The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a 1910 American silent fantasy film and the earliest surviving film version of L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, 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 The Wizard of Oz, though much of the film deals with the Wicked Witch of the West, who does not appear in the musical. Plot Dorothy Gale (Bebe Daniels) and Imogene the Cow are chased by Hank the Mule. Dorothy runs to the cornfield and discovers that the family Scarecrow (Robert Leonard) is alive. They realize a cyclone is approaching, so they all hide in a haystack. Dorothy and Toto, Hank, Imogene, and the Scarecrow are all swept to the Land of Oz, where soldiers get scared away by the Witch Momba (Winifred Greenwood), who attacks the Wizard of Oz (Hobart Bosworth) due to his threat to her reign. As Dorothy plays with Toto, the good Witch Glinda (Olive Cox) changes Toto into a real protector. Dorothy then encounters the Cowardly Lion, and they encounter the Rusty Woodman and oil his joints. The children meet Eureka the Cat. The Witch kidnaps and imprisons the children. Dorothy throws water on the Witch Momba, killing her and allowing the gang to rescue the animals. Dorothy and her friends arrive at the Emerald City. The citizens dance, and the Scarecrow reads a note that says the Wizard has declared him king, and the whole thing ends up in a celebratory dance. Cast The credits to the film list Hobart Bosworth, Eugenie Besserer, Robert Leonard, Bebe Daniels, Winifred Greenwood, Lillian Leighton and Olive Cox as the performers, and Otis Turner as director.<ref name=Swartz-174>{{cite book |last1=Swartz |first1=Mark Evan |title=Oz Before the Rainbow: L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz on Stage and Screen to 1939 |date=2000 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |location=Baltimore |isbn=0801864771 |page=174 |quote=...the credits for Selig's finished Wizard of Oz film, as published in the standard reference work American Film Index, 1908-1915, list Otis Turner as the director of the film...