“THE WIZARD OF OZ”

Wairarapa Times-Age, 14 December 1939, Page 5

“THE WIZARD OF OZ”

ORIGINAL AND ENTERTAINING. In these days of stereotyped screen drama, crime pictures and the like, it is refreshing to come across a film which is both original and richly entertaining. Such a photoplay is Motro-Goldwyn-Maycr’s “The Wizard of Oz.” A favourite story with children throughout the world. "The Wizard of Oz" has been made into a motion picture which is a triumph artistically, and a delight as entertainment. Imagine an Emerald City of groat green bubbles which serve as houses, trees which talk and throw apples at all

who dare to go near, a horse which changes colour at a word, and flying monkeys who are the servants of a wicked witch. These are but a few of the marvels of “The Wizard of Oz,” the wonder of which is enriched further by the brilliance of the technicolour photography. Judy Garland appears as Dorothy, the little girl who is blown away by* a cyclone into the land of Oz. Here she meets hundreds of remarkable people. There is Frank Morgan as the Wizard himself, Ray Bolger’ as the Scarecrow, Jack Haley as the Tin Man, and Bert Lahr as the Cowardly Lion. In addition, there are such delightful people as the Munchkins, oi Munchkinland. Hundreds of midgets were gathered from all parts’-of the world to take part in these sequences. Some idea of the magnitude of the film, may be obtained from the facts that there are 9200 featured players and the production cost was in the vicinity of £750.000. "The Wizard of Oz" is to be presented in Masterton at New Year.