Was The Wizard of Oz (1939) the Greatest Picture ever Made?

Re-posted by N.S.

[I currently rank The Wizard of Oz 24th all time, but this guy may convince me to move it up in my rankings.]

By Pentheus
December 7, 2022

The Wizard of Oz (1939) is the greatest movie of all time.

There have to be objective and comparative criteria for what “greatest movie” would mean. It can’t just mean “great movie” or “my favorite.” And it has to be overall something which makes it Number One, vs. the rest of the worthy Top 10/20/50 contenders. I could name a bunch of great films, but there must be criteria which drive me to choose a No. 1 from amongst them.

Obviously, there is a categorical problem of “movie” vs. “film,” or commercial mass entertainment vs. “art film”. (Propaganda or social message might itself be a third category or overlaps “art film”.)

Citizen Kane (1941) would be No. 1 art film. (Or choose some other one.)

The Wizard of Oz and Citizen Kane are like The Iliad and The Odyssey, in this sense. They are twin pillars. They are both No. 1 in this sense.

But compelled to pick just one No. 1, it has to be The Wizard of Oz. Based upon criteria with which you may agree or not.

Ultimately, the purpose of movies is mass entertainment, not propaganda or advancing the art of film per se (experimental). So, is the movie entertaining and does it continue to be so? The Wizard of Oz is still one of the most entertaining movies ever made. Everything in it is perfect. Kids of the CGI generations still love it. The tornado is still an awesome special effect, esp. in that sepia tone of the Kansas scenes. The Wicked Witch of the West and the flying monkeys are still really scary, as is the Wizard himself. The Wizard of Oz books had already been the first big commercial franchise, the Star Wars of its time, with numerous sequels and stage adaptations and merchandizing. The film adaptation is — as an additional merit for a No. 1 movie — a triumph of making the movie even better than the book or any stage versions.

Another criterion for No. 1 must be a movie’s influence over time. Quite simply, The Wizard of Oz is the Ur-big-scale fantasy movie that inspired all those massive franchises which today so predominate. Star Wars (1977) and Tolkien are both The Wizard of Oz recast. (Dorothy = Frodo = Luke Skywalker). The great unexpected journey of the Innocent and her/his plucky archetypal band of variously skilled comrades who have been chosen by fate to face and defeat the Evil One. The Wizard of Oz establishes the high dangerousness and seriousness of Dorothy’s task, but the movie does not get all self-serious like Tolkien and the later Star Wars movies did.

Final criterion I would insist on is that the No. 1 must be some kind of gesamtkunstwerk (“total work of art”) including not only filmic aspects but more importantly art direction – sets, costumes, matte paintings, etc. These involve all those various arts and crafts of painting and sculpture and building and costume design, etc. Much of which has been lost in the CGI age. The Wizard of Oz has all of these, as much as the great Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920). And there is the musical element, whether soundtrack instrumental or sung musical numbers. The Wizard of Oz has all great songs, which are themselves memorable and fun and all serve the narrative. It is one of the great movie musicals, even though for some reason it is not often included with, e.g., Singing in the Rain (1952). Personally, I enjoy that the songs and choreography of the The Wizard of Oz have none of the self-conscious, showbizzy “I gotta dance, I gotta sing” which is in most movie musicals. I love how “Follow the Yellow Brick Road/Off to See the Wizard” makes such simple narrative exposition into such a catchy number, and launches the group on their quest.