Was there really a hanging during filming of The Wizard of Oz?”
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American fantasy film made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and directed by Victor Fleming (and others) from a script to which Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson, Edgar Allan Woolf contributed, based on the 1900 children’s novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, with musical elements.[1] It features Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, Bert Lahr and Frank Morgan, with Billie Burke, Margaret Hamilton, Charles Grapewin, Clara Blandick and the Singer Midgets as the Munchkins. Notable in its use of special effects, use of Technicolor, fantasy storytelling and unusual characters, The Wizard of Oz has become, over the years, one of the best known of all films. Its impact, however, was not nearly as strongly felt at the time of its original release. Dorothy Gale, a 12-year-old farmgirl, longs for “a place where there isn’t any trouble”, rather than her mundane Kansas farmhouse existence. After being knocked unconscious during a tornado by a window which has come loose
Filming commenced October 13, 1938 on the MGM Studios lot in Culver City, California, under the direction of Richard Thorpe (replacing original director Norman Taurog, who only filmed a few early Technicolor tests and was then reassigned). Thorpe initially shot about two weeks of footage involving Dorothy’s first encounter with the Scarecrow as well as a number of sequences in the Wicked Witch’s castle. However, the sudden medical departure of Buddy Ebsen caused the film to shut down while a new actor was found to fill the part. LeRoy had taken this time to review the already shot footage and felt that Thorpe seemed to be rushing the picture along, creating a negative impact in the actors’ performances. Thus LeRoy decided to have Thorpe replaced. George Cukor temporarily took over. Initially, the studio made Garland wear a blond wig and heavy, “baby-doll” makeup and she played Dorothy in an exaggerated fashion. Cukor changed Judy Garland’s and Margaret Hamilton’s makeup and costumes an
