Customer Reviews

The Wizard of Oz

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Frank Joslyn Baum felt that he, as L. Frank Baum's eldest son, was the best person to carry on the Oz series, and was struck aghast when his father's publisher employed Ruth Plumly Thompson after his father died, and with his mother's approval. Later on, they even halted the publication of his Oz Big Little Books (the first of the intended two has become one of the most sought after BLBs of all time due to its low print run--and its publication is still barred to the present day). Despite a 1918 letter from LFB praising how much better written FJB's letter to him was than anything he had written, FJB, like most of his other descendents clearly did not have the talent of his father (though Roger S.--directly descended from FJB, is the worst).

The younger Baum, however, was able to negotiate business deals that brought about this film, the 1933 animated short (which he wrote), and the 1939 MGM musical.

For some reason, the younger Baum, who even had the audacity to bill himself as "L. Frank Baum, Jr." (even though L. Frank Baum would never have named his son "Lyman") decided that the material made a suitable vehicle for Larry Semon, a second-string star battling alcoholism (and who would die of stomach cancer a few years later), and proceeded to change it heavily.

Taking a partial cue from his father's 1914 film, _His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz_, which was based on _Wizard_, but so heavily different that Baum expanded it into the novel _The Scarecrow of Oz_ the next year, FJB , with Semon and Leon Lee, wrote this all-a-dream story about the politics of the Emerald City, which was also a major subject of the 1902 musical, though much more successfully. (_The Scarecrow of Oz_ mentions the death of Kind Kynd of Jinxland, so the name Prince Kynd was probably not created independently.) MGM bought the rights to both this film and the musical, resulting in the use of the poppy field snowstorm (from the play), and the all-a-dream and farmhands-to-companions elements of the MGM film.

A large portion of the film was set in Kansas, with slapstick humor young and teenage audiences might find funny (I thought so when I was 14), but which quickly grows old and tedious, even if it does mix many animated effects into live action. Once the characters, including three farmhands played by Larry Semon, Oliver Hardy, and Spencer Bell, with Uncle Henry and Dorothy (Dwan--Semon's wife), get to Oz--we are treated to elbaorate production design and a lot of fleeing from lions. Bell is billed as G. Howe Black and is the only farmhand named, and it's "Snowball" at that. The film is not racist enough to stand out during its time period, but at least we have the consolation that in some scenes, Bell's character appears to be brighter than Semon's (though one can't say the same for the unfortunate shots of some unbilled black children in the Emerald City). He is a coward who spends much of the film in a lion suit, while Hardy creates an ominous image, even with Semon's silly costume design, as a Tin Woodsman [sic] who comes out of a tin pile brandishing axe, becomes the heartless Knight of the Garter, thus they do not in any way contravene what they believe about themselves, as LFB intended. Also on board with Dorothy is obese Uncle Henry (Frank Alexander), an even nastier man than Hardy, who is not really Dorothy's uncle, who is proclaimed "Prince of Whales" upon arriving in the Emerald City. Josef Swickard's performance as Prime Minister Kruel anticipates that of Sam Jaffe in Josef Von Sternberg's _The Scarlet Empress_, though Jaffe improved on the characterization.

The film has amazing production design as one of its few strong points, but this silly melodrama is hampered by such things (stirking as they are) as female impersonator Frederick Ko Vert (who designed all of the costumes except for the Scarewcrow and Tin Woodman) emerging from a basket as a demonstration of the Wizard's powers, and a tacked-on concluding scene Semon trying to fly a plane with Bell on a hanging ladder crashing into a water tower (whcih leads to the all-a-dream revelation). This unforgettable image is good at least in that contemporary technology is allowed to appear in Oz as it did in the books, something MGM made people forget.

This is a fascinating film I have watched a number of times, but it doesn't make me like it any better with subserquent viewings. I have not seen the DVD in question. My tape of this film has one of Rosa Rio's better organ scores for Video Yesteryear (most of them are boring, but this isn't), though VY's primitive speed correction weakens the image.

It's also worth noting this film bankrupted the studio (Chadwick) and was barely released. After its premiere, it was not able to supply prints to theatres that had already booked it (one older Oz fan noted his disappointment as a youth when learning hs local theatre was not able to obtain a print--before he knew just how bad the film was).

Were it not for its cast or connection to a literary classic, the film would likely be unavailable today. The film is actually pretty typical of its time, and gives us a glimpse of what big summer movies that didn't become classics looked like in the 1920s. Like many lesser-known films of its day, it was cross-genre--an odd mix of melodrama, comedy, and adventure.

While it proved a step on the long and prolific career of Oliver Hardy, neither Semon nor Bell, who frequently appeared together, would live for long after the film (Semon 3 years, Bell 10), and Frank Joslyn Baum's biography of his father is largely a concoction due to further estrangment from his family. Therefore, its historical interest, production design notwithstanding, not its art, is what sustains it.

Only if you are the most die hard movie buff should you get this movie. It is interesting to see another version of the Wizard of Oz, especially with a Oliver Hardy appearence in it. But the production of the DVD is amaturish. The music switches back and forth from appropriate old piano music to a digital score that sounds like it was produced from "baby's first keyboard". Even more bizzare and annoying is the fact that the producers saw fit to have someone read the dialouge out loud every time a card pops up. It boggles my mind why anyone would think these are good ideas. The movie is easier to take if you watch it with one push of the fast forward. Its too bad that an old silent on dvd has to be ruined by idiotic "improvements". Hopefully this company won't have any more silents at their disposal to trash.

Nearly forgotten today, Larry Semon was a top comedy star during the 1920's, even rivaling Charlie Chaplin in popularity. His downfall, late in the decade, resulted largely from disastrous business decisions compiled by numerous personal problems. He was a creative and talented comedian, but seemed content to reuse the same gags again and again while overspending lavishly on his productions.THE WIZARD OF OZ displays all the virtues and faults of Larry Semon's work. For no good reason, Semon abandons most of the classic Baum story and replaces it with a Ruritarian satire about political operatives who would stop farmgirl Dorothy from taking her rightful place as Queen of Oz (are you still with me?). Dorothy Dwan (who was Semon's wife) was certainly an attractive and quite talented comedienne, but too mature to be a genuine Dorothy. Semon and Oliver Hardy are farmhand rivals for Dorothy's attention. Late in the film, almost as an afterthought, Semon disguises himself as a scarecrow and Hardy as a Tin Man. Semon's brief turn as the scarecrow is one of the film's best moments, making it all the more frustrating that he didn't film the original story. Babe Hardy doesn't have a whole lot to do, but he still brightens the film whenever he's onscreen. Ironically, Keystone comedian Charlie Murray is woefully underused in the title role.The film is an interesting curio and the source print for this tape very good. Unfortunately, it has a bizarre and inappropriate music track that will drive you crazy after a while. My advice would be to mute your TV and use your stereo to make your own musical accompaniment.

I'm not complaining about the quality of the film. I love old movies and this was no exception. I'm upset about the content. I had understood that Baum himself had helped with this movie. I read all 14 of his nooks on Oz and expected this to be more accurate to the book than the 1939 version with Judt Garland. Instead, this seemed to be worse.

I'm not sure if it was Baum or Hollywood, but this to not keep at all with the original book. I was very dissappointed. As far as being an early movie, it was good. It just wasn't what I expected. Unless you want an accurate version, don't let my review disuade you. It was still a good movie. It was definitely a comedy.

Imagine your local church putting on a production of "The Wizard of Oz" with costumes made out of sheets and a production budget of 80$. Imagine it being directed by someone without the least bit of background in direction or production. Imagine it starring the most untalented individuals. What you have is this piece of utter trash. Larry Semon was a very unfunny and crude physical comic who bought the rights to the Oz books in an attempt to give a boost to his slapstick career that was going nowhere. Between buying the rights and filming the first scenes of the elves workshop, he spent his entire budget. With no money left, he just turned on the cameras and filmed and filmed - without a script! Lots of pratfalls and endless grimacing. The result bombed - as it should have! This is one of the worst silent movies ever made. Semon was so devastated that he disappeared off the face of the earth. No one even knows when he died or where he was buried! He was never heard from again. Unfortunately, lots of Oz fans have sought out this mess - thinking that there must be some value to it. There isn't! Save your money!!

For anyone who loves silent movies, this version of "The Wizard of Oz" is not worth your time. For anyone who hates silent movies, this film is excellent support for your position. This movie was made after Frank Baum had died, which is the only reason I can think such incredible license was taken with the original book. A disappointment.

a very interesting story line,the only thing is the bizarre music score.it's a too modern psycadelic jungle music totally inapropiate for this movie alternating with a little original type music. they also had poor narration to go with it. movie content was different but good.

I'm rather embarrassed that I believed all of the negative hype about this film (how it was racist, unfunny, and just in general a bad movie) without ever having even seen it to be able to judge it for myself. Hearing what a lot of other people have had to say about any given product can give one a good general idea about what to expect, but that doesn't compare to actually seeing it for yourself and being able to form your own opinion. I found myself rather liking this film and being very impressed by Larry Semon, whom I'd long been interested in anyway. One wishes that more of his films survived and were easily-accessible instead of in archives, museums, and out of print videos. It's not fair to judge him as a comedian and his entire body of work based on this film, which came rather late in his career and thus isn't entirely reprensentative of what he was capable of.

Of course nothing can compare to the 1939 screen version of L. Frank Baum's classic novel, but taken for what it is, the 1925 version also tells a good story even though it does take more liberties with the storyline. The first half I found to be very funny, with Dorothy (Semon's real-life wife Dorothy Dwan, who was significantly younger than he was), her aunt and uncle, and the three hired hands (Larry, Spencer Bell, and Oliver Hardy) working around the family farm. There are a lot of funny scenes, like the one with the swarm of angry bees and the ones where Larry and Ollie are competing for Dorothy's romantic attentions. Larry Semon really was a born clown, with his funny physical appearance, clever pantomime, and great physical reactions. Along the way we discover that Dorothy is really a princess who was left on the doorstep as a baby, and that on her 18th birthday she is supposed to return to Oz so she can rule and marry Prince Kynd. (I loved the funny names the Oz characters had, like Prince Kynd, Lady Vishuss, Ambassador Wikked, and Prime Minister Kruel.) While the family are hiding from a bunch of bad guys who don't want Dorothy to find out the secret of her birth, a tornado strikes, and they find themselves in the Land of Oz. Once in Oz, Dorothy is welcomed, but her family's farmhands are not. They proceed to disguise themselves (Larry is the Scarecrow, Ollie is the Tinman, and "Snowball," played by Spencer Bell [who is shockingly billed as "G. Howe Black"], is the Cowardly Lion. (I got the impression that this film was horribly racist, though apart from the "G. Howe Black" thing, I didn't really find anything that offensive about "Snowball." He does act in an overly caricatured way, but that was kind of par for the course in most films in 1925, and just because someone is made to act in a stereotyped fashion doesn't mean that he's an unsympathetic character.) Most of the rest of the film takes place in the dungeon, where Uncle Henry and the three farmhands have been banished to, but which they are trying to escape so that Dorothy won't marry the wrong man (in their opinion at least). The scene in the dungeon is a bit long drawn-out and not quite as funny as the first half of the film, though it's not without some good moments. And in spite of the less than enlightened portrayal of "Snowball," this character is actually instrumental in saving the day. Larry might not have escaped from the dungeon if it weren't for "Snowball."

I think the real problem with this film isn't that it takes so many liberties with the book or isn't the movie version most people are familiar with, but rather because it's just not as well-developed or tightly-plotted as it could have been. There are a lot of scenes that are good or interesting in and of themselves, but which don't really contribute much or anything to the overall storyline. Things happen that never go anywhere, and there are a lot of unresolved bits of business. The end in itself is also kind of in media res, and I totally understand why a lot of people say that this movie was just a big ego trip for Larry Semon, whom they feel cared more about trying to be funny even if it meant sacrificing a coherent smooth plot. The individual scenes are good, but together they don't really add up to a perfect whole. It also helps if one is watching a good print with an appropriate soundtrack. Usually I dislike it when people complain too much about print quality and soundtracks, as though everyone's idea of what appropriate and inappropriate are is the same, and as though we should expect all films that are this old to have wonderful print quality, but here it really is true that neither are appropriate. The best version out there, print-wise and sountrack-wise, is the one included as a bonus feature on the deluxe three-disc edition of the 1939 version of this famous tale.

This particular version of "The Wizard of Oz" was too heavy on the slapstick. I expect such things out of Mack Sennett, and I was waiting for the Keystone Kops to appear. It's hard to believe that only 14 years later, in 1939, a version would appear that would eclipse all others, past & previous. The "music" for this version was akin to nails on a blackboard, and I ended up turning the volume off to make this more viewable. What's wrong with a theater organ score?

im not gonna say this is a great film you will be impressed with by 100%, but im gonna say it is an extremely rare silent film,a part of history that im amazed still exists, or is available at all,all hard core wizard of oz fans should have this to "maximize" their wizard of oz collection,comments have been made about the audio soundtrack,ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS "TURN YOUR VOLUME OFF" TO EXPERIENCE THIS MOVIE AS A "SILENT" MOVIE LIKE IT WAS ORIGINALY INTENDED!,this dvd is offered at an almost "giveaway" price,*you watch,*this will go out of print soon and become a collectors item because of rareness alone,*serious film collectors only*