Cursed Films 2: The Wizard of Oz
There are just as many urban legends about curses in The Wizard of Oz as there are for The Exorcist. This episode breaks down and filters most of the truths from lies. No need to click your heels to get there; here’s a recap!
Asbestos, and Toxic Paint and Burns, Oh My!
The physical injuries pile up on the set of The Wizard of Oz. Buddy Ebsen – most known for his role as Jed Clampett on the TV show The Beverly Hillbillies – had to bow out of the role of the Tin Man (the role went to Jack Haley), thanks to his reaction to the aluminum in the body paint he wore. Ebsen’s joints became painful, and eventually he was unable to breathe. The dust had settled in his lungs, and he suffered chronic bronchitis the rest of his life.
Unlike the debunked 007 paint myth, this one is true.
The beautiful snow that wakes the heroes from their sleep in the poppy fields? Asbestos. Yup. The stuff that late night infomercial lawyers sue corporations over.
The Wicked Witch of the West was destroyed by water, but actress Margaret Hamilton was nearly burned to a crisp when the flames from the Witch’s smoke-filled exit were set off too soon, giving her third degree burns on her face and hands. The crew had to immediately remove the copper based paint she wore to prevent further damage-with alcohol. On fresh burns. Her stand-in, Betty Danko, suffered a similar fate on an exploding broom. One that Ms. Hamilton was expected to ride on her first day back on set from her recovery.
The scene in question
The Munchkins
The bigger (no pun intended) urban legends, and the most hurtful, involve the actors playing the inhabitants of Wizard’s Munchkinland.
They were painted as drunken, orgiastic troublemakers once by a drunken Judy Garland in a TV interview, and again in the 1980 comedy film Under the Rainbow.
Roughly one hundred and twenty four actors were employed to play the Munchkins. Law of averages precludes some would be troublemakers, but to label them all as such hurt many of the actors, and became a sore spot in subsequent, more contemporary interviews.
The Hanged Man
Now this legend, I believed. Back when VHS was still king, a friend at art school worked at a major video store. He was able to make spliced tapes for us to watch. The Wizard of Oz clip of the hanged Munchkin, so the legend goes, was available at the time. We all gasped in horror at what we saw. There, on TV, was a munchkin hanging himself as the Tin Man is rescued. To the right of the cabin.
But it isn’t a hanged Munchkin. It is a bird, possibly an emu.
Or is it?
The VHS version I saw is long out of print (and worth some coin), and the scene had allegedly been replaced with a different, re-shot cut with a bird, the studio made to keep continuity.
The episode doesn’t 100% clear it up, but some of the conspiracy theorists that they show are kind of…sketchy.
Let’s Talk About Judy
When this young woman sang “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and it doesn’t make you shed a nostalgic tear, you must be a bad witch.
Photo credit: Warner Brothers
If anyone was cursed because of this film, it was Judy Garland.
Way before The Wizard of Oz, Judy’s mother was a horrible person, admitting that she tried repeatedly to cause herself to miscarry Judy when a doctor friend advised against abortion. Judy was given no coping mechanisms or anchor by the one person that she was supposed to trust the most.
Even though she looked back on the film with longing, this movie set her firmly on the road (another unintended pun) to mental illness and addiction.
When the Vaudeville actor Bert Lahr (The Cowardly Lion) kept cracking her up in a scene, she was taken behind a tree and slapped.
As the film was made when she was ages 15-16, she was given amphetamines to keep the (actually healthy) weight off of her changing body. She was then given pills to help her sleep.
Judy never had a chance, growing to rely on the never-ending cycle of pills to keep her going.
Still Beloved
After all of the widely known myths and supposed curses, this movie is still beloved.
Maybe it’s because it came out when Americans needed hope. Maybe that’s why it endures-the hope that things get better, that home is a warm and loving place you can always return to.
I think this movie is home to a lot of people that feel misplaced and alone.
It’s also nice to see that Margaret Hamilton was an amazing person, and incredibly loving mother.
It’s fulfilling that the little people get their names cleared.
Hollywood has always been a meat grinder, I didn’t like that fact much.
This movie resonates with so many people in so many walks of life; it has risen above every untrue story that could have sullied it-keeping Judy Garland’s star shining and untarnished.
Watch it again, and remember the scares, laughs and wonder you felt the first time you saw it!
The Wizard of Oz is always available on DVD and streaming services. Cursed Films 2: The Wizard of Oz is available on Shudder.
