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The Wizard of Oz

Released Apr 13, 1925 1h 10m Fantasy List
Tomatometer 2 Reviews 80% Popcornmeter 50,000+ Ratings
Young Dorothy (Dorothy Dwan), a farm girl from Kansas, discovers that she's actually Princess Dorothea, the royal heir to a faraway kingdom called Oz. Suddenly, a powerful tornado whisks Dorothy, her uncle Henry (Frank Alexander) and three farmhands to the magical kingdom. There Dorothy is hailed as the queen of the land by all except authoritarian Prime Minister Kruel (Joseph Swickard), who casts a curse on Dorothy in an attempt maintain his dictatorial reign.
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The Wizard of Oz

Critics Reviews

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Phil Hall Film Threat Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road! Rated: 1/5 Aug 28, 2009 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews Terrible version of The Wizard of Oz, that's filmed as a heavy-handed slapstick comedy. Rated: C- Dec 21, 2008 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member Take or leave the 1920s pratfalls. But the movie is uncharming, and takes literally half the film to get Dorothy to Oz, an interminable character development that detracts from it. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 02/07/23 Full Review Audience Member To be regarded as a classic means this movie fails to live up to it's name. I feel It could have been so much better with a bit better planning. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/17/23 Full Review Audience Member In a word, dreadful. Way too much slapstick that isnâ(TM)t funny, and way too much air time for Larry Semon, who plays the Scarecrow and also produced, directed, and wrote this mess. (Donâ(TM)t put much in to the credit to L. Frank Baum Jr., thatâ(TM)s the original authorâ(TM)s son who was probably more involved in the business aspects, and regardless, his father must have been rolling over in his grave.) Semon put his real-life fiancà (C) Dorothy Dwan in the role of an 18-year-old Dorothy, courted by two farmhands (himself and Oliver Hardy), but thereâ(TM)s nothing at all interesting in her surprisingly limited role. Aside from the long list of cool aspects of the 1939 film that are nowhere to be seen in any form here, this is a story that has no charm and often doesnâ(TM)t make a lot of sense. On top of it all, the cowardly lion is played by Spencer Bell, an African-American given the credit G. Howe Black (sound that out for an ugh), the farmhand name Snowball, and various stereotypes, e.g. simple and easily frightened. There is one nice stunt, a jump from the top of a farm silo shot in slower motion than normal, but that was about it for me. Very disappointing. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 01/13/23 Full Review Audience Member One of the all-time classics in cinema. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/18/23 Full Review Audience Member Not a good movie because it's to old fashioned the only thing I liked was the song some day Rated 1 out of 5 stars 01/20/23 Full Review Audience Member The widzard of Oz is one hell of movie one hell of a movie !! When doerothy fall down the stairs is the key to the movie !!! But sometimes they don't !! I favorite part is when the witch melt into plastic!!! I don't like the movie !!! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/23/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Wizard of Oz

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Movie Info

Synopsis Young Dorothy (Dorothy Dwan), a farm girl from Kansas, discovers that she's actually Princess Dorothea, the royal heir to a faraway kingdom called Oz. Suddenly, a powerful tornado whisks Dorothy, her uncle Henry (Frank Alexander) and three farmhands to the magical kingdom. There Dorothy is hailed as the queen of the land by all except authoritarian Prime Minister Kruel (Joseph Swickard), who casts a curse on Dorothy in an attempt maintain his dictatorial reign.
Director
Larry Semon
Screenwriter
Larry Semon
Distributor
Chadwick Pictures Corporation
Production Co
Chadwick Pictures Corporation
Genre
Fantasy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Apr 13, 1925, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Aug 3, 2016
Runtime
1h 10m
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