"Do your stuff, Wizzy!"(actual quote from the title cards)
Another take at the classic story, Wizard of Oz, 14 years before the classic we all know and love.
In this version of the story, Oz is real all the time, and Dorothy (or Dorothea) is the queen of Oz. The prime minister of Oz doesn't want her to become queen so he gets rid of her. So, just like Harry Potter, she has to live in a different world, with an uncle and aunt, on a farm in Kansas. On her 18th Birthday, she is to come back to Oz, but of course, the prime minister tries to hinder that.
In this adaptation of the story, there are no Scarecrow, Tin Man or Cowardly Lion. They are all stagehands of the farm, in costumes, hiding from the evil prime minister, which is a little disappointing.
One of these stagehands, the "Tin Man" is played by Oliver N. Hardy, best known for his movies with Stan Laurel. He is, like every character in this movie, comic relief.
In the end, this isn't the heartwarming story we've come to know and love, but a slapstick comedy with fantasy elements. Also we spend around 40 minutes on the farm, just following the various shenanigans of the stagehands as they want to marry Dorothy and hide from her uncle, their boss.
To be quite honest, I had problems following the movie because I got distracted, it really couldn't hold my interest, especially since I know and love the 1939 version.
All in all, while it not being bad and actually making me laugh a few times, this movie was not great. I actually liked that they tried a different way to tell the story, but I didn't like the version they chose. I'm rating this 2 out of 5 stars.
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