You’ve no doubt seen it countless times. You agree that it ranks among the all-time great classics to emerge from the Hollywood studio system. But how much do you really know about The Wizard of Oz?
Probably a lot, undoubtedly due to the excellent body of literature about this musical including the 1974 memoirs of its producer — Mervyn LeRoy’s That Song Has To Go — and Aljean Harmetz’ most useful The Making of the Wizard of Oz, published in 1977. (Both questions and answers, to come later, were based on these two sources.)
We hope that our periodic classic movie quizzes promote more understanding of the films discussed, and are fun to take. So, let’s get to it. Let’s see how much you really do know about this treasured film. As usual, answers tomorrow.
1) Question: ‘The Wizard of Oz worried the MGM brass in 1938 because of its high production price tag. Exactly how much did it cost to make the picture 1) $5 million; 2) $7 million; 3) $1 million; or 4) $3.2 million?
2) Question: It may come as a shock for today’s ‘Oz’ fans to discover that Judy Garland was NOT the first choice to play Dorothy. Who was? 1) Deanna Durbin; 2) Jean Harlow; 3) Norman Shearer; 4) Shirley Temple?
3) Question: Just how old WAS Judy Garland when she made The Wizard of Oz? 1) 12; 2) 15; 3) 19; or 4) 22?
4) Question: which of Judy Garland’s six movies prior to Oz ultimately won her the role as Dorothy? 1) Broadway Melody of 1938; 2) Pigskin Parade; 3) Thoroughbreds Don’t Cry; or 4) Everybody Sing?
5) Question: Who was the first choice to play the part of the Wizard? 1) Jack Benny; 2) Ed Wynn; 3) Fred Allen; or 4) Bob Hope?
6) Question: MGM management disliked Over the Rainbow, the signature song of the movie that turned out to be Garland’s defining vocal statement for the rest of her career. They wanted to drop the Harold Arlen-E.Y. (Yip) Harburg tune. Why? 1) Studio boss Louis B. Mayer thought it was too sentimental; 2) The song, a ballad, clashed with the movie’s zippier musical material; 3) producer LeRoy was told he couldn’t have a cut of the song royalties; or 4) there were reservations about Garland’s handling of the tune?
7) Question: Judy Garland was born Frances Ethel Gumm, and toured with a family vaudeville act before landing at MGM. How many family members were part of that act? 1) 12, in an ensemble circus group; 2) four, in a family chamber music quartet; 3) three, in a conventional song and dance act; 4) eight, in an acrobat act.
8) Question: Although hard to imagine in retrospect, character actress Margaret Hamilton was NOT the first choice for the role of the Wicked Witch. Who was? 1) Billie Burke; 2) Edna May Oliver; 3) Gale Sondergaard; or 4) Fanny Brice?
9) Question: The “yellow brick road” required the importation from India of specially painted bricks. True or False?
10) Question: Jack Haley was NOT the first choice for the Tin Man role. True or false?
11) Question: MGM went through three directors before ‘Oz’ completed production. Can you name them?
Where are all the COMMENTS for this CLASSIC?
Well, I’ll attempt this quiz classic but again, some of the questions all depend on what reference book you use for the answers…
And that fact comes up in the very first question-
1) 4 is closest to the answer several books say is $2,777,000.
2) Joe & Frank TRICK question ? 4 but not too seriously considered, as Judy Garland was always the favorite.
3) Another TRICK question, as all the options are wrong… She was 16.
4) 1
5) Again, TRICK question? The role was written for W.C. Fields in mind, he asked too much, and Ed Wynn turned it down, so option 2 comes closest.
At this point, I’ve kind of lost interest… Maybe someone else can decipher the ‘right’ answers!
I don’t presume to have some of the answers to the quiz, and I apologize for such a picky point, but the answer to the question about Judy Garland’s age when she made TWOO is “none of the above.”
She was 16. She was born in June of 1922. The movie was shot from October, 1938, to March, 1939.
Even though I comment infrequently, I enjoy this daily excursion into the human side of “the industry.”
I admire Joe and Frank’s ongoing efforts at what seems like a true labor of love. It’s fun to wake up to the latest installment of that labor.
Thanks to both of you.
DD
Darn it, Graham Hill beat me to the “send” button on my picky point. I wrote my answer and then got called away to sort Christmas decorations.
Well, happy holidays to all…!
Well said Dan!
Don’t tell anyone, but I’ve never seen this movie. I know, I know, I’m rather ashamed of myself. It’s one of those much talked about classics that everyone needs to see and I will get around to it eventually.
No shame to it, Enthusiast. I feel like I’m reasonably familiar with a lot of good movies and have watched GIANT, for instance, a dozen times start to finish, but I’ve missed a lot of enormously influential flicks for one reason or another. Usually because the subject matter wasn’t appealing.
Raging Bull is one. In fact most of Scorsese’s urban/crime stuff. That’s just me. I was delighted though that Leonardo DiCaprio participated in the first Robert Osborne Award presentation at the TCM Film Festival. That seemed a fine blending of new and old Hollywood.
But I digress. Story of my life. But that’s another story.
In our house, The Wizard of Oz surpassed obsession and achieved cult status. It was probably the first movie my daughter knew, through a VHS of a CBS annual showing, with Dad having crudely edited out the commercial breaks. Starting at about age three, she watched Dorothy and the fellas wander off to OZ hundreds of times–not kidding, with plenty of jerky cuts from one scene to the next at the commercial breaks.
During one hideous bout of chicken pox, the movie was on a virtual loop (the loopy part being that someone else had to cue it up for her every time}. We all knew every line of dialogue, song lyric, musical bridge and even a lot of the oddities which bothered her mother, brother and me. One line drove me crazy and still does. After the witch’s aquatic meltdown, Dorothy asks the grateful guards if they can have the broomstick. The answer: “Please…and take it with you.” That’s been a verbal ear worm for me for years. I get what he’s saying but it’s just such a peculiar way of saying it.
I know, It’s Chinatown, Jake. My mixed movie metaphor for the year’s end.
Anyway, catch it when you can Enthusiast. It is as fun as it is cracked up to be.
I definitely plan on watching it at some point. I’m slowly working my way through the more famous classics, even if they don’t particularly appeal to me. That is the case with Wizard of Oz. I wish I had been introduced to it as a child, because I feel I would have always loved it.
Isn’t it great though that the ones we do grow up watching become so much a part of our lives? That is the case for me with The Ten Commandments and The Sound of Music.