The Dreamer of Oz: The L. Frank Baum Story

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The Dreamer of Oz: The L. Frank Baum Story
GenreBiography
Drama
Family
Written byRichard Matheson[1]
Story byDavid Kirschner
Richard Matheson
Directed byJack Bender
StarringJohn Ritter
Annette O'Toole
Rue McClanahan
Music byLee Holdridge
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Executive producersDavid Kirschner
Robert M. Myman
ProducersErvin Zavada
Laura Moskowitz
Clare Witt (associate producer)
CinematographyThomas Burstyn
EditorJerrold L. Ludwig
Running time100 minutes
Production companiesBedrock Productions
Adam Productions
Spelling Entertainment
Original release
NetworkNBC
ReleaseDecember 10, 1990 (1990-12-10)

The Dreamer of Oz: The L. Frank Baum Story is a 1990 American made-for-television biographical film starring John Ritter as Lyman Frank Baum, the author who wrote the 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and thirteen other Oz books.[2][3] Also starring in it were Annette O'Toole as Baum's supportive wife, Maud, and Rue McClanahan as Baum's tough mother-in-law, Matilda Gage.

Plot[edit]

The film is told as a flashback from the point of view of L. Frank Baum's widow, Maud Gage Baum. On how her husband came to create The Wonderful Wizard of Oz while undergoing and eventually overcoming professional and personal failures.

It's 1939 and the classic MGM film The Wizard of Oz is about to premiere at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. 78 year old Mrs. Baum has been invited to attend the premiere. Before she enters the theatre a young journalist recognizes her and asks if he may interview her. She politely agrees and begins to recount how she first met her husband. The story is interspersed with the famous Oz story, shown at certain points when Baum is writing down his ideas. It is shown that he was originally telling this to a group of kids, who asked him the name of this location, to which he looks at a file cabinet with the bottom drawer marked O-Z and decided "Oz". Another idea he had thought of was to say Dorothy was born in the Dakota Territory, only to scrap that sentence in favor of Kansas.

Cast[edit]

Reception[edit]

In his TV Preview, Tom Shales of The Washington Post proclaimed the film "cheerfully satisfying", and praised the production values, but wasn't impressed with Ritter's performance.[4] John J. O'Connor of The New York Times praised Ritter's performance and called the film "heartwarming".[5] Howard Rosenberg of the Los Angeles Times dubbed it "long on mush and short on magic", but praised the recreations from the original stories.[6]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "'Oz' scriptwriter knew his way around 'Zone'". 7 December 1990.
  2. ^ "'The Dreamer of Oz' is a Fable of Love and a Great American Success Story". 10 December 1990.
  3. ^ "'The Dreamer of Oz' Takes Viewers over Frank Baum's Magic Rainbow Movie Biography Follows Oz Author's Up-And-Down Life". 9 December 1990.
  4. ^ "TV PREVIEW - The Washington Post". The Washington Post.
  5. ^ O'Connor, John J. (10 December 1990). "Review/Television; How About a Girl, a Dog and Some Bad Weather?". The New York Times.
  6. ^ "TV REVIEWS : A Mushy Story of the Wizard Behind 'The Wizard of Oz'". Los Angeles Times. 10 December 1990.

External links[edit]


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