Norman Taurog (1899–1981)

A witch and a lost girl fight to the death over a sparkly pair of heels.

Whenever I watch this, I try to imagine what it would be like to see it for the first time. I can never tell, but I do usually notice things that have previously been invisible-due-to-familiarity. One thing I managed to pull out of it this time around was just how good a song and performance "Over the Rainbow" is. I mean, yeah, I've always known it's great, but this time it struck me how much it probably would have show more floored me if I'd never heard it before.

Concept: A
Story: B
Characters: A
Dialog: B
Pacing: A
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: A
Acting: B
Music: A

Enjoyment: A

GPA: 3.6/4 show less

Like millions of others, I watched this every year growing up--and it was something I looked forward to for weeks. I've never read the Oz books--my daughter, who devours everything, wasn't impressed by them--but this film can stand alone as a singular magical moment. Actually, many magical moments, all of which are still magical 80 years later.

This movie is a classic for a reason, although a few parts of it have not aged well, especially with Miss Gulch. She's portrayed as a villain because... she didn't want Dorothy's stupid dog to bother her? I know that it was the 1930s and it wasn't uncommon to have dogs running loose on farms and etc but Dorothy was not a very responsible owner if she let Toto bother Miss Gulch multiple times.

Great cast led by the intensely likable Cantor can't overcome tired plotting and an extended slapstick finale that just doesn't work. Nice Long Beach amusement park scenery, however,