The Wizard of Oz is a film known and loved the world over. It is often ranked among the best movies in the history of cinema. Frank Nugent once said of the film, it’s a “delightful piece of wonder-working which had the youngsters’ eyes shining and brought a quietly amused gleam to the wiser ones of the oldsters.”
In “Variety,” John C. Flinn wrote of the film, “Some of the scenic passages are so beautiful in design and composition as to stir audiences by their sheer unfoldment.” He wrote of the teenage star, Judy Garland, that she was an, “appealing figure.”
It's A Bird, It's A Plane, It's A Balloon!
It is always romantic these days, with crowded airports and stressful travel, to imagine the magic of flying in a hot air balloon. From the Wizard's own Kansas origins, to Dorothy's near trip home from Oz, the hot air balloon fits nicely into the rest of the world Baum created and named Oz. Though forced to flee her only opportunity to be spirited away by basket by Tot's sudden distraction by a cat, the hot air balloon remains a famous symbol of this famous American story.
It is only this missed opportunity that allows Dorothy the time to learn she had the power to rescue herself all along. All she needed was MGM's very bright ruby slippers and the magic words, "There's no place like home." Flying in a balloon is magical of course, but self-reliance and friendship is far more magical and useful in the end.
Louis B. Mayer The Studio Spy
As the star, child or not, Judy Garland was a key part of the production of The Wizard of Oz film. It becomes all the more troubling, understanding just how much of a child garland was, when we learn that Louis B Mayer actually hired spies to check in on his star while she was working on set. They watched for any changes in her diet (which was meant to contain nothing but chicken soup, coffee, and 80 cigarettes) and would receive personal reprimands from the studio head if any deviation was found. The spies were told to watch for any consumption of ice cream, in which case extra diet pills would then be prescribed to the young actress.
The spying and studio control continued to harm Garland's fragile self-esteem. Already consumed by thoughts that she was overweight, the extra attention and demands from her male employers further harmed her psychologically. What was meant to be the ultimate moment in a promising career really led to the eventual death of a once promising and hopeful young woman.
Beyond The Rainbow
Though she would always be tied to the song, "Over the Rainbow," is seems Judy Garland never quite found the life the rainbow, and the song seemed to promise. She once said, "We cast away priceless time in dreams, born of imagination, fed upon illusion, and put to death by reality." She lived through countless abuses and tragedies in her life, and yet Garland remains one of the most well known actresses of her age, or any.
Most of her legacy of course is due to her performance as Dorothy Gale in, The Wizard of Oz. In 1997 Garland was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammys. Many of her songs have since been inducted into the Grammy hall of fame. The award came many years after her death.
Judy's Liza
Liza Minnelli, daughter of Judy Garland, found fame in show business like her mother. Song and dance were clearly in Liza's genes. In 1984, Liza was interviewed for New York Times article on her late mother. Garland's daughter recalled the first time she ever performed with her mother. She recalled how, in that moment, their relationship grew from a loving one to a competitive one.
"I think that what Mama was saying was, 'You're everything I wanted you to be. You're a force to be dealt with and I created it, and now I've come up against it," Minnelli said. In a strange coincidence Dorothy Gale's daughter found herself, for a short while, married to the Tin Man's son, Jack Haley Jr.