The Wizard of Oz

Oz the Great and Powerful will be released in theaters in March. And there are other productions (like Wicked) in the works that deal with Oz. One look at these productions should convince you that they owe just as much to Frank Baum's original story as to Victor Fleming's 1939 version.

The Wizard of Oz travels through time unhindered, and still remains a holiday classic favorite. There are aspects of the film that you may not know.

Much as been said about the fact that the famous Over the Rainbow sequence was almost cut from the picture at the last minute. Fortunately, it was decided otherwise. However some scenes, although filmed and edited, were indeed deleted from the film.

Every time Dorothy meets a friend on her way to Oz, he gets to sing "If I only had ..." and then goes into an extended dance routine. From the very first meeting with the scarecrow, the dance was drastically cut short. Originally Scarecrow was to interact with a crow which stole some straw off him, and he was to fly through the air with the help of a (slightly visible) cable. The sequence was preserved and is featured in That's Dancing! which was directed by the Tin Man's son Jack Haley Jr..

Buddy Ebsen and cast

Jack Haley was not the first choice for the part which was originally played by Buddy Ebsen. The latter was poisoned by the aluminum makeup used on his face.He was in such a bad shape that the production had to change the actor as well as the makeup. But Ebsen had pre-recorded his tracks and his voice can still be heard in choruses. Even Jack Haley's take was also shortened, as was Ray Bolger's.

For good measure, the cowardly lion's song If I Were King of the Forest was also cut short.

Haven't you ever wondered what the witch meant when she says she sent a "little insect" to take care of Dorothy and her friends? This line of dialog refers to a deleted musical sequence called the Jitterbug named after an insect which attacked our heros. The full soundtrack has been preserved although the track presented on the DVD is the rehearsal track with Dona Massin standing in for Judy. (She was the film's choreographer and appears as the woman grooming the lion in the film). The footage is now lost, however the scene is presented in the special features of the Blu-ray illustrated with color home movies of a camera rehearsal by composer Harold Arlen. 

Dorothy, when trapped by the witch, was originally supposed to sing a reprise of Over The Rainbow while crying. Unlike other musical sequences, and due to the nature of the scene, the track was not pre-recorded but Judy sang live with a piano accompaniment to favor her acting over the singing. And she does give an extraordinary performance although we can only judge by the preserved soundtrack, since the footage is now also lost.

A reprise of Ding Dong the Wicked Witch is dead was appropriately planned near the end of the film but here again, only the final soundtrack remains and a snippet of the scene is visible in the original trailer.

Finally, there's an alternate track available for the short end titles on the soundtrack which reveals that many key sequences were longer when they were scored. These include the cyclone, the appearance of the Witch of the West, her return on the rooftop (where she used to turn the Tin Man into a bee hive) the spell in the poppy field, etc.

You may not know this, but the off-screen voice of Juliet singing "Wherefore art thou Romeo?" during "If I Only Had A Heart" is Adriana Caselotti, who had recorded the voice of Disney's Snow White only two years earlier.
Anyway, the restoration is quite beautiful and you want to see this on Blu-ray!

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Kingdom of the Sun

The Disneystudios often found inspiration in Japanese anime. So much so that their hit The Lion King is an obvious remake of Osamu Tezuka's Kimba the White Lion, down to the name of the protagonist. Soon afterwards, the universe of The Mysterious Cities of Goldmay have inspired director Roger Allers for a project launched in 1997 called Kingdom of the Sun.

The genesis and eventual demise of the film was told in a rather obscure 2002 documentary called The Sweatbox that Disney did not see fit to release on home video. The sweatbox, as the prologue explains, was a room in the Disney studio in Burbank with no windows and no air conditioning where the artists would review their work on the moviola.

Owen Wilson as Pacha

To recapture the recipe of The Lion King, Sting was approached by the studio to write songs for the project before the script was finalized. The story was basically that of a young Inca named Pacha, “a lama herder who loves the sun. He believes there’s always a way to bring a light into any situation. Pacha comes to the city and when he’s put into a position of leadership, he transforms the city”. He takes the place of Manco the arrogant, self-centered Prince, in a Prince and the Pauper style of story, and the villain of the story, Yzma, turns Manco into a lama.

Prince Manco and the Pauper Pacha

Voices, music and songs were recorded, a good deal of the animation was done but before they completed the animation process, the studio had to greenlight their work.

Sting

It seems the animation department heads Tom Schumacher and Peter Schneider, once they were presented the full project on story reels, found there were problems with the pacing of the story and felt that it was not clear if they were making a drama or a comedy (among many other problems).

Director and composer in a staff meeting

Disappointed but challenged, the crew went back to work and went out to change some of the aspects of the film drastically. From 6 different outlines, they kept the core of the idea: a common man could teach an arrogant one how to be a good ruler. Manco became the main character and was given the new name of Kuzco (apparently Manco means “pussy” in Japanese and “bad movie” in Turkish) and the film was also renamed Kingdom IN the sun. Some characters were introduced (Kronk), others were changed (Pacha ages 20 years), and some were simply wiped out of the story (a talking talisman called Hucua), which took a definite turn for comedy.

Unfortunately, Roger Allers did not want to be part of the film now that it was changed so much, feeling, rightly so, that it was different movie. Co-director Mark Dindal took over on his own but some of the crew, including Sting felt ill-at-ease about the changes, partly because he felt that his contribution was far from over, as he had previously thought. Since he had to concentrate on his album, he did not feel like writing whole new songs and so only two of the ones he had previously written were used.

A deleted character makes a cameo in the finished film

Andreas Deja felt the same and left his duties of animating Yzma which were taken over by Dale Bear.

Disneyexecutives liked the new way the film was evolving but whole sections of the film like Pacha’s pregnant wife still were unclear and kept going back and forth between decisions which confused the assigned animators.

Once the film was almost completed, Mark Shaiman was hired to write the atmospheric score. Unfortunately his work was considered “too busy” and after rewrites proved ineffective, he was replaced by John Debney.

Here is a glimpse at the deleted musical sequence “Snuff out of the light” (available on the soundtrack) sung by Eartha Kitt whose other musical number “Perfect world” was also cut. Yet some scenes were used for the theatrical trailer for the film which was eventually released as The Emperor’s New Groove.

The new Pacha in the DVD deleted scene

It's interesting that, in the DVD special features, although they contain a short deleted scene (from the new version of the film though since it deals with the "new" Pacha) documentary featurettes, and a whole feature commentary, the fascinating story of the picture's erratic development is never once evoked.

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Queen of Sheba

Queen of Sheba, like many early Fox successes, has been lost for ages in a fire of the Fox vaults. Originally released in 1921, it starred Betty Blythe. When you come across her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, chances are you won't remember who she was. She achieved stardom thanks to this film and her willingness to appear semi-nude in front of the camera.
As a matter of fact, she used to joke that all of her 28 costumes for the film could fit in a shoe box. And the remaining stills of the film tend to prove her right. When her star faded, she went on working, mostly uncredited, as a character actress until 1964, where she appears quite briefly in My Fair Lady.

The script of the film apparently was rather different than the later films dealing with the Queen. It seems closer to the story of Ben Hur with its theme of rivalry (there's even a chariot race!).
In this film, The Queen's name is Balkis and her throne has been stolen by evil Armud (George Siegmann from Birth of a Nation) so Balkis, her sister Nomis and her people lived by the red sea, away from her kingdom. There she finds the crown of the Kingdom washed away by the waves. Armud abducts Nomis who drowns herself to avoid the shame of his assaults. When the crowd hears of her suicide, a revolution occurs and Armud has to make a concession. He offers marriage to Balkis (even though he was bethrothed to lovely Princess Vashti) to appease the tensions. Balkis tricks him into thinking she accepts and stabs him on their wedding day. Now the Queen of Sheba again, she leaves to the court of King Solomon (Fritz Leiber from Romeo and Juliet) to seek his advice on ruling her Kingdom. Unfortunately, Princess Vashti has taken refuge there and, helped by Solomon's brother Adonijah, she plots against Balkis and King Solomon who fall in love for each other.

The Queen's caravan

Betty Blythe

One day, a chariot race is organized in honor of the Queen. And while Adonijah poisons Solomon's horses, Vashti challenges Balkis to race them against her. Balkis accepts, but with a different set of horses, and wins the race. Adonijah tries to molest her but Solomon comes to the rescue and bans his brother out of the Kingdom. Solomon and Balkis confess their love. But Solomon is already married and his wife, Pharaoh's daughter, warns her father that she may be repudiated. Fearing a war with Egypt, Balkis decides to leave Solomon after she has spent a last night with him and he has given her a ring and a son that she names David (played by child actor Pat Moore who was the son of Pharaoh in The Ten Commandments and who later worked with its director Cecil B. DeMille on the remake as a sound editor).

David at his father's court

Solomon and David

Five years later, she sends little David to meet his father and recognizing the ring attached on a golden chain around his neck, Solomon is overjoyed and proceeds to spend all his time with him. Vashti and Adonijah (who came back to the court) kidnap the child and hold him hostage in the Kings' tomb. Warned by Solomon, Balkis raises an army and kills Adonijah. She thinks she arrives too late to save her son when she finds his lifeless body but Solomon's prayers bring a miracle and the boy awakes. Balkis and her son safely return to the Kingdom of Sheba while King Solomon watches them from his castle.

The following film clip (mislabeled "Cleopatra") is apparently all that remains of this lavish production, originally intended for Fox's star Theda Bara.

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Destino

Early in 1946, Walt Disney started a collaboration with famous surrealist painter Salvador Dali, fresh out of his first collaboration with Hollywood: the design of a dream sequence for Alfred Hitchcock's Spellbound.
Somewhat frustrated by the fact that a good portion of  the dream had been cut out, Dali embarked on what he thought would be a more appropriate medium for his art: animation.

Walt Disney teamed him up with studio artist John Hench who had worked on Fantasia, Dumbo, Bambi, etc.
Their assignment was a short film based on a song called Destino by Dora Luz (who had appeared in The Three Caballeros) which struck a chord with Dali because of his interest in Destiny. At the time, Disney manufactured mostly shorts or "package features" (a mixture of shorts put together) with smaller production values than for Snow White because the War had left the studio somewhat crippled financially. So a musical short in the style of Make Mine Music or Melody Time with a Dali twist seemed the thing to do.

The two artists exchanged their knowledge and ideas and many production sketches came out of it. There was even color test footage made from a production background and two cels sliding towards each other to reveal the form of a dancer when they merged together.

Apparently, Dali designed sketches, scenes and moods and it was John Hench's task to find continuity between these sequences.

For some unclear reason, the project was shelved, probably under Disney's orders (he apparently disliked the base-ball player idea), and Dali was paid off.

But it was not the end of Destino. Some 50 years later, during production of Fantasia 2000, the staff came across the filed-away artwork for the film and with the support of Roy Disney and help of John Hench, it was decided to give French director Dominique Monfery the task of making a short film from this basis. It was made in the now-defunct French animation studio in Paris.

The film is now available on youtube but I strongly suggest you buy the Fantasia 2000 Blu-ray for pristine quality and also for the very informative and complete documentary about the film: Dali & Disney: A date with Destino.

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Heavenly Christmas Film Classics

Festival Films is offering a perfect opportunity to make the perfect Christmas present for film lovers dear to you.
"Heavenly Christmas Film Classics" contains rare and even never before seen shorts or TV episodes.

Animation fans are in for a treat! If you don't know Lotte Reiniger, this is a perfect introduction to her work. She is a pioneer in animation and if you think Walt Disney's Snow White is the first animated feature, well you're wrong. It is the first in color, but Lotte Reiniger had directed (with the help of her husband Carl Koch) The Adventures of Prince Achmed, a 1926 feature film entirely animated with articulated paper silhouettes.
The same technique is employed here in The Star Of Bethlehem although the film is narrated by Barbara Ruick and it is Reiniger's second short in color.

Christmas is Magic is a truly moving story about a John Doe with amnesia (played by Hank Patterson who carried his character Fred Ziffel through 3 different series: Petticoat Junction, The Beverly Hillbillies and Green Acres) who meets a young war-widow and her kid. He's all alone in the world, with not even a home town to go back to and she's engaged to a grumpy guy who dislikes Christmas.You guessed it : their lives are about to get better.

The little jewel of this DVD is a short produced, directed and played by James Mason in 1954, at the height of his success, when A Star Is Born had just been released (he actually used the same cinematographer for this Xmas short: Sam Leavitt). It seems Mason had directed two shorts that year, both starring his little daughter Portland. And this one, entitled (like Lotte Reiniger's short) The Star Of Bethlehem is such an obscure title that it did not even have an entry on the imdb (it should have one soon though).

You know that Little Joseph, don't you?

There are basically two parts to this film: first James Mason reads aloud from what I suppose is the Bible. Then he kisses his kids good night and his daughter dreams that she is the Virgin Mary and the story is told with a cast of children in the way of a school play. The sets are designed by Serge Krizman, who worked on the Batman TV series which should give you a good idea of the scenery.
And of course, Joseph is played by little Jerry Mathers who went on to star in Alfred Hitchcock's The Trouble With Harry and in the famous TV series Leave it to Beaver.

Another story with kids taught me a thing or two about Christmas in Latin America. Three Young Kings starts with Scarlett O'Hara's father Thomas Mitchell. Did you know that in Latin countries, the Epiphany is when kids get their presents? And these presents are brought, not by Santa Claus, but by the Three Kings.
This is the story of three pupils chosen to portray the Three Kings in their school to bring all their classmates presents. On their way to do that, they come across many kids from less fortunate families and decide to do the right thing. How are they going to explain that to the school's parents?

Finally, two versions of the story of the song Silent night bookend the program: a 1939 British short and a 1953 color version. All of these are available on the Festival Films website and on amazon.com.

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Dracula

Universal is celebrating its 100th anniversary and one of the studio's trademark has recently seen a Blu-ray box set release.
Universal monsters movies have defined the codes of the genre, not to mention the features of Halloween masks for centuries to come.
And the first Universal talking picture stars the most famous of them all. In 1931, the first official screen adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula hit the screen. It had been preceded by Murnau's famous Nosferatu which, although a masterpiece, was not granted permission to use the story by Bram Stoker's widow. She subsequently tried to have the negatives and all copies destroyed.






Universal's movie was adapted from Hamilton Dean's successful stage play. The studio had wanted to pair the two "masters" of horror: star Lon Chaney, who had triumphed in The Phantom of the Opera, and MGM director Tod Browning. They managed to lure Tod Browning in the Universal family, but Lon Chaney died of lung cancer. After several casting considerations like Conrad Veidt, it was finally decided to go with the easy choice and use the star of the play, Hungarian actor Bela Lugosi.

The latter gave such a memorable performance that he was typecast in the horror genre for the rest of his career.

A rather unknown alternate version of the film is simply the silent version. Indeed, at the time, many theaters weren't equipped with sound and so the film was also edited silent, with the usual title cards for dialog.
In the early 1930s, sound being the new wonder that it was, the technique of dubbing was in its infancy and it was decided that the best way to export a film abroad was to re-shoot it whatever language that was needed. Such was the case with Dracula. When the English crew finished their day's work, a Spanish-speaking crew would come in those same sets and shoot their version of the film at night.

The viewing of this version starring Carlos Villarías is rather unsettling. It is a different movie, yet the scenes are almost sequenced identically. The sets are often photographed in very different ways, showing off more production values that Browning's version. But the Spanish cast gives an impression of camp which is not readily apparent in the English version where the actors seem to take things more seriously. In any case, the scenes drag in the Spanish version and the film lasts about 30 more minutes.

"Nunca bebo... vino"

That version was missing a whole reel for several decades, and the missing scenes (everything from Renfield fainting in Dracula's castle to the opera scene in London) were located in Cuba. There is a very noticeable drop in quality in the restored print throughout these sequences.

For the Blu-ray release, the film has been lovingly and intensively restored. I must say it was easier to appreciate that way, because not only did it erase a good deal of the ravages of time, but it actually corrected several problems that were probably there on first release.

For one thing, the ground noise (hiss) was among the worst I could remember. It was not eliminated but is significantly reduced on the Blu-ray. And the main title was plagued by a jump cut and a drop in the audio, which were both erased.

Through time, some elements of the film were changed. Censorship imposed Dracula's screams to be removed when Van Helsing drives the stake through his heart. They were restored along with Renfield's when he meets his fate.

In 1999, Philip Glass offered the film what Universal executives felt it had been missing since day one: a musical score. Except for a brief fragment of Tchaikovsky's ballet Swan Lake over the main titles and the opera scene, there is no music in Dracula, as filmmakers at the time felt that the audience wouldn't understand where the music was coming from if you didn't see the orchestra on the screen.
The new score gives a more modern feel to the film, even though I felt it was a bit obtrusive at times. It is interesting to notice that the newly recorded alternate language versions offered on the Blu-ray (such as the French track) contain that score and a new foley track, meaning there is no age related hiss to be heard.

In spite of its restoration, there is a scene still missing from the film. In the spirit of the next monster movie's prologue Frankenstein, Dracula originally ended with a short scene with professor Van Helsing addressing the audience in front of a blank screen and telling them, in essence "Just a moment ladies and gentlemen! Just a word before you go. We hope the memories of Dracula won't give you bad dreams. So just a word of reassurance. When you get home tonight, and the lights are turned out, and you're afraid to look behind the curtains, and you dread to see a face appear at the window, well... Just pull yourself together and remember: after all... There ARE such things!"
This scene, although apparently still extant, is not available in a decent quality and only a small portion of it can be seen in the documentary available in the bonus section.

In any case, and despite obvious budget limitations, Dracula remains a milestone in film history and I strongly recommend this new release.
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Larry & Hardy

When reviewing great comedy duos, sooner or later, you're bound to think of Laurel & Hardy. Yet, the partnership could have been very different. In 1918, Stan Laurel began working with comedy star Larry Semon. Don't remember him ? I'm not surprised. At the time, he was Vitagraph studio's star and was producing, writing directing and starring in his films.

Larry Semon

His success grew throughout the following years, but the partnership with Stan Laurel did not materialize. Then came Oliver Hardy. He played many supporting roles in Larry Semon's two reelers. He even played the woodsman (and other roles) in Semon's 1925 feature The Wizard of Oz. The parts never were more important though, and it is likely that Semon wouldn't share his fame. Anyway, you know who ended up teaming with whom, right? Unfortunately, by 1923, Larry's star was beginning to fade and he died mysteriously in 1928 forgotten and penniless. A public amnesia that endures today.

Festival Films (remember my article about their awesome previous release?) is offering you a chance to see a Larry Semon film from 1922, at the peak of his success, in which Oliver Hardy plays the neighbor. It is called Golf and, naturally enough is part of their "Golf Mania!" compilation. Rest assured that you will enjoy it even if, like me, you know next to nothing about golf.

The film is pure slapstick and features everything you may expect from it: broken vases by the ton, people falling all over the place and even the obligatory chase finale. Festival Films presents the film with added sound effects by Derek J. Myers which is a very nice idea.

Other highlights of the DVD include several never-before-seen shorts with stars like Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Phil Harris (Baloo from The Jungle Book), etc. enjoying their favorite sport and sports-reels like Follow Thru where golf pros teach you a thing or two about playing... and even cheating.

Sore looser W.C. Fields

Film fans will enjoy The Golf specialist, with W.C. Fields at his usual hilarious self. I love his way with kids in movies. As much as he hated them, he apparently couldn't get away from them as he has a whole scene with a winy little girl in this one too!

Jean Harlow on the golf course

I'll let you know about another Festival Films release soon. You may order from them or from amazon.
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