The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1910 film) The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1910 film) 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
L. Frank Baum copyright) published "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" to much critical acclaim and financial success. The book was the best-selling children's book for two years after its initial publication. Baum went on to write thirteen more novels based on the places and people of the Land of Oz. Two years after "Wizard" publication, Baum and Denslow teamed up with composer Paul Tietjens and director Julian Mitchell to produce a musical stage version of the book under Fred R. Hamlin. Baum and Tietjens had worked on a musical of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" in 1901 and based closely upon the book,