 Fantasy, SciFi Posters
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The Wizard of Oz - 1939
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming from a script mostly by Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf, with uncredited contributions by others. According to the Library of Congress it is the most watched motion picture in history.
The Wizard of Oz was based on the 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, who died twenty years before the film was released. 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 for its use of special effects, Technicolor, fantasy storytelling and unusual characters, The Wizard of Oz has become, over the years, one of the best-known of all films and a true classic. However, although it received largely positive reviews, won three Academy Awards, and was nominated for Best Picture of the Year, the film was initially a box office failure.
The film was MGM's most expensive production up to that time, explaining why the studio was unable to recoup its initial investment when it was first released, but it made up for that in subsequent re-releases. "Over the Rainbow" won the Academy Award for Best Original Song and the film itself received several Academy Award nominations. Telecasts of the film began in 1956, and because of them the film has found a larger audience—its television screenings were once an annual tradition and have re-introduced the film to the public, making The Wizard of Oz one of the most famous films ever made. The Library of Congress named The Wizard of Oz as the most-watched film in history. It is often ranked among the top ten best movies of all-time in various critics' and popular polls, and it has provided many memorable quotes of both modern American and world popular culture.
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