Produced by the Selig Polyscope Co., one of the first companies to move its operations to Hollywood, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1910) begins a little differently than the more familiar 1939 MGM version. Dorothy (Bebe Daniels) befriends the animated Scarecrow prior to her departure via cyclone, and is accompanied on the voyage not only by the Scarecrow and Toto, but some of the livestock from the family farm: a cow and donkey. As they begin to explore Oz, the band of explorers encounter a royal decree from Oz's king, who offers his crown to anyone who can release him from the wicked witch's spell. The king, by his own admission, is a "humbug" wizard (a "phony" in the P.T. Barnum vernacular), and only wants to return to his home in Omaha. With the help of Glinda the good witch, the Tin Woodman (Robert Z. Leonard), and Cowardly Lion, Dorothy and company face down the wicked witch Momba (a derivative of "Mombi," the name of the evil witch in The Marvelous Land of Oz [1904]) to help the frustrated Wizard.
As was common in films of the period, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz operates on the assumption that the audience is already acquainted with Baum's story. Thus the complex plot is reduced to elaborate setpieces without a lot of narrative explanation, other than a few concisely-worded title cards. The viewers' familiarity with the storyline of Oz not only helps them fill in the plot gaps of the 1910 version, but enables them to discover delightful surprises that are not present in the Judy Garland adaptation. Instead of flying monkeys, the Wicked Witch's lair is protected by giant spiders and flying amphibians. In a moment of unexpected social commentary, the Wizard is thwarted in his escape from Oz by a sign in the hot air balloon factory that reads "Union Rules -- No Work After 12." He arrives, of course, exactly at noon. Whether a celebration or critique of organized labor, it provides a charming moment as the Oz I.W.W.'s leave their worktables and engage in an elaborate dance, much to the Wizard's chagrin.
Certainly inspired by the 1900 novel by L. Frank Baum, the screen version of Oz was equally influenced by the 1902 stage musical by Baum and Julian Mitchell. In fact, the film's director, Otis Turner, had previously directed a stage version of the novel.
Oz is presented in the tableau style of filmmaking common to the early 20th Century. Scenes are played out in unedited wide shots that approximate the view of a music hall stage, as opposed to naturalistic settings and an alternation of shots of varying closeness and angles. Film pioneers such as D.W. Griffith were presently innovating this kind of screen language, but a film like The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was more of a cinematic pageant, and therefore suited to the tableau approach.
The most famous practitioner of such theatrical fantasy-films is Frenchman Georges Melies, best known for his 1902 spectacle A Trip to the Moon (Le Voyage dans la lune). Oz is clearly in the Melies mold, replete with levitating beauties, costumed troops marching upon the cramped stage, painted backdrops, and acrobatic imps that appear in puffs of smoke. In its climactic scene, however, Oz outdoes Melies when it comes to packing performers on a single stage, as the full roster of characters are joined by numerous extras, soldiers on horseback and two live camels.
Aside from Daniels, it is uncertain which actors played which role, but historians are confident the Wizard is Hobart Bosworth, a prolific character actor who had left Broadway for Hollywood after tuberculosis forced a change of climate. Robert Z. Leonard, who most likely is the Tin Woodman, later had a distinguished career as a Hollywood director, writer and producer, credited with more than 150 films including Susan Lenox (Her Fall and Rise) (1931) and The Great Ziegfeld (1936). Bebe Daniels also went on to a prosperous screen career, starring opposite Harold Lloyd in the "Lonesome Luke" comedies, produced by Hal Roach, and later became a popular contract player at Paramount in the 1920s. Music Curator Martin Marks adapted his score for this restored version of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz from the music composed by Paul Tietjens for the 1902 version. He took these musical themes and arranged them to fit its cinematic successor. "At least one leading historian of the American musical theatre, Gerald Bordman, has dismissed Tietjens's musical numbers as 'banal'," says Marks, "Still, I find them just right for this naive, quick-paced and boisterous entertainment."
Director: Otis Turner
Producer: Selig Polyscope Co.
Screenplay: Otis Turner, based on the novel by L. Frank Baum
Music: Martin Marks
Cast: Bebe Daniels (Dorothy), Hobart Bosworth (Wizard of Oz), Robert Z. Leonard (Tin Woodman), Eugenie Besserer (Aunt Em).
BW-10m.
by Bret Wood
