Stubs - Bombshell

Bombshell (1933) Starring Jean Harlow, Lee Tracy, Frank Morgan, Franchot Tone, Pat O'Brien. Directed by Victor Fleming. Produced by Hunt Stromberg. Screenplay by John Lee Mahin, Jules Furthman. Based on the unproduced play Bombshell by Caroline Francke and Mack Crane. Run time: 98 minutes Black & White. USA Pre-Code, Romantic Comedy

It’s rare that an actor will play a character that so closely seems to mirror their own lives. While not a biography, much of Bombshell seems to be based, at least in part, on the life of its star, Jean Harlow.

However, the film is really based on an unproduced play, Bombshell, by Caroline Francke and Mack Crane. It was in a story conference at MGM that the idea to make the play into a comedy was born.  Screenwriter John Lee Mahin had the inspiration to turn the tale into a comedy, ­ an idea seized by Fleming when he realized Bow's story was ripe for satire. "She used to be my girl," Fleming explained. "You'd go to her house, and there'd be a beautiful Oriental rug with coffee stains...and her father would come in drunk, and her secretary was stealing from her."

Stubs - Gone With the Wind

Gone With the Wind (1939) Starring: Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Leslie Howard, Olivia de Havilland, Thomas Mitchell, Evelyn Keyes, Ann Rutherford, Hattie McDonald, Butterfly McQueen. Directed by Victor Fleming. Screenplay by Sidney Howard. Based on the novel Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (New York, 1936). Produced by David O. Selznick Runtime: 220 minutes. USA Color. Romance

Few films have made as big a splash as Gone With the Wind, based on the runaway best seller of the same name written by Margaret Mitchell and published in 1936. The book, which was a top seller for two years, sold 30 million copies worldwide.

Making it into a movie might seem like a foregone conclusion, and it was independent producer David O. Selznick who, prior to its publication, saw the potential, writing in one of his famous memos to his Eastern Story Editor, Katherine “Kay” Brown, “...the more I think about it, the more I feel there is excellent picture in it....”. It was Brown who first read a galley of the 1000+ page book and suggested it to Selznick. The book was published on June 30, 1936, and by early July, he had purchased film rights for $50,000.

Not letting any grass grow up under his feet, he brought in director George Cukor in September 1936 and by September had hired Sidney Howard to do a treatment and write a screenplay. But like practically everything associated with the film, they would not be the last ones. Cukor’s relationship with Selznick seemed to strain as pre-production went on. And even though the film’s principal photography began on January 26, 1939, Cukor left the film on February 14^th.

Stubs - Red Dust

Red Dust (1932) Starring: Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Gene Raymond, Mary Astor. Directed by Victor Fleming. Screenplay by John Mahin.  Based on the play Red Dust by Wilson Collison (New York, 2 Jan 1928). Producer: Hunt Stromberg Run Time: 83 min. USA. Romance, Drama, Pre-Code

Jean Harlow was as close as one can get to being an overnight sensation. She was married at 15 to Charles "Chuck" Fremont McGrew, four years her elder. Afterwards the couple moved to Beverly Hills and, there to win a bet with aspiring actress Rosalie Roy, Harlow went on an audition. She finally received a job in a film, Honor Bound (1928), as an uncredited extra. She would appear in bit roles in several films before signing a five-year deal with Hal Roach in December 1928. There, she appeared with Laurel and Hardy in Double Whoopee (1929), Liberty (1929) and Bacon Grabbers (1929). But her film career put a strain on her marriage and Roach let her out of her contract in March 1929. But in June of that year, Harlow separated from McGrew.

Her big break came later that year when she was spotted by James Hall, an actor working on Howard Hughes’ World War One epic Hell’s Angels (1930). Hughes was having to reshoot much of the film as part of Hollywood’s overall transition from silent to sound. The original leading lady, Greta Nissen, a Norwegian-born actress, had an accent that unfortunately didn’t translate well to sound. After an audition, Harlow was hired and the film went on to be the highest-grossing film of the year, making Harlow an international star, even if the critics didn’t love her as much. She was all of 19.

During the shooting, Harlow met Paul Bern, an MGM executive, a man who would play a big part in her life both professionally and personally. Hughes lent her out to other studios for such films as The Secret Six (1931) at MGM, The Public Enemy (1931) at Warner Bros and Platinum Blonde (1931) at Columbia. Soon, Bern was romantically linked to Harlow and tried to get his boss, Louis B. Mayer, to buy out her contract with Hughes, but Mayer didn’t see her as being up to MGM’s elegant standards for their leading ladies and found her screen persona abhorrent. Undeterred, Bern turned to Irving Thalberg, the head of production and Bern’s close friend.

Reluctantly, Thalberg agreed and on her 21^st birthday, purchased her contract from Hughes for $30,000. Her first film after signing her MGM contract was Red Headed Woman (1932) and her second, Red Dust.

Clark Gable was already a star at MGM, having appeared in such films as Dance Fools Dance (1931) opposite Joan Crawford; A Free Soul (1931) opposite Norma Shearer; Susan Lenox (Her Fall and Rise) (1931) with Greta Garbo; and Possessed (1931) with Crawford again. But it would be Red Dust that would make him MGM’s most important male star.

The movie was based on the play Red Dust by Wilson Collison, which debuted at Daly's 63rd Street Theatre, on January 2, 1928, and played all of eight performances. The three-act play starred Jerome Collamore as Andre Chauvenet; Curtis Cooksey as Lucien Fourville; Leo Curley as McHorg; Lenore Meyrick-Sorsby as Maurice Chauvenet; Leonard Mudie as Jacques Guidon; Sydney Shields as VanTene; and Reo Suga as Hoi. While both the film and the play take place on a rubber plantation in French Indo-China, there were some changes made. To begin with, Lucien Fourville’s character named was changed to a more American sounding Dennis Carson and Andre and Maurice Chauvenet were changed to Gary and Barbara Willis.

The film went into production in late August 1932 and completed a month later. It was during the Labor Day weekend hiatus from the film's production that Harlow's second husband, Paul Bern, committed suicide, just two months after they were married. Although Harlow was absent from filming for ten days, scenes were shot around her and the picture's production was not interrupted.

Red Dust opens on a rubber plantation run by Dennis Carson (Clark Gable). Rubber is the family business and Dennis inherited the plantation from his father. Dennis is out surveying production with "Mac" McQuarg (Tully Marshall) one of the foremen. We get the sense that Carson is getting sick of the work, the heat, the dust one week and the mud – just to make rubber for products “to keep old ladies warm”. When a dust storm arises, the two men head back to the main house to wash up.

When they get there, they find the other foreman, Guidon (Donald Crisp), drunk and asleep on the table. The two men pick him up and carry him into his room, but when they dump his body on his bed, they discover Vantine (Jean Harlow) already there.

Dennis Carson (Clark Gable) and Mac (Tully Marshall) discover Vantine
 (Jean Harlow) already in Guidon's (Donald Crisp) bed

A prostitute by profession, Vantine has hitched a ride on the boat that has come up the river from Saigon. She’s hoping to hide out from the authorities for a while and only took the room when Hoy (Willie Fung) said she could stay there.

Dennis and Vantine bond over cheese of all things.

Dennis is not happy at first to have a woman on the plantation, but Vantine has an easy manner and she’s easy on the eyes. She wears down his resistance, finally breaking the ice with a discussion of cheese preference.

The next boat won’t be for four weeks, so they make the best of the situation and become involved, how much depends on whom you ask. While they take to calling each other “Fred” and “Lily” as a lark, Vantine is more in love with Dennis than he is with her. When the boat arrives from Saigon, with his new engineer on board, Dennis mistakes Vantine’s stammering to say good-bye as her asking for money. He insults her by giving her money.

Dennis pays Vantine for her time when she's leaving.

Getting off the boat as Vantine gets on is Gary Willis (Gene Raymond), the new surveyor Dennis has hired. But he is surprised to see Gary’s wife, Barbara (Mary Astor), also get off the boat. The couple is dressed all in white and stand out almost immediately as outsiders. Dennis is not shy about his contempt for Barbara, even though it turns out he’s very attracted to her. Barbara is not happy with the living conditions, especially that the bath is out in the open. Not the sort of thing for a lady.

Gary (Gene Raymond) and Barbara (Mary Astor) Willis look
out of place as soon as they step off the boat.

Unexpectedly, Vantine returns to the plantation due to trouble with the boat. The confrontation Dennis had hoped to avoid happens over breakfast the next day. Vantine spins a yarn to explain her presence, but it is clear to even her that Barbara doesn’t believe it.

Vantine tells Barbara a story to explain her presence, but Barbara doesn't believe her.

Gary quickly becomes ill, an attack of malaria, and Dennis almost reluctantly helps Barbara take care of him. Dennis refuses to get the doctor or to stay and nurse Gary, and Barbara gets mad and slaps him. But he does end up staying with Gary, nursing him back to health. When Gary is well, Barbara apologizes for her earlier behavior, and it's obvious that Carson has feelings for her. He even brushes Vantine off when he finds her in his room that night.

Barbara needs Dennis to help her take care of Gary, who has become ill with Malaria.

When Gary is able to go back to work, Dennis stays back at the house. Vantine takes the opportunity to flirt with Dennis, taking a bath out in the open in a rain barrel. He worries about Barbara seeing her and he even pushes her down into the water.

Dennis doesn't want Vantine to act improperly in front of a lady.

Barbara does appear and he takes her on an extended tour of the plantation including the "factory" where the rubber "milk" is transformed into rubber. She learns, as we do too, that this is accomplished by adding acidic acid. The rubber is then put through rollers to make it a sheet. Barbara seems impressed.

Barbara gets to see rubber being made.

Barbara is told by Dennis that none of the workers are allowed to bring their wives, as the camp is "no place for a woman." The native women would cause trouble and the white women couldn't "stand the gaff". Dennis admits that he was born to it, and doesn't mind the loneliness, but admits that Vantine is part of the life here, "if a man is interested."

Dennis ends up carrying Barbara back to the main house during a monsoon storm.

Barbara tells him that she aims to be happy and find her place, and thinks she could be happy on the plantation. Dennis asks her if he can make it his job to make her happy. Before she can answer, a sudden storm makes them run for home, and he ends up carrying Barbara, who's dressed in high heels. Vantine sees him carrying Barbara up the stairs into her room, where alone they share a kiss.

"Did the Duchess sprain her ankle?" Vantine asks Dennis when he appears. She knows something is going on between them - the lipstick on his face is a giveaway. Dennis leaves and Barbara, scared of the storm, asks Vantine if she can stay with her. The girls have a chat, both bemoaning the fact that neither of them could resist Dennis’ charms.

That night, everyone sits down to dinner. Gary and Dennis complain openly about the coolies (the indigenous people who work the plantation) and how you can't trust them when your back is turned. Barbara, feeling guilty, excuses herself from the table.

Dennis arranges for Gary and the other men to go on a surveying and construction trip that will take a few weeks and would be too harsh for the women. But Barbara is worried and wants to go with Gary. Vantine threatens Dennis with telling Gary what is going on with his wife. She doesn't though, and while Gary is off, Dennis and Barbara fall in love.

The lovers talk about their future and their plans to get out of "this rotten country." Wanting to get on with their new lives, Dennis says he will tell him the next day when he goes out to visit the men. Barbara is worried because Gary is "so helpless” but she doesn’t stop Dennis from riding out to the work camp.

Out in the jungle, the camp is being threatened by a tiger and the men break up into groups to try and kill it. Gary and Dennis are paired together and they chat while they wait. Gary talks nearly nonstop about how much he loves Barbara and the plans they have for an idyllic life back in the States.

While they wait for a tiger to show, Gary tells Dennis about his plans with Barbara back in the states.

Dennis kills the tiger, but also realizes that he is not right for Barbara. Even though it is night time and it is raining, Dennis insists on riding back to the main house, a six hour trip in the dark. When Gary asks out loud what would make Dennis ride back in a storm, Guidon insinuates in no uncertain words that it’s Gary’s wife. Gary decides to ride after him.

But Dennis has decided to break it off with Barbara and tells Vantine so over a bottle. Dennis tells Vantine that she is more his type and better suited for the life they’re living.

Dennis: It’s a dirty, rotten country.

Vantine: And we're dirty, rotten people, I suppose, eh?

Dennis: Sure.

The two go back to calling each other Fred and Lily, embrace and even playfully wrestle. It’s at that moment that Barbara enters the room and is none too pleased to see what is going on. In an effort to be cruel to be kind, Dennis tells Barbara that he is not a one woman man, but she is welcome to take her turn.

Barbara walks in on Dennis and Vantine getting reacquainted.

Barbara feels wronged and lets Dennis know by shooting him, hitting him in the arm. The timing couldn’t be better as Gary walks in. To explain things and to protect Dennis, Vantine tells him that Dennis, who has had a thing foo Barbara, had gotten drunk and tried to break into her room, but Barbara defended herself. She warns Gary to take his wife away from there. Dennis adds, “You two pack your tennis racquets and go back where you belong."

Gary is proud of how his wife handled Dennis.

Gary is proud of his wife and retorts, "If she hadn't plugged you I would have."

Vantine pushes the bullet out of the wound.

Vantine helps Dennis patch up his wound, even pushing the bullet out the wound on the other end. Later, we see her sitting on Dennis’ bed reading to him from the newspaper, including a bed-time story. The only thing she hasn’t read him, which she finally does, is the notice that Willises are sailing to San Francisco.

While Dennis recuperates, Vantine reads to him from the newspaper.

Finally, Dennis makes his move on Vantine and we’re left assuming they live as happily ever after as two people can in the jungles of Indochina.

Red Dust rolled into theaters on October 22, 1932, and earned $1,223,000 worldwide on a budget of $408,000.

According to information in the file on the film in the MPAA/PCA Collection in the AMPAS Library, some territories objected to parts of the film; however, most censor boards approved it for exhibition. Berlin was an exception, having been as Variety termed it "deemed too hot for Nazified Germany.” In a letter from Hays Office representative Col. Jason Joy to MGM executive William Orr, dated 12 Oct 1932, Joy stated: "The sex element has, on the whole, we believe, been handled extremely well."

There are many things that make Red Dust an interesting film. The story about work on a rubber plantation is not something you see very often on screen. Nor would the depiction of an extramarital affair and nudity, though very tame by modern standards, be seen on film for more than three decades. Even at that, the affair is more hinted at through a few kisses and a lot of looks. Jean Harlow was about as naked as you can be on film at that time, but there was no reason to show more than her shoulders above the water.

This film provided outlets for two sets of fans; those attracted to Gable’s good looks and manliness and those attracted to Harlow’s sultry lips and wisecracking mouth. While Gable may be the male lead, it is Harlow who makes the film interesting to watch. She has great comedic timing and delivers the lines as if they were right out of her head. She is fun to watch and listen to throughout the film. It is truly sad that her career would end so suddenly when she died of kidney disease at the age of 26.

Mary Astor, who plays the other woman, should not be overlooked. Astor was all of 26 when she played Barbara but had been in films since having a bit part in Buster Keaton’s short, The Scarecrow (1920). Most of her early films are sadly considered lost and if Hollywood had its way, Astor may never have been a star. When the studios switched over to sound, despite her good looks and talent, Astor was out, her voice deemed too masculine for films and Fox released her from her contract.

She was out of films for a total of eight months, returning in Paramount’s Ladies Love Brutes (1930) starring George Bancroft and Fredric March. She would work steadily until her retirement in 1964 after finishing Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964). Perhaps best known for her role as Brigid O'Shaughnessy in The Maltese Falcon (1941), Astor was a good choice to play Barbara in Red Dust.

Gene Raymond had the unenviable task of acting in the shadow of Clark Gable. His role in Red Dust is rather small, though not insignificant, but he is somewhat forgotten in the shadows of Gable, Harlow, and Astor.

Raymond, who would marry Gable’s San Francisco co-star Jeanette MacDonald in 1937, was a homosexual and would be arrested three times for having sex with a man. He would continue to act, however, also co-starring in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mr. and Mrs. Smith (1940) opposite Carole Lombard and Robert Montgomery.

Willie Fung plays Hoy, not a flattering depiction of the indigenous population.

As good as the film is, Red Dust is still a product of its time. Those looking for political correctness will need to look elsewhere. The Coolies are often held up to ridicule and their image is not helped by the depiction of Hoy by Willie Fung. He is presented as a somewhat idiotic, lazy trouble-maker. Not the best image to put forward. While Fung’s acting is somewhat off-putting, he would have a fairly long career in Hollywood. Born in China, Fung would appear in 125 films in a career that lasted from 1923 to 1945, though usually in uncredited roles.

What makes the film work best besides Harlow's comedic senses, is her interplay with Gable. The two have a very good screen chemistry, which MGM took notice of as well, pairing them in several films. In their first, The Secret Six (1931), neither were stars, though Harlow, not Gable, did receive credit on the movie's poster. While Red Dust would be the first time they co-starred in a film together, it was certainly not the last. The next year, they would appear in Hold Your Man, followed by China Seas (1935), Wife vs. Secretary (1936) with Myrna Loy, and Saratoga (1937), which would sadly be her last film. 

I would recommend Red Dust to anyone who likes Pre-Code films or is fans of Gable, Harlow or Astor. You will not be disappointed.

Stubs - The Wizard of Oz

THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939) Starring: Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, Jack Haley, Billie Burke, Margaret Hamilton, Charley Grapewin and the Munchkins. Directed by Victor Fleming. Screenplay by Noel Langley, based on the novel: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L, Frank Baum. Music Composed by Herbert Stothart. Songs by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg. Produced by Mervin LeRoy. Run Time: 103 minutes, Sepia and Color. U.S. Musical, Fantasy

I hope I never meet someone that doesn’t like THE WIZARD OF OZ. It may not be your favorite film of all time, but it is hard to find one that is as creative and as fun as this one. More than most films from the same era, this film has survived through the ages. No one may want to spend the time watching GONE WITH THE WIND (1939), but they will sit with their children and grandchildren to watch this movie. If you grew up when I did, THE WIZARD OF OZ was as much a part of Easter as colored eggs, as CBS would annually show on that night.

At school the next day, children would no doubt wonder if this was the first color film ever made. I remember one fellow student wondering if they had run out of color film and had to use black and white. To this day, I have had heated debates with adults over whether this was the first color film from Hollywood. (BTW: The first Technicolor feature was the now lost THE GULF BETWEEN (1917).)

THE WIZARD OF OZ tells the story of Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland) who hates her gray (sepia) life in Kansas. In the good old the grass is always greener approach, Dorothy longs for life somewhere over the rainbow. No wonder, she is stuck on a dusty farm with her Auntie Em (Clara Blandick); Uncle Harry (Charley Grapewin) and three goofy helpers, Hunk (Ray Bolger), Zeke (Bert Lahr) and Hickory (Jack Haley). And to top it off her only true companion, the dog Toto is being persecuted by local old maid Miss Alma Gulch (Margaret Hamilton) who wants the dog turned over the sheriff for disposal.

Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale, singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."

When Dorothy goes to her Aunt and Uncle for help, all they do is capitulate to Miss Gulch and who rides off with little Toto in her bicycle basket. No wonder when Toto escapes, Dorothy decides to run away from home. On the road, she runs into Professor Marvel (Frank Morgan) a shister fortune teller, who takes her in only long enough to make her decide she had better return home just ahead of a tornado. One of the better 1930’s special effects is the tornado who continues to weave a path of destruction while Dorothy runs home. (I find this tornado more believable than any that I saw in TWISTER (1996).)

A twister is about to change Dorothy's life forever.

As luck would have it Dorothy arrives just in time to miss out on everyone running to shelter. And try as she might to get in, her loving Aunt and Uncle leave her out in the elements. Running inside the house for cover, Dorothy rides the house up into the air. There (with less believable special effects) Dorothy watches as others are sucked into the vortex, including Miss Gulch who pedals along, turning into a witch before Dorothy’s eyes. Knocked out by flying debris, Dorothy wakes up after the house has returned to earth.

But she, as she apply tells her dog, is not in Kansas anymore. Instead of gray old Kansas, Dorothy walks out into the Technicolor overkill of Munchkinland. And she may have left Kansas as a nobody, but she arrives in Oz a hero. For when her house came down in Munchkinland, it took out the Wicked Witch of the East. She is informed of this by Glinda, the Good Witch (Billie Burke). Glinda also rouses the Munchkins (credited as the Singer Midgets) who celebrate their new found freedom in song. But the celebration is cut short by the arrival of the Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Hamilton), who has come to retrieve the ruby slippers worn by her now deceased sister. But Glinda makes sure they end up on Dorothy’s feet instead and thus puts Dorothy in mortal danger. Foiled, the Wicked Witch retreats, but not before promising to get even with Dorothy.

After killing the Wicked Witch of the East, Dorothy is given her red ruby slippers.

Now that Dorothy has arrived over the rainbow her first course of business is to return home to drab ‘ol Kansas. She is told that the Wonderful Wizard of Oz can help her and he can be found in the Emerald City and to get there all she and Toto have to do is follow the Yellow Brick Road.

Free advice turns out to be less than reliable, when Dorothy finds the Yellow Brick road is not a straight shot. At the proverbial fork in the road, Dorothy meets Scarecrow (Ray Bolger) who is as helpful as someone without a brain can be. Dorothy offers to let him go with her to see the Wizard in hopes that he can give him a brain.

The Scarecrow (Ray Bolger) offers advice to Dorothy.

Next, they come across the Tin Man (Jack Haley) who is rusted in place and missing a heart. While oil works to free him, the heart may be provided by the Wizard and off the three of them go to the Emerald CIty. They are confronted by a Lion (Bert Lahr) who acts tough because he lacks courage. And who better to give him courage than the Wizard.

The Tin Man (Jack Haley) has rusted in place before Dorothy and the Scarecrow free him.

When the foursome finally makes it to the Emerald City, and get their audience with the Wizard, who appears as a disembodied head. He will consider granting their wishes if they bring him the Wicked Witch’s broomstick. And off they go to find her.

The Lion (Bert Lahr) (far right) joins the Tin Man, the
Scarecrow and Dorothy on their way to the Emerald City.

However, the Witch is already watching Dorothy and she dispatches her army of Flying Monkeys to bring Dorothy and the dog to her. Using the dog as a bargaining chip, the Witch convinces Dorothy to give up the slippers. But they won’t come off. The witch decides Dorothy will have to die, but has to figure out how to do that without diminishing the slipper’s power.

The Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Hamilton) has
flying monkeys she sends after Dorothy and friends.

Plucky Toto escapes and the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion follow the dog back to the witch’s castle. Their attempted rescue goes awry and they find themselves cornered by the Witch and her henchmen. The witch even goes so far as to set the Scarecrow’s straw body on fire. When Dorothy throws water on him, some of it accidentally splashes on the Witch, who melts away. Like the Munchkins before them, the Witch’s soldiers celebrate and give Dorothy the broomstick she has come for.

Returning to the Emerald City, Toto pulls back the curtain to reveal the Mighty Oz is nothing more than an old man (Frank Morgan) who is turning dials, pulling levers and speaking into a microphone. He tells the group that what they are looking for they already have, The Scarecrow has brains, but doesn’t have a diploma. The Tin Man has a heart, but doesn’t have a testimonial, Likewise, the Lion has courage, he just doesn’t have a metal to prove it. The last one to get helped is Dorothy. And the Wizard, who like her was born in Kansas and brought to Oz by the winds, promises to take her home in the hot air balloon he was flying in when he came.

Dorothy is about to leave with the Wizard of Oz (Frank Morgan) when Toto jumps out of the basket.

The departure set and the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion to stand in for the Wizard, Dorothy is about to go home when Toto jumps from the balloon’s basket. Dorothy goes after him, but no one, not even the Wizard can stop the balloon. Just when all seems lost, re-enter Glinda, who tells Dorothy all she has to do to go home is click her heels and wish.

Waking up back home, Dorothy tries to get her Aunt and Uncle to believe her, but in the end it doesn’t matter. There is no place like home.

Dorothy wakes up with Professor Marvel, Hickory, Hunk and Zeke watching over her.

There is little not to like about this movie .Showcasing Judy Garland’s singing talents, THE WIZARD OF OZ is like comfort food. It is something that you want to go back to again and again. Maybe not because it the greatest movie ever made, just like mom’s meatloaf isn’t the greatest dish ever created. But like Mom’s meat loaf, THE WIZARD OF OZ reminds you of home. And home, despite its shortcomings of excitement is where the people that love you are. THE WIZARD OF OZ is one of those films that stirs the imagination and takes you on a ride that you want to go on again and again.