The Patchwork Girl of Oz (1914)

I would guess some people don't realize that The Wizard of Oz is based off of a novel by L. Frank Baum, but I would guess that most people don't realize it wasn't the first movie based off of those books. Hell, L. Frank Baum had his own production company called The Oz Film Manufacturing Company which cranked out quite a few of them. Including the little gem I watched called The Patchwork Girl of Oz, which as far as I can tell is the first feature full length movie based of of the books, though I may be wrong. Either way this movie is strange. How strange you ask? Imagine dropping acid while watching a Terry Gilliam movie where all of the audio has been replaced with intertitles and organ music.

Strange.

You won't find Dorthy or Toto or The Wicked Witch of the West in this version. You will however find The Cowardly Lion, Tin Man, as well as the Scarecrow. Though instead of the fun lovable characters you know some of them have been replaced by something straight out of your nightmares.

Not Ray Bolger.

So is the movie good? Well, kind of. It's a mix of odd, good, and terrifying. The movie is about Ojo, a young girl who travels out with her father? ,I'm not sure how he's related, to her to find food. Upon the way they follow a mule to a magician's house who's making a patchwork girl. Shortly after making the patchwork girl Ojo accidentally turns three people to stone and then has to find the ingredients to make a cure. Unfortunately for her some of the ingredients are illegal and procuring them manages to get her in trouble with the law in the land of Oz.

It's all very strange. I realize it's hard to tell a story when all you have are title cards that pop up every few minutes and the rest of the story has to rely on the actions of the actors to convey what is happening. So that being said The Patchwork Girl of Oz is a good movie, but holy hell is it occasionally like a bad acid trip.

Also it has more black face than the 1939 version.

3 Birthday Fish out of 5

Squid.

The Smallest Show on Earth (1957)

So I deviated from my normal course. All of the previous movies I've reviewed are from the Drive-In Movie Classics 50 Pack so last night I decided to try something new and broke out the Comedy Classics 50 Pack. That's when I realized my problem.

The Drive-In Classics movies are generally pretty bad. They range from "so bad they're good" to "so bad they're almost unwatchable". I've seen 2 of 12 DVDs in the Comedy Classics pack in the past and I can say I thoroughly enjoyed both of them. I like old timey things, and I'm not exactly sure why. Early cinema fascinates me, but so does the early 19th century in general. You're talking to a guy whose favorite "attraction" at Disneyland is the Penny Arcade on Main Street, followed closely by the old time theater which shows old Disney shorts. Hell, you're talking to a guy whose last.fm is currently playing the Boswell Sisters.

Why am I telling you this? Mostly because I'm wondering if I can write an objective review on something I'm so enamored with. The answer is probably no, but I'm going to go ahead and give it a try. On with the show.

The Smallest Show on Earth is a good movie, and I'm not saying that just because of everything I said above. It truly is a good movie.

Jean and Matt Spenser receive a letter telling them that Matt's uncle has died and left Matt The Bijou, his movie theater. They head off on the first train to the city to claim their inheritance. Well the movie would be fairly boring if the theater was in pristine condition and everything was running well, thankfully for us it's not. The Bijou is nicknamed "The Flea Pit", and is currently being run by three very eccentric workers. One of them being Peter Sellers... how can you not love Peter Sellers?

So the movie theater is a bust, but they're hope is restored when they learn that the villainous man who owns the other theater in town once offered the uncle 5000 pounds for his theater. Except now he's only offering 500... so they hatch a plan. If they can pretend that they're going to reopen the The Bijou perhaps they can get him to sell at higher price rather than compete for customers. Unfortunately their plan is discovered before they can even get it off the ground. So they come up with a new plan... what if they actually open the theater?

I'm not going to spoil anymore of the movie because you might actually want to see this one. Sure, it's not the funniest movie I've ever seen and it's certainly not Peter Sellers greatest role, but it's a good movie. Everyone in it is very good, and overall it has some very funny parts. If you don't enjoy old comedies and their humor you probably won't enjoy the movie as much as I did, but if you do I think you'll enjoy this movie.

1 Birthday Fish out of 5

Squid.