“I do believe in spooks, I do believe in spooks. I do, I do, I do, I do, I do, I do believe in spooks, I do believe in spooks, I do, I do, I do, I do, I do, I do!” He also believes in wicked witches, flying monkeys, anthropomorphic trees, and wizards! Join this episode’s Grue Crew – Whitney Collazo, Chad Hunt, and Jeff Mohr – as they take a trip to the land of Oz by way of Kansas to make a request of The Wizard of Oz (1939).
Decades of Horror: The Classic Era
Episode 63 – The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Transported to a surreal landscape, a young girl kills the first person she meets and then teams up with three strangers to kill again.
– Rick Polito for TCM
- Directors: Victor Fleming; (uncredited) George Cukor, Mervyn LeRoy, Norman Taurog, Richard Thorpe, King Vidor
- Writers: Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson, Edgar Allan Woolf, (from the book by) L. Frank Baum …
- Song Music: Harold Arlen
- Song Lyrics: E.Y. Harburg
- Score: Herbert Stothart
- Producers: Mervyn LeRoy
- Associate Producer: Arthur Freed
- Featured Cast:
- Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale
- Frank Morgan as Professor Marvel/The Wizard of Oz/Emerald City Doorman/the Cabby/Emerald City Guard/The Wizard of Oz angry face projection.
- Ray Bolger as “Hunk” / Scarecrow
- Jack Haley as “Hickory” / Tin Man
- Bert Lahr as “Zeke” / the Cowardly Lion
- Billie Burke as Glinda
- Margaret Hamilton as Miss Almira Gulch / The Wicked Witch of the West
- Clara Blandick as Auntie Em
- Charley Grapewin as Uncle Henry
- Harry Earles as Lollipop Guild Member (uncredited)
- Jerry Maren as Lollipop Guild Member (uncredited)
You might not think The Wizard of Oz is a horror movie, but you will never convince Jeff. Let him count the ways it scares the crap out of him. He also considers the film to be his favorite film of any genre. Whitney is the one that recognizes that strong female characters run the worlds depicted in The Wizard of Oz. She is also astounded by how the makeup needs of over 100 munchkins were handled on a daily basis. Bert Lahr’s portrayal of the Cowardly Lion is one of Chad’s favorites, so much so, that as a child, he used to run around the house imitating him. The whole Grue Crew can’t stop gushing over The Wizard of Oz and its iconic characters and the actors that so ably performed as those icons, even though it has been 80 years since its original release.
Be sure to tune in for the next episode when the Classic Era Grue Crew travels to Russia for some folk-horror and discuss Viy (1967).
Please send us feedback on the films we cover, ideas for future films, or the podcast itself. After all, without you, we’re just four horror freaks talking about the films we love. Send us an email at feedback@gruesomemagazine.com or leave us a message, a review, or a comment at GruesomeMagazine.com, iTunes, the Gruesome Magazine Horror News Radio Facebook group or your friendly neighborhood podcast aggregator.
To each of you from each of us, “Thank you so much for listening!”
Jeff has written for Horrornews.net and SQ Horror Magazine. He currently writes for Gruesome Magazine and is a co-host of the Decades of Horror podcasts - The Classic Era, 1970s, and 1980s - and the Gruesome Magazine Podcast.
