When I posted the Christmas Carol silent movie a few
days ago, I mentioned that another early silent movie was the Wonderful Wizard
of Oz. This movie was made in 1910 by
the Selig Polyscope Company (euphonious names were not a trademark of early
film companies.) This is the first
surviving movie of the famous tale (an earlier Edison version has been lost in
time.) Although Oz creator, L. Frank Baum, was still alive, he apparently had
no participation in this film (the rights to make it were actually sold to help
settle Baum’s bankruptcy suit.) This
particular version is said to be based on 1902 stage musical. There is no Toto (Dorothy goes to Oz with a
rather dilapidated donkey.)
Playing Dorothy is Bebe Daniels (1), a stage veteran
from the age of four, she appeared in movies almost from the start of her
career. She went on to starring roles in
silent film, and then successfully made the jump to talking pictures, starring in
such movie musicals as Rio Rita and 42nd Street. Also in the cast are: Hobart Bosworth as the
Wizard of Oz (2), Eugenie Besserer as Aunt Em (3), Robert Z. Leonard as the
Scarecrow (4), Winifred Greenwood as Momba the Wicked Witch (5), and Olive Cox as
Glinda the Good Witch.
These are early movies are fascinating to watch, not
only for what they tell us about early film-making, but also about the acting
styles of the period (most of the early movie performers came from the
stage.) Enjoy!
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