10 Movie Flops That Became Cult Classics

2. The Wizard Of Oz (1939)

Before its 1980 release on home video, the only way to see The Wizard Of Oz was to wait for its annual appearance on television. "It will occur this coming Sunday for the seventh straight year" claimed a 1965 Time article, and the children, with a special restlessness, will collect around the television set in much the same way that their fathers do for the professional football championships.

In fact, The Wizard Of Oz posted a loss of $1,145,000 for MGM on its initial release and didn't go into the black until 1949, when a re-release grossed $1.5 million for the studio. Nominated for Best Picture, it lost out to Gone With The Wind (also directed by Victor Fleming) from whose shadow the picture took years to emerge.

It's a sign of the film's popularity that even before it was available on VHS, it was being referenced by everyone from The Monkees to Ed Wood, who included a homage in his script for One Million AC/DC. Even Vincent Price references the picture in Dr Phibes Rises Again, singing Over The Rainbow as he leaves a nemesis to die in his underground lair.