Memories of Oz (2001) (TV)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Genre:

Short | Documentary

Plot:

Interviews with filmmakers/fans Willard Carroll and John Waters, Stephen Cox, author of The Munchkins of Oz, Munchkin actors and others on the impact and influence of the 1939 MGM film version of The Wizard of Oz. |

Plot Keywords:

TV Special

Cast

Woolsey Ackerman	...	Himself
Mickey Carroll	...	Himself
Willard Carroll	...	Himself
Stephen Cox	...	Himself
Buddy Ebsen	...	Himself
Judy Garland	...	Herself / Dorothy Gale (archive footage)
Karl 'Karchy' Kosiczky	...	Himself (as Karl Slover)
Jane Lahr	...	Herself
Jerry Maren	...	Himself
Dona Massin	...	Herself
Margaret Pellegrini	...	Herself
Meinhardt Raabe	...	Himself
Ruth L. Robinson	...	Herself (as Ruth Duccini)
August Clarence Swenson	...	Himself (as Clarence Swensen)
John Waters	...	Himself

Runtime:

30 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:G | USA:Unrated

Company:

Turner Classic Movies (TCM)

Movie Connections:

Features Third Dimensional Murder (1941)

How the making of a great film became a party.

This engaging 30 minute effort, created to share bills with reruns of the WIZARD OF OZ, is predominantly composed of interesting recollections by several midgets who were cast as Munchkins (interviewed while wearing their original costumes) elaborating upon various technical gambits utilized in the production of the classic, including disclosure of the choreographic modes of Dona Massin, so very successful with her little-recognized achievement. Among the more interesting morsels discussed are the replacement with Jack Haley of Buddy Ebsen as the Tin Man when the latter was hospitalized for six weeks (in an oxygen tent) due to his violent allergy to the requisite aluminum dust added to his part's silver paint; the excision from the story line of an innocent Kansas love affair between Dorothy and Ray Bolger's character Hunk, accounting for her favoritism of the Scarecrow; use of Oz props, e.g., Dorothy's basket, in subsequent MGM motion pictures; and other revelations from such as hilarious John Waters, Willard Carroll, whose collection of Oz material is the largest, and Stephen Cox, author of The Munchkins of Oz, with only graceless Jane Lahr's grotesque attempt to politicize WIZARD bespotting a generally delightful piece.