35th anniversary of the movie "the wiz"

[funkyone71]

Hello all! Below is a link to my article discussing the motion picture "The Wiz." Clip of Michael Jackson interviewed on Soul Train disccussing "The Wiz" is included. Hope you enjoy!

http://soultrain.com/2013/10/14/classic-soul-cinema-presents-the-wiz/

[R. Mark Desjardins]

Many critics lambasted "The Wiz' when the film came out. The same happened to the 1939 "The Wizard of Oz" with Judy Garland. It only became a "classic" decades later when aired on television.

A few years ago I was on a Carnival Line Cruise and was totally blown away when the evening's entertainment was live musical numbers from the film version of "The Wiz." This unique film may yet come to be seen as a classic in its own right.

[Jerry Oz]

Umm... I didn't like it. While Diana Ross has many merits as a performer, she was wrong for the role of Dorothy. And the version of "Home" in the movie failed to move me, even though Stephanie Mills' versions of that song absolutely give me gooseflesh every time I hear them. I loved Mabel King in it, though, and "You Can't Win" is an underappreciated classic Michael Jackson song in my opinion. So there are many things to like about the film, but not enough that I want to watch it again.

[marv2]

Umm... I didn't like it. While Diana Ross has many merits as a performer, she was wrong for the role of Dorothy. And the version of "Home" in the movie failed to move me, even though Stephanie Mills' versions of that song absolutely give me gooseflesh every time I hear them. I loved Mabel King in it, though, and "You Can't Win" is an underappreciated classic Michael Jackson song in my opinion. So there are many things to like about the film, but not enough that I want to watch it again.

She was all wrong for the role and that's what destroyed the film in my opinion.
I remember all of the debating that went on in Black media prior to the film's release and most were disappointed that Ross was given the role over Stephanie Mills.

35 years huh? I am starting to feel a bit old now because I can remember going to see it during Thanksgiving break of my freshman year in college! LOL! What memories........

[Jerry Oz]

I remember seeing it as a junior in high school. Too many stars and too many visuals to let the story work, IMO. I also remember feeling indignant when I heard that Stephanie Mills was sent a belated invitation to the premier, even though she was in town. To my recollection, she turned it down.

[marv2]

I remember seeing it as a junior in high school. Too many stars and too many visuals to let the story work, IMO. I also remember feeling indignant when I heard that Stephanie Mills was sent a belated invitation to the premier, even though she was in town. To my recollection, she turned it down.

She should have turned it down! She did the right thing. Oh, one part of the film that I liked was Nipsey Russell's singing of "If I Could Feel". Great performance on his part I thought.

[marv2]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iI814SVWV_U

[thommg]

I think the story that Diana Ross wanted to tell as Dorothy is a valid one. Unfortunately, the movie is quite leaden and unimaginative in direction. Too many sequences are just badly photographed. Take the workshop scene, for instance. When the dancing starts we see the stars jumping around and the camera going down the aisle, many, many times. Boring. Poor Lena Horne had to hang in the air singing while they kept cutting to the babies who looked uncomfortable. The changing of the colors in OZ was long and boring and should have been cut down considerably. If the story had been filmed in an imaginative way, I don't think people would have had such a problem with Diana being Dorothy.

[jack020]

Maybe Ross was too old for the part, but I think it is a fun movie with a very good soundtrack!