Inside how the forged suffered whereas filming the 1939 basic ‘The Wizard of Oz’.
Dec. 9 2024, Revealed 8:30 p.m. ET
Youngster star Shirley Temple was the primary option to play Dorothy and sing Someplace Over the Rainbow within the basic movie The Wizard of Oz.
RadarOnline.com can reveal the unique actress tapped to play the long-lasting function is only one of many surprising secrets and techniques concerning the beloved 1939 movie.
Authors Jay Scarfone and William Stillman’s ebook, The Wizard of Oz, The Official seventy fifth Anniversary Companion, blows the lid off the surprising behind-the-scene scandals, together with torture, poisoning and torment of the forged.
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The forged of ‘The Wizard of Oz’ suffered drastically to convey the basic ebook to life on the silver display screen.
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Along with Temple, legendary kid-hater W.C. Fields was the unique option to play the Wizard, The Depraved Witch of the West would have been hyper-sexualized – and ToTo would have been a person in a canine costume.
Because it turned out, harmful costumes might have killed off an excellent variety of the forged, together with future TV famous person Buddy Ebsen, who was initially tapped to play the Tin Man however had to get replaced after struggling a near-fatal poisoning from the aluminum energy used for his make-up.
After deciding to show to L. Frank Baum’s 1900 best-selling ebook right into a film, MGM was determined to forged Temple, however she was beneath contract to twentieth Century Fox, which had different plans for her.
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Judy Garland stated MGM bosses tortured her with make-up to make her look as very similar to Shirley Temple as potential.
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So, the studio settled for Judy Garland, who initially did not need the function both. At age 17, she was chasing extra subtle elements and did not need to play a baby.
However she modified her thoughts after studying the Technicolor movie had an all-star forged of vaudevillian actors and songs written to showcase her singing abilities. She said: “I knew my whole future rested on my capacity to play Dorothy convincingly.”
It was bodily torture for Garland, who stated the Shirley-smitten MGM bosses “tried to make me look as very similar to Shirley as potential”.
Garland continued: “I used to be fats, had crooked tooth, straight black hair and the improper form of nostril. They made me put on a corset and a wig, capped my tooth and put horrible issues in my nostril to show it up like Shirley’s. Making that image was nearly the top of me.”
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Dorothy’s iconic slippers had been silver within the ebook however studio execs opted to make them ruby for the Technicolor course of.
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Garland was additionally ordered to lose 12 kilos and the studio assigned her a private coach and physique double – 1928 Olympic swimming star Bobbie Koshay.
In Baum’s ebook, Dorothy’s slippers had been silver and tinkled. The studio determined the footwear ought to be ruby and spark to distinction the Yellow Brick Street and benefit from the brand new Technicolor course of. For close-ups, Garland’s toes weren’t used. She had a stand-in.
As a juvenile, Garland was allowed to work solely 4 hours a day and Koshay appeared in all pictures when Garland’s face wasn’t seen.
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Ray Bolger stated his face was so sizzling within the Scarecrow costume it felt like ‘it’ll explode’.
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Actor and dancer Ray Bolger additionally suffered in his Scarecrow costume.
He revealed: “My face will get so sizzling it looks as if it’ll explode.
“I had no ears. There have been bunches of straw of their place… I could not hear a single factor – and my very own voice gave the impression of any individual speaking in an enormous, empty corridor.”
The Tin Man had the worst of all of it. Jack Haley took over the function when Ebsen practically died from inhaling the toxic aluminum powder used as make-up to silver his face. The deadly stuff was additionally placed on Haley, who had make-up males wipe away any perspiration to maintain the aluminum from operating into his eyes.
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His outfit was so cumbersome he could not sit down in it – and in all close-ups, Haley eliminated his torturous pants.
Bert Lahr had few bodily issues enjoying the Cowardly Lion, however the function ruined his profession. He stated: “After The Wizard of Oz, I used to be typecast as a lion and there aren’t all that many elements for a lions.”
At first, the Depraved Witch was slinky and glamorous, as performed by actress Gale Sondergaard. However she did not just like the picture it projected and dropped out. Margaret Hamilton was employed in her place – and the witch turned out downright scary.
The witch’s 28 slaves, the Winkies, wore costumes comprised of such heavy felt, they practically died from warmth stroke working beneath the heavy arc lights. The Winged Monkeys had been small males carrying fits fabricated from hair, facial home equipment to seem like monkeys and motorized wings to make them airborne. They too nearly suffered from warmth stroke.
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The Depraved Witch of the West was initially purported to be horny and glamorous.
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In the meantime, the 124 folks forged to play the Munchkins confronted large issues of their very own as chairs, dressing tables and toilet fixtures had been all too tall for them and needed to be reconfigured. One crewman, dubbed “the Midget elevator” was employed for the only function of selecting up the Munchkins and placing them down on designated spots.
After Fields was ejected from enjoying the Wizard, Frank Morgan was tapped for the function. He had a transportable cupboard stuffed with booze and “nipped a bit”, in accordance with Garland.
Producer Mervyn LeRoy added: “To make an image like The Wizard of Oz, all people needed to be a little bit drunk with creativeness.”