Although you may look back on childhood and remember the happy and cheery memories of watching the wizard of oz - the truths of what went on behind the scenes are much darker and unforgivable. Here are 5 interesting facts about what really went on behind the camera:
- Judy Garland, who played Dorothy, was forced into playing the role by her controlling and abusive mother.
Before Judy was signed to MGM Studios, who later went on to release The Wizard Of Oz, Judy was in a singing group at around the age of 13, which was managed by her mother. Often, the mother would give them drugs to keep them awake.
- Upon being signed to MGM Studios, Judy was told that she was too fat but they hired her because she could sing.
They gave her a personal trainer and forced her diet to consist of... wait until you hear it: black coffee and 80 cigarettes per day.
"They’d give us pills to keep us on our feet long after we were exhausted then they’d take us to the studio hospital and knock us out with sleeping pills. After four hours,they’d wake us up and give us the pep pills again so we could work 72 hours in a row" - A quote from Judy years after the film was released
- The makeup used on the set was extremely untested and the tin man almost died from the silver paint used on him.
Having to wear the makeup for long periods of time caused him to inhale the metal paint, making him extremely sick.
- Possible suicide captured on film and kept in the scene?
There is a theory that one of the munchkins hung himself from a tree on the set of the Wizard Of Oz. You can clearly see what looks like a shadowed figure hanging and swinging from a tree in the distance.
It can be seen in this original video:
MGM came out and said that what could be seen was a bird that had been edited in post production. But why would they do that in such an obscure place that wouldn't really be noticed anyway? Surely it is a cover up? More intriguingly, every copy that you can buy now has been edited so it looks more distinctly like a bird:
But you cannot deny that the original scene looks like a person hanging from a tree.
- Wicked witch actually burned alive on set?
If you look at 1:39 on this video, you can see that red smoke comes up before the flames do. What was supposed to happen was that a trap door was supposed to open up underneath her BEFORE the flames appeared, but it was not timed correctly and the witch was almost actually burned alive.