Wizard of Oz (5 Stars)

This is a film I should have bought on DVD or Blu-ray long ago. I watched it five years ago at the Brindley Place Open Air Film Festival, after which I forgot about it. "The Wizard of Oz" is the first film I ever watched, so it deserves a place in my collection. I finally picked it up when I saw the 75th anniversary edition on sale for a ridiculously cheap price in the Black Friday sales.

For a while I wasn't sure whether my first film was "The Wizard of Oz" or "Call me Bwana". I watched both of them at the Avion cinema in Aldridge with my mother while I still lived in Little Aston. It wasn't until a few years ago that I checked the films' release dates and realised that "Call me Bwana" must have been later. I know for definite that I never watched films at home before "The Wizard of Oz" because my parents didn't have a television set.

Television was originally broadcast in Britain in 1936, but broadcasts were interrupted by the Second World War. In 1946 television broadcasts were resumed, but television sets were very expensive and not many homes had one. In 1953 things changed. Prices were dropping, and many families invested in a television set for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth. My parents were poorer than most, so they had to wait a few years. They didn't have a television until 1961 or 1962. I forget the exact year, but it was after I'd seen "The Wizard of Oz". In fact, my parents never owned a television. They rented a television all their lives. When my father died in 1983 I had to call the rental company to have them pick up the television.

The film is about a young girl called Dorothy from Kansas who is carried to a magical land when her house is hit by a tornado. Or is she really carried away? It's possible that she dreamt everything after she hit her head. Believe what you want. I'm a child at heart, so I'm certain that she went to a magical land.

Dorothy is homesick and wants to return home, and the only one who can help her is a great and powerful wizard who lives in a castle on the outer reaches of the kingdom. Dorothy has to travel there herself, but it's easy to find the way; she just has to follow a road made out of yellow bricks. On the way she picks up three companions, a scarecrow, a tin man and a lion. All three of them are in need of something. The scarecrow doesn't have a brain, the tin man doesn't have a heart and the lion doesn't have courage. They accompany Dorothy in the hope that the wizard can also help them.

The Wicked Witch of the West pursues Dorothy, because she wants the magic red slippers that Dorothy is wearing. Nevertheless, she arrives safely with her companions. But that isn't the end of the tale. The wizard says he will only help them if Dorothy retrieves the witch's broomstick.

There's a moral to the story. If you want something important you can only get it if you realise that you already have it. Alternatively, you can want something so much that you become blind to the fact that you already have it. There are many ways to apply this. For instance, those who seek happiness should stop and look at themselves; then they'll see that they're happy already.

"The Wizard of Oz" is considered one of the best films ever made. The casting of Judy Garland as Dorothy is inspired. She's 12 years old, according to the book. Judy Garland was 16 years old when she appeared in the film, but she looks younger. She was typecast as a young girl throughout her twenties, because she looked young for her age. She was only 4'11" tall, so all she needed was makeup to play a young teenager.

Success Rate:  + 5.8

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