His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz

This is the third and final film in Baum's personally produced Oz trilogy of 1914. The three pictures are all essentially the same childishness--with magic, a journey and animal costumes. The camera-work and pacing are static and primitive even by 1914 standards, while the performers are quite the opposite--both of which can get annoying and boring. We get poor framing, from a generally stationary position, and the shots linger on much longer than they should, while the performers, except for the literally cold-hearted princess, are in constant motion, mostly broadly gesticulating and doing some knockabout nonsense. Most of it has nothing to do with anything imaginative or with adventure, and I don't see how it could be humorous to anyone but a child. There is some trick photography, but nothing new; in fact, these tricks (superimpositions, stop substitutions, a fish tank between characters and the camera to represent being under the sea, a tilted camera to make them appear to be going up and down stream) had been in use for near a decade or more even by then. At least, the makers of this Oz trilogy put some care and energy, albeit a nauseating excess of it, in front of the camera although not behind it.

I wonder how popular these films were, although, apparently, they weren't popular enough, because Baum's production company was short lived. There doesn't seem to have been many movies back then which were so specifically targeted at children. The industry at the time, which was even before "The Birth of a Nation" (1915), was still struggling even to attract middle and upper class women to theatres. Times have certainly changed.

"His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz" is the best of L. Frank Baum's Oz movies! The plot is easily understandable without being boring and the characters are wonderfully acted, given their limitations. The special effects are marvelous, and some of the better ones rival even the technical marvels of the 1939 Movie, particularly the hilarious undersea bit with the Scarecrow and a swordfish and a mermaid! Violet MacMillan is an absolute delight as Dorothy. Despite her charming looks and thoroughly enchanting demeanor, the girlish actress was generally confined to roles as frank boys in Baum's films. She brings a great sparkle to the role as Dorothy, however. Another standout - or group of standouts, rather - is Mombi's whole cohort of witches. Funny and spooky at the same time, it seems as if they may have been the greatest inspiration for the way in which MGM chose to portray the Witch of the West in their take on Baum's first history of Oz. Either way, this movie is a can't miss, which I give a solid 9, a rating I am more than glad to give!

When his daughter Princess Gloria refuses to marry the courtier Googly-Goo he selected for her because she's in love with the Gardener's Boy Pon, wicked King Krewl takes the Princess to the evil witch Mombi in hopes the witch can cast a spell and destroy his daughter's love for Pon, a boy he considers beneath her station. Well, the Wicked Witch does eventually succeed in freezing the Princess's heart to all potential suitors. In the meantime, the Gardener's Boy Pon having followed the King's trail to Mombi's hut meets and befriends Dorothy (Violet MacMillan), a little Kansas girl taken prisoner by Mombi, helping her escape. Eventually the two, in their continued effort to escape and elude the Wicked Witch, meet up with the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodsman and eventually the Wizard of Oz. Together they try and devise a plan to deal with the Wicked Witch and remove King Krewl from power.

While it's truly fun to see so many of the most familiar Oz characters participating in a new story, this one feels all over the place it's so lacking in terms of good direction. In fact, this often feels as though they were deciding what was going to happen next as they were doing it. It's way too hard to keep track of all the different characters and there's way too many unnecessary sub-plots. The best and funniest scenes in this one tend to revolve around Old Mombi the Witch (as played by Mai Wells) and her continual pursuit of our heroes. How's she dealt with time and time again proves more and more creative each time around.

His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz (1914)

*** (out of 4)

An evil King takes over and wants his daughter to make a no good but when the Scarecrow comes to life he has his eyes on the daughter as well. Here's a very interesting film written and directed by L. Frank Baum who was also the writer of the Oz stories. The visual effects are very effective especially one scene where the evil witch removes the heart of the Princess and then freezes it before putting it back in her body. Another great scene is one that the kiddies shouldn't see but the Scarecrow cuts off a head. This effect is done very well and effective. This is certainly the most "adult" version of Oz I've seen, which makes it quite interesting.

There are times when the rather unrefined nature of this Oz fantasy feature stands out, but any rough edges are smoothed out by the enjoyable and creative nature of the story and the characters. It's one of an unfortunately small number of Oz features made by L. Frank Baum's own production company, and it is easy to see his influence, in the way that the story and characters are brought to life with such energy and imagination.

The story of "His Majesty, The Scarecrow of Oz" includes several of the characters who are familiar from the much better known "The Wizard of Oz", plus some added characters, but it is a much different story, and pretty interesting in its own right. The cast all do a solid job with the characters, and the cast includes several performers who were regulars in the short-lived series. Fred Woodward also performs several of his costume animal characters.

The old-fashioned style would probably keep this and the other movies in the series from enjoying a wide popularity now, but it's of good quality for its era. The special effects are sometimes rough, but imaginative, and several of them come off pretty well. There are times when the editing seems pretty odd, but that could well be a result of physical defects that have occurred over time. The movie has its occasional flaws, but it was obviously made with care, good humor, and enthusiasm, and it is certainly worth seeing for silent movie fans.