10 Insane Reasons Movies Were Nearly Shut Down

The Wizard of Oz has long been considered to be one of the greatest movies ever made, but it was a nightmare to complete, and there were a ton of problems throughout production that nearly killed it. For starters, the original director, Richard Thorpe, was fired, but he wasn't the only one.

By the time the movie was released, it had a total of four different producers and three directors. Production was a nightmare, and it all started with Buddy Epsen, who played the Tin Man. Only, no, he didn't — Epson was originally cast to play the character, but the tin paint sickened and nearly killed him, leading to a two-week shutdown.

The scarecrow costume left Ray Bolger with severe and permanent scars, and Margaret Hamilton, the Wicked Witch, was severely burned by pyrotechnics that lit the woman on fire.

Judy Garland had aged a bit before production finally began, so she was given amphetamines to keep her weight down. These were chased with barbiturates to help her sleep, and that's how her drug addiction began.

Essentially, a complete disregard for the health and safety of the cast nearly got The Wizard of Oz shut down several times.

It's a fantastic film, but production nearly killed a lot of people, so a shutdown may have been warranted...