Victor Fleming
Il Mago di Oz

‘The Wizard of Oz’ has long become a classic, timeless due to the universality of the themes translated to film in '39. Its writing and creation dates back to 1900 from the pen of Frank Baum, and it was purchased many years later by Louis Mayer (MGM); just the year before, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs had set a record for absolute earnings.

The film reached a total cost of 2.6 million, a very high figure for the period, while another large share of credit is certainly due to Judy Garland, who was preferred over Shirley Temple for the main role of Dorothy.

The story begins in black and white with Dorothy and her little dog fleeing from her uncle's farm in search of fantastic places, only to realize that she is causing great distress to her family when she finds herself at the mercy of a strong tornado that uproots her and her house from the ground and high up into the clouds, transporting her to the land of Oz (in technicolor), where she will crash with her house onto the Wicked Witch of the East, killing her, freeing the land of the Munchkin gnomes, and simultaneously unleashing the ire of her sister, the Wicked Witch of the West.

Her journey to return home will be difficult, but it will lead to encounters with strange characters like the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion in an attempt to reach the Emerald City and the Wizard of Oz, the only one able to bring her back home.

In the cast, we find Frank Morgan who played no less than five characters in the film, including the Wizard of Oz. Meanwhile, for the character of the Tin Man, a change of actors was made due to an incident caused by the aluminum powder used for makeup, which almost led to the death of the first performer. Even the actress portraying the Wicked Witch suffered an accident on set - anecdotes that perhaps slightly undermine that idyllic and magical atmosphere so copiously exuded by the film.

The opening song, ‘Over the Rainbow’, sung by Dorothy, is splendid, with lyrics evoking the transition from the earthly and arid world of the farm, devoid even of flowers due to its barrenness, to the realm of fantasy, represented by the rainbow.

However, clearly on the level of special effects, the comparison with today's films is quite merciless, so much so that the set seems more like a theatrical setting; but the story created by Baum's imagination, which had already before the film captivated millions and millions, remains difficult to replicate.