THE WIZARD OF OZ
Starring Larry Semon and Dorothy Dwan
PICTURE PLAY
July 1925
"The Wizard of Oz" is a picture for the children or the childlike. Larry Semon is the Scarecrow, and instead of being the endearing one of Frank Baum's book, he is the hilarious slapstick Scarecrow of a five-reel comedy.
All the wistful qualities of this lovable rag man are lost in a custard pie atmosphere. To be sure, no pies are actually thrown, but they might just as well be.
I have never seen a child's story done well on the screen, in spite of the general belief that it is especially adapted for the full play of fancy.
Of course, I prefer the clowns to the fat-kneed, blond, curly-haired tots who occasionally sicken me in juvenile pictures, but there must be something in between.
Larry Semon, or any one else, could not be Frank Baum's Scarecrow. That Scarecrow was not a man, and no power could make him human.
Let handsprings and comedy falls, men with funny faces, and performing animals have all the room in the world they are entitled to, but don't let them lead some of our best stories astray.
Bryant Washburn, Charles Murray, Dorothy Dwan, and Virginia Pearson helped to make things human, too.