pixrox1 Review of The Wizard of Oz

The Wizard of Oz (1925)

The 1939 version of the WIZARD OF OZ has flying monkeys . . .

[6/10 · 28 November 2018]

. . . but this 1926 silent rendering of the story does not. However, the mute OZ has BOTH a guy in a lion suit AND a pride of actual lions. I do not recall ANY planes flying around Kansas in the "Retro" (though later) "Talkie" rendition of the OZ story, but there are at least a couple of the new-fangled flying machines in the quieter OZ (though if there was a hot air balloon to go with the single-winged and biplane, I must have missed it). Though the latter-day musical Oz finds its "Cowardly" Big Cat singing about being "King" of the forest, its simplified plot seems to have left out the actual Prince featured in the earlier story. There might be a threat of falling from a great height during the OZ from the 1930s, but such plunges are pretty routine during the earlier 1920s offering. The final third of this monochromatic harbinger is more or less a Dorothy-free zone, taking place primarily in a cave-like dungeon mostly inhabited by pirates. Though the more famous OZ has its moments of broad humor, such as when the Tin Man is either swaying back and forth or rusting (not to mention the wise guy apple trees tossing their fruit), the older OZ seems to go after "slap-stick" style laughs more frequently, including the flight of the bumblebees and the eggs and chicks leaking out of the pockets of the scarecrow-to-be. (It's often said that you cannot make a proper omelet without smashing a few eggs.) Though there's a lollipop in the Silent Oz, there is not any evidence of a "Guild," and neither Good or Wicked witches seem to have discovered this Land yet. But to paraphrase the well-know song, unless you've seen BOTH of these flicks, you don't know clouds at all!