Griffin Speaks
THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF OZ
Just
slap me with a “wet” noodle. I love the 1939 American musical/fantasy
film based on the 1900 novel “The Wonderful World of Oz” even though
there was not a single Black in the film. You would think that at least one
of the munchkins could have been a sister or a brother, but oh no not a one.
Despite the lack of Blacks in the film I love it, I love it, I love it! I
watch it as often as I can when it comes on television. Victor Fleming
directed the film from a script by Samuel Hoffenstein. The 1939 film starred
Judy Garland as Dorothy, Frank Morgan as The Wizard, Ray Bolger as Hunk, The
Scarecrow, Bert Lahr as Zeke/Cowardly Lion, Jack Haley as Hickory/Boqthe Tin
Man, Billie Burke as Glinda the Good Witch of the North, Margaret hamilton
as Miss Almira Gulch/Elphaba the Wicked Witch of the West, Charles Grapewin
as Uncle Henry, Clara Blandick as Auntie Em, Terry the Dog as Toto, the
Singer Midgets as the Munchkins, and Patsy Walshe as Chistery Nikko.
In the film orphaned twelve-year-old Dorothy is living with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry and their three helpers on the farm, Hickory Zeke and Hunk. At the beginning of the film Miss Almira is bitten by Dorothy’s dog Toto. Miss Almira hits Toto over the head with a rake upsetting Dorothy. Miss Almira returns to Dorothy’s house with a sheriff’s order and takes Toto away to be killed. Toto escapes from the basket on the back of Miss Almira’s bycycle and returns to Dorothy. Dorothy fearing that Miss Almira will return for Toto, decides to run away with Toto. On the run Dorothy and Toto encounters a fortuneteller named Professor Marvel. He realizes that Dorothy is running away from home and tricks Dorothy into believing that Aunt Em is sick, so she will return home. As Dorothy and Toto leaves to return home, a storm starts to brew. When they arrive at the farmhouse the tornado appears. Dorothy makes it inside the house and is hit in the head by a loose window frame and knocked unconscious
.Dorothy
wakes up to discover the house has been caught up in a storm. The house
later falls back to earth. Dorothy opens the front door of the house and
steps outside. She finds herself in a beautiful village. The Good Witch of
the North Glinda appears inside a bubble. She tells Dorothy that she has
landed in Munchkinland and that she has killed the ruby-slipperd Wicked
Witch of the East by dropping a house on her.
The
Munchkins are delighted and come out of hiding to celebrate the death of the
wicked witch of the East… oh you must see the film. I don’t want to
spoil it for those of you who haven’t seen the Wizard of Oz so I’ll stop
telling you the plot. It is simply hard for me to imagine a time when the
Wizard of Oz did not exist. It is hard for me to believe that anyone could
have authored such a wonderful story. I almost forgot, the song: “Over the
Rainbow” went on to win an Academy Award for Best Song of the Year. In
2004, “Over the Rainbow” was ranked #1 by the American Film Institute on
the 100 Greatest Songs in American Films list. This 101 minute movie is a
must see whenever and wherever you can see it even though there aren’t any
Black folks in the film, not even one munchkin.
In the words of my dad, “You must honor the chair whether it is sitting, walking or lying down.”
Greg Griffin is a free lance writer. You can read his previous articles by visiting his web page at www.greggriffin.com or write to him at P.O. Box 250194 Montgomery, Alabama 36125-0194.