The awful backstage truth about The Wizard of Oz

We all love The Wizard of Oz, right? So why was it a box office flop when it came out? And why was production so horrible for the cast and crew? It’s a story of what people put up with (and still put up with) to make it in Hollywood.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
I mean, really, who doesn't love the Wizard of Oz?
The music, the vivid colors, Toto. For God's sakes, It's
an American classic. So why was it a box office flop?
Why did the studio try to get the director to
cut the song Somewhere over the Rainbow out of the movie?
And why was that beautiful film hell on earth for

(00:21):
the cast and crew. I'm Patty Steele behind the scenes
with The Wizard of Oz. Next on the backstory. We're
back with the backstory. Okay, when you think of the
all time classic hits that came out of Hollywood, wouldn't
you say The Wizard of Oz is right up there

(00:41):
on that list? Except when it came out, who was
kind of a flop? In fact, the New Yorker magazine
called it a stinkeroo. Not my words are their words.
On the upside, the New York Times really liked the movie,
but really hated the special effects, especially the bubble the
good Way which came down in in munchkin Land. They

(01:02):
didn't think that worked. But worst of all for Hollywood,
because it costs so much to make. At the end
of the day, the Wizard of Oz was a money
loser for the studio. It wasn't until ten years later
when it was re released that it finally made a profit.
And listen to this. When it came to the Academy Awards,

(01:22):
Oz was nominated for a modest five Oscars, but it
only won two of them. And by the way, the
iconic song over the Rainbow was almost cut because MGM
execs thought the song slowed down the movie. They asked
why a farm girl would sing a ballad outside of
a barn? Not very creative thinking, right. It was only

(01:43):
when the flick's producer, along with Judy Garland, went to
battle to keep it in that it made the final cut.
And it's a good thing it did, because that song
was one of the only two Oscars the Wizard of
Oz won. Okay, Now, in fairness, it was a tough
year to put a film out since it was up
against a ton of iconic cliques like the mega hit

(02:04):
Gone with the Wind, as well as Wuthering Heights, Mister
Smith Goes to Washington, Stagecoach and many more. But the
making of the Wizard of Oz wasn't exactly a fun
time for Judy Garland, the star, or for that matter,
for most of the people involved in the production. Well,
first of all, imagine your sixteen year old Judy Garland.

(02:25):
You're already totally insecure because you've got a really vicious
mother who constantly threatens you. She violently punishes you and
mentally abuses you to get you to do what she wants.
And all she wants is for you to make money
and be a bigger star. Later in life, Judy called

(02:45):
her mom the real wicked Witch of the West. So anyway,
you'll arrive on the Wizard of Oz movie set only
to have studio executives complain you're too old, too fat,
and not pretty enough for the role. You're reminded they
really wanted Shirley Temple to play Dorothy, but you only
got the job because you could sing way better, No kidding.

(03:08):
These icy individuals want you to look younger, so they
bind your breasts really tight so you don't look sixteen.
They want you to lose weight, so you're only given
chicken soup and black coffee every day, and they also
give you every day four packs of cigarettes to keep
your weight down. But that's not enough with mom's blessing,

(03:30):
they make you take barbituates and amphetamins to keep you
slim and awake. Snow under Judy was an attic for
the rest of her life, and the physical abuse continues.
You get slapped by the director whenever you giggle on
the set. And remember the scene where Dorothy falls asleep
in the field of poppies, but Glinda the Goodwitch makes

(03:52):
it snow so she'll wake up. They actually used asbestos
fibers because it was the cheapest fake snow they could find,
and Judy wasn't the only one abused. The Cowardly Lion's
costume was made from fifty pounds of real lion pelts,
impossibly heavy and hot, especially because the temperature on set

(04:15):
was always well over one hundred degrees. That was due
to the arc lighting needed for that early Technicolor film.
And there's more. A bunch of the flying monkeys really
people in costume got hurt when the piano wire holding
them up broke. Both the Wicked Witch and her stand
in were badly burned by flames from the flying broom

(04:36):
and scarred, and the original tin man was hospitalized and
then finally replaced after his lungs gave out due to
the aluminum dust in his silver body makeup. And oh, man,
Do not get me started on The Munchkins. The Little
People actors were so much trouble on the set. The
cops were called infrequently because of their drinking and and

(05:00):
also for harassing young Judy Garland. Now, on the other hand,
they were also treated horribly. In fact, the guy that
hired them for the studio took half their paychecks if
they weren't short enough. In fact, the dog that played
Toto was paid more than they were. Speaking of Toto,
they say Terry the pub who played Toto suffered several

(05:22):
nervous breakdowns while filming. As tough as Hollywood still seems
to be, none of this stuff exactly would happen today
because there are people advocating for all these folks and animals.
But it's still horribly abusive. It's just way more subtle.
Problem is everybody then and now wants to be a star.

(05:45):
It just depends on how much you're willing to put
up with to make it. I'm Patty Steele. The Backstory
is a production of iHeartMedia and Steel Trap Productions. Our

(06:06):
producer is Doug Fraser. Our executive producer is Steve Goldstein
of Amplify Media. We're out with new episodes twice a week.
Thanks for listening to the backstory, the pieces of history
you didn't know you needed to know.