Behind the Yellow Brick Road: 4 Haunting Reasons for The Wizard of Oz's Dark Legacy

The Wizard of Oz is often referred to as "cursed." This is because there were many terrible incidents during the filming. In addition, there was unfair treatment of the actors.

1. Director Turnover

Work on The Wizard of Oz seemed to go wrong from the very beginning. Throughout the filming, the movie went through five directors.

The first was Norman Taurog. He participated in the color tests and pre-production and then left to shoot The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Then Richard Thorpe took over. He worked for 11 days and then the producer decided that Thorpe had failed to create the right atmosphere of a fairy tale.

George Cukor was next in the director's chair. He didn't have time to shoot anything, but he rethought the images of Dorothy and the Wicked Witch. Cukor was replaced by Victor Fleming, who lasted the longest on the set. But even he couldn't finish the movie – he had to join the filming of Gone with the Wind.

King Vidor was the one who put the finishing touches on the movie – he worked mainly on the scenes in Kansas.

2. Margaret Hamilton's Burn

In one of the final scenes, the Wicked Witch of the West was to make a threatening remark to Dorothy and then dramatically disappear in a cloud of smoke and fire. To do this, she slowly descended in a special elevator and disappeared from the audience's view.

During one of the takes, the pyrotechnics went off too early. The actress' broom and hat caught fire, and Margaret Hamilton herself was badly burned on her right hand.

Even Terry, the dog who played Toto, suffered during the filming. It spent two weeks recovering after one of the actors stepped on it.

3. Poisonous Makeup

During filming, actor Buddy Ebsen, who played the Tin Man, was poisoned by his own makeup. It contained aluminum powder, which Ebsen inhaled.

Margaret Hamilton also had to deal with the consequences of makeup. The green makeup applied to the actress' skin was toxic. It contained copper oxide, a substance that can make breathing difficult, damage the gastrointestinal tract, and cause skin disease.

Another example is the scene where Dorothy, the Scarecrow and the Tin Man are in a poppy field. It is snowing and the characters are covered in snowflakes. The "snow" is made of white asbestos, a dangerous carcinogen that also damages the respiratory system.

4. The Bullying of Judy Garland

Sixteen-year-old Judy Garland, who played Dorothy, had her own difficulties on the set. According to many sources, studio management forced her to lose weight. In addition to a strict diet, Judy had to tightly bandage her chest for the role – otherwise she would not fit the image.

In addition to her appearance, Garland also got into trouble for her behavior. During the filming of one of the scenes, she could not stop giggling. Director Victor Fleming took her aside and slapped her.

After this incident, the director felt guilty and even began to say that someone from the film crew should punch him in the nose.