Watch the original "Wizard of Oz” silent film from 1910

[thomdunn]

Originally published at: Watch the original "Wizard of Oz" silent film from 1910 | Boing Boing

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[Miles_Rinehart]

What it lacks in narrative and charisma, that the later one had, it makes up for in sheer creepiness… Dark side of the Moon doesn’t suit this, I think you have to listen to black metal while watching this…

[Anyhoo]

This is a very theatrical presentation, all locked off camera shots nearly all from a theater audiences POV. I wonder if this would make any sense without prior knowledge of the story - of course not!

The later remake seems just as theatrical in it’s set pieces however the technology provides a much wider palette of camera positions and movement, editing between shots with continuous sound and dialogue, Hollywood Stars with Hollywood special effects… Cinematic!

The narrative in the later version is pure cinema, that is the story is told with a nod to theater but the mechanism of film is the medium which actually tells the story.

[AnthonyC]

IDK if you’ve ever read the book (or sequels) that the Wizard of Oz was based on, but “lacks in narrative” is much more faithful to the source material. Things just happen one after the other, with no foreshadowing or explanation.

[Brainspore]

@Anyhoo

This is a very theatrical presentation, all locked off camera shots nearly all from a theater audiences POV. I wonder if this would make any sense without prior knowledge of the story - of course not!

It was a popular stage musical that was already part of the cultural zeitgeist by the time the first movie was made, so that makes sense.

[d_r]

Several of Baum’s original films are on youtube; I’ve posted a couple of them in the past. His animals are very good:

Watch the wonderful Wizard of Oz cartoon that predated the classic film

L. Frank Baum was heavily into the new medium of film, and made several short silent Oz films in the 1910s himself. They are all worth watching, though they tend to get strange in parts. The portrayals of people as animals in particular are quite good, better than the 1939 movie. For example, in this one watch for the kangaroo:

Also worth watching is the one with the vampires (Magic Cloak of OZ)

[rob_bray]

A stage packed full of weird creatures in badly fitting suits, gesticulating and leaping about…

Seen one CPAC, seen them all.

[Bunbain]

For as long as I’ve been around I can’t believe I never knew this existed. Thank you for sharing- it really is a wonderful thing.

[kmoser]

@Anyhoo

This is a very theatrical presentation, all locked off camera shots nearly all from a theater audiences POV.

That’s par for the course for nearly all movies from that era.

[Anyhoo]

@kmoser

nearly all movies from that era

That’s a pretty broad statement given this was pre Hollywood and the dominant film producers Germany, France, The US, Australia, Italy, Denmark, Britain and Japan were all producing more sophisticated stuff. Perhaps check out DW Griffith as a US comparison, where he was moving away from a theatrical “tableau” style pretty early on.