The Wizard of Oz by Victor Fleming, which was released 80 years ago, is still known and cherished (albeit Dorothy’s shoes are now silver rather than ruby red in Baum’s book to match the new commercial film’s color scheme). with a Herbert Stothart score that won an Oscar.
The movie was also well-known for making Judy Garland’s usage of amphetamines and barbiturates, which she prescribed at Louis B. Meyer’s request to improve the young star’s productivity—as well as her problems with her self-image—worse. The 16-year-old was later referred to by Mayer as his “little hunchback,” and in 1947, less than ten years after her debut performance, Garland made her first attempt at suicide.
There’s a lot of darkness in The Wizard of Oz. Buddy Ebsen, the original Tin Woodman, eventually had an iron lung when silver aluminum powder makeup inhaled into his lungs. Witch Margaret Hamilton spent time in the hospital as well, suffering from third- and second-degree burns on her hands and face, respectively. She went back to work after she had recovered, but she was not allowed to handle fire. After the “broom handle,” which was really just a painted whistle, on which her double, Betty Danko, was sitting, exploded, she was hospitalized for 11 days. Her leg burns never fully recovered.
If you look into the dark history of the movie, you may encounter the following urban legend: In a scenario that became known as the Tin Woodman sequence, an actor portraying Munchkin hangs himself as Dorothy, the Scarecrow, and the Tin Woodman jump over the yellow brick road to the Emerald City.
The studio’s official line has been for a while that what looks to be a small person swinging from a tree is actually a shadow made by a large crane that Fleming and other creatures at the Los Angeles Zoo used to make the forest appear alive. As the group started to leap on the street, the crane is believed to have spread its wings defensively, creating an odd shadow in the distance.
The various cinematic versions further exacerbate this purported fallacy. The sloppy material has been cleaned up by the time The Wizard of Oz was rereleased for its 50th anniversary in 1989. The location of the bird’s appearance changed from its initial appearance. This version is now regarded as the last one you’ll probably see on TV. However, something still seems off when you watch the original movie.
