The Magic Cloak of Oz
| The Magic Cloak of Oz | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | J. Farrell MacDonald |
| Produced by |
L. Frank Baum Louis F. Gottschalk |
| Written by | L. Frank Baum |
| Based on |
Queen Zixi of Ix by L. Frank Braum |
| Starring |
Juanita Hansen Violet MacMillan Mildred Harris Vivian Reed Fred Woodward |
| Music by | Louis F. Gottschalk |
| Cinematography | James A. Crosby |
|
Production
company |
|
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
|
Release date
|
September 28, 1914 |
|
Running time
|
c. 38 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | Silent Film English intertitles |
The Magic Cloak of Oz is a 1914 film directed by J. Farrell MacDonald. It was written by L. Frank Baum and produced by Baum and composer Louis F. Gottschalk. The film is an adaptation of Baum's novel, Queen Zixi of Ix.
The Magic Cloak of Oz had severe distribution problems, owing to the box office failure of The Patchwork Girl of Oz. Advertisements claimed that the film would be released September 28, 1914, by Paramount Pictures, but this apparently never occurred, though it was apparently released in its entirety in 1917. It was eventually reduced from a five-reel film to two two-reel films known as The Magic Cloak and The Witch Queen. The current prints are assembled from these two films, and so the film is incomplete. All of its titles are missing, and The Magic Cloak title card, which is not in The Oz Film Manufacturing Company style, is used without any additional credits. Its only allusion to Oz is a title card's claim that the fairies of Burzee are "fairies of Oz".
Intertitles confirm that the cast included Violet MacMillan as Timothy, or Bud, who becomes king of Noland due to a legal loophole; Mildred Harris as his sister, Margaret, or Fluff; Fred Woodward as Nicodemus, the mule, and possibly some other animals as well, and Vivian Reed as Quavo, the minstrel. After Juanita Hansen became better known, the fact that she portrayed the title role, Queen Zixi, was mentioned in many contemporary sources. The International Wizard of Oz Club published Scott Andrew Hutchins' "An Oz Filmography" on their website, and in an edited form in the Spring 2004 issue of The Baum Bugle, in which he postulated several other members of the Oz stock company in other roles. This information was submitted by a third party to the Internet Movie Database and has been accepted by some commentators as fact, although there is no contemporary evidence of this.
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