1939 was the year when many of the finest films were made. Films from that year include “Gone with the Wind”; “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington”; “Goodbye, Mr. Chips”; “Stagecoach”; and “Dark Victory”. For our podcast we discuss another of the excellent films from 1939, “The Wizard of Oz”. Director Victor Fleming did a masterful job bringing L. Frank Baum’s 1900 children’s fantasy to the screen. King Vidor took over some of the work when Mr. Fleming was called to direct “Gone with the Wind”. Together both Directors left us with an amazing film that is as engaging today as it was over 80 years ago.

The cast is excellent. Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale, Frank Morgan playing five characters, Ray Bolger as The Scarecrow, The Tin Man played by Jack Haley, Bert Lahr as the Cowardly Lion, The Wicked Witch of the West played by Margaret Hamilton, Billie Burke as Glinda, Dorothy’s dog Toto and many more fine performances.

Everything about the film is outstanding - the sepia tone color in the opening scenes, the big storm, the Technicolor, the Munchkins, the costumes and the wonderful music make this a favorite for millions of people including us.

Here's a link to the IMDB page for "The Wizard of Oz"

Over on Patreon we have a special episode on the film history of Astoria, Oregon. And available 2 weeks early is our review of “An American in Paris”.

And as we mentioned in this episode, here's a link to "Farewell to Manzanar" on YouTube, which is a film that we will be reviewing a few more episodes.

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