Library of Congress, it is the most seen film in movie history. The 1956 television broadcast premiere of the film on CBS reintroduced the film to the public.
While the film was sufficiently popular at the box office, it failed to make a profit for MGM until its 1949 re-release, earning only $3 million on a $2.7 million budget, which made it MGM's most expensive production at that time. It was a critical success and was nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Picture, winning Best Original Song for ' Over the Rainbow' and Best Original Score for Stothart. The Wizard of Oz is characterized by its use of Technicolor, fantasy storytelling, musical score and memorable characters. The music was composed by Harold Arlen and adapted by Herbert Stothart, with lyrics by Edgar 'Yip' Harburg. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson, and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, while others made uncredited contributions.
Frank Baum's 1900 children's fantasy novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the film was primarily directed by Victor Fleming (who left the production to take over the troubled Gone with the Wind), and stars Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, Jack Haley, Billie Burke, and Margaret Hamilton. The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM).
