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Each actor who has played the Wizard of Oz has shaped the character's evolution in cinema history. The Wizard's role in movie adaptations is crucial, with varying degrees of likability and deception. From silent era pioneers like Hobart Bosworth to modern stars like Jeff Goldblum, each actor brought their own twist to the iconic character.

The performances of every actor who has played the Wizard of Oz in movies reveal just how much the character has evolved over the years. With the various film adaptations either changing or adding elements to the original children's novel by L. Frank Baum, these actors have done their part in shaping the audience's perception of the Wizard and his role within Dorothy's adventures. Though the Wizard typically has much less screentime than every other major player in the story, he is the titular character for a reason, and the actors who've played him...

Jack London is no stranger to film adaptations. His novel White Fang has been filmed at least eleven times over the last century, To Build A Fire has inspired at least half a dozen shorts. Martin Eden has been filmed before too, first by early film polymath Hobart Bosworth in 1914, just six years after first publication.

The novel itself is heavily autobiographical, the protagonist an autodidactic seaman, caught by ambition to be a writer. The text itself is set in Oakland, the turn of that century, all steam packets and laundry and locomotives, word-rated periodicals (if only!) and cycles of postage and rejection letters. Maurizio Braucci and Pietro Marcello (who co-writes (adapts?), directs) transfer the setting and in the process add depth to their adaptation.

Italy, the 1970s or so, unions and unrest, brown suits on red politics. Caught not just with archive footage but colour-grading and tone and lighting,...

By now, you may have heard of this year's winner of the Platform award at the Toronto International Film Festival (and the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at Venice): Pietro Marcello's Martin Eden, an adaptation of the titular 1909 novel by Jack London. (Read our interview with the Italian director from Venice.) Marcello transfers the story's setting from early 20th century Oakland, California to an indeterminate but similar time period in Naples. The film shares London's (an active advocate of socialism) concerns regarding art and politics and their manifestation in the world of a young proletarian writer, but is hardly the first attempt at bringing the novel's fiery vision to life. In 1914, American filmmaker and actor Hobart Bosworth directed, wrote, and produced his own adaptation of Martin Eden. The film, available on Arte, is missing a few reels. But even in its incomplete form, a faithfulness to its source is evident.

Great news for fans of Greta Garbo and John Gilbert! A Woman Of Affairs (1928) is now available on DVD from Warner Archives. Ordering information can be found Here

Greta Garbo is the “unlucky in love” heroine in this silent-screen adaptation of Michael Arlen’s highly controversial novel The Green Hat. After losing the man of her dreams (John Gilbert) due to the meddling of his disapproving father, Diana Merrick (Garbo) reluctantly weds another admirer (John Mack Brown). These dubious marital beginnings become even more questionable when her new husband takes his own life. Immediately, all eyes turn to Diana, and her free-spirited lifestyle is deemed his unofficial cause of death. Socially chastised, Diana decides to live up to her reputation and ventures on a series of foreign affairs, amorously globe hopping with dignitaries from London to Cairo. This bittersweet tale of love really begins to unfold when Diana is at...

Women suffrage movie 'Mothers of Men': Dorothy Davenport becomes a judge and later State Governor in socially conscious thriller about U.S. women's voting rights. Women suffrage movie 'Mothers of Men': Will women's right to vote lead to the destruction of The American Family? Directed by and featuring the now all but forgotten Willis Robards, Mothers of Men – about women suffrage and political power – was a fast-paced, 64-minute buried treasure screened at the 2016 San Francisco Silent Film Festival, held June 2–5. I thoroughly enjoyed being taken back in time by this 1917 socially conscious drama that dares to ask the question: “What will happen to the nation if all women have the right to vote?” One newspaper editor insists that women suffrage would mean the destruction of The Family. Women, after all, just did not have the capacity for making objective decisions due to their emotional composition. It...

First Best Actor Oscar winner Emil Jannings and first Best Actress Oscar winner Janet Gaynor on TCM (photo: Emil Jannings in 'The Last Command') First Best Actor Academy Award winner Emil Jannings in The Last Command, first Best Actress Academy Award winner Janet Gaynor in Sunrise, and sisters Norma Talmadge and Constance Talmadge are a few of the silent era performers featured this evening on Turner Classic Movies, as TCM continues with its Silent Monday presentations. Starting at 5 p.m. Pt / 8 p.m. Et on November 17, 2014, get ready to check out several of the biggest movie stars of the 1920s. Following the Jean Negulesco-directed 1943 musical short Hit Parade of the Gay Nineties -- believe me, even the most rabid anti-gay bigot will be able to enjoy this one -- TCM will be showing Josef von Sternberg's The Last Command (1928) one of the two movies that earned...

 

With Sam Raimi deep into principal photography on his latest film Oz: The Great and Powerful, the D23 Expo revealed some new info for the film set up at Walt Disney. They unveiled a behind-the-scenes video where "[d]irector Sam Raimi opened the video wearing a suit reminiscent of the one worn by the original Wizard of Oz, Hobart Bosworth." There was also reveals for some of the concept art and an official synopsis.

At D23 this Saturday in Anaheim, CA, the Walt Disney Company showed a behind-the-scenes video of Oz The Great and Powerful . Director Sam Raimi opened the video wearing a suit reminiscent of the one worn by the original Wizard of Oz, Hobart Bosworth. Raimi apologized for not being able to attend the convention in person, but explained that he is in the midst of principal photography for the film. The next part of the video showcased concept art and what looked to be an actual production still from the film. Concept art included several images of the lush, emerald green hills of Oz, with the yellow--but not always bricked--road winding it's way throughout. The impossible geography of Oz showed through as well, with arching rock formations seemingly miles long and a mountain shaped...

While you’re already getting your big Academy Awards party ready in time for the telecast on March 7th, we’ve got something for even bigger movie fans to enjoy. Of course, we’re talking about a movie marathon!

All month long, Turner Classic Movies will be running over 360 Academy Award nominated and winning films, back to back, with an interesting twist. In the vain of the game “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon,” each film will have a common actor or actress from the previous film.

For example, tomorrow night’s schedule consists of The Graduate with Anne Bancroft and William Daniels, which goes into Reds which stars Daniels and Jack Nicholson, into Chinatown with Nicholson and John Huston. Though we’re already about two weeks into the marathon, there are still plenty of great films to look forward to, including some TCM firsts like Gladiator, Titanic, Alien, and Trading Places.