Thread: Totally OT: The Wizard Of Oz

Wayne Boatwright wrote:

> Anyone watching The Wizard Of Oz tonight?

ME!!!! ME!!!! ME!!!!

> Anyway, I still think the “Wizard” will eternally be one of the most
> charming films of its type of all time.

Absolutely! And the trivia that goes with it makes it even more amazing.

I actually wrote my mom and sisters when it came on and reflected on how
the movie makes me feel like I am young again and "home" with them -- it
was one of those special rituals whenever it came on T.V. and we stayed
fixed from beginning to end.

I was just reading up about Terry and her trainer, Carl Spitz. Her name
was permanently changed to Toto after that movie. She even broke her
foot during the filming!

Dorothy to the Scarecrow: I think I'm going to miss you most of all.
(That part ALWAYS makes me cry).

--Lin

On Fri 14 Nov 2008 10:13:34p, Lin told us...

> Wayne Boatwright wrote:
>
>> Anyone watching The Wizard Of Oz tonight?
>
> ME!!!! ME!!!! ME!!!!
>
>> Anyway, I still think the “Wizard” will eternally be one of the most
>> charming films of its type of all time.
>
> Absolutely! And the trivia that goes with it makes it even more amazing.

You’re so right. There is a very interesting book you might enjoy, “The
Making of The Wizard Of Oz”, by Aljean Harmetz. I pick up my copy every
now and again to enjoy more of the history.

> I actually wrote my mom and sisters when it came on and reflected on how
> the movie makes me feel like I am young again and "home" with them -- it
> was one of those special rituals whenever it came on T.V. and we stayed
> fixed from beginning to end.

Lin, that’s exactly how it makes me feel…young again and “home” with my
family. It simply erases many decades from my life for a while.

> I was just reading up about Terry and her trainer, Carl Spitz. Her name
> was permanently changed to Toto after that movie. She even broke her
> foot during the filming!

She was a wonderful little dog! The only dog I ever owned was a Cairn
terrier, aptly named Toto. I never knew about Toto’s previous name until I
read about it many years later.

> Dorothy to the Scarecrow: I think I'm going to miss you most of all.
> (That part ALWAYS makes me cry).

I’m a fool for crying at movies and songs. That scene always draws a tear,
but early in the film when Dorothy sings Over the Rainbow has me crying all
the way through it.

--
Wayne Boatwright
(correct the spelling of "geemail" to reply)
************************************************** **********************
Date: Friday, 11(XI)/14(XIV)/08(MMVIII)
************************************************** **********************
Countdown till U.S. Thanksgiving Day
1wks 5dys 1hrs 39mins
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There's no snooze button on a cat who wants breakfast.
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"Wayne Boatwright" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected] 5.250...
> Anyone watching The Wizard Of Oz tonight?
>
> I've had the videotape and now have the DVD, but I can never resist
> watching a broadcast of it. It's on TNT right now, at least in my time
> zone.
>
> The flying monkeys scared the crap out of me when I was a little kid, but
> I
> still watched every chance I got.
>
> My dad was an avid collector of fine books, and over a period of years
> found first editions of all of the Oz books that he gave me as gifts. I
> still have the complete collection.
>
> I was lucky enough to meet Margaret Hamilton at The Cleveland Playhouse
> when she performed in a production of Night Must Fall in 1978, when she
> was
> 76. As members of The Playhouse Club, we attended a late supper at the
> club in her honor. She was witty, charming, and gracious.and very tiny.
>
> My first live encounter with Judy Garland was at her Carnegie Hall concert
> in 1961 when I was 16. I was fortunate to see her in six other live
> performances up until the year before her death in 1969. Garland loved to
> invite small groups of fans to her dressing room after performances, and I
> made it there twice. She was one of the funniest people I ever met.
>
> Anyway, I still think the "Wizard" will eternally be one of the most
> charming films of its type of all time.


Probably so. It's sad that many kids who see the movie for the first time
are bored by it and think it "sucks" because it has no slick CGI stuff and
swashbuckling characters hacking people to death with magic swords and
sultry vixens with huge boobs leeping off skyscrapers only to land on their
two feet totally unscathed 800 feet below. We've destroyed kid's
imagination.

My curmudgeonly doctor lives in a posh mansion here in town that was built
by the guy who wrote the original screenplay for the WOO. It has genuine
Tiffany glass windows and 60 year old topiaries 20 feet tall and a carriage
house bigger than most homes. I'm told the house is a crowning monument to
Greene and Greene architecture even better than the Gamble House in Pasadena
though smaller.

A little triva: the producers almost panned the song, Over the Rainbow.
They thought it was just too corny. Buddy Ebsen was the original Tin
Woodman but he almost died during the filiming after having a toxic reaction
to his lead based makeup.

Paul

On Nov 14, 11:59*pm, "Paul M. Cook" <pmc...@gte.net> wrote:
> Buddy Ebsen was the original Tin
> Woodman but he almost died during the filiming after having a toxic reaction
> to his lead based makeup.
>
>
I saw his biography on A&E a year or two ago and he was talking about
his role in the Wizard had ended because of the reaction. He said
someone from the studio was there bugging the doctors wanting to know
if Mr. Ebsen would be well enough to return to the studio that day?
He said he ended up being in the hospital for six weeks because of the
makeup.

Paul wrote:

> sultry vixens with huge boobs leeping off skyscrapers only to land on
> their two feet totally unscathed 800 feet below.

Um...what movie contains THAT, so Lin can put it in her Netflix queue?

Bob

On Sat, 15 Nov 2008 05:06:32 GMT, Wayne Boatwright
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Anyone watching The Wizard Of Oz tonight?

When I was just wee child, The Wizard of Oz was shown on Thanksgiving
Day in my neck o' the woods, not two weeks before. Hrrumph. What's
this world coming to?


--
I never worry about diets. The only carrots that
interest me are the number of carats in a diamond.

Mae West

On Fri 14 Nov 2008 10:59:00p, Paul M. Cook told us...

> Probably so. It's sad that many kids who see the movie for the first
> time are bored by it and think it "sucks" because it has no slick CGI
> stuff and swashbuckling characters hacking people to death with magic
> swords and sultry vixens with huge boobs leeping off skyscrapers only to
> land on their two feet totally unscathed 800 feet below. We've
> destroyed kid's imagination.

I totally agree. Technology and “techie” parents have absolutely ruined
the innocence and simplicity of childhood for most children.

> My curmudgeonly doctor lives in a posh mansion here in town that was
> built by the guy who wrote the original screenplay for the WOO. It has
> genuine Tiffany glass windows and 60 year old topiaries 20 feet tall and
> a carriage house bigger than most homes. I'm told the house is a
> crowning monument to Greene and Greene architecture even better than the
> Gamble House in Pasadena though smaller.

I think that would have been Noel Langley’s home. I would really love to
see it. Greene & Greene were fabulous architects of the period and style.

> A little triva: the producers almost panned the song, Over the Rainbow.
> They thought it was just too corny. Buddy Ebsen was the original Tin
> Woodman but he almost died during the filiming after having a toxic
> reaction to his lead based makeup.

A little more trivia: There were other lyrics to Over the Rainbow that
were nixed by the producers, as they felt it made the song too long and
that they were too maudlin. The wicked witch (Margaret Hamilton) was badly
burned when she “disappeared” through the trap door in the land of the
Munchkins scene. The ruby slippers were originally to be silver. Glenda
the Good Witch (Billie Burke) was married to Florenz Ziegfeld. The cast of
Munchkins was the largest assemblage of “little people” ever used in a
film. There’s so much more…

--
Wayne Boatwright
(correct the spelling of "geemail" to reply)
************************************************** **********************
Date: Friday, 11(XI)/14(XIV)/08(MMVIII)
************************************************** **********************
Countdown till U.S. Thanksgiving Day
1wks 5dys 46mins
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Oxymoron: Sweet Pickle.
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On Fri 14 Nov 2008 11:12:58p, Bob Terwilliger told us...

> Paul wrote:
>
>> sultry vixens with huge boobs leeping off skyscrapers only to land on
>> their two feet totally unscathed 800 feet below.
>
> Um...what movie contains THAT, so Lin can put it in her Netflix queue?
>
> Bob
>

I’m not sure Lin would want that in *her* Netflix queue. Maybe you better
put it in yours.

--
Wayne Boatwright
(correct the spelling of "geemail" to reply)
************************************************** **********************
Date: Friday, 11(XI)/14(XIV)/08(MMVIII)
************************************************** **********************
Countdown till U.S. Thanksgiving Day
1wks 5dys 26mins
************************************************** **********************
Things could be worse. Suppose your errors were counted and
recorded every day, like those of a baseball player.
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Wayne Boatwright wrote:
> Anyone watching The Wizard Of Oz tonight?
>
> I've had the videotape and now have the DVD, but I can never resist
> watching a broadcast of it. It's on TNT right now, at least in my
> time zone.
>
" I do believe in spooks! I do believe in spooks! I do I do I do!"

---The Cowardly Lion (Burt Lahr)

Great film! There's No Place Like Home. And I sure as hell would like to
go back there at some point.

Jill

"Wayne Boatwright" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected] 5.250...
> Anyone watching The Wizard Of Oz tonight?
>
> I've had the videotape and now have the DVD, but I can never resist
> watching a broadcast of it. It's on TNT right now, at least in my time
> zone.
>
> The flying monkeys scared the crap out of me when I was a little kid, but
> I
> still watched every chance I got.
>
> My dad was an avid collector of fine books, and over a period of years
> found first editions of all of the Oz books that he gave me as gifts. I
> still have the complete collection.
>
> I was lucky enough to meet Margaret Hamilton at The Cleveland Playhouse
> when she performed in a production of Night Must Fall in 1978, when she
> was
> 76. As members of The Playhouse Club, we attended a late supper at the
> club in her honor. She was witty, charming, and gracious.and very tiny.
>
> My first live encounter with Judy Garland was at her Carnegie Hall concert
> in 1961 when I was 16. I was fortunate to see her in six other live
> performances up until the year before her death in 1969. Garland loved to
> invite small groups of fans to her dressing room after performances, and I
> made it there twice. She was one of the funniest people I ever met.
>
> Anyway, I still think the "Wizard" will eternally be one of the most
> charming films of its type of all time.
>
> --
> Wayne Boatwright
> (correct the spelling of "geemail" to reply)
>

Your message brought back memories. I went to graduate school at Case
Western Reserve University in Cleveland, and I spent many happy hours at the
Cleveland Playhouse. I also recall my first visit to Las Vegas in the
mid-1960s. At that time, rooms and shows were very inexpensive because
Casinos made the real money on gambling. One evening, my parents gave us a
choice of two shows. One was Elvis, and we decided not to go to that one.
Most people today think we made an unfortunate choice, but I still think we
made the right choice -- we opted to see Judy Garland! Can you imagine
having choices like that for live entertainment, and for very little money?
We sat very close to the front (a dinner theater, yet!), and Judy reached
down and shook some of our hands.

MaryL

On Fri 14 Nov 2008 11:46:29p, jmcquown told us...

> Wayne Boatwright wrote:
>> Anyone watching The Wizard Of Oz tonight?
>>
>> I've had the videotape and now have the DVD, but I can never resist
>> watching a broadcast of it. It's on TNT right now, at least in my
>> time zone.
>>
> " I do believe in spooks! I do believe in spooks! I do I do I do!"
>
> ---The Cowardly Lion (Burt Lahr)
>
> Great film! There's No Place Like Home. And I sure as hell would like
to
> go back there at some point.
>
> Jill

I hope you can, Jill, sooner rather than later. I know you’re in a very
trying situation right now, and that it’s lasted far longer than you ever
thought it would.

--
Wayne Boatwright
(correct the spelling of "geemail" to reply)
************************************************** **********************
Date: Friday, 11(XI)/14(XIV)/08(MMVIII)
************************************************** **********************
Countdown till U.S. Thanksgiving Day
1wks 5dys 6mins
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Be spontaneous.......combust.
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"Wayne Boatwright" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected] 5.247...
> On Fri 14 Nov 2008 10:59:00p, Paul M. Cook told us...
>
>> Probably so. It's sad that many kids who see the movie for the first
>> time are bored by it and think it "sucks" because it has no slick CGI
>> stuff and swashbuckling characters hacking people to death with magic
>> swords and sultry vixens with huge boobs leeping off skyscrapers only to
>> land on their two feet totally unscathed 800 feet below. We've
>> destroyed kid's imagination.
>
> I totally agree. Technology and "techie" parents have absolutely ruined
> the innocence and simplicity of childhood for most children.

My kids now techie teenagers still sit and watch it with me every year. We
have about 6 must see movies during October. One of them being "The Wizard
of Oz." It's family movie night with all the trimmings and we have a good
time every year.

Lynne

On Fri 14 Nov 2008 11:49:58p, MaryL told us...

> Your message brought back memories. I went to graduate school at Case
> Western Reserve University in Cleveland, and I spent many happy hours at
> the Cleveland Playhouse. I also recall my first visit to Las Vegas in
> the mid-1960s. At that time, rooms and shows were very inexpensive
> because Casinos made the real money on gambling. One evening, my
> parents gave us a choice of two shows. One was Elvis, and we decided
> not to go to that one. Most people today think we made an unfortunate
> choice, but I still think we made the right choice -- we opted to see
> Judy Garland! Can you imagine having choices like that for live
> entertainment, and for very little money? We sat very close to the front
> (a dinner theater, yet!), and Judy reached down and shook some of our
> hands.
>

Mary, I’m glad it brought back fond memories. I spent most of my life in
the Cleveland area. I began going to The Cleveland Playhouse as a child,
and became a member of The Playhouse Club in my early 20s. There were many
great performances there. The resident cast was fabulous, and they also
drew many famous stars for some primary roles. Two one-person shows that
were memorable were “Vincent” with Leonard Nimoy and “Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein Gertrude Stein” with Pat Carroll.

I was a great fan of the early Elvis Presley in his pre-Army years,
especially because my parents were originally from his birthplace, Tupelo,
MS, and we lived in Memphis at the same time he did, when he still lived in
a tract house, before he bought the estate he renamed Graceland. My dad
was an a/c engineer and was called to his house to design a cooling system
for some room additions. I was lucky to go with him, although Elvis wasn’t
at home. I did meet his parents.

I would have made the same choice you did in Las Vegas. To see Judy
Garland live in concert is like no other experience. She truly loved her
audiences, and really gave everything she had to them. As a veteran of
many, many Broadway shows, I still treasure her as the single outstanding
artist I ever saw perform in New York. The audience at her Carnegie Hall
concert in ’61 was like one huge breathing entity.

--
Wayne Boatwright
(correct the spelling of "geemail" to reply)
************************************************** **********************
Date: Friday, 11(XI)/14(XIV)/08(MMVIII)
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Countdown till U.S. Thanksgiving Day
1wks 5dys 3mins
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Use your MasterCard to pay your Visa bill.
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On Sat 15 Nov 2008 12:01:43a, King's Crown told us...

>
> "Wayne Boatwright" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected] 5.247...
>> On Fri 14 Nov 2008 10:59:00p, Paul M. Cook told us...
>>
>>> Probably so. It's sad that many kids who see the movie for the first
>>> time are bored by it and think it "sucks" because it has no slick CGI
>>> stuff and swashbuckling characters hacking people to death with magic
>>> swords and sultry vixens with huge boobs leeping off skyscrapers only
>>> to land on their two feet totally unscathed 800 feet below. We've
>>> destroyed kid's imagination.
>>
>> I totally agree. Technology and "techie" parents have absolutely
>> ruined the innocence and simplicity of childhood for most children.
>
> My kids now techie teenagers still sit and watch it with me every year.
> We have about 6 must see movies during October. One of them being "The
> Wizard of Oz." It's family movie night with all the trimmings and we
> have a good time every year.
>
> Lynne

That's encouraging, Lynne. I hope there are more families like yours than
I thought.

--
Wayne Boatwright
(correct the spelling of "geemail" to reply)
************************************************** **********************
Date: Saturday, 11(XI)/15(XV)/08(MMVIII)
************************************************** **********************
Countdown till U.S. Thanksgiving Day
1wks 4dys 23hrs 45mins
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Jet Engine Theory -- Suck, Squeeze, Bang, Blow!
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In article <gflof5$m49$[email protected]>,
"Paul M. Cook" <[email protected]> wrote:

> "Wayne Boatwright" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected] 5.250...
> > Anyone watching The Wizard Of Oz tonight?
> >
> > I've had the videotape and now have the DVD, but I can never resist
> > watching a broadcast of it. It's on TNT right now, at least in my time
> > zone.
> >
> > The flying monkeys scared the crap out of me when I was a little kid, but
> > I
> > still watched every chance I got.
> >
> > My dad was an avid collector of fine books, and over a period of years
> > found first editions of all of the Oz books that he gave me as gifts. I
> > still have the complete collection.
> >
> > I was lucky enough to meet Margaret Hamilton at The Cleveland Playhouse
> > when she performed in a production of Night Must Fall in 1978, when she
> > was
> > 76. As members of The Playhouse Club, we attended a late supper at the
> > club in her honor. She was witty, charming, and gracious.and very tiny.
> >
> > My first live encounter with Judy Garland was at her Carnegie Hall concert
> > in 1961 when I was 16. I was fortunate to see her in six other live
> > performances up until the year before her death in 1969. Garland loved to
> > invite small groups of fans to her dressing room after performances, and I
> > made it there twice. She was one of the funniest people I ever met.
> >
> > Anyway, I still think the "Wizard" will eternally be one of the most
> > charming films of its type of all time.
>
>
> Probably so. It's sad that many kids who see the movie for the first time
> are bored by it and think it "sucks" because it has no slick CGI stuff and
> swashbuckling characters hacking people to death with magic swords and
> sultry vixens with huge boobs leeping off skyscrapers only to land on their
> two feet totally unscathed 800 feet below. We've destroyed kid's
> imagination.

Not all of them. My daughter loves it.

Miche

--
Electricians do it in three phases

On Sat 15 Nov 2008 12:23:19a, Miche told us...

>
> Not all of them. My daughter loves it.
>
> Miche
>

In most cases, I think it's the intelligent and sensitive parent who guides
their child toward things of value and enrichment. I would expect that of
you, Miche, and many other people I know. Yet there are certainly many who
simply don't qualify. It's pretty obvious when you watch parent and child
interact in public.

--
Wayne Boatwright
(correct the spelling of "geemail" to reply)
************************************************** **********************
Date: Saturday, 11(XI)/15(XV)/08(MMVIII)
************************************************** **********************
Countdown till U.S. Thanksgiving Day
1wks 4dys 23hrs 34mins
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'Do What Thou Wilt' shall be the whole of the Law.
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On Fri 14 Nov 2008 11:27:59p, sf told us...

> On Sat, 15 Nov 2008 05:06:32 GMT, Wayne Boatwright
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>Anyone watching The Wizard Of Oz tonight?
>
> When I was just wee child, The Wizard of Oz was shown on Thanksgiving
> Day in my neck o' the woods, not two weeks before. Hrrumph. What's
> this world coming to?

Earlier?

--
Wayne Boatwright
(correct the spelling of "geemail" to reply)
************************************************** **********************
Date: Friday, 11(XI)/14(XIV)/08(MMVIII)
************************************************** **********************
Countdown till U.S. Thanksgiving Day
1wks 5dys 25mins
************************************************** **********************
The ideal government would just tax everyone a dollar a year and
then spend it all on fireworks.
************************************************** **********************

Wayne Boatwright wrote:
> On Fri 14 Nov 2008 11:27:59p, sf told us...
>
>> On Sat, 15 Nov 2008 05:06:32 GMT, Wayne Boatwright
>> <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>> Anyone watching The Wizard Of Oz tonight?
>>
>> When I was just wee child, The Wizard of Oz was shown on Thanksgiving
>> Day in my neck o' the woods, not two weeks before. Hrrumph. What's
>> this world coming to?
>
> Earlier?

When *I* was a wee child it was shown in the spring, which was of course
TORNADO SEASON. Scared the hell out of me!

Jill

On Sat, 15 Nov 2008 05:06:32 GMT, Wayne Boatwright wrote:

> Anyone watching The Wizard Of Oz tonight?
>
> I’ve had the videotape and now have the DVD, but I can never resist
> watching a broadcast of it. It’s on TNT right now, at least in my time
> zone.
>
> The flying monkeys scared the crap out of me when I was a little kid, but I
> still watched every chance I got.
>
>
> Anyway, I still think the “Wizard” will eternally be one of the most
> charming films of its type of all time.

'the wizard of oz' would have been a pretty good movie if they had left out
the dimbulb from kansas.

your pal,
blake