17 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About “The Wizard Of Oz”- Page 2

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 1/28/14 at 11:41pm

I love that GIF, and moment in the film too, but I was at a loss as to why Tot... sorry Terry obviously was scared off by the Tin Man's eruption. Even as a kid that was one of my favorite moments.

[best12bars]

Posted: 1/29/14 at 6:28am

I'm guessing the compressed air used to push the talcum powder out made a sudden hissing noise that startled him.

EDIT: Forgive me, HER, since Terry was a bitch (to work with).

And after the movie wrapped production, her owner Carl Spitz officially changed her name to the slave name of Toto.

Updated On: 1/29/14 at 06:28 AM

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 1/29/14 at 10:44am

Going back to Dorothy's dress, there are wonderful close-ups in this video.
Judy Garland's original costume

[best12bars]

Posted: 1/29/14 at 11:14am

I've seen two of the dresses close up as well. They've definitely yellowed with age, but the thing I was most taken with is the size. They're so small!

(By the way, there are as may as 10 gingham dresses that were made for Judy, her double, and her stand-in, used for production.)

As for that pocket, Judy actually is seen on screen removing a handkerchief from this pocket, so I wouldn't exactly call it "hidden."

The second dress I saw in person was the sepia-tone dress with black checks (not blue). It was worn by Bobbie Koshay for the one shot where she opens the door into Munchkinland. The dress was on display back in 1987 when they first launched the Century City Mall. It was in the lobby of the new multiplex movie theatres, along with the Lion's courage badge, Humphrey Bogart's trench coat from Casablanca, and Claudette Colbert's headdress from Cleopatra.

At the time, there was no explanation about the black checks on the dress or the brownish tone to the white. I wasn't aware of the trick shot in the film (with Bobbie), so I just thought the dress had REALLY faded over time. Then I saw one of the blue dresses worn by Garland, plus I read an explanation of the trick shot, and then I understood why the dress had black checks and a brownish tone. I have since seen photos of it in some of the "making of" books published in recent years.

The blue has held up fairly well in the regular dresses. But the white was actually tinted a very pale grayish-pink to work for Technicolor. Over time, this has yellowed, so it doesn't really look pink anymore. It's more of a yellowish beige now.

Updated On: 1/29/14 at 11:14 AM

[best12bars]

Posted: 1/29/14 at 11:18am

Speaking of altering colors for the Technicolor cameras (and lights) ...

They had a hell of a time getting the Yellow Brick Road to photograph as yellow. They tried all sorts of fancy paints and tinting the bricks, but it kept turning either greenish or orange under the lights.

Finally, they tried a really cheap, basic house paint, and it worked perfectly.

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 1/29/14 at 10:59pm

I was actually in that museum in Ireland last summer, and saw the dress! Amazing.

Um, if you're ever out middle of nowhere way, County Kildare, the Museum of Style Icons is well worth a visit. Other (permanent) exhibits include Liza Minnelli's Cabaret outfit, Tippi Hedren's green suit from The Birds, Jeannie's bottle from I Dreamed of Jeannie, Brady Bunch costumes, Bette Davis's Elizabeth I costume and other dresses from Hollywood's golden age. Plus it's free admission!

I imagine you'd love it, best12!

[best12bars]

Posted: 1/29/14 at 11:19pm

I would definitely love it! Right up my alley. It seems strange to find a "Hollywood oasis" like that in Ireland, but I'm so glad they have it and are taking good care of it.

I've seen two huge collections of "Hollywood stuff," one public (Debbie Reynolds) and one private (Michael Shaw).

I saw Debbie's full collection when she had it displayed in her own hotel in Las Vegas. It was quite elaborate (many rooms that you walked through). And it was great to see so many film costumes up close. I was so sad to see them all auctioned off recently. There will never be a collection like that in one place again. It was very special.

Michael Shaw's collection isn't as large, but he owns (or owned) some really great key pieces: the now-stolen pair of ruby slippers, one of Dorothy's dresses, a Munchkin soldier's uniform, a Wicked Witch hat, Miss Gulch's shoes ... and that's just the Oz stuff. He also had in his collection the painting of Gene Tierney from Laura, props from both Cleopatra films (Colbert and Taylor), the Maltese Falcon (I wonder if that's the one recently sold), the photo-portrait of Jane Seymour from Somewhere In Time (he rescued that from the trash), four of the eight Oscars won by Edith Head, John Travolta's T-Birds "Grease" jacket, Cyd Charisse's green flapper dress from "Singin' in the Rain." Lots of very cool stuff.

I know at one point Debbie and Michael were working together to try to open a museum jointly. Sadly, it never happened ... then Debbie's Hollywood Museum (at the Hollywood & Highland complex) never opened ... and then came her auction.

Another cool thing they have in Los Angeles during "Oscar season" each year is at FIDM (Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising) downtown in Los Angeles. Once the nominations come out, they display the costumes from all of the nominated films, plus they usually have a dozen or so past winners. It's a wonderful way to spend a few hours, walking through the rooms with all these "cool clothes." I saw everything from Titanic, Shakespeare In Love, the Matrix, Elizabeth, etc. So many great designs. And the best part? The exhibit is free and open to the public.

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 1/29/14 at 11:40pm

That sounds great. I'm jealous.

The reason for the museum in Ireland is really just to serve as a way to attract visitors to the Newbridge Silverware store - it's a gimmick. The place is two thirds giftstore and one third museum. It's still pretty incredible, though!

They occasionally have stars fly out to launch their latest exhibit - Tippi Hedren visited back in 2012 when they acquired the Birds suit, for example.

[best12bars]

Posted: 1/29/14 at 11:47pm

I'm happy that the Newbridge Silverware store is using it as a gimmick then.

It's a shame someone couldn't figure out a way to do that with Debbie Reynolds' collection before she sold it off in bits and pieces.

Now the Motion Picture Academy is opening a museum. They got the recently auctioned ruby slippers, donated by Leonard di Caprio and others, but they're going to have to chase down many other pieces. I assume the Academy has a decent enough stash to start with, on their own, but it couldn't rival Debbie's collection. I look forward to the day when that museum opens.

Until then ... we have the Newbridge Silverware store!

... and whatever random pieces show up at a Hardrock Cafe, I guess.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 1/30/14 at 8:14am

I saw one of the Dorothy dresses in the museum at the Land of Oz theme park in NC. It was stolen; the second time I visited the park, it had been replaced by a not very convincing replica. There were a few other items from the film, but I remember only one of Frank Morgan's Emerald City costumes.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 1/30/14 at 10:05am

Here's the dress on display at the NC theme park.

[best12bars]

Posted: 1/30/14 at 10:09am

At least that coat in the back that Frank Morgan wore in the Emerald City is authentic. I love that.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 1/30/14 at 10:31am

At the time of that photo, the dress was supposedly an authentic one. There's another Emerald City costume to the left of the big one, but I can't make out (or recall) what it is.

[best12bars]

Posted: 1/30/14 at 10:41am

Here's a better picture of the authentic coat worn by Frank Morgan. I think the other jacket was worn by one of the extras in the Emerald City. They are very valuable now, too.



And I found a photo of what (I believe) is the "sepia tone" dress worn by Bobbie Koshay for the one shot. It has black checks and the white is dyed sort of an off-beige/brown (aka sepia). You can see the difference between it and the blue socks on the mannequin. It's the dress seen in the movie when she opens the door into Munchkinland.

Right next to it is an authentic hat worn by Margaret Hamilton in the movie (I think there are three known to exist).

[best12bars]

Posted: 1/30/14 at 10:44am

The Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, MN, has some cool things, too. They have a couple of spears carried by the Winkie soldiers. They also have the carriage pulled by the Horse of a Different Color, during The Merry Old Land of Oz sequence.

That carriage was also authenticated as one of Abraham Lincoln's presidential carriages, which is pretty cool. A cross-collectible if there ever was one!

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 1/30/14 at 10:52am

That's wonderful!

Do you know if the story about one of Baum's coats being worn by Morgan was ever proved (or dis-)?

[best12bars]

Posted: 1/30/14 at 11:04am

I asked John Fricke about that once. I got the impression that no one is 100-percent sure. He thinks it's more likely it was drummed up as studio publicity rather than freakish coincidence. He didn't go any further than that.

My only argument with that is they really didn't publicize it after they found out. It was written up in the '70s by Aljean Harmetz in her book, although people have discredited several things she wrote about already.

Still, it's possible, since the Baums lived in Hollywood and Mrs. Baum donated old clothes to charity. It's possible that the MGM costume department picked up that coat, and it made its way to Frank Morgan as Professor Marvel in the movie. Supposedly, Maud Baum verbally authenticated it as one of her husband's old coats. There was no big article written about it at the time, and she didn't go on record or provide any certificate of authenticity, etc.

Ms. Harmetz said that MGM decided not to publicize it because the story sounded too far-fetched to be true ... even though it was.

Shorter answer: I dunno.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 1/30/14 at 11:06am

Yes, that's pretty much the story I'd heard.

I choose to believe it's true.

[best12bars]

Posted: 1/30/14 at 11:17am

I do, too. I just don't think MGM would drum up such a great (and odd) story and then not publicize it. To what purpose?

Even though there's no proof, it's one of those "truth is stranger than fiction" tales to me.

... yet part of me puts it in the "hanging Munchkin" category, too.

Still, I personally tend to believe this one.

Professor Marvel's coat:





L. Frank Baum:



(By the way, Frank looks a bit like themysteriousgrowl in this shot.

[StageManager2]

Posted: 1/30/14 at 3:28pm

It was written up in the '70s by Aljean Harmetz in her book, although people have discredited several things she wrote about already.

Like what? That's one of my favorite books, and I recently re-read it last year.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 1/30/14 at 3:29pm

Have you ever gotten apple juice in your eye before? It BURNS!

[SNAFU]

Posted: 1/30/14 at 3:58pm

So do other things.

[best12bars]

Posted: 1/30/14 at 5:19pm

SM2 --- I love that book, too. I am a "knowledgable fan," but I am by no means an expert on this subject. I heard fairly recently, as in the last couple of years, that Aljean's book states many things that just aren't true by more than one "expert" in the field. So you'd have to ask them.

Personally, I think we should get all experts on this (or any) subject into a big ring and let them mud wrestle it out.

Winner gets to say what really happened. That sounds fair and rational to me.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 1/30/14 at 5:43pm

Fricke criticized Harmetz for taking Margaret Hamilton's words about Billie Burke out of context.

Hamilton apparently told Harmetz that she called Burke a "ditzy woman" and "that fairy lady" and repeated some stories about Billie Burke getting an ambulance on set when she sprained her ankle but no ambulance was called when Hamilton almost burned to death on set.

Harmetz made it seem like there was rancor or rivalry between the two actresses, but Fricke maintained Hamilton talked about Burke and told those stories with amusement.

Updated On: 1/30/14 at 05:43 PM

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 1/30/14 at 6:04pm

That's just gossip.