road with Dorothy and the Scarecrow, thru orchards of apple trees which pick their fruit and throw it, too! Greet the rusty Tin Man. Oil him up a bit so he can creak out his sad tale - he seeks a heart and doesn't know where to find it. Laugh at the plaintive Cowardly Lion - in need of courage - the things that befall this merry-mad company fairly set his tail on end...Beware the dangers of the Haunted Forest as you go. Don't let the black witch...and her guards, the Winged Monkeys and the Giant Winkies head you off! Just beyond is the glistening Emerald City - and the wonderful Wizard of Oz who makes every wish come true." [from a 1939 MGM magazine ad]
- "Imaginative, fantastic, and whimsical...but behind the colorful effects is social satire
[the way people allow themselves to be humbugged] and personality analysis."
Sociology and Social Research (Journal of the University of Southern California),
November, 1939
- "[Baum's] whimsy has been broadened by antics after the musical-comedy manner
and the interpolation of patter songs in Stothart's excellent score. Magnificent sets
and costumes, vivid Technicolor, and every resource of trick photography bolster
the competent cast that strikes a happy medium between humor and make-believe.
The morefanatic Ozophiles may dispute MGM's remodeling of the story, but the
average moviegoer - adult or adolescent - will find it novel and richly satisfying to
the eye." Newsweek, August 21, 1939
- "A delightful piece of wonder-working which had the youngsters' eyes shining and brought a quietly amused gleam to the wiser ones of the oldsters. Judy Garland's Dorothy is a pert and fresh-faced miss with the wonder-lit eyes of a believer in fairy tales." [Frank S. Nugent, The New York Times, August 18, 1939]
- " 'We're off to see the Wizard--'The words suggest that you bestir yourself and go to see
him yourself. Thousands of young and old converged on Loew's Penn yesterday for that
delightful purpose...Through trial and error and month on month of toil and sweat, OZ
finally emerged, and the results are a near-miracle for the movie industry...definitely a
picture to see." Pittsburgh Press, August 17, 1939
- "Three generations will see their gayest dreams come true in OZ....Don't miss this
movie. You may want to see it every day this week." Kansas City Star,
(Jack Moffat), Premier Week
- "No picture ever has caused such a wholesale tossing of hats into the air...one of the
most artistic achievements of the Hollywood decade."
Ed Sullivan, syndicated column, August 19, 1939
Here are some other non-1939 reviews!
- "...No children's tale is Hollywood's Wizard of Oz. Lavish in sets, adult in humor, it is a Broadway spectacular translated into make-believe...Its tornado rivals Sam Goldwyn's The Hurricane. Its final sequence is as sentimental as Little Women..." [Time]
- "Judy Garland makes a delightful Dorothy as she wanders through Oz until she realizes that all the wonderment in the world can be had in her own back yard...The Wizard of Oz is an amusing and spectacular film." [The New York Herald Tribune]
- "4 stars. Judy Garland is perfectly cast as Dorothy. She is as clever a little actress as she is a singer and her special style of vocalizing is ideally adapted to the music of the picture." [The New York Daily News]
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