15 Popular Movies Which Were Notoriously Difficult To Produce

The Wizard of Oz mostly credits Victor Fleming as the director but it actually went through five directors, fourteen writers and even a few actor replacements. Jack Haley (the Tin Man) said, "It was not fun. Like hell it was fun. It was a lot of hard work. It was not fun at all."

The original Tin Man – Buddy Ebsen – had an allergic reaction to the make-up because it contained aluminium dust which coated his lungs. He had to be rushed to the hospital. Margaret Hamilton was victim to a stunt gone wrong. When disappearing out of Munchkinland, the fire blaze went off too soon and she received severe burns on her hand and face. To add insult to injury (literally), they applied a strong solvent, acetone, on her affected areas and it caused agonizing pain.

Bert Lahr, who played the Cowardly Lion, wore a hefty costume made from real lion fur. Lahr would sweat profusely because it was such a physical effort to carry it around. Actors who played winged monkeys were injured when the piano wires suspending them snapped. Ray Bolger was stuck in heavy prosthetics on a daily basis for the Scarecrow and it left a pattern of lines of his face for over a year.

It’s also no secret that throughout her career, Judy Garland was treated appallingly and this movie was no exception. She was on a strict diet of black coffee, chicken broth, four packs of cigarettes a day and diet pills. Garland was forced into a painfully tight corset to make her appear more flat-chested and Fleming was incredibly tough on her.

A gorgeous, enchanting movie which continues to touch the hearts of audiences today, The Wizard of Oz is truly the definition of movie magic going a long way.