During the making of the Wizard of Oz did the director kill himself on set and it wasnt edited out?

Question

Ive heard that the film went so over budget and this was why. I know this is a morbid question but it could potentially tarnish my childhood memories!! Im not sure if this is just a tall tale, any help would be great.

Answer 1

That is an urban myth.

Answer 2

The urban legend was actually the one of the Munchkin who committed suicide and was said to be hanging from a tree in the film which is false. Also, I looked up all the directors of the film and none them had cause of death due to suicide. Keep having good memories of the Wizard of Oz because those are just Urban Legends which are not true. ^_^

Answer 3

There was a change in the director of WIZARD OF OZ just before filming began, but I can't remember the reason. Buddy Ebsen was originally signed to star as the TIN MAN but had a life threatening allergic reaction to the metal paint and was replaced by Jack Haley.

Answer 4

Worry not - the film was released in 1939 and the Director, Victor Fleming, died in 1949 of a heart attack, ten years later!

However, there is an urban legend about a Munchkin hanging himself on set - also untrue. See this link for details:


http://www.snopes.com/movies/films/ozsuicide.asp


Your childhood memories (and mine!) remain intact!


x

Answer 5

Not true!

The film was way over budget, but this never occured. As others have said, there was an urban legend circulating that a munchkin was hung from a tree in one scene, but it is clearly a bird.

Four directors worked on this film, all of whom died of natural causes
Victor Fleming - Died in 49 of a heart attack
Richard Thorpe - Died in 91
George Cukor - Died in 83 of heart failure
King Vidor - Died in 82

Answer 6

I've heard something like that, except it was that a munchkin hung himself and supposedly you can see it if you look really close somewhere. I heard it was disproven and whatever they were seeing was really a crane. There was another one that one of the girls that didn't get the part of Dorothy killed herself too but I don't know if its true or not. Most of those things turn out to be not true. I'll try to find where I saw that.

Answer 7

I always heard it was the directors son who hung himself. He supposedly wanted to play the tin man and when he didn't get the part he hung himself in the back drop on the scene when Dorthy meets the tin man you can see the outline briefly in the originally released editions of the movie.

Answer 8

In response to the movie clip that is shown in a link above:

At the beginning of the "We're off to see the wizard" sequence, there is a disturbance in the trees off to the right. This was long rumored to be one of the crew (or, by some accounts, one of the dwarf actors) committing suicide by hanging himself, but it is in fact a large bird stretching its wings.

Answer 9

That's not true. His name is Victor Fleming. He directed "Gone with the Wind" which came after "Wizard of Oz". He died at age 60 of a heart attack. Nothing to do with the movie.
However I do keep hearing reoccuring rumors that one of the midgets hung himself and you can see it if you have the original movie.
But I have no idea if that's true. I've just always heard that.

Answer 10

i dont think so but during the Muchkin scene the Wicked Witch actually got burned when she disappeared

and if youre really into the wizard of oz try reading Was by Geoff Ryman
its a really good novel, about how the WOZ changed peoples lives, and it also makes up a story about the "real" dorothy and how she suffered years of sexual abuse from her uncle.
its not dark but it is really touching, it will change the way you look at the movie, but not in a bad way

Answer 11

It was a munchkin that supposedly hung himself, not the director. It's just an urban legend. Read more about it here:

http://www.snopes.com/movies/films/ozsuicide.asp