An Important Script in the Creation of the Classic Fantasy Film The Wizard of Oz. ...

Description

An Important Script in the Creation of the Classic Fantasy Film The Wizard of Oz. (MGM, 1939) Vintage original studio bound and bradded 126-marigold page Temporary Complete script dated June 13/38 to July 1/38, and written by Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf.
The Wizard of Oz is arguably the most beloved multi-generational fantasy musical ever made. It is a fine example of art and craft in Hollywood filmmaking. The movie ticks all the boxes when it comes to creative vision manifesting through studio filmmaking, but it also innovated stunning visual effects in ways that endure to this very day. Celebrated for its use of fantasy storytelling, musical score, songs, and memorable characters, as well as technical advancements in makeup and special effects, creative use of Technicolor, and general stagecraft. While the magic trick plays out seamlessly onscreen, today feature we know that behind the scenes, it takes an army of talented artists coming together in the spirit of collaboration to create such a flawlessly spectacular experience for the audience.
Inspired by Disney's success adapting the children's story to his animated version of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), MGM took on the task of adapting the popular L. Frank Baum fantasy to the big screen. The script made its way through the studio system, where it was touched by many prominent writers and saw many revisions before arriving at its ultimate version. Mervyn LeRoy's assistant, William H. Cannon submitted a four-page outline. Herman J. Mankiewicz delivered a 17-page draft of the Kansas scenes and then further pages. Noel Langley and poet Ogden Nash wrote their versions of the story. Langley turned in three additional scripts incorporating Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg songs, which brings us to the script on offer here.
Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf submitted their script and were subsequently hired to polish it. They were tasked with keeping the script true to Baum's original book. This Ryerson/Woolf script closely resembles the ultimate script, with a few differences in the balance and structure. There is an introduction on page B-1 that reads, in full:
"FADE IN ON THE TITLES AND FOREWORD For close on forty years this story has given faithful service to the Young in Heart; and Time has been powerless to put its kindly philosophy out of fashion. To those of you who have been faithful to it in return..... and to the Young in Heart .....We dedicate this picture. NOTE: The background for the main title, foreword and credit titles must have both dignity and importance and at the same time be novel and interesting. This will be devised later."
In this script, the movie opens with "Dorothy Gale" late home from school, establishing her whimsical personality as she fantasizes about a royal ball where she dances with an imaginary prince. Next, she has a conversation with farmhands "Hunk" and "Hickory" in which we learn the "Miss Gulch" of this version is Dorothy's teacher, who has a grudge against Toto, who has bitten her leg. Also notable is the movie's ending, which doesn't immediately shift from the world of Oz to Dorothy coming to in Kansas, surrounded by family. This version cuts from Dorothy's departure from Oz to a distraught "Aunt Em" and farmhands desperately searching for Dorothy after the tornado and finding her unconscious, where she fell on her bed. Further, the iconic tagline in the denouement, "There's no place like home," is absent in this draft.
The story we've come to know so well went through many more revisions and refinements before being locked and put into service as a shooting script. This is a clean, beautifully preserved studio copy of this particular step in scripting the iconic film. Exhibiting minor age, handling, some breaching to cover punch holes. Minor fading and discoloration to the cover and edgewear. Retaining the MGM Studio Script Department sticker on the front cover In vintage Very Good condition. Comes with a COA from Heritage Auctions.

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