File this under, "How did I Never Know This".
I just found out that before casting Margaret Hamiliton as our favorite Wicked Witch, MGM came close too and toyed with the idea of making the character more of a sexy siren. It came down to Margaret Hamiliton, and actress Gale Sondergaard who is seen here in her test costume and make-up. Down too? Who saw sexy siren in Margaret Hamiliton?? In the long run, they thought Ms Sondergaard was too glamorous and sexy to capture the "wickedness". I just assumed Hamiliton got the crooked nose from the beginning.
Who knew?
Gale Sondergaard
Speaking of Margaret Hamiliton, I also came across this camp, if not cheesy, classic clips from an appearance she did on a Paul Lynde Halloween Special. With Witchy Poo, Kiss and Florence Henderson??? Who was the booking agent for putting them all in one blender?
Well, Gale Sondergaard was finally cast as Tylette - a cat who became human - in the 1940 Shirley Temple movie The Blue Bird......which was inspired by The Wizard of Oz.
ReplyDeleteThe movie flopped.
For some strange reason I liked the video.....
DeleteThanks for that movie tip, Im going to look that up and watch it!
DeleteI had a book on the making of the wizard of Oz (I think that was even in the title) where I first learned that. Imagine how different it would have been. We bumped into Margaret Hamilton one day near the UN in the mid ’60s. Nothing witchy about her in real life.
ReplyDeleteIts funny. Because every movie I saw her in, after seeing the Wizard of Oz, all I can hear is the Wicked Witches voice! And the same with Billie Burke, who played Glinda.
DeleteSame here!
DeleteI, too, have an Oz book that told about Sondergaard's brief stint as the witch. I think it was a good choice to change as she wouldn't have been as terrifying!
ReplyDeleteAnd wasn't Hamilton in a series of coffee commercials [Maxwell House] as Cora!
And I like the clip!
Maxwell House...good to the last drop!
DeleteNo doubt Gale Sondergaard was stunning! I never knew about that fact either. But that movie would have felt much different with a more pretty Wicked Witch. But I sadly recall the Paul Lynde specials, they were often funny and so bad they were good.
ReplyDeleteUncle Arthur, Witchiepoo and the Wicked Witch of the West all appearing together...priceless.
ReplyDeleteThe only way to make it better is to have Agnes Moorehead as Andora!
Your right! All they needed yet was Agnes Moorehead!!!! She'd fit right in.
DeleteThis show came on and I was just shy of my 12th birthday. I will never forget how much of an impact it had on me. All these incredible and talented actors and actresses in one show and KISS as a bonus. It didn't get better than this what memories of yesteryear!!
ReplyDeleteAnd loved Gale Sondergaard! I liked her in a film called The Spider Woman.
"My wonderful, wonderful, wickedness!" is one of the greatest lines in movie history.
ReplyDeleteYou cursed brat! Look what you've done!
DeleteWhy shouldn't a witch look glamourous? All the better to get young men into her cauldron.
ReplyDeleteThere's noting wrong with a witch, villain or antiheroine looking glamorous. It probably explains why I love Harley Quinn and Kurumi Tokisaki so much!
ReplyDeleteBetty White!!!! The addition of Agnes Moorehead as Endora would've made this priceless!
ReplyDeleteWhat a terrific find!
ReplyDeleteOh, Glam Witch all in black would have been epic.
ReplyDeleteBut the went with the most common image and now it's iconic.
XOXO
If the film had been "Snow White" and not "Wizard of Oz", Gale Sondergaard would have been a perfect witch. Sondergaard turned down the Oz role because it wasn't glamorous enough for her and was probably glad she did: poor Margaret Hamilton sustained burns to her face and hands, while her stunt double, Betty Danko, was severely burned in the "Surrender Dorothy" skywriting scene which left her legs permanently scarred!
ReplyDeleteMore Oz tidbits I never heard! I did read that Judy Garland said that Margeart Hamiliton was the only one who was the most welcoming and kind person to her the whole time on set the movie was being filmed.
DeleteOh, my... great minds think alike.... I just saw Gale in a weird swamp mystery comedy with a young Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard. Gale stole every scene she was in. She would go on to win an Oscar. Thanks for digging this up. P.S. Can you imagine a sexy witch of the west? SMH.
ReplyDeleteWow, she won an Oscar?!?!? I didn't know that either!!
DeleteThe more you know. I don't know much about any behind the scenes info of the film.
ReplyDeleteI knew this, bizarre though it may be. We love Miss Sondergaard - particularly for her role in The Letter, up against a fearsome Bette Davis - but The Wizard of Oz would never have been the same with a glamorous Wicked Witch.
ReplyDeleteMargaret Hamilton made that film timeless! Jx
OMG Betty White too! I wasn’t expecting her. Billy Hayes was so hilarious as Witchiepoo! I loved her so much in Pufnstuf!
ReplyDeleteOh Gale Sondergaard is beautiful. Never knew any of that or about the Wizard of Oz. But Margaret Hamilton on Paul Lynde? Now that is a crack up, and what a good sport! That was awesome! What a great ensemble—whoever cast this was a genius. Billie, Paul and Margaret, White and Florence— all so talented and will always be in our hearts.
ReplyDelete