MGM's 1939 motion-picture adaptation of the beloved children's book The Wizard of Oz is turning 70.To celebrate the anniversary of this unassailable classic ( that film critic Pauline Kael once described as being "nearly critic proof" ) Warner Home Video is presenting a newly restored, hi-def version of the movie in theatres one night only Wed., Sept. 23 ( wizardofoz.fathomevents.com ) . This visually stunning, restored 70th-anniversary version will then be available ( in both standard and Blu-ray formats ) on Tuesday, Sept. 29, in a two- or four-disc version ( with 16 hours of bonus footage! ) that Warners is dubbing the "Ultimate Collector's Edition."
The fuss over the anniversary of The Wizard of Oz is understandable for a variety of reasons—historical as well as commercial—and it's a celebration that will certainly resonate with Our People. The movie and Judy Garland's performance in the title role have influenced the older segment of the gay community, and Dorothy's story—her "outsider" status in barren, bland Kansas, where no one understands her, her immediate acceptance by a host of other outsiders, etc.—has long entered the fabric of the lives of everyone in the LGBT family.
MGM's film version is literally a part of gay history. Asking if someone was a "friend of Dorothy" was a way for gays to safely seek out their own kind or discuss their betters in mixed sexual company without fear of reprisal. Historians date this coded slang term back as early as WWII. The euphemism is still commonly used on cruise ships ( talk about irony! ) in their lists of daily activities as a discreet way for LGBT passengers to meet socially.
It's not just the 1939 film but the familiar and influential Oz story itself that continues to hold queer audiences in thrall. Out writer Gregory Maguire's best-selling novel Wicked led to the phenomenally successful stage musical ( with a score by out composer/lyrics Stephen Schwartz, to boot ) that is now being adapted into a film. The story of Dorothy and friends has inspired many other queer artists—from Rufus Wainwright's heartfelt rendition of "Over the Rainbow" to Geoff Ryman's intricate novel "Was" to Alan Cumming's performance in Tin Man, the Syfy ( formerly Sci Fi ) channel's award-winning miniseries.
So what kind of impact has The Wizard of Oz had on the life of this queer film critic? I'm not sure I can ever put into words the powerful spell that the movie has cast—and continues to hold—over me. I can only write that after having seen literally thousands of movies it remains my unequivocal favorite and that I've told my husband that when I die my memorial service should conclude with a screening of the movie—or I will haunt him from Oz!
Two other fantasy films, both animated and both pitched at kids of all ages, are aiming for some of that Oz immortality. Although neither Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, which opens Sept. 18, nor the postapocalyptic 9, which is already in theaters, has much hope of attaining such a lofty reputation, both are delightful entertainments. Cloudy, in particular ( which like Oz, was adapted from a bestselling children's book ) , is a laugh-out-loud winner.
It's the story of Flint ( voiced by SNL's Bill Hader ) , an intrepid young scientist who struggles to win acceptance from his father and thinks when he invents a machine that dispenses cheeseburgers, ice cream and other kid-friendly foods from above, that he'll finally get it. Instead, Flint and his fellow citizens, who are counting on him to restore their economy with his invention, get more food than even a glutton could wish for. The movie, which has a lot of delightful repeat gags, has the look, feel and tongue-in-cheek humor of Pixar's The Incredibles but comes from Sony's animation division, is wonderfully inspired and will probably be anathema only to vegetarians.
9, on the other hand, while equally visually inventive ( it's perhaps the first animated steampunk film ) is less solidly a kids' movie. The rage-against-the-machine story follows a group of nine tiny rag dolls with mechanical parts ( called stitchpunks ) who wander around a postapocalyptic world. ( The Brothers Quay are an obvious influence on writer-director-animator Chris Acker. ) Plucky #9 ( voiced by Elijah Wood ) , the sweet-voiced new member of the group, decides to fight back against the big red-eyed machine ( reminiscent of Sauron, the dark lord in The Lord of the Rings trilogy ) that is trying to destroy him and his fellow stitchpunks.
The movie has breathtaking visual sequences but is a little too familiar and thin in plot and character department to elevate it much beyond its animated forebears, although it does have one achingly sweet moment. This is when the stitchpunks, in a triumphant moment, find a Victrola that plays a scratchy recording of Judy Garland singing "Over the Rainbow." As Judy's impossibly lush voice wafts out over the post-industrial junkyard that Earth has become in this calamitous vision of the future, it's a bit comforting to think that even in a devastated world devoid of mankind, something hopeful that the masterful Wizard of Oz inspired will endure.
Film note:
Queer Cinema 102, a five-film event with local gay film critics that focuses on offbeat camp "classics"—the horrible, the perverse, the hilarious and the fabulously bad—continues Monday, Sept. 21, with Desperate Living, John Waters' hilarious 1977 lesbian camp crime thriller with Mink Stole; Edie Massey; the 300-pound Jean Hill; stripper Liz Renay; and a host of other "sexual deviants" and outcasts. The screening, hosted by Chicago Free Press film critic Gregg Shapiro, will take place in the Hoover-Leppen Theatre at the Center on Halsted, 3656 N. Halsted, at 7 p.m. Admission is a suggested donation of $5 at the door and an audience Q&A will follow the screening. HannahFree.com is helping to sponsor the series. Further information is at www.queerfilmsociety.org .
Check out my archived reviews at www.windycitytimes.com or www.knightatthemovies.com . Readers can leave feedback at the latter Web site.
