The Wizard of Oz (1939) has become the source of many quotes referenced in contemporary popular culture. The film ranks often on critics’ lists of greatest films of all time, and the 1939 version is the most commercially successful adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s work. (The one released in 1925 was poorly received by critics and the audience)

Plot wise, the movie is pretty much in the Joseph Campbell hero mold.

Here are a few Interesting tidbits from the movie making features on Blu-Ray

1. The technicolor camera a was huge one and moving it around was a huge task, but in the end it was all worth it.
2. The set was one of the hottest with the amount of lights used. In fact the production caused a few blackouts in the neighbourhood city when certain scenes were shot.
3. Judy Garland almost lost the part to Shirley Temple before Arthur Freed stepped in.
4. Several directors changed during the course of production.
5. The witch character actress suffered burns due to a coordination lapse with special effects team.
6. The Rainbow song wouldn’t have made it to final cut, had Arthur Freed not threatened to resign, if the song were not in.

Tailpiece: A hero’s journey typically ends where he started. If everything were a dream, it ends in one’s mind. If not in the backyard, like in The Alchemist. But irrespective of this, the journey is a must, and so is the learning/experience. The most important of it all is ‘There is no place like home’, or shall we say ‘The salvation lies within’.

Related Links

1. Wikipedia on The Wizard of Oz
2. Joseph Campbell and The Wizard of Oz
3. The Technicolor Camera and Labour of Love

There are several interesting titbits in the feature documentary on the movie “Once upon a time in the West…” Here are a couple.

• As per director Alex Cox, apparently, three stars from ‘The Good, The Bad, The Ugly” were considered to act in it and the trio of Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach and Lee Van Cleef were interested too…but had to refuse eventually as the parts they were asked to play were the baddies, who die after a few minutes into the film’s proceedings. It would have been a complete reinvention of sorts for Sergio Leone, had it happened.
• But the fact we know for sure (as per film Historian Christopher Frayling) is that the Ennio Morricone composed the music before the entire film was shot. This is not new to Sergio Leone of course, as he did something similar for parts of his film…like the cemetery scene and last duel in ‘The Good, the Bad, The Ugly’.

With regards to Sergio Leone’s movies, particularly ‘Once upon a time in the West’ there were comparisons made to Akira Kurosawa’s style, and the slow pace associated with it. But just like any Akira Kurosawa’s films, one cannot but help but to watch ‘Once upon a time in the west…’from the start to finish. The movie holds its sway on the audience throughout.

Morton: How does it feel sitting behind that desk, Frank?
Frank: It’s almost like holding a gun. Only much more powerful.

–Frank (Henry Fonda) and Morton (Gabriele Ferzitti)

Henry Fonda as a ruthless killer, doesn’t make any changes to his appearance (upon the insistence of Sergio Leone, who shot down Fonda’s ideas of contact lenses and beard to get in to the son-of-a-bitch kind of a look; in fact Sergio wanted his blue eyes look to stay intact to surprise the audience; apparently it was a one of a kind of Volta Face for an actor of his popularity in the Westerns.) Right from the introduction scene, he makes his presence felt and delivers a knock out performance. One of the reasons Sergio Leone returning to Western genre, after having to decided to call it quits, was an opportunity to work with his favourite actor, Henry Fonda.

Jason Robards as Cheyenne, Claudia Cardinale as Jill and Charles Bronsan as Harmonica are fantastic in their roles. The movie is a must watch for all movie fans, especially that of Sergio Leone, Henry Fonda and Ennio Morricone.

Tailpiece: The theme music associated with the character Harmonica, is a bit jarring and even feels like it is out of tune. May be this is because of the emotion associated with it, as revealed beautifully towards the climax. One could assume this as the inspiration of the gangster and mouth-organ connection in the RGV’s movie ‘Antham'(Telugu)/ Drohi(Hindi)

Related links

https://www.avforums.com/reviews/once-upon-a-time-in-the-west-movie-review.7250/

https://www.criterionforum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2698&start=100

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ennio_Morricone

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Once_Upon_a_Time_in_the_West

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antham

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