The Wizard of Oz (partially found deleted scenes of musical fantasy film; 1938-1939)

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Wizard of Oz Melting Colorized.jpeg

Promo shot of The Wicked Witch's death.

Status: Lost

Regarded as the most viewed film in history, The Wizard of Oz needs no introduction. It is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), directed by Victor Fleming and (an uncredited) King Vidor. Produced by Mervyn LeRoy, the film stars Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, Jack Haley, Billie Burke, and Margaret Hamilton, and was written by Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson, and Edgar Allan Woolf with songs by Harold Arlen and E. Y. "Yip" Harburg.

Although it remains the most famous and successful adaptation of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz to this day, production was a bit of a nightmare. With a total of five directors, a plethora of footage was shot that was either scrapped or cut out of the film after preview showings.

Direction Under Norman Taurog - Summer 1938

Bobby Koshay (Garland's stand-in) and who appears to be Norman Taurog on the Munchkinland set between test-shots or during a visit to Fleming's set.

In July 1938, MGM announced that they had tapped director Norman Taurog, who had a reputation of guiding young performers, to helm their upcoming film adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Working on the film during the extensive wardrobe and makeup tests for the summer of 1938, Taurog was paid for three-days of directorial work for the project, most likely for test shots performed in July-August. During the first week of September, however, Taurog was replaced by Richard Thorpe and reassigned to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which would be released on February 10, 1939.

Though some pictures from the set have survived, the test footage shot by Taurog is presumed lost.

Direction Under Richard Thorpe - Fall 1938

After Taurog's reassignment, MGM brought in director Richard Thorpe to work on the film. According to the book The Wizard of Oz: The Official 50th Anniversary Pictorial History, Thorpe "had a reputation for bringing in pictures on budget and on schedule, which must have been a real attraction as the studio watched pre-production costs mount on The Wizard of Oz."

On October 13, filming began on the MGM Studios lot, and continued for a total of nine days. The scenes filmed included Dorothy and the Scarecrow's first encounter in the cornfield and various sequences in the Wicked Witch's castle. After an on-set mishap caused the production to shut down, producer Mervyn LeRoy reviewed Thorpe's footage and decided that it lacked the childlike wonder and innocence the production needed, and that Thorpe was rushing the production. Thorpe was subsequently fired.

As a new director was sought out and hired, director George Cukor took over while waiting for his next film, Gone With the Wind, to begin filming. Staying with the film for less for a week, he was brought on to help shape the film.

All footage from Thorpe's reign was scrapped, and like the Taurog footage, is presumed to be lost. Notable aspects of the Thorpe footage include...

"If I Only Had a Brain" - Original Version

Original recording, as uploaded by YouTube user Michele Bell in Dec. 2009.

Shot in November of 1938 under Thorpe, "If I Only Had a Brain" was originally very different than what would end up in the final film. Much more sedate than the final version, it was sung by Bolger in a much softer voice and slower, with simpler staging to contrast with his lively manner.

Though thought to be lost, this recording of the song was rediscovered on a privately-owned playback disc in 2009. The recording was restored and released (in far better quality than listed here) on April 19th, 2015, as a digital download for buyers of The Wizard of Oz Emerald LP release on Record Store Day.

Though the recording itself has been found, the footage remains lost.

File:Lolita Gale.jpg
Garland, pictured in an early promo shot, in her original dress, blonde wig, and "baby doll" makeup, used under Thorpe.

The Original Dorothy

Under Thorpe's reign as director, the makeup and costume designs for Dorothy, the Scarecrow, and the Wicked Witch differed from what they would be in the final film. Though subsequent changes to the Witch's and the Scarecrow would be fairly minor, Dorothy proved to be another story.

Under studio direction, Garland wore a long, blonde wig, heavy, "baby-doll" makeup, and a blue cotton pinafore with a blue polka-dot border, and directed to be played in an exaggerated fashion.

After Thorpe was taken off the production, Cukor had her makeup and wardrobe altered, and gave her a more naturalistic look. He also told Garland to play Dorothy more down-to-earth, to remember that she was "just a little girl from Kansas."

T​he Original Tin-Man

Originally cast as the Tin-Man was MGM contract player Ray Bolger. However, knowing that the movements of the Scarecrow would be closer to the type of dancing he had become known for and specialized in -- Having been inspired to become a dancer after seeing a production of The Red Mill staring Fred Stone, who originated the role of the Scarecrow in the 1902 The Wizard of Oz stage production. -- and feeling he was more suited for the role, he requested to switch roles with Buddy Ebsen, who had been cast as the Scarecrow. The studio approved, and the roles were switched.

Buddy Ebsen in a costume test.

After working on pre-recording and costume / makeup tests between September 22 and October 17, 1938, Ebsen began filming scenes five days into shooting on October 17th, involving the film's climax inside of The Witch's Castle. Three days later, on October 21, he suffered an allergic reaction to the aluminum dust used in his makeup and rushed to the hospital,. He was subsequently taken off the picture, the press being told it was due to pneumonia.

In an interview years later, Ebsen stated:

"They put aluminum dust all over my makeup, and this aluminum dust got into the air, and pretty soon my lungs were coated with it. One night I took a breath and nothing happened. They got an ambulance for me and rushed me down to the hospital."

He also later recalled the producer's feelings towards his illness:

"There was, in those days, a great deal of pressure - There still is. But they just didn't believe that actors got sick, or that, legitimately, [there] were casualties. I think they suspected that I was unhappy, because originally I had been promised the part of the Scarecrow and they switched me to the Tin-Man, and they thought I bore a grudge and now I was gonna get even with them. They thought I was malingering, and so, Mervyn called the hospital- And I can still remember the nurse in conversation with him, I was under an oxygen tent at the time, and she said 'Mister who? Mr. LeRoy? Why isn't Mr. Ebsen on the set? Listen you, Mr. Ebsen's a very sick man, and we're gonna keep him here until he's well!' And so, they did, and they got somebody else to play the part. But they never quite believed that I was really sick."

The production was shut down as a replacement was sought out and Thorpe was replaced (see above). On November 11, a letter of agreement was drawn up between MGM and 20th Century Fox, agreeing that Fox contract player Jack Haley (who is recorded as already working on the film as early as October 1) would play "Hickory Twicker" (Tin-Man). Haley, who was not told the reason for Ebsen's departure and whose makeup was quietly replaced with aluminum paste instead of powder, would re-record all of Ebsen's solo song moments in the film, though Ebsen's voice remains in the film during the group vocals on "We're Off to See the Wizard."

Though Haley wouldn't suffer any breathing problems due to his makeup, a small amount got into his eye, causing a severe infection. He was taken off the film for a week to stay in small, darkened room as to not damage his vision. Ebsen wouldn't return to MGM until December 13, when he begin work on the film Four Girls in White.

Direction Under Victor Fleming - Fall 1938-Early 1939

Between November 11, 1938 and February 17 1939, filming would take place under the helm of Victor Fleming, known as a man's-man, best friend of Clark Gable, action director, and a savior of troubled films. (When later asked why he agreed to direct Oz, he stated that it was so he could make a film his two young daughters could enjoy.) After completing the scenes set in Oz, Fleming was called in to direct the struggling Gone With the Wind production over at Selznick International Pictures. (Director George Cukor and star Clark Gable were barley on speaking terms, and Gable was threatening to quit the picture unless Fleming was brought in).

Though production ran relatively smoothly from this point on, (with the exception of two on set accidents involving Margaret Hamilton and her stand-in, Betty Danko), a few scenes had to be reshot due to mistakes and later cuts, and a plethora of lines and scenes were later deleted from the film. Due to the industry-wide tradition at the time of destroying cut and unused footage, it's presumed that the following footage / recordings are lost.

Original "Shiny" Tin-Man footage

Garland, Haley, and Bolger in a publicity still, taken approx. Nov. 11, 1939, showing Haley's original "polished" costume.

After Ebsen's aborted stint as the Tin-Man, Jack Haley began filing scenes with Judy Garland and Ray Bolger on November 10, 1939, filming the Tin-Man's introduction. Filming for three days, it became apparent that a major mistake had been made.

The Tin-Man, who was supposed to have been in the forest and rusted over, was polished. (This was due to the fact that Haley's Tin-Man costume was only shortened for him and not altered in any other way from Ebsen's, who filmed all his his scenes in the Witch's castle at the end of the film.)

After makeup and costume tests on the 15 and 16th, shooting of the sequence resumed on the 16th, now with a rusty Tin-Man.

As the footage was scrapped and reshot, the shiny takes are presumed destroyed.

"I'll use you for a bee-hive!"

During filming, a scene immediately following "If I Only Had a Heart" was filmed. Following the Wicked Witch's threatening the trio, a swarm of (animated) bees would fly out of Tin-Man, the Witch fulfilling her threat of turning him into a bee-hive.

Haley, Bolger, and Garland in an early promo shot, set during the deleted bee-hive scene. (Also notice the shiny costume...)

As Dorothy runs for cover, the bees try to sting Tin-Man, but bend their stingers on him instead, and fly away in defeat. As Dorothy returns, she discovers a bee on her arm, and the Tin-Man kills it as he tries to get it off of her. He shows his true emotions as the following exchange occurs:

TIN MAN: Oh, see - I killed it. Oh, I killed that poor little honey bee!
DOROTHY: Oh-oh-
TIN MAN: It's only a man without a heart who could do a thing like that. Poor little bee.
[SHE WIPES AWAY HIS TEARS.]
DOROTHY: Oh, there, there. Don't cry. There. As a matter of fact, that's just an old drone bee, and it would have died anyway.
TIN MAN: Yes?
DOROTHY: You put it out of its misery.
TIN MAN: Oh.
DOROTHY: It's just that the Witch is so wicked. I don't think you two ought to come with me because you'll get into trouble.
SCARECROW: Oh, you don't think we're going to stand by and let her get away with fireballs and bees, do you?
TIN MAN: No, sir!
SCARECROW: No, sir!

Cut during previews, it was most likely cut for time or because it was deemed too terrifying for children. As such, animation for the sequence was never completed, if it was ever started to begin with, and the footage was lost. However, the underscore for the scene, "Woodman's Lament," survives, and can be found on the recent DVD / Blu-Ray releases of the film as a part of the jukebox feature.

The Vanishing Props

Garland, Bolger, Lahr, and Haley, in an promo shot, showing the props in question.

Set after the group's first meeting with the Wizard of Oz, a small scene was filmed that explains a large continuity error in the film. When we first see them in The Haunted Forrest, we see Scarecrow holding a water pistol, Lion holding a large butterfly net and a spray can of what is labeled "Witch Remover," and Tin-Man is carrying a large wrench. However, after a cut in the final film, the props are gone, with no explanation of where they went.

As originally shot, two the props would have disappeared by the work of the Wicked Witch during the following exchange:

TIN MAN: From now on, we're on enemy ground. You should have something to protect yourself with.
LION: She - she can have my Witch Remover.
[He hands his spary can, labeled "WITCH REMOVER," to Dorothy.]
DOROTHY: Does it work?
LION: No, but it's wonderful for threatening with.
DOROTHY: Oh --
SCARECROW: Oh, here - give me that thing!
[He takes the can and throws it. It hits the ground and vanishes.]
SCARECROW: Oh, did - did you see that?
[Lion's net flies out of his hands.]
TIN MAN: Oh - look out.
[The net vanishes.]
SCARECROW: You know something? I believe they're spooks around here.
TIN MAN: That's ridiculous! Spooks -- that's silly.

(The other two props would have probably been discarded during the following Jitterbug scene.)

Probably cut for time, the footage for the scene has yet to be rediscovered.

"The Jitterbug"

Written in May 1938, '"The Jitterbug" would be the first song written for the film by composer Harold Arlen and lyricist E. Y. "Yip" Harburg. It was a hold over from, or possibly inspired by, earlier drafts of the script, where Dorothy's journey through Oz was accompanied by a series of musical contests. (This plotline was likely a way to justify the musical numbers before the idea of the film being an integrated musical, where the songs explain the characters and plot, was implemented.) A spoiled princess, a part written for Betty Jaynes, outlawed all musical genres besides classical and operetta and would go up against Dorothy, who's jazzy, jitterbug style would enchant audiences and win her the grand prize.

The final recording of the song, set to stills and behind-the-scenes footage shot by composer Arlen.

In the final draft of the script, the song had had been integrated into the story. On their way to kill the Wicked Witch, Dorothy and her friends run into the jitterbug, a pink and blue animated, mosquito-like insect sent by the Wicked Witch to tire the group out for her flying monkeys, that causes whoever it bites to dance wildly. After more jitterbugs appear, the group collapses from exhaustion and are subdued by the flying monkeys.

Recorded by Garland, Bolger, Bert Lahr, and Ebsen on October 6, 1938, with the intro to the song being re-recorded with Haley on December 22 (the main song was not re-recorded), and after about 5 weeks of rehearsal, the sequence was shot over the course of four days between January 9-13, 1939. In total, the sequence cost $80,000 (around $1,370,000 in 2015) to rehearse and shot.

However, by the film's third preview on June 19, the sequence was cut from the film, likely for various reasons. Not only was the film too long for the standards at the time, it was likely felt that the scene, where the main characters break out in a popular dance craze at the time, would date the film too much, and an upbeat, energetic showstopper like this would seem too ridiculous surrounded by the darker, more serious materials around it. Whatever the reason, the scene was deleted.

Various recordings survive from the film's production, including a choreography rehearsal featuring assistant choreographer Donna Mason in place of Garland and recordings with both Ebsen and Haley, and are included on the jukebox feature on the film's recent DVD / Blu-Ray releases. Though some silent, behind the scene footage shot by Arlen of the cast during on-set rehearsals before filming survives, footage from the scene itself has not been discovered, and it is believed to be lost.

The song has gone on to be been included in various stage adaptations, including the 1942 Muny production, the 1987 production by the Royal Shakespeare Company, 1995's The Wizard of Oz in Concert: Dreams Come True (sung by singer Jewel), and the 1996 touring production of The Wizard of Oz on Ice sung by Bobby McFerrin.

Though cut from the film, a reference to the jitterbug remains. In the scene immediatly before the flying monkeys' attack, the Wicked Witch tells their leader Nikko:

"Take your army to the Haunted Forest, and bring me that girl and her dog! Do what you like with the others, but I want her alive and unharmed! They'll give you no trouble, I promise you that. I've sent a little insect on ahead to take the fight out of them. Take special care of those ruby slippers. I want those most of all. Now, fly! Fly! Bring me that girl and her slippers! Fly! Fly! Fly!"

Direction Under King Vidor - Early-Mid 1939

Director King Vidor was brought in to complete the picture, shooting the film's sepia Kansas scenes between February 19 and early March 19, and filming retakes at various points between early May and early June. Though offered credit for his work, Vidor refused it, stating that Fleming deserved undisputed credit for the film.