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DVD Brief: The Wizard of Oz

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The Wizard of Oz

Warner
1939
G
107 minutes
Full frame 1.33:1
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
Interactive menu
Theatrical trailer
Subtitles: English, Spanish, Spanish
Extras: Documentary, interviews, unseen trailers and outtakes, portrait gallery, stills, FX sequences
Suggested Retail Price: $24.99
Director: Victor Fleming
Cast: Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, Bert Lahr, Margaret Hamilton, Frank Morgan, Billy Burke

Description: One of the greatest films of all time -- released in 1939 by MGM -- gets the royal treatment from Warner Home Video. In addition to a superb transfer -- the film has never looked better -- the studio has packed this release with a plethora of wonderful extras.

The beautifully designed menu allows you to immediately play the movie or travel to "Kansas," where you can choose scene selections, cast and crew info, change languages or play the movie. Traveling to "Oz" gives you choices for the extra features: the "Characters of Oz" (the relationships between the actors and the characters they played), "The Emerald City" (which includes a documentary, trailers, outtakes, behind the scenes info, audio supplements and more).

The 50-minute documentary, "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: The Making of a Classic Movie," hosted by Angela Lansbury, is an in-depth look at the making of this wonderful film. The "Trailers" section presents the studios trailers -- both those that were screened and several unseen trailers, including those with Buddy Ebsen, who was cast as the original Tin Man until he got sick after the silver paint-makeup clogged his body pores. There's an "Outtakes and Deleted Scenes" section that includes sequences with Ebsen. The "Behind the Scenes" section includes a delightful Ray Bolger dance sequence that was edited down because it was considered too long, the "Triumphant Return to Emerald City" sequence that was edited out, a cut reprise of "Over the Rainbow" sung while Dorothy is imprisoned by the Wicked Witch, a jitterbug dance sequence that was cut, composer Harold Arlen's home movies on the set, a portrait gallery and special effects stills, original sketches and storyboards, costume design and screen tests, a special effects sequence on the making of the tornado, and more. "Oz History" provides excerpts from previous versions of "Oz": the 1914 and 1925 silent films and the 1933 carton version. An "Oz Afterlife" includes original publicity stills, stills from the Hollywood and New York premieres, coverage of the 1939/40 Oscar ceremonies, and interviews with Margaret Hamilton, Ray Bolger and Jack haley. The DVD also comes with an "Audio Supplement" booklet-guide to the voluminous cues and audio takes included here: three takes of "Over the Rainbow," vocal loops for the Munchkin voices, piano temp tracks, alternate and final version s of "If I Only Had a Heart," "We're Off to See the Wizard" and more, an "MGM Radio Show: Good News of 1939" radio broadcast devoted to "Oz," an MGM promotional radio trailer and more.

Although the directing credit is given to Victor Fleming, in fact five directors worked on the project. George Cukor had a hand in the early stages of filming, helping mold some of Dorothy's characteristics. And King Vidor was called in to finish the film.

In sum, a must have DVD.


All DVDs are screened on a reference Onkyo DV- S717 third-generation DVD player.



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(ISSN 1094-3676).