Striking terror into the souls of young children since 1939

August 15, 2017

A Tuesday Newsday Classic Updated

 “I’d turn back if I were you!” – the message printed on the sign of the Haunted Forest in the classic film “The Wizard of Oz” – was, in my opinion, a wise suggestion. More on that in a bit.

It was August 15, 1939 when “The Wizard of Oz” premiered and, despite costing more to produce than it took in during its theatre run, has become a beloved American classic. In fact, it was named by the American Film Institute as the number one fantasy film ever made.

Nominated for six Academy Awards it lost out to “Gone With The Wind” for best picture. It did win two other awards, however, including best song for the instantly recognizable “Over The Rainbow” and for the best Musical score.

The film was heralded from the very beginning. From the Infallible Wikipedia:

“The film received much acclaim upon its release. Frank Nugent considered the film a ‘delightful piece of wonder-working which had the youngsters’ eyes shining and brought a quietly amused gleam to the wiser ones of the oldsters. Not since Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs has anything quite so fantastic succeeded half so well.’ Nugent had issues with some of the film’s special effects, writing, ‘with the best of will and ingenuity, they cannot make a Munchkin or a Flying Monkey that will not still suggest, however vaguely, a Singer’s Midget in a Jack Dawn masquerade. Nor can they, without a few betraying jolts and split-screen overlappings, bring down from the sky the great soap bubble in which Glinda rides and roll it smoothly into place.’ According to Nugent, ‘Judy Garland’s Dorothy is a pert and fresh-faced miss with the wonder-lit eyes of a believer in fairy tales, but the Baum fantasy is at its best when the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Lion are on the move.’”

One of my earliest memories is when the film was broadcast just once a year on TV. My family lived in Clarkston, Washington the year I was four and it may have been the first year we had a TV in the house.

While my memories from that young age are limited, I do know that my dad made popcorn and that watching the movie was a highly anticipated and exciting family event. Some of the rest of the activities of that day are fuzzy but it was talked about in subsequent years. Having a TV in your home in 1961was a big deal. In fact, in 1954 about 55 percent of households had a TV. In 1962 that number jumped to 90 percent. So my thinking that it was the early 1960’s when our family got our first television is likely accurate.

But not every family had a television including one set of our neighbors. The day of “The Wizard of Oz” showing, the two oldest daughters of that family showed up at our door with hopes of getting to watch the film. My dad, however, had to turn them away as their parents did not approve of TV and they were not allowed to watch TV. Ever. I know my dad always felt bad about that since he would have welcomed all the neighborhood kids in to watch.

But back to four year old me. I was enthralled by the story of a farm girl who gets carried away by a tornado eventually landing in a magical world. Everything went pretty well right up to the point that Dorothy and her entourage enter the Haunted Forest and they encounter the sign which advises, “I’d turn back if I were you.” When, a minute and a half later, the Wicked Witch of the West is standing silhouette in her castle window and screaming “Fly! Fly! Fly!” to her army of flying monkeys I took that advice.

I was so afraid I left the room and didn’t return for the rest of the movie! Of course I did eventually see the entire film many, many times and loved our family’s annual tradition to watch it. I even shared it with my own children despite my fear that they, too, would be traumatized.

Even now, watching the clip of that scene evokes memories of my childhood terror. As a general rule I will not watch Horror* movies… in fact when the movie “Alien” was shown on TV in the early 1980’s, the scene where the Alien is stalking its victims sent me scurrying to the kitchen to make popcorn for those watching. But I never returned. Some things never change.

I’m off to see the wizard!

The whole story of how the movie was made is a good read. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wizard_of_Oz_(1939_film)

*Some folks claim ‘Alien’ is a Sci-Fi film… but when one does a search of the Best Horror films, it’s on the list.