MIT Lecture Series Committee

Rated G
112 minutes

view trailer

format: 35mm

The Dark Side of Oz (1939)

7pm Friday show: The Wizard of Oz
10pm Friday and Saturday shows: The Dark Side of Oz with Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon soundtrack (more information)

The third and definitive film adaptation of L. Frank Baum's 1900 children's fantasy, this musical adventure is a genuine family classic that made Judy Garland a star for her heartfelt performance as Dorothy Gale, an orphaned young girl unhappy with her drab black-and-white existence on her aunt and uncle's dusty Kansas farm. Dorothy yearns to travel "over the rainbow" to a different world, and she gets her wish when a tornado whisks her and her little dog, Toto, to the Technicolorful land of Oz, killing the wicked witch who rules the Land of the Munchkins in the process. Having thus offended the Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Hamilton), Dorothy is protected from the old crone's wrath by the ruby slippers that she wears. At the suggestion of Glinda, the Good Witch of the North (Billie Burke), Dorothy heads down the Yellow Brick Road to the Emerald City, where dwells the all-powerful Wizard of Oz, who might be able to help the girl return to Kansas. En route, she befriends a Scarecrow (Ray Bolger), a Tin Man (Jack Haley), and a Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr). The Scarecrow would like to have some brains, the Tin Man craves a heart, and the Lion wants to attain courage; hoping that the Wizard will help them too, they join Dorothy on her odyssey to the Emerald City. [allmovie.com]

It's a movie almost everyone has seen multiple times, and every viewing is a visit home as well as a wild adventure toward territories unknown.
      -- Phil Villarreal, Arizona Daily Star. Read this review.