Maybe because it hedges its bets by wanting to be sophisticated and universal, childlike and knowing, appealing to both a mass audience and to media insiders. The red sequence had to be shortened due to a lighting error, and there was no time to re-shoot. Sidney Lumet was chosen to direct primarily because of his reputation for finishing his pictures on time and within budget. The Wiz also has 2 two good witches, Addapearle and Glinda, like the original book, not the 1939 film. At the time of production, director Sidney Lumet was the son-in-law of Lena Horne (Glinda, the Good Witch). And then there's the sweatshop scene, with the evil Evillene and her motorcycle henchmen, which starts with pure grubbiness and turns it into a kind of magic. You have reached your limit of free articles. The Feature Film The Wiz (1978) was filmed at Astoria Studios in Queens, New York. There are so many liminal scenes within The Wiz! That stuck with Michael. I can write anything down on paper, the veteran arranger said. Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), The Deadly Doll's House of Horror Nonsense, John Kenneth Muir's Reflections on Film/TV. The director who signed on, after a number of false starts, was Sidney Lumet, who had collaborated with a young Al Pacino on Dog Day Afternoon and Serpico. He is also the author of Here for It: Or, How to Save Your Soul in America, a memoir-in-essays. For their original book counterparts, click here. One thing about dogs is that they are just so happy and have such distinct personalities. Here are some other slices of WTF? Dorothy is no older than 10 years old in the original book, and she's 12 (played by a 16-year-old) in The Wizard of Oz (1939). The WIZ A remake that is different enough to stand on its own talented batch of "Pros" who make the familiar story work: Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Nipsey Russell, Mabel King, Richard Pryor, Lena Horne, Ted Ross etc New score 1939 is rural based, 1978 version is suburban There are parts that do not work, but those are small complaints. The 1985 sequel RETURN TO OZ has its Wheelers and decapitated heads and THE WIZ wields a truly alarming subway scene. We can't see enough of him to get to know him. None of which was really in the script., The Wiz has its timeless qualities, especially the lovingly rendered scenes to Lumets home city, prominently showing landmarks such as Coney Island, Shea Stadium, and the Brooklyn Bridge. Gonna have to get some coffee and check this out! Magical tornadoes can strike down anywhere, I guess, and spin you off to the land of Oz. While not visually horrifying, the Poppy Girls' attempt at killing Dorothy, Toto and the Lion can get an unsettling light when you really think about it: the Poppies are represented as streetwalkers that begin their attack by throwing a venomous dust at Dorothy and the Lion before guiding them into an opium den-like tunnel that poisons them into passing out, almost lethally. Hes so pure! Lumet exulted. Ive never seen The Wiz either or maybe I started watching it and fell asleep I fall asleep in lots of things especially musicals. The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (also known as The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3) is a 1974 American crime drama film directed by Joseph Sargent, produced by Gabriel Katzka and Edgar J. Scherick, and starring Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw, Martin Balsam, and Hctor Elizondo. Would love your thoughts, please comment. Synchronicity alert.I just learned today is Diana Ross B-day. Diana Ross and Richard Pryor had previously appeared together in Lady Sings the Blues (1972). Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available from [email protected]. The Tin Man is the last of Dorothy's friends, and he is seeking something that we all seek daily: a good heart. The rest of the club took notice whenever Michael Jackson danced. While Pepper, on the other hand, is occasionally a little mean and aggressive. The arrival of the baby and its family at Aunt Emme's party. Michael and Diana have terrific chemistry, but Ross is mismatched for the part. They happily oblige when we pick up their front paws and force them to dance with us around the house. The songs get a little sticky about here (all sorts of unthrilling messages about how you can achieve anything if only you believe) but Diana Ross knows how to sell them, and she has a virtuoso solo in a totally darkened frame that reminds us of Barbra Streisand's closing number in Funny Lady.. The original director, John Badham ( Saturday Night Fever ), withdrew once Ross was cast. (In the film, Jones appears dressed in gold, playing a giant piano in Times Square.) And the subway scene is creepy as hell. The Scarecrow tells us however, that it is alright to have moments of silliness, moments of being confident in the abilities that we do have and to have faith in our purpose. To finish Lady Sings the Blues, Gordy had to sink in $2 million of his own money because Paramounts top executive, Frank Yablans, had told him the maximum a studio could spend on a black film at the time was $500,000. Join me below as I. Some churlish souls suggested, however, that The Wiz strains our credibility too much. open/close all folders Main Characters Dorothy Gale Scarecrow Tin Man Cowardly Lion The Wiz Glinda Evillene Addapearle/Miss One Aunt Em Supporting Characters Toto Uncle Henry Evamean Gatekeeper Lord High Underling Inhabitants of Oz Munchkins Crows Kalidahs Poppies At least well always have this movie to show us what it looked like as a place for people to get chased around by winged biker monkeys. The normally bland concrete floors . Continuity mistake: Towards the beginning of the Wicked Witch of the West's song in the sweat shop, keep . please don't. don't go. .css-5rg4gn{display:block;font-family:NeueHaasUnica,Arial,sans-serif;font-weight:normal;margin-bottom:0.3125rem;margin-top:0;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-5rg4gn:hover{color:link-hover;}}@media(max-width: 48rem){.css-5rg4gn{font-size:1rem;line-height:1.3;letter-spacing:-0.02em;margin:0.75rem 0 0;}}@media(min-width: 40.625rem){.css-5rg4gn{font-size:1rem;line-height:1.3;letter-spacing:0.02rem;margin:0.9375rem 0 0;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-5rg4gn{font-size:1rem;line-height:1.4;margin:0.9375rem 0 0.625rem;}}@media(min-width: 73.75rem){.css-5rg4gn{font-size:1rem;line-height:1.4;}}When Do New Episodes of 'Mandalorian' Come Out? Maybe because he retrospectively looks like Bicentennial Man? ", Press J to jump to the feed. "The Wiz," directed by Sidney Lumet, is set in present-day New York City, and finds its locations in fanciful sets suggesting Harlem, Coney Island, school playgrounds, the subway system, and a sweatshop. Diana Ross's Dorothy is played at a level of near-constant nervous breakdown that rivals Charlotte Gainsbourg in Melancholia. I still enjoy The Wiz for what it is, though, it's one of those "fascinating mess" films. The dramatic score further increases the scare factor, especially when an unseen lady vocalizes a scream. The basic storyline is the same, with Dorothy being taken from her home by a large storm and being dropped down in Oz, surrounded by colors, sights and sounds she has never experienced before. A crazy man in the subway unleashes giant monsters upon the quartet, potentially representing how our own people are often used by our oppressors to cause rifts between our people. When the flying monkeys appear in front of Evillene after being summoned, Cheetah says to her "What's Happening?" Interestingly enough, for New York film location junkies, Dorothy says her address is 433 Prospect Place, which is in Brooklyn, yet earlier her mother jokes that she never goes below 125th Street, implying they live inHarlem. To wit, Dorothy and crew famously. but as a new approach to the same material, it's slick and energetic and fun. That's a big part of why I love it so much. Evillene, the Wicked Witch of the West, is depicted in this film as, The Tin Man getting his body pressed thin can look. 23 of 23 found this interesting Interesting? This is based on opinion. She then comes across the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Lion on her journey to Oz, so that she can see the Wizard who will hopefully take her back home again. The New York State Pavilion from the 1964 New York World's Fair was used as the set for Munchkinland. Ross was 33 when The Wiz was filmed, two decades older than 14-year-old Dorothy. They built boot heals under his foot paws so Ted Ross could balance as he's walking around the set. Our heroine, Dorothy, has been transformed from a Kansas teen-ager to a twenty-four-year-old black schoolteacher. My love for dogs makes me do things like walk up to strangers on the street to pet their dog or cry uncontrollably when a dog dies in a movie. The Wiz is indeed a New York movie, featuring the most fantastical representations of the city's landmarks since the 1933 King Kong. All Rights Reserved. When you think about it, the story is about liminal space. However, the song hit #17 on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart that same year. Throughout the show, the Scarecrow feels inferior to the others, seeing as their brains are intact and his is not. For Diana Ross, Dorothy's age was adjusted to 24. He lived a normal life, except for a strange habit Cohen happened to discovertaking baths in Perrier water. This movie was so iconic . Quincy Jones was skeptical of Jackson, too, but Cohen arranged a meeting, flying 19-year-old MJ to New York. Cohen recalls glumly. Now, let's look at how they did it. Finally, Lumet and Jones saw the qualities that Cohen saw. The simple, cheap special effects used in it actually make it eerier to me. This is not a black film, Gordy corrected him. (after learning of a leak in a pipe in her factory), the importance of growing up and being responsible, In the 1976 musical, Dorothy learns the importance of home as well as. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. He's been sleeping even though it's the middle of the day, and he has a desperate, frantic energy about him: sad to be discovered but clearly grateful for human contact. This has been adapted from Steve Knoppers MJ: The Genius of Michael Jackson (Scribner). They were on the line for 45 minutes, the experienced producer doing most of the talking, about studio equipment, Star Wars, the newest synthesizer models, and unfinished Wiz clips hed seen. To Aunt Em; Glinda and Aunt Em are the most wise and maternal figures in Dorothy's life throughout the course of the musical. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. Strange eh? The Wiz is a 1978 American musical adventure fantasy film directed by Sidney Lumet. That a twenty-four-year-old schoolteacher should be too sophisticated to consort with cowardly lions and scarecrows and men made out of tin. The Wiz is indeed a New York movie, featuring the most fantastical representations of the citys landmarks since the 1933 King Kong. If you look closely the Lion has high heels on. No matter how strict or conservative one's family was, nobody's parents seemed to mind the random scene midway through the film when a bunch of half-naked (well, really, three-quarters naked) dancers body roll for freedom. As Noe's camera swirls and swirls to the violent corridors of truth, we see a gorgeous young woman walking in a subway. The duet between Michael Jackson and Diana Ross on "Ease On Down the Road" was released as a single by MCA Records in September, 1978. https://medium.com/media/33318b476db0b746825528151ced531e/href. Original director John Badham stepped down when he objected to 33-year-old Diana Ross being cast as a teenage Dorothy. Its an interesting moment for really bringing in replicas of recognizable NYC landmarks rather than using real famous landmarks and trying to sort of disguise (or at least alter) them with crazy, yet awesome, production design. To his surprise, Gordy agreed. He was a great fan of Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly, says Johnson, who is in his early eighties, by phone from his New York home. This particular shot always gave me that "liminal" feeling. For their original book counterparts, click here. It had a great concept (an African-American take on The Wizard of Oz in which the characters dont follow the yellow brick road, they ease on down it), a strong director (Sidney Lumet, whod just done Dog Day Afternoon and Network) and a solid cast (Diana Ross as Dorothy, Richard Pryor as the Wiz, Nipsey Russell as the Tin Man). He is my work-from-home fashion icon but beyond that, he's pretty useless. In any show, musical or play, there is always some sort of hidden message that is being relayed to the audience through the use of singing, dancing and/or acting. "The Wiz" is a more soulful take on the famous classic "The Wizard of Oz". After Dorothy meets the Scarecrow (Michael Jackson) in one of the less distinguishable set pieces, the two (plus Toto) Ease on Down the Road following the yellow bricks over an unidentified bridge probably nonexistent and built in the studio towards way too many Chrysler Buildings (if there were that many the architectural masterpiece wouldnt be so exceptional) and what turns out to be the Cyclone in the way background. I felt I owed him more than one, Jones said of Lumet. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our, Digital I make the sounds with my mouthI can do that. Quincy became excited. The basic storyline is the same, with Dorothy being taken from her home by a large storm and being dropped down in Oz, surrounded by colors, sights and sounds she has never experienced before. Other authors have create their own names for the witches. Michaels a star., Lumet was harder to convince. The '70s beat, the jaunty guitar lines, the braying horn section, and the vivid lyrics all remind the viewer that sometimes you have to go through it, whatever it isbut that doesn't mean you can't dance a bit. Possible reasons include using Baum as source material, not The Wizard of Oz (1939), and silver slippers better matching Diana Ross' complexion and costuming. And this also makes me think about the subway in Silent Hill 3. I live here all alone. Join me below as I highlight some of the best of these location-transforming scenes. An adaptation of "The Wizard of Oz" that tries to capture the essence of the African-American experience.An adaptation of "The Wizard of Oz" that tries to capture the essence of the African-American experience.An adaptation of "The Wizard of Oz" that tries to capture the essence of the African-American experience. Revealing mistake: During the subway scene, when the first pillar breaks and starts to move towards Dorothy, the top of it is cardboard and wiggles back and forth as the pillar breaks. Because when you think about it, it is kind of strange how we let animals that still chase other animals, lick themselves, and eat slugs (like my dog) live in our homes and sleep beside us in our beds. (It's a villain singing to the audience about how threatening they are, trying to scare them). From their slinky noises slowing turning into a constant. Peter Stone adapted the screenplay from the 1973 novel of the same name written by Morton Freedgood under the pen name John . The Jackson 5s a Vegas act, the director told Cohen. Cohen mollified Joe by offering roughly $100,000 for Michael to play the Scarecrow. The Lion encompasses the fact that it is normal to show signs of weakness, because it is in those times when growing occurs. Joel Schumacher used his connections in the fashion industry to procure the hundreds of costumes used in the Emerald City sequence. Finally, at the very end of the journey, there's Richard Pryor as The Wiz, coward at heart, filled with doubts, hiding behind the electronic gadgets he uses to enslave the Emerald City and keep Evillene at bay. I guess I should make a joke about the baseball team, but I cant think of a good one. Its whacked-out, weird, gaudy and nightmarish and so very OZ-some. Thats the Austin J. Tobin Plaza between the towers repurposed as, I guess, the Emerald City plaza, and the central orb featuring the OZ letters is the Great Spherical Caryatid sculpture (aka The Sphere), which mostly survived the 9/11 attack and now stands in Battery Park as a memorial. To get to know him mean and aggressive the sounds with my mouthI can do that, the. Other hand, is occasionally a little mean and aggressive, not the film... 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Site constitutes acceptance of our, Digital I make the sounds with mouthI! Get some coffee and check this out King Kong guess, and there no.