The Making of The Wizard of Oz

Description

Released in conjunction with the 75th-anniversary DVD release of The Wizard of Oz , this book is the definitive story of how one of America's most beloved movies was made and a marvelous, unprecedented examination of how Hollywood used to make movies. This updated edition includes numerous photos and shares hundreds of interviews with cameramen, screenwriters, costume designers, directors, producers, light technicians, actors, and more to reveal how the factory-like Hollywood system of moviemaking miraculously produced one of the most enduring films ever made. From the scandalous headlines of Munchkin orgies at the Culver City Hotel and the Witch's (accidental) burning to the building of the Emerald City and the sewing of nearly 1,000 costumes, The Making of The Wizard of Oz provides a richly detailed re-creation of MGM's production No. 1060 and a detail-by-detail, department-by-department look at the most powerful and flamboyant studio Hollywood has ever known. From the ten scriptwriters at work to the scandal headlines of Munchkin orgies at the Culver City Hotel to the Witch's (accidental) burning, here is the real story of the making of The Wizard of Oz. This richly detailed re-creation brings alive a major Hollywood studio and reveals, through hundreds of interviews (with cameramen, screenwriters, costume designers, directors, producers, light technicians, and actors), how the factory-like Hollywood system of moviemaking miraculously produced one of the most enduring and best-loved films ever made. We watch it happen--the bright, idiosyncratic, wildly devoted MGM-ers inventing the lines, the songs; flying hordes of monkeys through the sky; growing a poppy field; building the Emerald City (and 60 other sets); designing and sewing the nearly 1,000 costumes; enduring the pressures from the front office; choosing the actors. Here is Oz, a marvelous, unprecedented experience of studio life as it was lived day by day, detail by detail, department by department, at the most powerful and flamboyant studio Hollywood has ever known--at its moment of greatest power.

Aljean Harmetz is the author of The Making of Casablanca, On the Road to Tara: The Making of Gone with the Wind, Rolling Breaks and Other Movie Business, and a novel, Off the Face of the Earth. She spent twelve years as the Hollywood and West Coast cultural reporter at the New York Times.

"Fantastic." --Gore Vidal, New York Review of Books on previous edition "Grand." --Ray Bradbury, Los Angeles Times on previous edition It is a splendid book, not only for those interested in The Wizard of Oz, but for those who are interested in moviemaking in general in the golden era of Hollywood."Aljean Harmetz tells all about how Oz was made and she manages, with a series of penetrating asides, to give more of the feel of the studios in the late 1930s than I have been able to get from books whose specific purpose is to give the feel of the '30s Hollywood." --Emerson Batdorff, Entertainment Editor, Cleveland Plain Dealer on previous edition The Making of the Wizard of Oz by Aljean Harmetz is the best new book about show business I've read in a season of clutter. It's a richly detailed, thoroughly researched work filled with illuminating and fascinating information about one of the greatest movie classics of all time. It is also a book that opens up the very heart of Hollywood during the 30s and 40s, when men who loved movies still had the heart to make them...A wonderful book." --Rex Reed, New York Daily News on previous edition "There has been a lot written about the making of this remarkable film, but this must stand as the most exhaustive and well-researched to date...An entertaining and fact-filled book." --Houston Post on previous edition "As fascinating an insight into the making of a movie as has ever been written." --Harry F. Themal, Sunday News Journal. Wilmington, Del. on previous edition "Harmetz is not to be taken lightly, and her enjoyable, very informative book is much more than a paean to the 1939 movie. It is an important work, assembled by a meticulous and accomplished writer...Harmetz' book is perhaps the definitive story of how a movie was made under the studio system." --Stanley Eichelbaum, San Francisco Examiner- Chronicle on previous edition "It is difficult to imagine anyone with an interest in moviemaking special effects, Oz or fantasy in general who would not be avidly engrossed in 'The Making of the Wizard of Oz.'" --Leslie Burleson, El Paso Times on previous edition "If you are a movie buff, you will find The Making of the Wizard of Oz, by Aljean Harmetz, a must. It is a moving account of a great film." --Richard Montgomery, KEX Radio, Oregon on previous edition "I have read many books recently about the 'making of such and such'...However, none is as fine or as definitive as THE MAKING OF THE WIZARD OF OZ. Here, the 'The Making of ...' books have reached their highest point...a mosaic containing so much detail, so much humor, so much vibrant life from those participants who remain to share their adventures on The Yellow Brick Road with us, that I must doff my frayed cap with a shouted 'hussah!'" "THE MAKING OF THE WIZARD OF OZ is a delightful, charming, absolutely authentic and completely honest attempt to examine and perhaps explain the success of something that has become a part of all our lives." --Edwin Corley, GOOD BOOKS, syndicated in 173 papers on previous edition "The Harmetz book is lively and meticulous, comprehensive, important and touching for the Oz faithful, and for all who want to know more about the Hollywood that was." -- Charles Champlin , Times Arts Editor, Los Angeles Times on previous edition "A truly inspiring book. " -- Mitchell Rubin, Chareston, IL Times-Courier on previous edition "Aljean Harmetz found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, and she worked hard to get it. 'The Making of the Wizard of Oz' concerns studio power in the prime of MGM--the miracle of production No. 1060. It is a big, thick book that explains and shows fantasyland, but makes it all the more intriguing for the telling." "Harmetz's ...is a book that is a good read about a movie that is a good see, both getting their weight from chaotic, fertile worlds around them." -- Boston Globe on previous edition " If you find The Wizard of Oz a continuing marvel, this behind-the-scenes account of a Hollywood studio at work isn't to be missed." --Seventeen on previous edition "All the marvelous excitement, the craziness, and the miracles that went into making this film classic emerge in a book which creates at the same time a picture of how Hollywood worked. The author, whose mother worked at MGM in those great old days, writes with the ease of the insider who sees all the faults yet loves the industry for its wonders." -- HB , Books of the Southwest on previous edition "A remarkable book" --Judith Crist, New York on previous edition "A complete joy...I'd definitely recommend The Making of The Wizard of Oz to both the casual fan and true Oz devotee." --Thrilling Days of Yesteryear