The Wizard of Oz (1939)
97%RT Audience Score: 89%
Awards & Nominations: Won 2 Oscars
13 wins & 16 nominations total
An absolute masterpiece whose groundbreaking visuals and deft storytelling are still every bit as resonant, The Wizard of Oz is a must-see film for young and old.
This movie is a freakin’ masterpiece, dude! The visuals are out of this world and the story is so smooth, it’s like butter on a hot biscuit. The Wizard of Oz is a flick that everyone, from little kiddos to old geezers, needs to check out. Trust me, you won’t regret it.
Production Company(ies)
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer,
Distributor
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
Stage 28, Sony Pictures Studios – 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA
MPAA / Certificate
G
Year of Release
1939
-
Color:Color
-
Sound mix:Dolby
-
Aspect ratio:1.37 : 1
-
Runtime:1h 41m
-
Language(s):English
-
Country of origin:United States
-
Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Aug 25, 1939 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 12, 2003
Genre(s)
Fantasy/Musical
Keyword(s)
Worldwide gross: $25,637,669
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $663,438,561
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 192
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 72,348,807
US/Canada gross: $24,668,669
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $638,363,271
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 46
US/Canada opening weekend: $5,354,311
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $138,556,137
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 49
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $2,777,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $71,861,794
Production budget ranking: 587
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $38,697,576
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $552,879,191
ROI to date (est.): 500%
ROI ranking: 258
Frank Morgan – Professor Marvel, Guardian of the Gates, Cabbie, Soldier, The Wizard of Oz
Ray Bolger – Hunk Andrews, Scarecrow
Bert Lahr – Zeke, Cowardly Lion
Jack Haley – Hickory Twicker
Director(s)
Victor Fleming
Writer(s)
L. Frank Baum, Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson, Edgar Allan Woolf
Producer(s)
Victor Fleming, Mervyn LeRoy
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Won 2 Oscars
13 wins & 16 nominations total
Academy Awards
All Critics (163) | Top Critics (50) | Fresh (160) | Rotten (3)
The Wizard of Oz has been filmed with imagination. It has warmth and understanding of child psychology; it has gentle humor and a sturdy philosophical undercurrent. [It is] a rare and distinguished film that should capture the hearts of all ages.
October 14, 2021
Mildred Martin
Philadelphia Inquirer
TOP CRITIC
One cannot say that this is a rival to Disney, but it is as near to fantasy as one can get with human actors… I am under the spell of Oz.
October 14, 2021
Ian Coster
London Evening Standard
TOP CRITIC
Young ‘and old will appreciate The Wizard of Oz. I think, however, they would enjoy it more if the action had been speeded up a trifle. Nevertheless, it will be one of the season’s talked about offerings and you should see it.
October 14, 2021
Charles E. Ward
Miami Herald
TOP CRITIC
Judy Garland as Dorothy and Frank Morgan as the Wizard are the most favored players and do flawless work, but the delight of many persons will be Bert Lahr as the Cowardly Lion.
October 14, 2021
Colvin McPherson
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
TOP CRITIC
The Wizard of Oz will, beyond question, be accorded recognition as a milestone in motion picture history.
August 25, 2021
THR Staff
Hollywood Reporter
TOP CRITIC
Victor Fleming has made, with living people this time, the most delightful film of its kind since Disney’s Snow White.
May 3, 2021
Cyril Ray
Guardian
TOP CRITIC
It would appear that the Metro people have managed the extraordinary and made persons very nearly as amusing as Disney drawings. The Wizard of Oz in a word is all it ought to be and sometimes a bit more.
June 21, 2022
Ardis Smith
Buffalo News
We could go on and on for days, and yet, somehow, The Wizard of Oz would make just about any hyperbole seem puny. This, dear reader, is a perfect movie.
March 20, 2022 | Rating: 4/4
David Reddish
Queerty
The Wizard of Oz is a great achievement, viewed either as an American Alice in Wonderland or something strikingly original in musical shows.
February 17, 2022
Reg Whitley
Daily Mirror (UK)
The film is well worth a visit both for its disclosure of the secret and for its spectacular display.
February 17, 2022
T.C. Kemp
Birmingham Post
All these adventures are interestingly and charmingly depicted and sometimes you wish you were in this dreamland yourself.
October 14, 2021
James T. Hamada
The Nippu Jiji (Honolulu)
Breathtakingly lovely sets, lighting, costumes, make-up and musical scores more than fulfill expectations, making the play an even note satisfactory adaptation of the book than was Goodbye Mr. Chips.
October 14, 2021
Alice Whitman
Tampa Bay Times…
Plot
When a tornado rips through Kansas, Dorothy Gale and her dog, Toto, are whisked away in their house to the magical Land of Oz. They follow the Yellow Brick Road toward the Emerald City to meet the Wizard, and on the way they meet a Scarecrow who wants a brain, a Tin Man who wants a heart, and a Cowardly Lion who wants courage. The Wizard asks them to bring him the Wicked Witch of the West’s broom to earn his help.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The critic reviews for The Wizard of Oz include praise for Judy Garland’s performance as Dorothy, as well as Bert Lahr’s scene-stealing turn as the Cowardly Lion.
Victor-Fleming.jpg
