Wizard of Oz (1925 film)
Encyclopedia
Wizard of Oz is a 1925 silent film
directed by Larry Semon
, who also appears in a lead role. The first major film adaptation of L. Frank Baum
's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
, this film features a young Oliver Hardy
as the "Tin Woodsman."
was ruled by Prime Minister Kruel (Josef Swickard
), after the baby princess of Oz was mysteriously snatched away from her crib. Kruel's despotic rule is aided by the manipulative Ambassador Wikked (Otto Lederer
), who is the originator of many of Kruel's ideas; the aide Lady Vishuss (Virginia Pearson
); and the Wizard
(Charles Murray
), who only knows parlor tricks and not any actual magic. The people have begun to revolt and their leader, Prince Kynd (Bryant Washburn
), demands the return of the princess so she can be crowned. Kruel, however, knows that once the princess returns his rule over Oz will end, so he sends Ambassador Wikked on a mission to prevent this from happening.
Meanwhile, in Kansas, Dorothy
lives on a farm with her relatives. While Aunt Em
(Mary Carr
) is a kind and caring woman, Uncle Henry
(Frank Alexander
) is a cruel man who constantly yells and berates Dorothy. He also abuses his farmhands Snowball (credited to G. Howe Black, a stage name for Spencer Bell
, who frequently appeared in Semon's films), Hardy and Semon when he feels they are not doing their work. Hardy and Semon are both in love with Dorothy, who toys with them but doesn't commit to either of them, driving them both crazy with her indecision. After a particularly grueling day on the farm, Aunt Em reveals to Dorothy that they are not her birth relatives and that she was found on their doorstep with an envelope, instructing that it only be opened when she turned eighteen.
When her birthday comes, however, Wikked and his minions come to the farm, demanding that the envelope be given to them unopened. It turns out that the note inside is in fact a royal decree which reveals Dorothy to be the long-lost Princess Dorothea of Oz. As long as Dorothy never reads the decree, she cannot legally become the queen according to the laws of Oz. Uncle Henry refuses to hand the envelope over, and so Wikked takes Dorothy hostage, threatening to kill her, and orders the entire farm to be searched. While searching the farm, Wikked finds out that Hardy is in love with Dorothy, and promises wealth and Dorothy's love if Hardy gets the note to him first. Tempted by the riches given to him by Wikked, Hardy readily agrees and manages to find the note. Before he can give the envelope to Wikked, he is ambushed by Semon, who takes it back and saves Dorothy.
As Hardy and Wikked chase Semon, a tornado suddenly forms, sucking everybody in and forcing Dorothy to take shelter in the farmhouse. The house is blown towards the entrance to Oz, smashing into pieces upon hitting the ground. Semon then gives the envelope to Dorothy who promptly reads the decree; by the time Kruel and Kynd come out to intercept her, she has already finished reading it. Thwarted, Kruel and Wikked proceed to blame the farmhands for kidnapping Dorothy and order the Wizard to change them into monkeys, which the Wizard is unable to do. Semon and Hardy try to help him out by disguising themselves as the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodsman respectively but the disguises are soon seen through and they are promptly arrested. During their trial, Hardy betrays his fellow farmhands and accuses them of kidnapping Dorothy, and Kynd sentences them to imprisonment.
With Hardy now aiding him, Kruel is free to continue ruling as a dictator, using Dorothy and Kynd as his puppets. He allows Dorothy to give Hardy and her Uncle Henry high positions in the army while also plotting to keep her from knowing his schemes. He eventually decides, with Wikked's persuasion, to cement his power by marrying her, and also forces Semon and Snowball to work in his underground prisons. The Wizard helps Snowball and Semon escape by giving Snowball a Lion
costume, which he uses to scare off their guards. Though Semon manages to reach Dorothy to warn her that she was being used, he's chased back down into the dungeons by Hardy, and ends up trapped inside a lion cage for a considerable amount of time. He and Snowball eventually escape, and Semon gets to Dorothy's room in time to save her and Kynd from Kruel's treachery. Cornered by Semon and Kynd, Kruel admits that he was the one who had kidnapped Dorothy as a baby and took her to Kansas, in order to keep her from court factions that meant to do her harm; it is later implied that they are led by Wikked and that he is the true antagonist of the story.
After Kruel is taken away, Semon attempts to tell Dorothy how he feels about her, only to find that Dorothy has fallen in love with Prince Kynd and intends to marry him and rule Oz. Heartbroken, Semon is then chased by Wikked and Hardy's men, who attempt to blast him with cannon balls. Snowball flies a plane over and grabs Semon before he can be hit, but the ladder breaks, and Semon falls. Outside of the story, the granddaughter's Scarecrow doll falls off of a chair, implying that the Scarecrow in the story may have died from the fall. This wakes the granddaughter up, who is comforted by the toymaker and bidden to go back to sleep. The toymaker then secretly reads the last page of the book, which shows that Prince Kynd and Dorothy lived happily ever after in Oz. Given that he created dolls that were the exact likeness of several of the characters in the story, the implication is that the toymaker is actually Semon's character.
from the books. The film focuses mainly upon Semon's character, who is analogous to Ray Bolger
's Scarecrow character in the 1939 version
.
The major departure from the book and film is that the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion are not actually characters, but are in fact disguises donned by three farm hands who find themselves swept into Oz by a tornado. Dorothy is here played by Dorothy Dwan
— Semon's wife. Her version of the character is a young, seductive woman who has just turned 18 and who finds herself in the middle of a love triangle
between Semon and Hardy. In a drastic departure from the original book, the "Tin Man" is a villain in this version, as Hardy's jealousy over Dorothy leads him to become the henchman for the evil Prime Minister Kruel. Semon vies unsuccessfully for Dorothy's love, losing at first to the farmhand played by Hardy, and then to Prince Kynd.
Some elements of the narrative have their roots in earlier adaptations of The Wizard of Oz. For example, Prime Minister Kruel has a predecessor in King Krewl, the antagonist of His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz. The note explaining Princess Dorothea's true heritage is signed "Pastoria
", a name used for the exiled King of Oz in the 1902 stage version of The Wizard of Oz
and for the father of Princess Ozma
in The Marvelous Land of Oz
and later Oz books.
, and many home media releases of the film, including Betamax
, VHS
, Laserdisc
, CED, DVD
, HD DVD
and Blu-ray Disc
, are available.
The film is also included in all of the home media releases of the 1939 film of the same name
, along with earlier silent films based on the Oz stories, beginning with the 2005 3-disc Collector's Edition of the film.
Many home video releases of the film completely lacked a score, as with many early releases of public domain silent films.
The version with an organ score performed by Rosa Rio
was made in 1986, and was included in the Video Yesteryear
edition.
In 1996, a new version was made. This version was included in all of the home media releases of the film, beginning with the "L. Frank Baum Silent Film Collection of Oz", released by American Home Entertainment on November 26, 1996, and features a score performed by Mark Glassman and Steffen Presley, and a narration performed by Jacqueline Lovell.
In 2005, another version was made. This version features original music composed and arranged by Robert Israel and performed by the Robert Israel Orchestra (Europe), and is included in all of the home media releases of the 1939 film, beginning with the 2005 3-Disc Collector's Edition DVD of the film.
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
directed by Larry Semon
Larry Semon
Lawrence "Larry" Semon was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter during the silent film era. In his day, Semon was considered a major movie comedian, but he is now remembered mainly for working with both Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy before they started working together.He is also...
, who also appears in a lead role. The first major film adaptation of L. Frank Baum
L. Frank Baum
Lyman Frank Baum was an American author of children's books, best known for writing The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a children's novel written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. Originally published by the George M. Hill Company in Chicago on May 17, 1900, it has since been reprinted numerous times, most often under the name The Wizard of Oz, which is the name of...
, this film features a young Oliver Hardy
Oliver Hardy
Oliver Hardy was an American comic actor famous as one half of Laurel and Hardy, the classic double act that began in the era of silent films and lasted nearly 30 years, from 1927 to 1955.-Early life:...
as the "Tin Woodsman."
Plot
A toymaker (Semon) makes a Scarecrow doll for his granddaughter, who asks him to tell her the story about Oz. He tells her about how the Land of OzLand of Oz
Oz is a fantasy region containing four lands under the rule of one monarch.It was first introduced in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, one of many fantasy countries that he created for his books. It achieved a popularity that none of his other works attained, and after four years, he...
was ruled by Prime Minister Kruel (Josef Swickard
Josef Swickard
Josef Swickard was a German-born veteran stage and screen character actor, who had toured with stock companies in Europe, South Africa, and South America.-Career:...
), after the baby princess of Oz was mysteriously snatched away from her crib. Kruel's despotic rule is aided by the manipulative Ambassador Wikked (Otto Lederer
Otto Lederer
Otto Lederer was a Czech-born American film actor. He appeared in 120 films between 1912 and 1933.He was born in Prague, and died in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles. He was married to actress Gretchen Lederer...
), who is the originator of many of Kruel's ideas; the aide Lady Vishuss (Virginia Pearson
Virginia Pearson
Virginia Belle Pearson was an American stage and film actress. She made fifty-one films in a career which extended from 1910 until 1932.-Career:...
); and the Wizard
Wizard (Oz)
The Wizard of Oz, known during his reign as The Great and Powerful Oz, is the epithet of Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkel Emmannuel Ambroise Diggs, a fictional character in the Land of Oz, created by American author L...
(Charles Murray
Charles Murray (actor)
Charles Murray , was an American film actor of the silent era. He appeared in 283 films between 1912 and 1938...
), who only knows parlor tricks and not any actual magic. The people have begun to revolt and their leader, Prince Kynd (Bryant Washburn
Bryant Washburn
Born Franklin Bryant Washburn , Bryant Washburn was an American film actor. He appeared in 330 films between 1911 and 1947....
), demands the return of the princess so she can be crowned. Kruel, however, knows that once the princess returns his rule over Oz will end, so he sends Ambassador Wikked on a mission to prevent this from happening.
Meanwhile, in Kansas, Dorothy
Dorothy Gale
Dorothy Gale is the protagonist of many of the Oz novels by American author L. Frank Baum, and the best friend of Oz's ruler Princess Ozma. Dorothy first appears in Baum's classic children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and reappears in most of its sequels...
lives on a farm with her relatives. While Aunt Em
Aunt Em
Aunt Em is a fictional character from the Oz books. She is the aunt of Dorothy Gale and wife of Uncle Henry, and lived together with them on a farm in Kansas...
(Mary Carr
Mary Carr
Mary Carr was an American film actress and was married to the actor William Carr . She appeared in 144 films between 1915 and 1956...
) is a kind and caring woman, Uncle Henry
Uncle Henry (Oz)
Uncle Henry is a fictional character from The Oz Books by L. Frank Baum. He is the uncle of orphan Dorothy Gale and husband of Aunt Em, and lived with them on a farm in Kansas.-Oz Books:...
(Frank Alexander
Frank Alexander
Frank Alexander was an American silent film comedian and actor. Alexander, who was morbidly obese , was best known for playing villains in the films of Larry Semon, who are often the father of Semon's love interest.He is best known to contemporary audiences for portraying a villainous...
) is a cruel man who constantly yells and berates Dorothy. He also abuses his farmhands Snowball (credited to G. Howe Black, a stage name for Spencer Bell
Spencer Bell (actor)
Spencer Bell was an was an American actor, best known for playing opposite Larry Semon in several of his comedies.-Career:...
, who frequently appeared in Semon's films), Hardy and Semon when he feels they are not doing their work. Hardy and Semon are both in love with Dorothy, who toys with them but doesn't commit to either of them, driving them both crazy with her indecision. After a particularly grueling day on the farm, Aunt Em reveals to Dorothy that they are not her birth relatives and that she was found on their doorstep with an envelope, instructing that it only be opened when she turned eighteen.
When her birthday comes, however, Wikked and his minions come to the farm, demanding that the envelope be given to them unopened. It turns out that the note inside is in fact a royal decree which reveals Dorothy to be the long-lost Princess Dorothea of Oz. As long as Dorothy never reads the decree, she cannot legally become the queen according to the laws of Oz. Uncle Henry refuses to hand the envelope over, and so Wikked takes Dorothy hostage, threatening to kill her, and orders the entire farm to be searched. While searching the farm, Wikked finds out that Hardy is in love with Dorothy, and promises wealth and Dorothy's love if Hardy gets the note to him first. Tempted by the riches given to him by Wikked, Hardy readily agrees and manages to find the note. Before he can give the envelope to Wikked, he is ambushed by Semon, who takes it back and saves Dorothy.
As Hardy and Wikked chase Semon, a tornado suddenly forms, sucking everybody in and forcing Dorothy to take shelter in the farmhouse. The house is blown towards the entrance to Oz, smashing into pieces upon hitting the ground. Semon then gives the envelope to Dorothy who promptly reads the decree; by the time Kruel and Kynd come out to intercept her, she has already finished reading it. Thwarted, Kruel and Wikked proceed to blame the farmhands for kidnapping Dorothy and order the Wizard to change them into monkeys, which the Wizard is unable to do. Semon and Hardy try to help him out by disguising themselves as the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodsman respectively but the disguises are soon seen through and they are promptly arrested. During their trial, Hardy betrays his fellow farmhands and accuses them of kidnapping Dorothy, and Kynd sentences them to imprisonment.
With Hardy now aiding him, Kruel is free to continue ruling as a dictator, using Dorothy and Kynd as his puppets. He allows Dorothy to give Hardy and her Uncle Henry high positions in the army while also plotting to keep her from knowing his schemes. He eventually decides, with Wikked's persuasion, to cement his power by marrying her, and also forces Semon and Snowball to work in his underground prisons. The Wizard helps Snowball and Semon escape by giving Snowball a Lion
Cowardly Lion
The Cowardly Lion is the main character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. He is a Lion, but he talks and interacts with humans....
costume, which he uses to scare off their guards. Though Semon manages to reach Dorothy to warn her that she was being used, he's chased back down into the dungeons by Hardy, and ends up trapped inside a lion cage for a considerable amount of time. He and Snowball eventually escape, and Semon gets to Dorothy's room in time to save her and Kynd from Kruel's treachery. Cornered by Semon and Kynd, Kruel admits that he was the one who had kidnapped Dorothy as a baby and took her to Kansas, in order to keep her from court factions that meant to do her harm; it is later implied that they are led by Wikked and that he is the true antagonist of the story.
After Kruel is taken away, Semon attempts to tell Dorothy how he feels about her, only to find that Dorothy has fallen in love with Prince Kynd and intends to marry him and rule Oz. Heartbroken, Semon is then chased by Wikked and Hardy's men, who attempt to blast him with cannon balls. Snowball flies a plane over and grabs Semon before he can be hit, but the ladder breaks, and Semon falls. Outside of the story, the granddaughter's Scarecrow doll falls off of a chair, implying that the Scarecrow in the story may have died from the fall. This wakes the granddaughter up, who is comforted by the toymaker and bidden to go back to sleep. The toymaker then secretly reads the last page of the book, which shows that Prince Kynd and Dorothy lived happily ever after in Oz. Given that he created dolls that were the exact likeness of several of the characters in the story, the implication is that the toymaker is actually Semon's character.
Production history
The film departs radically from the novel upon which it is based, introducing new characters and exploits. Along with a completely different plot, the film is all set in a world that is only barely recognizable as the Land of OzLand of Oz
Oz is a fantasy region containing four lands under the rule of one monarch.It was first introduced in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, one of many fantasy countries that he created for his books. It achieved a popularity that none of his other works attained, and after four years, he...
from the books. The film focuses mainly upon Semon's character, who is analogous to Ray Bolger
Ray Bolger
Raymond Wallace "Ray" Bolger was an American entertainer of stage and screen, best known for his portrayal of the Scarecrow and Kansas farmworker Hank in The Wizard of Oz.-Early life:...
's Scarecrow character in the 1939 version
The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...
.
The major departure from the book and film is that the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion are not actually characters, but are in fact disguises donned by three farm hands who find themselves swept into Oz by a tornado. Dorothy is here played by Dorothy Dwan
Dorothy Dwan
Dorothy Dwan was an American film actress. She appeared in 40 films between 1922 and 1930.Born Dorothy Ilgenfritz in Sedalia, Missouri, she married three times...
— Semon's wife. Her version of the character is a young, seductive woman who has just turned 18 and who finds herself in the middle of a love triangle
Love triangle
A love triangle is usually a romantic relationship involving three people. While it can refer to two people independently romantically linked with a third, it usually implies that each of the three people has some kind of relationship to the other two...
between Semon and Hardy. In a drastic departure from the original book, the "Tin Man" is a villain in this version, as Hardy's jealousy over Dorothy leads him to become the henchman for the evil Prime Minister Kruel. Semon vies unsuccessfully for Dorothy's love, losing at first to the farmhand played by Hardy, and then to Prince Kynd.
Some elements of the narrative have their roots in earlier adaptations of The Wizard of Oz. For example, Prime Minister Kruel has a predecessor in King Krewl, the antagonist of His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz. The note explaining Princess Dorothea's true heritage is signed "Pastoria
Pastoria
King Pastoria is a fictional character mentioned in the Oz books by L. Frank Baum. He was the rightful King of the Land of Oz, but was removed by an evil witch named Mombi, and his throne was taken by the Wizard of Oz...
", a name used for the exiled King of Oz in the 1902 stage version of The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz (1902 stage play)
The Wizard of Oz was a 1902 musical extravaganza based on The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, which was originally published in 1900...
and for the father of Princess Ozma
Princess Ozma
Princess Ozma is a fictional character in the Land of Oz, created by L. Frank Baum. She appears in every book of the series except the first, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz .She is the rightful ruler of Oz, and L...
in The Marvelous Land of Oz
The Marvelous Land of Oz
The Marvelous Land of Oz: Being an Account of the Further Adventures of the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, commonly shortened to The Land of Oz, published on July 5, 1904, is the second of L. Frank Baum's books set in the Land of Oz, and the sequel to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. This and the next...
and later Oz books.
Reception
Many theatres that had originally booked this film never received it because its production caused Chadwick Pictures to go bankrupt, and distribution ceased long before it was intended to.Home media
The film is in the public domainPublic domain
Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...
, and many home media releases of the film, including Betamax
Betamax
Betamax was a consumer-level analog videocassette magnetic tape recording format developed by Sony, released on May 10, 1975. The cassettes contain -wide videotape in a design similar to the earlier, professional wide, U-matic format...
, VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
, Laserdisc
Laserdisc
LaserDisc was a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. Initially licensed, sold, and marketed as MCA DiscoVision in North America in 1978, the technology was previously referred to interally as Optical Videodisc System, Reflective Optical Videodisc, Laser Optical...
, CED, DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
, HD DVD
HD DVD
HD DVD is a discontinued high-density optical disc format for storing data and high-definition video.Supported principally by Toshiba, HD DVD was envisioned to be the successor to the standard DVD format...
and Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
, are available.
The film is also included in all of the home media releases of the 1939 film of the same name
The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...
, along with earlier silent films based on the Oz stories, beginning with the 2005 3-disc Collector's Edition of the film.
Music
The film's premiere in 1925 featured original music orchestrated by Louis La Rondelle, conducted by Harry F. Silverman, feauring Julius K. Johnson at the piano.Many home video releases of the film completely lacked a score, as with many early releases of public domain silent films.
The version with an organ score performed by Rosa Rio
Rosa Rio
Rosa Rio , born Elizabeth Raub, was an American organist who began her career as a silent film accompanist. She became a leading organist on network radio and continued to perform until age 107...
was made in 1986, and was included in the Video Yesteryear
Video Yesteryear
Video Yesteryear of Sandy Hook, Connecticut was the largest catalog retailer of public domain films on VHS, Betamax, and 8mm film beginning in 1977. Originally known as Radiola from 1967, the company distributed old radio shows on LP records and audio cassettes....
edition.
In 1996, a new version was made. This version was included in all of the home media releases of the film, beginning with the "L. Frank Baum Silent Film Collection of Oz", released by American Home Entertainment on November 26, 1996, and features a score performed by Mark Glassman and Steffen Presley, and a narration performed by Jacqueline Lovell.
In 2005, another version was made. This version features original music composed and arranged by Robert Israel and performed by the Robert Israel Orchestra (Europe), and is included in all of the home media releases of the 1939 film, beginning with the 2005 3-Disc Collector's Edition DVD of the film.
See also
- The Wizard of Oz (adaptations)The Wizard of Oz (adaptations)The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a 1900 novel by L. Frank Baum, which has been adapted into several different works, the most famous being the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, starring Judy Garland...
— other adaptations of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - List of films in the public domain