Editor

DEAUVILLE TO HOST WORLD PREMIERE OF WARNER BROS. DIGITALLY REMASTERED FILM CLASSIC THE WIZARD OF OZ

Deauville Film Festival will host the World Premiere of a wholly renovated and digitally remastered version of the original film classic THE WIZARD OF OZ. This much loved Award-winning film has received a stunning new digital transfer, using Warner's 'Ultra-Resolution' technology, plus a newly mastered soundtrack.
Voted by the American Film Institute as the Best Family Film of all time, The Wizard of Oz has charmed audiences of all ages for more than 60 years. As a result of Warner Bros.' technological expertise viewers will experience the movie's Technicolor splendour and unforgettable, award-winning songs and music like never before.
The restored version of The Wizard of Oz will receive its World Premiere at a special screening on September 7th, at 2.00pm in the main CID Theatre in Deauville. The audience will be largely made up of children, and the screening will be introduced by the man responsible for the restoration, Warner Bros. Technical Operations Director Rob Hummel. Joining Rob will be John Fricke, who is widely acknowledged as the pre-eminent Wizard of Oz and Judy Garland author/historian.
The audience will enter the magical world of Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion by way of a 'yellow brick road' carpet, and will meet the costume characters on their way to the auditorium. This exciting event promises to be one of the highlights of this year's Deauville Festival.
Adapted from L. Frank Baum's timeless children's tale about a Kansas girl's journey over the rainbow, The Wizard of Oz opened at Loew's Capitol Theatre in New York on August 17, 1939. The film was directed by Victor Fleming (who that same year directed Gone With the Wind), produced by Mervyn LeRoy, and scored by Herbert Stothart, with music and lyrics by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg. Ray Bolger appeared as the Scarecrow; Bert Lahr as the Cowardly Lion, Jack Haley as the Tin Woodman, and Frank Morgan was seen in six different roles, including that of the "wonderful Wizard" himself. Dorothy was portrayed by a 4'11" sixteen year old girl who quickly earned her reputation as "the world's greatest entertainer"-- the incomparable Judy Garland.
The Wizard of Oz received five Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, and captured two Oscars® - Best Song ("Over the Rainbow") and Best Original Score -- plus a special award for Outstanding Juvenile Performance by Judy Garland.
The Wizard of Oz was an overwhelming popular and critical success upon its initial release and repeated its ability to captivate audiences when M-G-M reissued the film in 1949 and 1955. The film made a new kind of history with its network television premiere in 1956 on CBS. Nearly 45 million people tuned in for this initial telecast, marking the beginning of a tradition. Ever since, The Wizard of Oz has been shown virtually annually on network (and then cable) television; its magical story and heartfelt performances have enabled it to grow from a perennial classic to its current status as a treasured icon of popular culture. Warner Home Video (WHV) will celebrate this beloved classic with the November release of two bonus-packed DVD treasures - a Two-Disc Special Edition and a Three-Disc Collector's Edition. Both DVD editions offer extensive bonus content, including four revealing new documentaries; a new feature length commentary by Emmy Award®-winning producer and Oz historian John Fricke; and Emmy®-nominated making-of documentary hosted by Angela Lansbury; a Lansbury-narrated onscreen storybook treatment of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz with its colourful original illustrations; outtakes and deleted scenes; vintage vault featurettes; and more than six hours of audio-only treasures, including original recording sessions for songs and underscoring and rare Oz radio programmes.