The Wizard of Oz (1939 film) regrets about turning down the part, and would go on to play a glamorous villain in Fox's version of Maurice Maeterlinck's "The Blue Bird" in 1940; Margaret Hamilton played a role remarkably similar to the Wicked Witch in the Judy Garland film "Babes in Arms" (1939). According to Aljean Harmetz, the "gone-to-seed" coat worn by Morgan as the wizard was selected from a rack of coats purchased from a second-hand shop. According to legend, Morgan later discovered a label in the coat indicating it had once belonged to Baum, that Baum's widow confirmed this, and that the coat was eventually
The Wizard of Oz (1939 film) at auction with the rest of her collections by owner actress Debbie Reynolds for $510,000 (not including the buyer's premium) in June 2011. The Wizard of Oz (1939 film) The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Widely considered to be one of the greatest films in cinema history, it is the best-known and most commercially successful adaptation of L. Frank Baum's 1900 children's book "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz." It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming (who left production to take over direction on the troubled "Gone with the Wind" production). It stars