The New Wizard of Oz (1914) His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz (original title)

Director:

L. Frank Baum

Writers:

L. Frank Baum (novels)
L. Frank Baum (screenplay)

Release Date:

14 October 1914 (USA)

Genre:

Family | Fantasy | Adventure | Comedy

Tagline:

The Oz Film Company presents L. Frank Baum's famous comedy

Plot:

A wicked king has taken over the Emerald City, and wants his daughter, Princess Gloria to marry the horrid courtier Googly-Goo...

Plot Keywords:

Princess | Love | Scarecrow | King | Kangaroo

Cast

Violet MacMillan	...	Dorothy Gale
Frank Moore	...	The Scarecrow
Pierre Couderc	...	The Tin Woodman
Fred Woodward	...	The Cowardly Lion / The Kangaroo / The Crow / The Cow / The Mule
Raymond Russell	...	King Krewl
Arthur Smollet	...	Googly-Goo
J. Charles Haydon	...	The Wizard of Oz (as J. Charles Hayden)
Todd Wright	...	Pon
Vivian Reed	...	Princess Gloria
Mai Wells	...	Old Mombi (as Mae Wells)
Mildred Harris	...	Button-Bright
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Louise Emmons
Jacqueline Lovell	...	Narrator of 1996 Version (voice)

Directed by
L. Frank Baum

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
L. Frank Baum		novels "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" and "The Scarecrow of Oz"
L. Frank Baum		screenplay

Produced by
L. Frank Baum	....	producer
Louis F. Gottschalk	....	producer
Harry Marston Haldeman	....	executive producer
Clarence R. Rundel	....	executive producer

Original Music by
James Patrick Doyle		(1998)
Marc Glassman		(1996)
Louis F. Gottschalk
Steffan Presley		(1996)
John Thomas

Cinematography by
James A. Crosby

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Harold Ostrom	....	assistant director

Visual Effects by
James A. Crosby	....	optical effects

Other crew
Dick Martin	....	title designer (Em Gee re-release)
Will H. White	....	assistant technical manager

Production Companies

• Oz Film Manufacturing Company, The (as The Oz Film Company)

Distributors

• Oz Film Manufacturing Company, The (1914) (USA) (theatrical)
• Alliance Films Corporation (1915) (USA) (theatrical)
• Timeless Video (1995) (USA) (VHS)
• American Home Entertainment (1996) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Grapevine Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Bros. Entertainment Finland Oy (2009) (Finland) (DVD) (Blu-ray)

Also Known As:

"His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz" - USA (original title)
"His Majesty, the Scarecrow" - USA (review title)
"The Scarecrow of Oz" - USA (alternative title)
"The Wizard of Oz" - USA (promotional title)

Runtime:

59 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

Finland:K-7 (2009)

Company:

Oz Film Manufacturing Company, The

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Whimsical World of Oz (1985) (TV)

Strangely sensual

This was, of course, one of the early movies, and special effects were not an issue, for which we may be thankful in this day and age when many movies look more like video arcade games.

The plot is bizarre, to say the least. It borders between dream state and LSD trip. It would be interesting to know what early twentieth century audiences thought when they viewed this.

There a motley group of characters, and really, no one takes center stage all the time. People traipse aimlessly, meeting strange characters, and unique situations. Indeed, the wall of water would be a fresh idea as of the day of this critique.

There is a strange sexuality to this one. Super sexy witches dance around very sensually, and would be the envy of the scantily clad girls in today's movies. They are quite beautiful and striking. Again, audiences in this day must have been affected some way. It is too bad that the sexuality seems to be equated with witches, though. Sort of false advertising.

The music is probably too lame for today, and you may want to play your own while watching. Viewable mostly from an artistic perspective or in a social situation, and not as a sit down and watch movie.