- 4 weeks ago
Cursed Films season 2 episode 1 The Wizard of Oz
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
01:00I mean, there's just so many rumors in general about the Wizard of Oz.
01:08Oh, we've talked about that all day.
01:09I mean, I've researched this stuff since the time I was a little kid.
01:12I'll get you, my pretty.
01:14I definitely heard about the burning of Margaret Hamilton.
01:21Yeah, no, she caught fire once unintentionally.
01:25I definitely know of the makeup situation that happened with the Tin Man.
01:30What about the munchkin hanging?
01:32I've heard that a small person hung themselves on set.
01:35The list goes on and on and on and on and on.
01:38I think it's a part of the legacy.
01:39I think that when some people look at films that are super beloved
01:50and they hear stories about the difficulties or the tragedies that happen on set,
01:57they then go on to ascribe that production as cursed.
02:02Because it's hard to hear these stories of tragedy.
02:07And you want to believe that at least someone or something is in charge.
02:12Because the reality is no one's in charge and the universe doesn't care about you.
02:15But that is too crushing to encompass with our minds.
02:18So we come up with ideas like that production is cursed
02:21because it makes us feel a little bit better
02:23about the terrible things that might have happened on the set.
02:28When I was five, I sat down and watched Wizard of Oz.
02:32Everybody had a great night, but I had the life-changing experience.
02:37The characters and the fantasy and the songs.
02:41I just kind of bought into all of it.
02:44You don't choose these things, they choose you.
02:47And that's a statement that I think anybody watching this
02:49who has any kind of passion for anything can comprehend.
02:54What the Wizard of Oz is about is not a question I have actually considered.
02:58And that's amazing to me.
03:00There are lots of theories.
03:02People thought that the yellow brick road was something to do with the gold standard.
03:08Society had been through some really difficult times with the Depression and then the war.
03:13People were forced to move all over the place.
03:18And then we still had lots of first-generation immigrants who'd come in in the 1910s and 20s.
03:24They had to leave their homes and knew they would never be able to go back.
03:29Here was Judy.
03:31She was disrupted.
03:33She was off in a whole other world, just like the population in the country.
03:37And the whole tension was she couldn't go home.
03:42Close your eyes and tap your heels together three times.
03:47But suddenly, through magic, she is able to go home.
03:50And she is sort of like a surrogate for the American population.
03:54There's no place like home.
03:57They went out of the movie with some sense of redemption.
04:02At least Judy got home.
04:03I think it's about the way in which human beings trust each other to lead each other through the world.
04:13Yeah.
04:14Because the wizard's not inherently a bad guy.
04:18But he has a lot of power.
04:20And power corrupts.
04:22That's absolutely true.
04:24It was made in 1938.
04:29And it opened in August 17, 1939.
04:35And America was at the cusp of a world war.
04:39Now fly!
04:40Fly!
04:46And that dark energy, it was part of the air they were breathing at that time.
04:51That beat of war was going on in the background.
04:57I mean, and they so much as made it real with the Winkies marching like Nazis.
05:03The Wizard of Oz was a hopeful outcome of that dark energy.
05:10Because the witch is dead, Dorothy gets back to Kansas.
05:15The objects themselves associated with the production still have that power over people.
05:24And an object like the ruby slippers is a perfect example of that.
05:28I've seen people just break down in tears coming into this room and seeing the ruby slippers in real life.
05:34Dorothy Gale is a stand-in for anybody who's ever thought about wanting more out of their life,
05:39or being unhappy with their circumstances, seeking something over the rainbow.
05:42So having an object in front of you that represents that, it's actually very powerful.
05:50Wizard of Oz was a very difficult shoot.
05:53There were conflicts and recastings and accidents and script problems.
06:00They wanted to make a realistic film that was a fantasy.
06:03All of the characters suffered through the costumes.
06:08Dad had to eat every meal through a straw.
06:12The lighting was so intense.
06:15They were dying under those costumes.
06:17The fact that there was a fire marshal on the set at all times with a light meter going around
06:23to make sure the set wasn't going to catch on fire from the heat of the lights.
06:28There were 14 writers and five directors and three choreographers
06:33and a potentially fatal accident, a potentially fatal reaction to make-up.
06:39I would imagine you'd have to ask any number of the cast members who worked on the Wizard of Oz
06:44if the Wizard of Oz was cursed or not.
06:47And if you asked Buddy Ebsen, he might tell you yes.
06:51His participation was cursed.
06:53Originally, Buddy Ebsen was cast to play the Tin Man
06:58and he was a very popular film actor of the time known as the Song and Dance Man
07:02and he would have been a perfect fit for the film.
07:06The makeup was pretty basic.
07:09They used clown white and then they dusted it with ground-up aluminum.
07:14He found that he was starting to have cramps in his fingers or in his feet
07:19and then one night it spread to his arms and his legs and he could not breathe.
07:23They were putting silver paint on him and they didn't realize, you know, he was being poisoned.
07:29He had been inhaling the aluminum particles, you know, that floated around.
07:36They had coated his lungs.
07:38He went home one night, couldn't breathe,
07:41ended up in the hospital with pneumonia in an oxygen tent.
07:47Unfortunately, his participation in the film was cut short
07:51and it ended up being a film that kind of scarred him in a way too.
07:58Literally scarred his lungs because he had a tendency toward bronchitis for the rest of his life.
08:05In the early 2000s, I had a show called Mythbusters
08:10and we were doing a story we called The Goldfinger Myth
08:13and it's about the actress Shirley Eaton who got painted gold in the James Bond film
08:17supposedly got suffocated by the paint, which she didn't.
08:21But as part of the research for that myth, we came across the famous story from The Wizard of Oz
08:26that Buddy Ebsen was originally slated to play the Tin Man
08:28and couldn't because he was poisoned by the silver paint that they put on him to play the Tin Man.
08:37When we first started to look at doing a story about The Wizard of Oz,
08:41there are a few avenues to that negative affect.
08:44And one is poison.
08:45So if Buddy Ebsen was poisoned by lead in the paint, we can't test that on ourselves.
08:50But the other main reason given for the difficulty with the paint
08:54was that it cut off the oxygen that you breathe through your skin
08:58and if you paint your whole body, you will somehow suffocate.
09:01That is testable by us.
09:03The suffocation is something that we can creep up on.
09:06We have an EMT on set.
09:07We can make sure our pulse oxygen levels are up to snuff
09:10and that is the aspect of the story that we tested.
09:14This is the exact stuff that they were using on the Tin Man,
09:17which was just a pure aluminum powder.
09:18No, why are you guys feeding her oxygen?
09:21Her heart rate was...
09:21Her heart rate's gone up.
09:23When most humans think about being Buddy Ebsen in that moment,
09:28oh, you get to play a Tin Man,
09:29so they're going to build this elaborate costume around you
09:31and then they're going to paint you silver.
09:33These are all the activities of, like, the best day ever for a 10-year-old.
09:39And I think every one of us intersects with that,
09:41of, like, that sounds incredible.
09:43And when you add on to that, the idea of being poisoned
09:46by effectively the highest level of play,
09:50that's exactly the kind of juxtaposition
09:53where people want to keep telling that story.
09:58I think it is certainly plausible that Buddy Ebsen
10:02could have had lifelong effects from the makeup on Wizard of Oz.
10:07On every single story we did on Mythbusters,
10:10we were working with chemicals that could affect us in a negative way,
10:12and we had to be able to talk to the insurance company
10:14about how we were going to do it safely.
10:17That's definitely not something that I think was going on in the 30s.
10:20The snow in the poppy field sequence
10:25was made of some derivation of asbestos.
10:31Nobody thought that this was damaging.
10:34They were doing things the best way they knew how 80 years ago,
10:37and they were doing them as safely as they thought they could.
10:42A lot of the special effects that were used in the Wizard of Oz
10:45were experimental.
10:46They were put into the Wizard of Oz for the first time on film.
10:52Buddy Ebsen was a guinea pig for a new kind of makeup,
10:55and it cost him the film.
10:59There was another rumor
11:00that the Munchkins were all drunkards.
11:07During the filming of the Wizard of Oz,
11:09most of the Munchkins stayed together at this hotel.
11:13The rumor is that while they were here,
11:15they carried on in a less-than-civilized fashion.
11:19This hotel will always be known
11:21for the residents of most of the little people
11:25when they made the movie in 1938.
11:29It's strange,
11:30but I can almost hear the Munchkin sounds,
11:35because more than a hundred of them stayed right here in this hotel.
11:42I'm sure there were a few parties.
11:45There have been stories for years
11:47that there were wild sex orgies,
11:49that the Munchkins went crazy.
11:52I used to hear this as a kid.
11:53Come on, Larry, let me tell you.
11:55You can tell me.
11:56There were roughly 124 little people
12:00playing the Munchkins,
12:01and the stories about the orgies,
12:04the drunken parties,
12:05the misbehavior
12:07tend to be painted
12:08in the broadest strokes possible
12:11and incriminate 124 people.
12:14There were maybe a half a dozen or ten
12:16who were rowdy,
12:17and there were things that did happen.
12:19One of the Munchkins brought a gun to the set.
12:22Sort of a notorious little guy
12:24by the name of Charlie Kelly.
12:26He was jealous over his ex-wife,
12:28and she was dating another little person.
12:31He didn't get fired, though.
12:33They just made sure he didn't return
12:34with another pistol.
12:37I have to ask you about all the rumors
12:39that have come out,
12:40and the rumors are that
12:42all the little people got drunk every night.
12:44No, that's so...
12:46That's stupid.
12:47Really, they didn't.
12:48Where do you think these rumors came from, then?
12:51The great Judy Garland.
12:53On a TV special in 1967,
12:57Judy Garland said the Munchkins
12:58on the Wizard of Oz set
13:00were drunks.
13:03There was nothing like
13:04the drunken stories
13:06that Judy Garland sort of pinned on them
13:08in one of her inebriated moments
13:13on the Jack Parr show.
13:15They were drunk.
13:16They were a little drunk.
13:19And they put them all in one hotel room.
13:22Not one room.
13:23One hotel in Cawthor City.
13:25And they got smashed every night,
13:27and they'd pick them up
13:29in butterfly nets.
13:30Because it came from Judy Garland,
13:35I think people may have thought,
13:38well, she was there.
13:39She would know.
13:41As much as they loved Judy Garland,
13:44and they really did,
13:45the Munchkin actors had to suffer
13:47with that story over the years,
13:49and they weren't happy about that.
13:52As much as I love Judy,
13:55when she made that statement
13:56on Jack Parr's show,
13:58Judy had a couple of belts in there.
14:00And she was trying to be funny.
14:02And when you're trying to be funny
14:03and you don't know what to say,
14:04you're going to pick on the little people.
14:06Now, I've heard stories.
14:08Don't you believe it?
14:10Really?
14:10That's one thing I hate,
14:11them stupid stories.
14:14You mind if I say something?
14:15If I was six foot tall,
14:17I'd go to every one of those guys
14:19that wrote those stupid things.
14:20You know, it was awful.
14:22I'd have grabbed them up against the wall
14:23and said,
14:24you know what you did?
14:25Bad.
14:26The Munchkins got really irritated
14:27by questions like that.
14:29Rumors of sex orgies.
14:31Oh, that's a lot of BS.
14:33While there probably were parties,
14:35it was nothing like
14:37what was portrayed in the movie
14:40Under the Rainbow.
14:42Under the Rainbow is a great,
14:44great, great movie
14:45and very misunderstood,
14:47but movie buffs know the truth about it.
14:50Hey guys, this is Greg Turkington
14:52with the Victorville Film Archive.
14:55You had brought with you
14:57a copy of Under the Rainbow.
14:58And I have five copies of that,
15:00but I brought one.
15:01This is Under the Rainbow.
15:03This is sort of
15:04the definitive making
15:06of the Wizard of Oz movie.
15:09If you like Chevy Chase,
15:10this is one of his best movies.
15:11And of course, Carrie Fisher,
15:13we all love her as Princess Leia.
15:16But she's shown bright,
15:17not only in Star Wars movies,
15:19but also here in Under the Rainbow,
15:20the true story of the Munchkins.
15:22I'm Steve Rash.
15:26I'm director of a film called
15:29Under the Rainbow.
15:30The film turned out to be about
15:33the Munchkins
15:36tearing up the Culver Hotel
15:38during the filming of
15:40The Wizard of Oz
15:41with a story overlaid
15:44about a Secret Service agent,
15:46a paranoid Duke and Duchess,
15:48an assassin,
15:50a Japanese spy,
15:52a German little person spy.
15:55I didn't think people would believe
15:56that the Munchkins would be swinging
15:58from the chandeliers
15:59and would tie up the hotel manager
16:01and run amok.
16:04They probably thought
16:05that it wouldn't perpetuate it that much,
16:08but it did.
16:10I had not seen Under the Rainbow
16:13in at least 20 years.
16:15This last 12 or 14 hours
16:18since seeing it again after 20 years
16:20has kind of shaken me.
16:24I thought we were more advanced
16:27in 1980 than this.
16:31I was quite disappointed
16:32at how racist,
16:35how sexist,
16:36how elitist
16:38it conceptually was.
16:41Probably some otherists as well.
16:44Did that bother me
16:46the day that I shot it?
16:48I don't think so.
16:50It bothers me like hell today.
16:55The only fabulous thing
16:58about the whole experience
16:59was meeting and working
17:01with over 100 little people.
17:03In retrospect,
17:04looking at the way
17:05we were portraying them,
17:08they should have revolted.
17:11This film seems to believe
17:12that anything a small person does
17:14is funny,
17:15and of course that's not true.
17:16You know, I agree with you,
17:17and one of the things
17:18that bothered me
17:19about the use of the little people
17:20in this movie
17:20is that at no point
17:21were any of them
17:22except for Billy Barty
17:23as the spy
17:24dignified by being made
17:25into characters
17:26who had personalities.
17:29It felt a little bit
17:30like a train wreck,
17:31but I was the conductor.
17:32This is probably rationalization.
17:36Because so many little people
17:38had a wonderful experience
17:40and made a lot of money,
17:42I hope that makes up
17:44for the fact that
17:45we really didn't deal
17:46with them in a truthful way.
17:48We tried to do it
17:49in a fun way,
17:50and, you know,
17:51some people think
17:52it's hilarious.
17:53Um,
17:54I don't anymore.
17:55Are you a Wizard of Oz fan?
18:01Oh, yeah.
18:03Oh, yeah.
18:05Some of the people
18:06who made it
18:07in retrospect
18:08may have felt bad about it.
18:11Everything that can happen
18:12on a film
18:13happened to that film.
18:14The joy you see
18:17on the screen
18:18in The Wizard of Oz,
18:20that was an illusion
18:22created by an awful lot
18:25of people
18:26working awfully hard.
18:30The studio really was
18:32a factory.
18:34There were 500 carpenters,
18:3915 plumbers,
18:41two dozen blacksmiths,
18:44one barber,
18:45one shoeshine boy,
18:47and one man
18:48in charge of the lions.
18:53The actors and actresses
18:57were workers
18:59in that factory.
19:04Mom was born
19:07in Cleveland,
19:08Ohio,
19:091902.
19:11She taught
19:11in the Boston
19:12public schools
19:13while she pounded
19:14the pavements
19:15in New York.
19:17Wizard of Oz
19:17was casting.
19:19They had thought
19:19of looking
19:20for a beautiful witch.
19:22She said,
19:23well, that does it
19:23for me.
19:24But subsequently,
19:25they changed their mind
19:26and they wanted
19:27a, quote,
19:28ugly witch.
19:30And Mother said,
19:31well, of course
19:32they would have
19:32thought of me.
19:34And she got the part
19:36and the rest
19:37was history.
19:39People are shocked
19:40to realize
19:40that Mom was
19:42on the screen
19:42in The Wizard of Oz
19:43only 12 minutes.
19:46Of course,
19:47her presence
19:48dominated
19:49the whole film.
19:52I remember
19:53being incredibly
19:55scared
19:56of the witch.
19:58they knew
20:00what they were doing
20:00when they cast
20:02Margaret Hamilton.
20:05Maybe they didn't realize
20:07just the impact
20:09that she would have,
20:10though.
20:11A big concern
20:12of her
20:13was that the kids
20:15would believe it.
20:16would be fun.
20:18How nice to see you,
20:19Mr. Rogers.
20:20I'm so glad to see you.
20:21I'd like you to know
20:22my television friend.
20:23How are you doing?
20:23Margaret Hamilton.
20:25And so she spent
20:26a lot of time
20:27trying to convince kids
20:29that she was
20:30a kind old lady
20:31and that was
20:32a witch on the screen
20:34and that was
20:34make-believe
20:35and they shouldn't
20:36be afraid.
20:36Would you try on
20:38a dress like the one
20:39you had on?
20:40Yes, I'd love to.
20:41I think that would be fun.
20:42But she tried
20:44to stress,
20:45especially on
20:46Mr. Rogers,
20:47that it was
20:48just an act.
20:50There's your old friend,
20:52the Wicked Witch
20:52of the West.
20:53How did she talk?
20:55Well, she talked
20:56like this.
20:57It's very nice
20:58to see you.
21:00In the 30s
21:01and the 40s,
21:02safety conditions
21:03were not
21:04so great.
21:07And Mom
21:08was badly burned
21:09in the picture.
21:10It's a scene
21:12where she has arrived
21:14in Munchkin Village.
21:16When you see
21:17her entrance
21:17into Munchkinland
21:18in the smoke,
21:19it's not Margaret Hamilton.
21:23It was her double,
21:24Betty Danko.
21:25But they wanted Margaret
21:26to do the disappearance.
21:28They wanted to get it
21:29in one shot.
21:29They wanted to make it
21:30look real.
21:31So they weren't using
21:32her double for that.
21:33And it was
21:34a complicated shot.
21:35Margaret Hamilton
21:36was talking to
21:37the Good Witch
21:37and Dorothy
21:38and she had to
21:39deliver her line
21:40I'll get you
21:41and your little dog too.
21:42I'll get you
21:43my pretty
21:44and your little dog too.
21:45Hey!
21:47And whirl around
21:48and get to that
21:49elevator platform.
21:51The elevator
21:51was very small
21:52so she had to
21:53hit her mark
21:54exactly,
21:55pull the broom
21:56straight up,
21:57pull her elbows in
21:59so that she could
22:00drop cleanly
22:01through the floor.
22:03Say the line,
22:03back up just
22:04the right amount,
22:05get on the platform,
22:06pull everything in.
22:07The smoke came up
22:08from she dropped
22:08down,
22:10huge burst
22:10of real flame.
22:15But they let
22:16the fire effect
22:17go too quickly.
22:21And the broom
22:22caught on fire
22:23as did the hat.
22:25She was severely
22:26burned.
22:29She was immediately
22:30smothered with blankets
22:31to put out the fire.
22:32What she ultimately
22:35ended up having
22:35was third degree
22:37burns on her hand
22:38and second degree
22:38burns on her face.
22:40Now compounding that,
22:42her green makeup
22:43was copper based
22:44and heated copper
22:46could begin
22:47to eat into her skin.
22:50They had to take her
22:51off to the side
22:52of the set
22:52and clean her face,
22:54her pores completely
22:55of that green makeup.
22:57And they used
22:58rubbing alcohol
22:58and they had to
22:59press down
23:00on these fresh burns.
23:03Margaret Hamilton
23:04said she could never
23:05ever forget that pain.
23:08And the doctor
23:08salved her up,
23:10wrapped her up
23:10like a mummy
23:11and they sent her home.
23:14She was very concerned
23:16what my reaction
23:17was going to be.
23:18I was three years old
23:19at that time.
23:21She called ahead
23:22to my nanny
23:23and said,
23:25look,
23:25I'm coming home.
23:26tell him
23:27that I have
23:29a new costume.
23:29I look just
23:30like a mummy
23:31and I'm really excited
23:33to show him
23:34this costume
23:34and as soon
23:35as we get home
23:36and I get in bed
23:36you have to bring him
23:37in so he can see this.
23:38And I still remember
23:39being brought
23:40into her room
23:41and here was mom
23:44bandaged
23:47everywhere,
23:49particularly all
23:50over her face
23:51with this couple
23:51of slits
23:52for her eyes.
23:52and she said,
23:56how do you like
23:56my new costume?
23:57And I said,
23:58gee,
23:58that was kind of neat.
24:00And she handled
24:01that whole situation
24:02so that it was
24:03never any trauma
24:04for me.
24:09When she did go back,
24:11six weeks later,
24:12the first thing
24:13they wanted her to do
24:14was a flying scene
24:16on the broom
24:17with the smoke
24:18coming out
24:18behind.
24:20They said,
24:21Maggie,
24:21we just have this
24:22broom
24:23with a little
24:24gasoline engine
24:25on the back.
24:26She was filming
24:27a skywriting scene
24:28and they positioned
24:29a pipe
24:30that would
24:31blast fire
24:32right beside
24:34where she sat
24:36on the broom.
24:37The wardrobe man
24:38brought up
24:39a costume
24:41to her
24:42and said,
24:43this is your
24:43fireproof costume.
24:46She went,
24:46whoa.
24:47She just refused.
24:48She said,
24:48I'm not going to do it.
24:49So Margaret
24:50Hamilton's
24:51stunt double,
24:53Betty Danko
24:54agreed to do
24:55the scene.
24:57Betty Danko
24:58got in the costume,
24:59the makeup,
25:00put her on the broom,
25:01started the wind machines,
25:02told her,
25:03all right,
25:04action,
25:04push the button,
25:06Miss Danko.
25:07And she pushed
25:08the button
25:08and the smoke mechanism
25:09at the back
25:10of the broom exploded.
25:11And that thing
25:11blew up.
25:13She went one direction,
25:14the broom went
25:14the other direction.
25:15There were flying
25:16metal pieces
25:17that embedded
25:18in her leg.
25:19And she was in
25:20the hospital
25:20for a while.
25:22Any kind of legend,
25:24good or bad,
25:25is going to travel.
25:27The important thing,
25:28though,
25:29is to separate
25:30the legend
25:30and the myth
25:31from the truth.
25:34The only way
25:35in which the film
25:36is cursed now
25:37is the way
25:39all of that
25:39has been
25:40expanded upon
25:42and enlarged
25:43and lied about.
25:45And this has been
25:46going on for decades.
25:48I think it's
25:49yellow journalism
25:50to the max.
25:52If I were just
25:53somebody who sat
25:54at home and watched
25:54The Wizard of Oz
25:55for my own pleasure
25:56and heard the legends,
25:58I would say,
25:58well, gee,
25:59maybe those are true.
26:00Gosh,
26:00did that really happen?
26:02Fuck.
26:04The most famous
26:05of all the Oz legends
26:07is one of the earliest
26:08ones,
26:08that there is a munchkin
26:10who hung himself
26:11on the set
26:12and you can see him
26:13in the background
26:14hanging and swinging.
26:18I've got some curses
26:19for you
26:19if you want to know.
26:21Someone showed me
26:23a couple of feet
26:26of film
26:26that was allegedly
26:27once part of the cut
26:29of Wizard of Oz
26:31that had been removed
26:33when they learned
26:34that that dark spot
26:36up in the upper
26:37right-hand corner
26:38is a munchkin
26:39who hanged himself
26:40from the lighting grid.
26:42I saw the black blob
26:43that was supposedly
26:44the dead munchkin
26:45during the filming
26:50of Under the Rainbow.
26:52I wasn't interested
26:53enough to get out
26:54a magnifier
26:54and check the validity.
26:56I bought it.
26:58Good story.
27:00It went from being
27:00a stagehand caught
27:01on camera
27:02to a stagehand
27:03who was depressed
27:04and hung himself
27:05on camera
27:07to an MGM executive
27:08who was so despairing
27:10of how much
27:10Wizard of Oz
27:11was costing
27:12that he hung himself
27:13on camera
27:14to an actress
27:15who hung herself
27:15because she didn't
27:16get the part of Dorothy
27:17to a munchkin
27:19who hung himself
27:19because Judy Garland
27:20wouldn't date him.
27:22I get this
27:23from grade school kids
27:24and I don't mind it
27:25from grade school kids
27:26but it's when adults
27:27who come up to me
27:28to say,
27:29you know,
27:29there's a man hanging
27:30and it's like
27:32basically one
27:34of the munchkins
27:34hung himself
27:35on the set
27:36of The Wizard of Oz.
27:39Fortunately,
27:39it was very far
27:40in the distance
27:41and it wasn't even noticed
27:43at the time
27:43of the release.
27:44It wasn't until
27:44some real true
27:46blue film buffs
27:47who watched the movie
27:48enough times
27:49happened to notice
27:50it one day.
27:51There's a conspiracy
27:52within The Wizard of Oz
27:53that a munchkin
27:54hung himself
27:58in the background
27:58during one of the scenes.
27:59You see it right there
28:00on film
28:01on certain copies.
28:02Like,
28:03what the fuck's
28:03going on over there?
28:04It's not on every copy.
28:05You have to have
28:06the collector's editions.
28:07This is the one
28:08you want to own
28:09because this is the only
28:09place to actually see
28:11the original
28:11hanging munchkin footage
28:13and of course
28:14it's priceless
28:15so I was very,
28:17very glad to acquire it
28:18from this dealer.
28:21Did he know
28:21what he had?
28:22Oh no,
28:22he didn't know
28:23what he had.
28:23If he knew what he had,
28:24he wouldn't have
28:24sold it to me.
28:26That we know
28:27to be the truth.
28:28Now,
28:29this is an edition
28:30that collectors love also.
28:32It's the 50th anniversary edition.
28:34Unfortunately,
28:35with this,
28:36they did find
28:37the alternate footage
28:38with the bird
28:40from the LA Zoo
28:41and they replaced
28:42the hanging munchkin footage
28:44with that footage.
28:46We tried
28:47to get
28:48like the original copy.
28:51It's the oldest copy
28:53we found.
28:53It's literally VHS.
28:54And like I said,
28:56this is the remastered version.
28:58The now they say
28:59it's a bird.
29:00And in the original version,
29:03it straight up
29:04looks like a munchkin.
29:06Like
29:06a munchkin.
29:08Munchkin.
29:09Munchkin.
29:10I'm going to show you
29:11both versions
29:13of the Wizard of Oz,
29:14of the hanging munchkin scene,
29:17which is
29:17one of the most iconic
29:19in Wizard of Oz history,
29:20if not motion picture history.
29:22All right,
29:23here we go.
29:23We're off to see the wizard.
29:24Now,
29:25you see that?
29:26That's the bird.
29:29Let me freeze this.
29:31You see what is obviously
29:32an exotic bird,
29:33like an emu?
29:34They found a big exotic bird.
29:36I don't know what the breed was,
29:37but it was a similar size
29:38to the munchkin.
29:38They put that bird
29:39in the same corner of the room.
29:41This was soundstage number two.
29:43And they shot
29:43the same scene,
29:45but with a bird
29:45flapping around
29:46and replaced it
29:47in most prints,
29:49except
29:49for the print that leaked out.
29:52And this is the one
29:53collectors want to see.
29:54This is the suicide
29:56of the anonymous munchkin.
29:57Never been identified.
29:58Never will be.
30:02There!
30:04Dead.
30:05His neck.
30:06His neck has snapped
30:07instantly in a hanging,
30:08so.
30:10Because, because, because, because,
30:11look at that.
30:12Swinging back and forth,
30:13dead.
30:16People have shared
30:17the footage
30:18on YouTube
30:19and some of these
30:19sorts of bootleg sites.
30:22Because of the times
30:23in which we are living,
30:24there is a very
30:25worthy soul
30:27who has doctored
30:29the footage.
30:30and posts it
30:33on YouTube
30:34as if to say,
30:35there you can see,
30:36it is a hanging munchkin
30:37and this is what
30:38it used to look like.
30:40And when the rumors
30:40started going around,
30:41MGM took this out
30:42and dropped in
30:44a bird.
30:45Now, it really is a bird.
30:47That's the bird
30:48they photoshopped in, man.
30:50I have no problem
30:51debunking a conspiracy theory,
30:52like the whole
30:53Keanu Reeves
30:53being a reptilian.
30:55You know,
30:55I pretty much
30:56debunked that one.
30:57But this one,
30:57I'm telling you guys,
30:59man,
30:59it's for real.
31:01If you watch the original,
31:02it's for real.
31:04The bird is not
31:05in the original copy.
31:08The bird is in
31:09the remade copy.
31:11And they put the bird
31:12there to make people
31:13say, you know,
31:14oh, it's a bird.
31:16It's hanging right there.
31:17Now, that is not a bird.
31:19There's no wings
31:20and it's rocking
31:23back and forth.
31:24I mean, it's there.
31:25I think there is
31:26a great danger,
31:27not only because
31:28it's inaccurate
31:29or disproportionate,
31:31but because it is
31:31omnipresent
31:32in today's world
31:33of looking for
31:34dreck and dark.
31:38There is just
31:38an essential purity
31:40about the Oz story
31:42and the Oz film.
31:45It was at a time
31:46when Judy was so excited
31:47about making that picture
31:48and so delighted
31:49to be making that picture.
31:51She was thrilled.
31:52It was well known
31:53on the set
31:54that if Judy
31:54cracked up at something,
31:55you had to take
31:56five minutes
31:57to let her laugh
31:58it out of her system.
31:59And when it came time
32:00to do her first scenes
32:01with Burt Lahr
32:02in the movie,
32:03these were the scenes
32:04where they meet
32:04the cowardly lion
32:05in the forest
32:06and he goes after Toto.
32:08I'll get you
32:09anyway, Kiwi.
32:10When Judy rescues Toto,
32:12picks up Toto
32:12and slaps the lion
32:14and Burt Lahr
32:16starts to cry.
32:17What did you do that for?
32:20Well, they could not
32:21get this take.
32:22They did it two or three times
32:23and every time
32:23Burt Lahr started to cry
32:24with the water spouts
32:26built into his wig
32:27and the water pouring down
32:28and him doing his whole
32:30cowardly lion bit,
32:31she would crack up.
32:33She would break up
32:34every time.
32:35It is in the film.
32:37She picks up Toto
32:39and she starts to laugh
32:40and she pulls the dog
32:41up in front of her face.
32:43It is heaven.
32:44And it's in the film.
32:46She couldn't stop laughing.
32:48Take after take after take.
32:50It was an expensive picture.
32:52You know, they were running.
32:53They had to get the scene done.
32:54And finally,
32:55after three or four takes
32:56of this,
32:56Victor Fleming took her
32:58behind the set,
32:59behind one of the trees
33:00and he gave her
33:02a smart little smack
33:03across the face.
33:08If that's how
33:10he handled things,
33:12well, it's too bad
33:13he had to slap her.
33:14He didn't punch her.
33:15He didn't beat her.
33:17It was just a sharp little,
33:19you know, come on,
33:20come to.
33:21Get with it here.
33:22Well,
33:23if that's what happened,
33:25that's what happened.
33:26Um,
33:27you know,
33:28um,
33:29I don't know what else
33:30to say about that.
33:32Was it the right thing to do?
33:35Well,
33:36no,
33:37probably not,
33:38but what are you going to do?
33:40You've got to get
33:41the picture made.
33:41It was coded
33:44into her
33:45to want to please,
33:47to try to
33:49give out
33:50all the love
33:50she had inside her
33:51in hopes that
33:52it would come back
33:53to her.
33:54She said,
33:55I always felt unwanted.
33:57And she wasn't being
33:58overly dramatic
33:59when she said it.
34:01She found out
34:02that her mother
34:03had tried to
34:04have her aborted.
34:07and a doctor
34:09friend of theirs
34:09warned them against it.
34:10So the mother
34:11tried everything
34:12she could
34:12to induce
34:13a miscarriage.
34:15This is somebody
34:16who didn't have
34:18the protection
34:18within herself
34:19or in the people
34:21who were supposed
34:21to be taking care
34:22of her
34:22to withstand
34:24the concrete mixer
34:25that Hollywood
34:26could be.
34:26When my mother
34:29started
34:30The Wizard of Oz,
34:32she was 15
34:33when she started
34:34and she finished
34:35it when she was 16.
34:38Your body
34:39starts to change.
34:41The character
34:42of Dorothy,
34:43of course,
34:43was even younger
34:44in the book
34:44and they wanted
34:46my mom
34:47to look
34:49like a child.
34:50They said,
34:51you can't gain
34:52any weight.
34:52She had no idea
34:57that the studio
34:59had asked
35:01some of the doctors
35:03who worked
35:04at the studio
35:06to give her
35:09what they called
35:11energy pills
35:13and or pep pills
35:15so that she would
35:17keep that childlike figure.
35:21Pep pills are names
35:22for a great
35:22of barbiturates
35:23and prescription drugs.
35:25The young pill addict
35:26can move
35:27from sedatives
35:28like Dorotin,
35:29red devils
35:30to amphetamines.
35:33That would
35:34cut her appetite
35:35and that would
35:37give her
35:37a little bit
35:37of energy
35:38and then
35:39when my grandmother
35:40said she can't
35:41sleep at night
35:42then they gave her
35:43a sleeping pill
35:44and they didn't
35:45go out
35:46to harm her.
35:48They didn't know
35:49what they were doing.
35:52They had no idea
35:54about addiction.
35:56They had no idea
35:57about how this
35:59would harm people.
36:02She developed
36:03a dependency on them.
36:06That nobody knew
36:06a dependency
36:07was probable.
36:10I've never blamed
36:11the studio
36:12for what happened
36:15to my mom
36:16as far as
36:18the addiction
36:19that
36:21encompassed
36:23her adult life
36:24because the studio
36:26would never go out
36:27to harm
36:28its biggest moneymaker.
36:31You were
36:32a product.
36:33the actors
36:36were never
36:37really truly
36:38thought about
36:39as
36:40people.
36:42They were
36:43part of
36:45the factory.
36:50We know
36:51that the studio
36:51did harm.
36:53We know
36:54that now.
36:56We know
36:57that
36:59amphetamines
36:59and we know
37:02that sleeping pills
37:03you don't give
37:04that to kids.
37:06We know
37:06that.
37:06They didn't
37:07know that then.
37:09And even
37:10if they
37:11did
37:11would
37:12they have
37:13cared?
37:14I don't
37:15know.
37:16I don't
37:17know.
37:19They got
37:20around the
37:21child labor
37:21laws.
37:22They
37:23they did
37:24harmful
37:24things.
37:26My mother
37:27had
37:27breakdowns
37:28at MGM
37:29because
37:29she
37:30went from
37:31movie to
37:32movie to
37:32movie to
37:33movie to
37:33movie.
37:33She never
37:34had a
37:34vacation.
37:35But again
37:36I don't
37:37think you
37:38can blame
37:38people for
37:39ignorance.
37:41We all
37:41now know
37:43about
37:43the world
37:44of addiction.
37:46They
37:46didn't.
37:48When I
37:49started
37:51to
37:51dabble
37:53in the
37:53world
37:53of
37:54cocaine
37:55and
37:55alcohol
37:56I
37:59realized
38:00that once
38:01I found
38:02out about
38:02my family
38:04history
38:04that I
38:06fit right
38:06in.
38:08And
38:08now that
38:09I've been
38:11sober 34
38:12years
38:12I think
38:14to myself
38:15that's
38:16why
38:17this
38:17happened.
38:19It
38:19happened
38:19to her
38:20it
38:21happened
38:21to me
38:22and
38:24it
38:25was
38:25incredibly
38:27fulfilling
38:29to find
38:31out
38:31that I
38:32didn't have
38:33to blame
38:34myself
38:34and I
38:36didn't have
38:36to blame
38:37her
38:37and that
38:39I learned
38:40to forgive
38:41but you
38:43don't have
38:44to learn
38:44to forget.
38:45you hear
38:52all these
38:52stories in
38:52Hollywood
38:53and no
38:54matter
38:54how you
38:54phrase it
38:55you know
38:55it is
38:56something
38:57that is
38:57kind of
38:57sad
38:58but part
39:00of what
39:01I love
39:01about
39:01Judy
39:01is that
39:02she
39:02throughout
39:03her life
39:03references
39:04this time
39:05as being
39:05the happiest
39:07that she
39:07ever was
39:08and how
39:10she
39:10constantly
39:11was always
39:11trying to
39:12search for
39:12that kind
39:13of rainbow
39:13again.
39:15As far as
39:16Judy goes
39:17I know
39:17that
39:18this was
39:19one of
39:20her
39:21you know
39:22her best
39:22memories
39:22but I feel
39:24like her
39:25experience
39:26was much
39:26like Hollywood
39:27has always
39:28been.
39:29The Wizard
39:30of Oz
39:31the reason
39:31I love
39:31it so much
39:32I have
39:32to say
39:33that that
39:33is because
39:34of her
39:34performance.
39:35Who she
39:37is in
39:37that movie
39:37draws you
39:38in as a
39:39child
39:39and she
39:39got me
39:40hooked.
39:41So because
39:41of her
39:42I became
39:43obsessed
39:44with this
39:44movie
39:44and
39:46seeing her
39:47other films
39:48I just
39:48fell in love
39:49with her
39:49more and
39:49more.
39:51Do we
39:52remove some
39:53magic from
39:54a narrative
39:54by busting
39:55a myth
39:56about that
39:56narrative?
39:57I submit
39:58no.
39:59I submit
40:00that no one
40:00ever minds
40:01knowing more
40:02about a
40:04subject.
40:05You can
40:06certainly
40:06demystify
40:07things and
40:08still celebrate
40:09them at
40:10the same
40:10time.
40:12I take
40:13it as
40:13axiomatic
40:13that humans
40:14as explorers
40:16are
40:17evolutionarily
40:18driven to
40:19find the
40:20truth of
40:20things.
40:22We have
40:22always sent
40:23our best
40:23and brightest
40:24to the
40:24edge of
40:24the known
40:25to report
40:26back what
40:26they find.
40:28While some
40:29people may
40:31complain that
40:32in telling
40:33the true
40:34stories about
40:34some narrative
40:35we're somehow
40:36reducing some
40:37of its
40:37magic, I
40:39don't think
40:39that's true
40:39for most
40:40people.
40:42I wouldn't
40:43necessarily
40:44attach the
40:45term cursed
40:46to The
40:47Wizard of
40:47Oz.
40:48There were
40:49elements of
40:49it that
40:50might have
40:51been a
40:51little cursed,
40:52but the
40:52blessing that
40:54that film
40:54was to
40:57the cast
40:58cursed and
40:59to the
41:01American
41:01cinema.
41:03I just
41:04don't think
41:04you could
41:05call The
41:05Wizard of
41:05Oz entirely
41:06cursed.
41:07That's
41:08certain.
41:10I think
41:11if people
41:12think it's
41:13a sad
41:13film, it
41:15might be
41:16because of
41:19what happened
41:20to Judy
41:20Garland.
41:24Her
41:25experience at
41:27MGM led
41:29in some
41:30sense at
41:30least to
41:32a life
41:33that had
41:34ended
41:35in her
41:38mid-forties.
41:39And the
41:43success, I
41:44think, of
41:45Over the
41:45Rainbow, even
41:46now, is
41:48because it
41:50has an
41:51emotional
41:52jolt that
41:54ties it to
41:55Judy Garland
41:56looking up at
41:57the sky and
42:00wishing that
42:01she were
42:01over the
42:02rainbow.
42:09The
42:19world
42:19outside my
42:20window
42:21is a
42:22world of
42:22color I
42:23see.
42:24Fiddle-dee-dee
42:25outside my
42:26window
42:27is a
42:28world of
42:28color I
42:29see.
42:30Rainbow,
42:32rainbow,
42:34rainbow
42:34round me.
42:36Rainbow,
42:38rainbow,
42:39rainbow
42:40rainbow
42:40round me.
42:43The sky
42:44outside my
42:45window
42:46is as
42:47blue as
42:47blue can
42:48be.
42:49Fiddle-dee-dee
42:50outside my
42:51window
42:52is as
42:53blue as
42:53blue can
42:54be.
42:55Rainbow,
42:57rainbow,
42:59rainbow
42:59round me.
43:01Rainbow,
43:03rainbow,
43:05rainbow
43:05round me.
43:09rainbow
43:10and
43:11rainbow
43:12and
43:13rainbow
43:14are
43:15the
43:15darker
43:16before it
43:16gets lighter.
43:17Of course,
43:17I don't know,
43:18but I think it'll get
43:19darker before it gets lighter.
43:21Do you suppose we'll meet any wild animals?
43:22Do you suppose we'll meet any wild animals?
43:26We might.
43:27Oh,
43:28animals?
43:29No,
43:31no,
43:32no.
43:33No.
43:33I don't know.
43:33I don't know.
43:34I don't know.
43:34I don't know.
Recommended
23:44
|
Up next
1:29:42
42:53
46:05
25:25
27:39
1:34
25:58
2:15
5:41
1:11:40
1:36
41:22
27:45
1:11:13
45:00
Be the first to comment