Watch The Wizard of Oz For Free

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

There are well over 20 different adaptions on the big screen and small of L. Frank Baum's Wizard Of Oz, only one of which is the well known and immortal one that every child starts seeing on television around the age of 2. Before films were a going concern, The Wizard Of Oz had a stage version that ran a couple of years in the first decade of the last century that starred the famous vaudeville team of David Montgomery&Fred Stone.This silent version of Larry Semon's creation will never replace the MGM classic of 1939. For one thing there simply isn't any fantasy involved. Oz is not on some other plane of existence, it's a real place where Dorothy actually belongs, she's the exiled princess much like Luke Skywalker was exiled to whatever planet in the galaxy he was at. She discovers this on her 18th birthday when her heritage is revealed.Another thing is that indeed the Wizard is as much a humbug as Frank Morgan was in 1939, but here he's supposed to change the farmhands who along with Uncle Henry and Auntie Em have come with Dorothy to Oz in that massive tornado. They're in most unconvincing disguises and you always know it was a disguise. In the more famous film, never do you doubt that Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, and Bert Lahr are who they are supposed to be.In fact some rather crude racial humor is used for the Cowardly Lion as it is played by a black actor named Spencer Bell. Part of the film calls for Bell and Semon who is the Scarecrow to be in a den of real lions. What happens just isn't funny and worse you know that Lahr and Bolger would have carried off the comedy.I think most people watch this version of The Wizard Of Oz to see Oliver Hardy as the Tin Man. At this time before he teamed with Stan Laurel, Ollie was doing a lot of work as a second banana comedian with Semon. He's only very briefly the Tin Man and just doesn't cut it.This version Of The Wizard Of Oz was a huge flop and deservedly so from what I've seen. It remains a curiosity, nothing more.

There were quite a few motion picture versions of L. Frank Baum's famous stories before 1939's "The Wizard of Oz." Four are lost. In 1910 there was "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" (13 minutes). A few years later, Frank Baum himself produced three Wizard of Oz movies, the most notable being "His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz" (1914). It just might be the best version before 1939.Larry Semon's "Wizard of Oz" (1925), produced six years after Baum's death, is dreadful. Now, to be fair, it should be stated that the production values are high, and the stunt work is excellent. But where is the fairy tale – or the heart – of what resembles Baum's Oz? There are no witches or Toto or magical fantasy. Rather, the film is a silent showpiece for comedic actor Larry Semon, who not only butchers the basic story-line, but morphs it into a bizarre tale that ultimately bankrupted him. Semon relied on slapstick, not on intelligent plot. And the characters are so inconsistent!! Did L. Frank Baum Jr. really co-write this beauty?The movie commences with Semon, starring as an eerie-looking toymaker (in one of several roles), who is coaxed into reading the Wizard of Oz tale by his granddaughter. The pages of the book are turned, and we see the opening credits. Next we are in Oz, then Kansas. Dorothy (played by Dorothy Dwan) – Semon's new wife and a bit older than the Dorothy of the book – is constantly brutalized by her ill-tempered and corpulent Uncle Henry, although Aunt Em is nice. Later, Uncle Henry will suddenly and strangely become Dorothy's protector in the Land of Oz, before he again turns malicious before film's end. Anyhow, Dorothy, puzzled by Uncle Henry's behavior, complains to Auntie Em, who explains that Henry is not her real uncle. It seems that Dorothy was the rightful heir to the faraway throne of Oz, but as an infant she was sent away and left on Em and Henry's doorstep with a note stating that an attached secret letter should not be opened for 18 years. Then, Prince Kynd's position was usurped by a bad trio of Prime Minister Kruel, Ambassador Wikked, and "able aide" Lady Vishuss. As Dorothy is turning 18 years old, the letter is opened. It explains that she must return to claim her inheritance. Meanwhile Kruel sends Wikked and some henchmen in a biplane (!) to steal the letter before it is opened; they are unsuccessful. So why wasn't the letter originally destroyed by Kruel, before he had left baby Dorothy in Kansas? Anyway, a gigantic tornado carries Dorothy, Uncle Henry, and two farmhands to Oz. Lightning transports a third farmhand (Snowball) there too. At the same time, the people of Oz – aroused from their 18-year slumber – are assembling before Kreul's throne, finally wondering what had happened to Princess Dorothy (!). Next we are told that the Wizard (Charles Murray) is just a fake who is commanded to do oddities to distract the unhappy populace. As a title card states, "The Wizard was just a medicine side-show hokum hustler, but he fitted in nicely as the Prime Minister's "yes-man." Then another title card reads, "Do your stuff, Wizzy!" So "Wizzy" produces from a large wicker the "Phantom of the Basket," an appalling transvestite whose dance mesmerizes the people, but not Prince Kynd. Afterward the Wizard turns good.The three farmhands are played by Oliver N. Hardy, Semon, and Spencer Bell. Yep, that's the same Hardy who later teamed with Stan Laurel (1926) after the movie bankrupted Semon. Hardy, who is not as fat as he would later become, is "transformed" by the Wizard into the Tin Woodsman. But in a wacky twist, he turns bad for the rest of the movie! He becomes the new "Knight of the Garter," and continues to yearn for Dorothy (!!). Ugh! But then, Dorothy here is not so innocent, but quite mature. Hmmm. See, you were warned that this pseudo-Oz movie is bizarre! Hardy would meet his end when he falls from a tower. And yet he earlier survived a similar high fall on the Kansas farm! Semon would become the Wizard's Scarecrow in Oz, and also would court Dorothy, who is really destined for Prince Kynd. Obese Uncle Henry becomes "The Prince of Whales." Get it? By the way, Aunt Em vanishes after the tornado struck Kansas. As there was no explanation, she presumably died in the twister. After Price Kynd regains the throne, and Dorothy's situation is righted, one would think that – at the very least – he would throw dictator Kruel into jail. But he doesn't, as he has to sort things out. Hmmm. With the "investigation" protracted, Kruel regains some power, and Uncle Henry and Tin Woodsman Hardy become his henchmen. Later the defeated Kruel explains that he had to send baby Dorothy away, or else another court faction would have executed her. So there was still another court faction? The third farmhand, Snowball (Spencer Bell), is a Negro who is superstitious and easily frightened, and likes watermelon (Hmmm). He is billed as G. Howe Black (one of his movie pseudonyms). Get it? And yet he later dons a lion suit (Cowardly Lion), and scares away the bad guys in the dungeon's torture room. Near the end Snowball becomes a hero of sorts as he flies a biplane (!!!) with Semon hanging onto a rope ladder. But it suddenly snaps, and Semon falls from a high elevation for the third time. Snowball may be the only "American" character to "escape" Oz! But then a Scarecrow doll inexplicably falls from a shelf, and the little granddaughter awakens from her dream. Yes, this is all truly weird, and there are still other things wrong with this "adaptation." See this disaster once to say you saw it, and then let it go. But it is so difficult to believe that this nonsense was put into film!

In the silent year of 1925, the popular Amerikan comedian Herr Larry Semon, adapted, produced and starred in Frank Baum's greatest children 's book "The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz"and this German count finds it is possible to say that it is a perfect film vehicle for Herr Semon but no one else in the story. Except for that popular silent comedian, there is no room or chance for the other characters; Dorothy ( Dame Dorothy Dwan ) is no more than a supporting character( no trace of Toto ) and the great wizard seems no mightier than a magician's apprentice.The first half of the film might be described as "A Farmhand ( obviously Herr Larry Semon himself ) In The Pratfall Land Of Texas" where a lot of sight gags are displayed, especially the inventive use of many animations tricks (amazing to this German count) The second half of the film or "A Scarecrow ( Herr Larry Semon himself again )In The Slapstick Land Of Oz", includes funny and elaborate and very well assembled scenes with walker boxes and hungry lions.Due to the omnipresent Herr Semon , the rest of the cast has little to do. Oliver Hardy (The Tin Woodsman) and Dorothy Dwan were regular supporting actors in many of Herr Semon comedy shorts. Dame Dwan is pretty old for her character so it is no great loss that her part is so minor but it's a pity in Herr Hardy's case, especially since he has a triple role."The Wizard Of Oz" is, in spite of it all, is an interesting oeuvre but Herr Larry Semon's artistic selfishness and his presence in almost scene becomes a kind of artistic egocentrism; a great classic becomes no more than a vanity project.And now, if you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave because this German Count must go to Berlin, the nearest place to Oz.Herr Graf Ferdinand Von Galitzien http://ferdinandvongalitzien.blogspot.com/

I didn't read the book by L. Frank Baum so I can't say if this adaptation is faithful but it was adapted by his son for a screenplay. In this silent film version, everything is minimal but still it is entertaining at times. The cast stars Dorothy Dwan as Dorothy. The supporting cast has Oliver Hard from Laurel and Hardy as the Tin woodsman. The film has retained Dorothy, the scarecrow, the tin man, and the lion in it's cast. There are no special effects but there are large crowd scenes. The story is about Dorothy who is the rightful heir to the kingdom of Oz but the Wizard of Oz is doing everything he can to keep her from gaining the throne. There is no tornado or wicked witches but the wicked wizard. This film would be good for die-hard Wizard of Oz fans as well as silent film-buffs but for not much else.