The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1910 film)
| The Wonderful Wizard of Oz | |
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13-minute film clip
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| Directed by | Otis Turner (unconfirmed) |
| Produced by | William Selig |
| Written by | Otis Turner (unconfirmed) |
| Based on |
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum |
| Starring | Bebe Daniels |
| Distributed by | Selig Polyscope Company |
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Release date
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Running time
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13 mins. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | Silent film English intertitles |
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a 1910 American silent fantasy film and the earliest surviving film version of L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, made by the Selig Polyscope Company without Baum's direct input. It was created to fulfill a contractual obligation associated with Baum's personal bankruptcy caused by The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays, from which it was once thought to have been derived. It was partly based on the 1902 stage musical The Wizard of Oz, though much of the film deals with the Wicked Witch of the West, who does not appear in the musical.
In Kansas, Dorothy and the cow are chased into the cornfield by the mule, and the farmhands draw their muskets at the beast. Dorothy discovers in the field that the family scarecrow is alive. The Scarecrow builds a haystack and warns Dorothy and the farm animals to take cover. A cyclone appears overhead and carries the haystack away, thus letting it fall into the Land of Oz.
In Oz, the travelers meet the Tin Woodman and the Lion. When they enter a forest, Momba the Witch flies out the window as her soldiers come out of the cottage, they are all captured and led into the witch's jail-house. After defeating the wicked witch, the travelers arrive at the Emerald City for the retirement party of the Wizard, who names the Scarecrow king and leaves in a balloon.
The credits to this film are lost, and the identity of the director and actors are disputed.
There is no definitive proof who is in the cast, or who directed the film. Otis Turner may have directed the film, but Mark Evan Swartz points out that it is highly unlikely that both Otis Turner and Bebe Daniels worked on the film, as they were in different parts of the country at the time (Turner in Chicago, Daniels in California), and neither had a strong impetus for travel. Dorothy does resemble contemporary photos of Daniels, which would make Turner's direction improbable. Michael Patrick Hearn disputes this, and has found ample evidence that both were in California at the time. At any rate, that Baum knew of Turner is confirmed by his spoofery of an "Otis Werner" in his Aunt Jane's Nieces Out West, a fictional account inspired by his optimism as an independent filmmaker.
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Wikipedia