Wizard of Oz and The Patchwork Girl of Oz Silent Film

In my last post, I featured a film about the Land of Oz which was not produced by L. Frank Baum, but which was based on both his books and stage play.

Here is an example of how L. Frank Baum went about making a silent film adaptation of his book, The Patchwork Girl of Oz (1914).

It is an odd film, to say the least, but L. Frank Baum had decided to further cash in on the popularity of his Oz children’s books by producing his own motion picture adaptations. This allowed him to control the cinematic productions, presumably to ensure they captured the tone of his books, but also to reap more profits than if he’d simply license the stories to another film company. The adaptations were inexpensively and imaginatively made, but the company lasted only a few months before production was suspended.
The Patchwork Girl of Oz (1914) features the familiar Baum characters, including Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodsman and the Cowardly Lion, and also other characters that are familiar to Oz book fans, including Scraps, the patchwork girl.

In a supporting role as Dorothy is Mildred Harris, only four years before she became the first wife of Charles Chaplin.

This was one of several films Baum produced and each has its own uniqueness and odd flavor. These were, after all, very different times than today and moving pictures was still in its infancy.

James C. Wallace II
Royal Liaison of Oz

Wizard of Oz and the Silent Films of L. Frank Baum

With the upcoming premier of the original 1939 MGM film, The Wizard of Oz; now in 3-D, I thought I would visit a number of topics related to L. Frank Baum, his books about Oz and his efforts to make them more appealing to the masses... and maybe make a buck or two in the process.

L. Frank Baum, of course, is the author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) and 13 other books (sequels) about the Land of Oz, as well as other children's books which weren't quite as well loved as his Oz stories.

The Oz Wiki describes L. Frank Baum's movie venture thus:

"In 1914, having moved to Hollywood years earlier, Baum started his own film production company, The Oz Film Manufacturing Company, which came as an outgrowth of the Uplifters. He served as its president, and principal producer and screenwriter. The rest of the board consisted of Louis F. Gottschalk, Harry Marston Haldeman, and Clarence R. Rundel. The films were directed by J. Farrell MacDonald, with casts that included Violet MacMillan, Vivian Reed, Mildred Harris, Juanita Hansen, Pierre Couderc, Mai Welles, Louise Emmons, J. Charles Haydon, and early appearances by Harold Lloyd and Hal Roach. Richard Rosson appeared in one of the films, whose younger brother Harold Rosson photographed The Wizard of Oz (1939). After little success probing the unrealized children's film market, Baum came clean about who wrote The Last Egyptian and made a film of it (portions of which are included in Decasia), but the Oz name had, for the time being, become box office poison and even a name change to Dramatic Feature Films and transfer of ownership to Frank Joslyn Baum did not help. Unlike with The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays, Baum invested none of his own money in the venture, but the stress probably took its toll on its health."

Here's an example of how Oz was portrayed in the silent film era.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" is a 1910 silent fantasy film and the earliest surviving film version of L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel, made by the Selig Polyscope Company without Baum's direct input. It was created to fulfill a contractual obligation associated with Baum's personal bankruptcy caused by The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays, from which it was once thought to have been derived. It was partly based on the 1902 stage musical, though much of the film deals with the Wicked Witch of the West, who does not appear in the musical

We'll take a look at the musical in our next installment about L. Frank Baum and The Wizard of Oz.

James C. Wallace II
Royal Liaison of Oz

The Passing of the Legendary Flowerpot Munchkin!

Today is a sad day in the Land of Oz; for we have lost legendary Flowerpot Munchkin Margaret Pellegrini.

From Wikipedia comes the following:

"Margaret Pellegrini (September 23, 1923 – August 7, 2013) was an American actress and one of the last three surviving munchkins from the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz,  the other two being Jerry Maren and Ruth Robinson Duccini, making Pellegrini one of only two surviving female Munchkins from the film."

As you can see, this is why she was known as the Flowerpot Munchkin. She was also a Sleepy Head Munchkin.

I had the honor of meeting Margarette Pellegrini on numerous occasions, and though I did not know her well, I'm proud to say that I knew her... and she knew me and my wife.

A kinder, more gentler person you couldn't ask for in Margarette Pellegrini. Her kindness was legendary, as I found out at Oz-Stravaganza 2010 in Chittenango, New York.

I had met Margarette the year before at the Chesterton Wizard of Oz festival in Chesterton, Indiana when I first introduced Magician of Oz to the Land of Oz. It was a brief meeting but she was kind and thoughtful and complimented my shirt.

 

The following year was Oz-Stravaganza 2010 in Chittenango, New York, to which I was an invited author and part of Author's Alley, which was making its debut that year.

There were so many memories of that festival, but one stands out above all others.

My wife and I had arrived at Oz-Stravaganza! 2010 on Friday afternoon and attended the opening festivities at Chittenango High School, where we saw Margarette and her fellow Munchkins and Munchkins-by-marriage during the stage show. Margarette's banter with John Fricke was incredible and she literally stole the show. Margarette is the one on the far left.

Oddly enough though, our fondest memory of Margarette and her fellow Munchkins and Munchkins-by-marriage came during the evening at our hotel.

Once we checked in and settled down, we decided to grab a bite to eat at the Oz-pitality room down the hall, which was made available to us as guests of Oz-Stravaganza! 2010.

My wife and I had started making up a plate of goodies when the door swung open and the 5 Munchkin guests who we had seen only an hour before at the high school came bounding in, full of energy and life and looking for a "snackipoo."

As I was surrounded by Munchkins, I looked up to see my wife absolutely dumbstruck by the whole event. She had hoped to see these fine folks and was pleased at the evenings performance earlier but, here we stood, surrounded by Munchkins and feeling like Dorothy in Munchkin City. Everyone was polite, cordial and quite entertaining in their excitement.

I introduced myself and my wife to these wonderful people and they returned the introductions with joy, happiness and genuine affection. Jerry Marin sidled up to me and told me that my wife "was a real dish." I had to agree with him wholeheartedly.

Margarette, in particular, remembered meeting me last year in Indiana, which certainly made me feel very special. She then paid my wife the most lovely compliment and we left them with our head in the clouds and over the rainbow.

For the next several hours, we couldn't even think of sleeping as we were quite giddy at our chance encounter with these wonderful legends of Oz. Amanda was particularly taken by Margarette Pellegrini and fell in love with her kind spirit and generous heart.

The following year at Oz-Stravaganza 2011, my wife and I were particularly pleased when Margarette came by to say hi and reacquaint herself with Amanda and myself. Once again, we found ourselves chatting with Margarette and as you can see, my wife is simply enamored by Margarette's charm.

She even recalled meeting Amanda the year before and complimented her once again. Amanda made a concerned remark about Margartte's hand, which had been bandaged and Margarette called it her 'bum wing."

 

Such was the kindness of Margarette Pellegrini.

Later that weekend, while attending a premier of a most astonishing display of dresses worn by Judy Garland, which was courtesy of Michael Siewert and was held at the All Things Oz museum in downtown Chittenango, I happened upon Margarette Pellegrini once more. She was admiring some of the old books on display when I took the opportunity to do a little sleight-of-hand magic for her amusement. It was a simple thing but she reacted wonderfully and hugged me warmly. 

I will never forget that moment for as long as I live. Once again, she complimented me on my choice of shirts. 

At the Sunday closing ceremonies, Margarette again stole the show from John Fricke, who genuinely enjoys being upstaged by his good friend.

The following year, at Oz-Stravaganza! 2012, the Friday evening opening show was stupendous.

 

It included an appearance by Margarette Pellegrinni (left), as well as Myrna Swensen (middle), Munchkin by marriage and Caren Marsh-Doll (right), stand-in for Judy Garland from the Wizard of Oz movie.

Margarette Pellegrinni did something I've never seen before. She left John Fricke, (our host for the evening and a really nice guy), speechless when she commented on her pay rate for the movie ($50.00 per week) and Toto's higher paycheck ($125.00 per week). "Where's Toto now?" she asked John. After a quizzical look from our host, she replied; "He's pushing up daisies and I'm still here!!!". It brought the house down and John Fricke was speechless. What a hoot.

The next day saw the most amazing gathering of Oz I have ever seen appeared before my very eyes... and of course, there's Margarette Pellegrini, beaming with her usual charm and elegance.

In case you're curious, that's Roger Baum (great grandson of L. Frank Baum) upper left, Andrea DeShields (Broadway star of The Wiz, 1976) upper right, Caren Marsh-Doll (Judy Garland stand-in during filming of Wizard of Oz) center, Myrna Swensen (Munchkin-by-marriage) lower left and Margarette Pellegrini (Flowerpot Munchkin) lower right.

Margarette Pellegrini was the most kind, generous and wonderful ambassador of Oz anyone could ever ask for. She accepted her role with grace and charm and felt honored by her role in the 1939 MGM Wizard of Oz movie. 

We were honored by her presence in our lives and we will remember her for as long as we walk this earth.

She has now crossed the Shifting Sands and joins her fellow Munchkins in Munchkin City. The Land of Oz has grown more lofty by her arrival.

James C. Wallace II

Royal Liaison of Oz

Poor Customer Service at Steak 'n Shake!

UPDATE: AUG. 9, 2013

I received an email message from Steak 'n Shake requesting that I contact them at their toll-free number to provide more information about the poor customer service at the Mattoon, Illinois location. Given that I had loads of final exams to grade and such, it wasn't until today that I was able to attend to this matter. I called at 7:08pm and was placed on hold until 7:14pm. It would seem that long wait times are indicative of the customer service one can expect from Steak 'n Shake. The gentleman on the other end, named Al Jamar was polite enough and I have no complaints regarding his end of the transaction, but I am still NOT satisfied with Steak 'n Shakes' customer service. I'm curious what Time will bring to this matter.

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AUG. 6, 2013

So, today I found myself at the local Steak 'n Shake in Mattoon, Illinois for lunch. Normally, I go there after classes but today I thought I would get in between final exams, which is always a maddening time.

I arrived at 12:49pm and was promptly seated, then it would seem that I was forgotten as I sat there for 14 minutes awaiting someone to take my order. I gots a thing for the Chili 5-Way and a Chocolate Shake and I figured I had enough time in between exams to enjoy lunch before I had to get back , administer said exam and then spend the rest of the afternoon grading both sets of exams. 

Now, it should be noted that there were only 5 occupied tables, including my own, so the place certainly wasn't very busy at all. had there been a full restaurant, I would have gladly understood the wait time and probably would have grabbed a quick bite at McDonald's (not my preferred choice but it will do in a pinch). Such was not the case however.

During my 14 minute wait, I observed another couple enter, be seated by a hostess and then promptly attended to and their order taken. In fact, by the time a hostess finally arrived at my table, the other couple's order was being presented to them.

Needless to say, I was none to happy and running short on time. I requested the manager and explained the situation to him. To his credit, he was polite and courteous, though I neglected to get his name. He offered to take my order, but by then, time was against me and I had to get back to school.

Now I'm about to grade exams on an empty stomach and not satisfied with the customer service at
Steak 'n Shake. I will certainly keep this experience in mind when next I choose a place to dine at during my lunch hour, once classes begin anew later this month.

I did notice on the way out a sign that stated "Satisfaction Guaranteed" and let's just say I was NOT satisfied.

James C. Wallace II

The Brickyard 400; Part 1... Before the Race!

Today saw me travelling to Indianapolis for my 20th Brickyard 400 NASCAR race. I've been going since the 1st race, 20 years ago and haven't missed a year yet.

I was fortunate enough to recive a free ticket this year, thanks to a good friend, which makes attending much easier for this penny-poor teacher.

As usual, I made it there with plenty of time to walk about and enjoy the surroundings. Of course, I headed for the back nine of the Brickyard Crossing Golf Course, which winds its way both inside and outside the track. Be sure to click on the image for the full panorama and you can see the Turn 3 stands on the right.

I ended up at my usual spot, but I soon discovered that it's only half the fun when there's only one. I did make a fine discovery at the bridge however. If you click on the image to enlarge it, look closely downstream, you'll see a lovely Blue Heron, looking for a fine meal.

Looks like he don't like company as he took off when I got near him (I think it was a him).



On the way back to the track, I came across 2 horse power that had left Gasoline Alley.



On the way towards the Pagoda and my seats, I passed through the Mile of Merchandise. At least they're promoting recycling.

Then it was on to the Pagoda and the Yard of Brick, which runs quite a ways into the infield, it seems.

I gots me a hankering for some Crown Royal!!!

Next time, I'll show you some of the technical stuff behind NASCAR and the fun stuff kids and grownups like, including Corvettes!!!

James C. Wallace II

Royal Liaison of Oz