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COSTUMES – Part 2
The Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion
Here are various costume tests for Dorothy’s three companions. The photos are in chronological order, giving us a look into some of the process in created the characters we know and love today. Included are some of Buddy Ebsen’s tests as the Tin Man taken before he left the project.
Hover over the images for details.
Below: A test sketch of the Lion’s head made by Oz make-up artist Jack Dawn. This is followed by images of the surviving part of the mane that Bert Lahr wore, and a recreated Lion’s costume that allegedly contains parts of Lahr’s original costume.
The Munchkins
The Munchkin costumes are some of the film’s most iconic. Costume designer Adrian had a field day designing them. He gave them a kind of old world Bavarian look, with oversized features to make them seem even smaller than they were. The story is that Adrian sent word to his childhood hoe to send his childhood copy of the book for inspiration because as a kid he sketched images of the characters in the margins. It’s unclear if any of those ideas made it onto the screen.
Above: The Munchkins pose with director Victor Fleming, Leo Singer (agent to most of the little people), and Fleming’s assistant Al Schoenberg.
Below: The Trumpeter costume sketch, costume test photo (noted as “Herald”), and screenshot. Trumpeters (Heralds) were played by Karl “Karchy” Kosiczky (Herald #1/Sleepyhead), Carle M. “Kayo” Erickson (Herald #2), and C.C. “Major Mite” Howerton (Herald #3).
The Trumpeters
Flower Pot Hats
Adrian adorned the costumes with many flowery flourishes. The most recognizable are the “Flower Pot Hats” worn by several of the Munchkin women. Here are two that have survived and screenshots showing them in the film. It’s unclear if this red hat was one of two very similar hats worns (as seen in the screenshots).
The Lollipop Guild
Photo left, left-to-right: Harry Doll, Gerard Marenghi (Jerry Marin), and Jakob “Jackie” Gerlich (Lollipop Guild) listed a “3 Little Tough Boys” in the test, with the names in the wrong order.
Sergeant At Arms
The Sergeant At Arms was played by Prince Denis.
Miscellaneus
Here are some random Munchkin costume sketches and surviving costumes that I cannot place in the film.
Citizens of the Emerald City
The costumes for the citizens of the Emerald City are just as fabulous as those for the Munchkins. Here, they have a more Art Deco look about them which reflects the look of the city itself, while also retaining a bit of that old-world look. In other words, the costumes are based in fantasy but with just enough realism thrown in to be slightly familiar. In the last row below there is a brownish colored jacket. It was originally green and used in the Emerald City sequence. After use in the film, it was dyed purple apparently for another film. That purple now looks rust or brown (depending on your screen’s color settings).
The last costume shown here was not in the film. Since all the costumes for the Emerald City are in green tones, this one was probably unused due to the extra colors.
Below is a wonderful Emerald City Musician’s costume that has miraculously survived. It’s not seen in the final film because the sequence it was worn in, the “Triumphant Return” was cut from the film. The back of costume is seen in one of the black and white promotional photos for the sequence and the front is seen in the quick shot shown in the film’s trailer. The costume originally had sequined epaulets on the shoulders that can be seen sparkling in the trailer. The pants are green in the film, it’s unknown why they’re tan here, unless it’s simply discoloration due to age.
It was a stroke of genius to have Frank Morgan play several roles in the Emerald City. No explanation is given as to why these characters seem to be the same person, nor is any explanation needed. It’s just a part of the fantasy and we’re here for it!
The Wicked Witch of the West
Here are some costume test photos of Gale Sondergaard as the Wicked Witch of the West. It’s now a well known fact that the original vision of the witch was a glamorous look, similar to Disney’s Evil Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). The switch to having the Witch be an “old hag” or “crone” took place in late September/early October, just a few weeks prior to the first day of filming (scenes in which the Witch wasn’t needed). Sondergaard posted for “ugly” tests on October 3, 1938. It was decided that she wasn’t right for the “ugly” version and she was replaced with Margaret Hamilton. The film would have been much different if this foruitous switch hadn’t happened.
Because Margaret Hamilton came on board late in production, not many costume test photos were taken. Here we see a promotional photo of her in the original look, with her hair down. That look was changed by interim director George Cukor in early November 1938. He pulled her hair back to bring out the severity (and scariness) of the updated face make up and prosthetics.
Included are some photos of a surviving Witch’s hat that was up for auction a few years ago.
Winkie Guards
Parts of a Winkie Guard costume. The shoes here are allegedly part of the costume. However, the shoes seen in the film have a tall black base, similar to a platform shoe, with what looks like a top slipper different than what’s shown here. Included is photo of actor Mitchell Lewis in costume.
Flying Monkeys
The design of the Flying Monkeys went through several iterations before they finally decided on what we see in the film. Even bat wings were tried. Surprisingly, several pieces of unused costume designs have survived. The items in the six last photos below were not used in the final film. The three-tiered jacket was used in the 1944 film The Seventh Cross.
Kansas
Left to right below: Two shots of Frank Morgan in his Professor Marvel costume; A test of MGM stock actress Sarah Padden (misspelled as “Sara”) for the role of Aunt Em, taken on January 3, 1939. Clara Blandick got the part; The photo of Dorothy and Aunt Em that Professor Marvel pulls out of Dorothy’s basket. The duo are on the Gale Farm set.
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