The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays | |
---|---|
![]() One of the few surviving stills from the film displaying the quality of the Radio-Play coloring process. | |
Directed by | Francis Boggs Otis Turner |
Written by | L. Frank Baum |
Produced by | William Selig John B. Shaw, Jr L. Frank Baum |
Starring | L. Frank Baum Romola Remus Frank Burns George E. Wilson Joseph Schrode Burns Wantling Grace Elder |
Music by | Nathaniel D. Mann |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Selig Polyscope Company First National Pictures (1925 re-release) |
Release date |
|
Running time | 120 minutes (3600 m) |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays was an early attempt to bring L. Frank Baum's Oz books to the motion picture screen. It was a mixture of live actors, hand-tinted magic lantern slides, and film. Baum himself would appear as if he were giving a lecture, while he interacted with the characters (both on stage and on screen). Although acclaimed throughout its tour, the show experienced budgetary problems (with the show costing more to produce than the money that sold-out houses could bring in) and folded after two months of performances. It opened in Grand Rapids, Michigan on September 24, 1908. It then opened in Orchestra Hall in Chicago on October 1, toured the country and ended its run in New York City. [1] There, it was scheduled to run through December 31, and ads for it continued to run in The New York Times until then, but it reportedly closed on December 16. [2]
After First National Pictures acquired Selig Polyscope, the film was re-released on September 24, 1925. [1]
Although today seen mostly as a failed first effort to adapt the Oz books, [1] The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays is notable in film history because it contains the earliest original film score to be documented.
The film is lost, but the script for Baum's narration and production stills survive. [1]
The films were colored (credited as "illuminations") by Duval Frères of Paris, in a process known as "Radio-Play", and were noted for being the most lifelike hand-tinted imagery of the time. Baum once claimed in an interview that a "Michael Radio" was a Frenchman who colored the films, though no evidence of such a person, even with the more proper French spelling "Michel", as second-hand reports unsurprisingly revise it, has been documented. It did not refer to the contemporary concept of radio (or, for that matter, a radio play), but played on notions of the new and fantastic at the time, similar to the way "high-tech" or sometimes "cyber" would be used later in the century. The "Fairylogue" part of the title was to liken it to a travelogue, which at the time was a very popular type of documentary film entertainment.
The production also included a full original score consisting of 27 cues by Nathaniel D. Mann, who had previously set a couple of Baum's songs in The Wizard of Oz musical. It debuted four months before Camille Saint-Saëns's score for The Assassination of the Duke of Guise , and is therefore the earliest original film score to be documented.
It was based on Baum's books The Wonderful Wizard of Oz , The Marvelous Land of Oz , Ozma of Oz and John Dough and the Cherub , with intermission slides showing previews of Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz , [1] which was not sold in stores until near the end of the run. Francis Boggs directed the Oz material and Otis Turner directed John Dough and the Cherub. Baum, in a white suit, would step behind the screen and into the film, pulling his actors off to appear on stage with him. Surviving production stills depict a very large cast of Oz characters. Romola Remus was the silver screen's first Dorothy. Notably absent from this production is the Woggle-Bug, who had been the title character of a failed musical three years prior.
(listed in the order credited in the program)
The New York Times included a write-up of the show in a full-page article in a late 1909 issue, over a year after the show had come and gone, probably because they finally had space for it after it was no longer necessary but still of interest. When the production appeared in New York, the Times' listing for it appeared along with the plays, not with the films, drawing attention to the fact that Baum, not to mention the rest of the cast, would be appearing live on stage with the films as a major, though far from the only, component.
The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays was produced by "The Radio-Play Company of America", John B. Shaw, Jr., general manager. The sets were designed and painted by E. Pollack. The costumes were designed by Fritz Schultz and Chicago Costuming Co. Properties and papier-mâché work by Charles van Duzen. Mechanical effects by Paul Dupont. Wigs by Hepner. Shoes by Marshall Field & Co. Jewels loaned by C.D. Peacock.
The Selig Polyscope Company was involved in the production of the films. This led to erroneous conclusions [6] that The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and its sequels were derived from the materials of this film, which was disproven with the discovery of that film, which bears little resemblance to the surviving materials of Fairylogue. Otis Turner is believed to be the director of both film versions of John Dough and the Cherub, both lost. It may be possible that they were one and the same film, but highly unlikely, as Fairylogue was most likely the singular print eventually discarded by the Baum family after its decomposition.
Lyman Frank Baum was an American author best known for his children's fantasy books, particularly The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, part of a series. In addition to the 14 Oz books, Baum penned 41 other novels, 83 short stories, over 200 poems, and at least 42 scripts. He made numerous attempts to bring his works to the stage and screen; the 1939 adaptation of the first Oz book became a landmark of 20th-century cinema.
The Patchwork Girl of Oz is the seventh novel in L. Frank Baum's Oz series. Characters include the Woozy, Ojo "the Unlucky", Unc Nunkie, Dr. Pipt, Scraps, and others. The book was first published on July 1, 1913, with illustrations by John R. Neill. In 1914, Baum adapted the book to film through his Oz Film Manufacturing Company.
The Marvelous Land of Oz: Being an Account of the Further Adventures of the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, commonly shortened to The Land of Oz, published in July 1904, is the second book in L. Frank Baum's Oz series, and the sequel to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900). This and the following 34 books in the series were illustrated by John R. Neill.
Dorothy Gale is a fictional character created by American author L. Frank Baum as the protagonist in many of his Oz novels. She first appears in Baum's classic 1900 children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and reappears in most of its sequels. In addition, she is the main character in various adaptations, notably the 1939 film adaptation of the novel, The Wizard of Oz.
Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkle Emmannuel Ambroise Diggs is a fictional character in the Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. The character was further popularized by a stage play and several films, including the classic 1939 film and the 2013 prequel adaptation.
Glinda is a fictional character created by L. Frank Baum for his Oz novels. She first appears in Baum's 1900 children's classic The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and is the most powerful sorceress in the Land of Oz, ruler of the Quadling Country South of the Emerald City, and protector of Princess Ozma.
The Land of Oz is a magical country introduced in the 1900 children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow.
The Scarecrow is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum and illustrator W.W. Denslow. In his first appearance, the Scarecrow reveals that he lacks a brain and desires above all else to have one. In reality, he is only two days old and merely naïve. Throughout the course of the novel, he proves to have the brains he seeks and is later recognized as "the wisest man in all of Oz," although he continues to credit the Wizard for them. He is, however, wise enough to know his own limitations and all too happy to hand the rulership of Oz to Princess Ozma and become one of her trusted advisors, though he typically spends more time having fun than advising.
Jack Pumpkinhead is a fictional character from the Land of Oz who appears in several of the classic children's series of Oz books by American author L. Frank Baum. Jack first appeared as a main character in the second Oz book by Baum, The Marvelous Land of Oz (1904), and returned often in subsequent books. He got the starring role in Ruth Plumly Thompson's 1929 book Jack Pumpkinhead of Oz.
Billina is a fictional character in the classic children's series of Oz books by American author L. Frank Baum. She is introduced in Ozma of Oz (1907).
The Shaggy Man is a character in the Oz books by L. Frank Baum. He first appeared in the book The Road to Oz in 1909.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a 1910 American silent fantasy film and the earliest surviving film version of L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, made by the Selig Polyscope Company without Baum's direct input. It was created to fulfill a contractual obligation associated with Baum's personal bankruptcy caused by The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays, from which it was once thought to have been derived. It was partly based on the 1902 stage musical The Wizard of Oz, though much of the film deals with the Wicked Witch of the West, who does not appear in the musical.
The Wizard of Oz was a 1902 musical extravaganza based on the 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. Although Baum is the credited bookwriter, Glen MacDonough was hired on as jokewriter after Baum had finished the script, and the book was largely ghostwritten by a man named Finnegan. Much of the original music was by Paul Tietjens and has been mostly lost, although it was still well-remembered and in discussion at MGM in 1939 when the classic film version of the story was made. The original show was particularly popular because of its two comedy stars: Fred Stone playing the Scarecrow, and David C. Montgomery as the Tin Woodman.
Oz Before the Rainbow is a book written by Mark Evan Swartz in 2000 chronicling the early stage and film versions of The Wizard of Oz, before the 1939 movie, as well as an album featuring music from the early stage versions.
Romola Remus Dunlap was an American actress who was the first to play Dorothy Gale in film, in the 1908 multimedia stage/film production The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays, an adaptation of the Oz books. She worked directly with author L. Frank Baum, the creator of the character.
The Patchwork Girl of Oz (1914) is a silent film made by L. Frank Baum's The Oz Film Manufacturing Company. It was based on the 1913 book The Patchwork Girl of Oz.
John Dough and the Cherub is a children's fantasy novel, written by American author L. Frank Baum, about a living gingerbread man and his adventures. It was illustrated by John R. Neill and published in 1906 by the Reilly & Britton Company. The story was serialized in the Washington Sunday Star and other newspapers from October to December 1906. Like the Oz books but unlike many of the author's other works, John Dough was issued under Baum's name rather than one of his pseudonyms. The book was popular; as late as 1919 it was selling 1500 copies a year. The 1974 Dover Publications edition features an introduction by Martin Gardner.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a 1900 children's novel written by American author L. Frank Baum. Since its first publication in 1900, it has been adapted many times by L. Frank Baum and others: for film, television, theatre, books, comics, games, and other media.
John Dough was a common name for a gingerbread man at the turn of the 20th century, though the best-remembered John Dough is the character created by L. Frank Baum in his 1906 novel, John Dough and the Cherub; the character also makes a cameo appearance in Baum's The Road to Oz. If the fragment known as "An Oz Book" is genuine, Baum may have intended to include John Dough in his fifteenth Oz book had he lived to write it.
Nathaniel D. Mann (1866–1915) was an American composer best known for his work with L. Frank Baum. He composed at least two songs with Baum, "Different Ways of Making Love" and "It Happens Ev'ry Day," and another with John Slavin, "She Didn't Really Mind the Thing at All," for The Wizard of Oz stage musical in 1902, and in 1908, composed the first original film score for The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays, one of the earliest feature-length fiction films, which debuted September 24, 1908. With Baum, he also composed the musical The King of Gee-Whiz, which went through various titles such as Montezuma, King Jonah XIII, and The Son of the Sun (1905). This was collaboration with and based on a novel by Emerson Hough, which was never completed and the extant scenario published in 1969.