Hey weirdos, Elena here. If you're looking to kick back and relax with Morbid, Wondery Plus is the way to go. it's like having a cozy seat in our haunted mansion no ads just you and early access to new episodes You can join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or in Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
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I have been listening to the Martha's Vineyard Beach and Book Club, which actually Elena recommended to me.
She did not listen to it, but she said, girl, this title sounds so you.
And let me tell you, it did. I've been listening to it while I walk, and I am absolutely loving it.
I love all the Audible. There's more to imagine when you listen.
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Hey weirdos, I'm Ash. And I'm Alayna. And this is Growing Your Own Lupus.
No, I'm totally kidding, it's actually morbid.
But I was just watching a TikTok about growing your own And I really want to grow my own loofah now.
Ashkod. Real invest. You know how some TikToks are one minute and some are like 45 minutes and a half?
Yeah, yeah. I was on one of those ones that's 45 and a half minutes.
Not actually, I think it's like the max is three, but it feels long.
I was gonna say, I think it's three, but it feels long.
Getting hyperbolic. But anyways, I just saw one of those really long TikToks and this guy was growing his own loofah.
He grew a couple of them. And then he was like peeling it, which looked really satisfying.
Like I was like, I want to do that. And then he took the whole thing out and it was like gigantic.
I was like, you could cut that in half. put one in your kitchen sink, put one in your shower.
And I was really thinking about that. But then I was like, kind of looks like it would hurt on your body. so when i say she had all of those thoughts and she had them all out loud you I can vouch for that.
Most of my thoughts happen out loud when I'm Adelaide.
It was a fun little process to watch it.
I always love someone like... Having an argument with themselves and then, like, coming to a conclusion... with both sides of their brain, like both sides of the argument that happened in their brain come together.
I don't know if I even came to a conclusion yet.
You didn't come to a conclusion yet, but I believe in you.
We had to start working. So I'll come to a conclusion later today and I guess I'll let you guys know next episode.
If I'm going to grow my own loofah or not.
Because what we've come down to, I think, is that you were concerned it wasn't going to feel good.
And then you said, on my skin. No, I said on my body.
On my body. I don't think it would feel good on my body.
Like... It looks rough. Like, it looks like I'd be like... It looks almost like a pumice stone.
It does. Which feels good on your foot, but you're not going to pumice stone... your shoulder.
Exfoliation station is where we are. But like these days I guess you're not even supposed to exfoliate as much as I used to think.
I feel like everything's stupid. Yeah, me as well.
But anyways, I don't even know the climate in which you're supposed to grow, Lufa, so I guess we can just move on.
Yeah, we'll move on from this. We'll figure it out.
Don't worry. We'll update you, let you know if ashes grow in loofahs. are you on drugs right now are you alright and I'm like no I'm on life and the answer is no we are not they know to drugs but you know it's just it's the holiday week it's the holiday season It's almost Thanksgiving.
I'm gonna eat a lot of food. I'm excited.
I'm gonna be cooking today like crazy. Because I'm hosting.
Doing Thanksgiving. I'm doing Thanksgiving.
So it's going to be interesting. I'm particularly excited about your pumpkin and sage pasta.
Mmm. Are you making the pesto bread that I requested?
Yes, I am. Because I got all the stuff to make it.
Excited about that. And I'm honestly... Two more things.
I'm also really excited about the sausage stuffing.
Oh, yeah. And the streusel. The sweet potato streusel casserole.
Yeah, you're all invited. See you there.
And you know what? I'll post some recipes because they're all recipes I found on like the interwebs.
So I'll post some recipes in case anybody thinks any of that sounds good.
It does. But yeah, I'm excited. I like cooking a turkey.
I like doing a little herb butter rub underneath the skin all up in there.
How do you feel about going into like the cavity?
Oh, I mean, that's my job. It is. But how do you feel about it?
The same I feel about my job. oh yeah yeah i thought you meant like it's your job because you're cooking no i mean like it literally is my job to go into like cavities that no one else wants to go into Yeah.
Describe your job in a really weird way.
You go first, I guess. I'll go first. I cut dead things off of people.
So it's just kind of, might as well. It's a turkey.
It's easier, I think. Do you put like lemons or like oranges in there?
Let me let you all know in case you're wondering.
You got to put a little citrus in there.
That's what I saw. You got to put a little bouquet of herbs, maybe some thyme, some rosemary, some parsley.
Rosemary. yeah you gotta you gotta really get the aromatics in there you also rub it in salt right Yeah that's a brining process.
Some people dry brine, some people don't brine at all.
Do you brine? It's really up to everybody.
I brined before. Do you even brine, bro?
She doesn't even brine here. Did you even brine, bro?
Yeah. And you want to put some like garlic and onion in there, like really get it going.
Do you ever do you put a shallot in there?
Yeah, oh, we love a shallot. We love a jean shallot in there.
And the really important thing is basting, my dudes.
Baste that gosh darn bird. That's important even if you cook like a chicken.
Yeah, baste the hell out of it. Baste forever.
It makes a difference. Even when I make like chicken breastises, I baste them.
You gotta baste that shit. Yeah. it works but you know that's been a thanksgiving with us lupus and thanksgivings with ash and elena so we're right on target here i think we're right on brand true crime true crime you know lupus and true crime and turkeys But yeah, today's also going to be kind of like a different episode a little bit.
It's like we're in the dark spookiness, but this is like a different one, I feel.
We've never really done anything like this.
Particularly, I'm very excited. I'm pretty excited.
We'll start this off the proper way. I, Elena.
That's you. That's me. I have been obsessed with The Wizard of Oz since I was a little, little girl.
I used to literally have to dress up like Dorothy every time I watched it.
I had the ruby red slippers, had the outfit.
My mom would braid my hair. I know every line of that movie I watched 100,000 times.
It's adorable. So that was like my jam when I was little.
And I was always wondering when I should allow the girls to get into it.
Cause like I'm weird. And, like, I watched a lot of shit that I was like, wow, I can't believe that didn't traumatize me.
Such as Lapras. But maybe it did. I don't know.
The girls have watched Labyrinth and they love it.
But Wizard of Oz, you know, some people, I remember Drew was saying, the flying monkeys freaked him out.
And I remember John was like, no, the flying monkeys are like scary.
And I was like, I don't know guys. yeah it's funny because i don't know men that they were that's how i usually feel I always thought that they were a little bit scary, but then... I don't think they are.
In watching it with the girls, I realized I've only seen it once.
That's wild to me. That's really wild to me.
I only watched it one time and then... It's not that I didn't like it.
I think I just didn't really get that fascinated with it.
Yeah, you either vibe with it or you don't.
Yeah, I think it's one of those things you watch it and you're either like, wow, this is my entire personality now, or you're like, eh, maybe I'll watch it again someday.
Yeah, see, I watched Coyote Ugly when I was little, and I felt like that was my entire personality.
That's who we are as people. That is. You're the Wizard of Oz and I'm Coyote Ugly.
Yeah, I think those honestly describe us pretty well.
Yeah. But, you know, I was worried. I didn't know.
I was like, is five good? And then this past Halloween, a couple of people in their dance class and their school had Dorothy costumes.
And I was like, oh. And they were like, what's that about?
Oh, people are watching Wizard of Oz. But I was like, I don't know.
And they came home one day and were like, I really liked that outfit.
Yeah. Who's Dorothy? Yeah. So I started explaining it to them.
And this is how I usually introduce movies that I've not quite sure if they're ready for you.
Like Labyrinth, I did this too. We talk about it a lot.
Talk about like the plot. We talk about it.
We talk about the story. And then what I'll do is I'll show them little clips of it every now and then.
I'll be like, oh, look at this fun clip of them in the scary forest with the with the winged monkeys.
And I'm like, do you like that? And they're like, that's cool.
And I was like, all right, we're here. So after a few days of that, I was like, let's do this.
We had to like they were so excited we sat down as a family we watched the wizard of oz i was in my glory, like I was when we watched Labyrinth.
Those are my favorite things about being a parent, is showing them those things, because you're like, Oh, I want you to love it.
You relive your childhood. Oh, it's so fun. like memories from your childhood.
You see it through their eyes. And so we sat down, we watched it.
They adored it. They have watched it how many times since then?
Probably a hundred times. And it's only been like...
Two weeks. I feel like a terrible aunt, but yesterday one of them was like, TT, will you watch that with me?
And I was like, ooh, you want to watch anything else?
Yeah, like I literally can. Meanwhile, I'm like, let's watch it again.
And of course, while we're watching it, I immediately was like, guys, who's your favorite?
You got to have a favorite of the gang, you know?
So I knew that my little feral middle. was going to love the cowardly lion.
Yep. Because she herself is a lion. She loves lions.
Not cowardly, but a lion. Not cowardly at all.
And she loves lions. Oldest, I knew she was gonna dig the scarecrow.
I just had a feeling. Yeah. Kind vibes. Yeah.
She likes that whole leader. He had the leader of the pack and they both love Dorothy.
They think she's like. That's just bees and my littlest one just loved the whole thing.
She didn't know what to do. But so we got in the discussion of I was like, you know, when I was little, I was literally in love with the Tin Man.
Like in love with the Tin Man. My mom can tell you, I used to be like, can I marry the Tin Man?
And mom was like, you can't. but like that's a nice thought and I don't know what it is and I've never really like fully thought about it like and i think it's just now it's because before it was like you're little and you're like i love the tim man whatever yeah you move on You grow up.
And all of a sudden, watching it with the girls again, I'm suddenly like, you don't move on or grow up.
I didn't move on from that because I still think the Tin Man's hot.
What's that about me? Like I was watching and I was like, no, I'm still like really attracted to the Tin Man.
He's from our neck of the woods, you said, right?
He is. A lot of them are from Boston. Hell yeah, brother.
Like the Wicked Witch, Margaret Hamilton, she was from Boston.
Oh, shit i didn't know that edit margaret hamilton is not from boston i just wanted her to be Sorry about that.
Ray Bolger, the scarecrow, Boston. I actually think...
I'm not sure if Bert, I think his name is Laird, I'm not really sure, I'll get to it in a second, but the guy who played the cowardly lion.
He might have been from around here too.
A lot of them are from here. And the Tin Man you said was from Dorchester?
Tin Man is from Dorchester. I love that.
And he has like a thing. thick Boston accent.
And I think that's like ingrained in my brain to just automatically like connect to.
That's the most attractive accent. Like, when he says, like, the tin man forgot to... The tin maker forgot to give me a hat.
And they both go, no hot, no hot. And I'm just like, yes, I love you.
You're like, swoon. And then I realized that not only do I love the Tin Man, but I love Jack Haley, the man who... who played the Tin Man.
It was a big realization week for me. We had like a, it was a journey.
It was an eat, pray, love situation. I just like had to go through it.
God, that movie. I never saw that movie or read that book, but I feel like it's a journey of sorts.
It's a journey watching the movie because it's 42 years long.
Yeah, this was my, like, my journey through why do I find the Tin Man attractive.
And I realized that I find Jack Haley attractive.
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You should do one of those TikToks where it's like, show your childhood crush. and then show who you married and like just is there any is there any resemblance Like is the 10 minutes pretty tall?
He is. He's tall. He's kind. He has kind eyes.
He has a hat. He has no hat. But he has a hat, you know?
Yeah, and he's got very expressive eyes.
I wonder if he has a nice jaw. He does. You do love a nice jaw.
He has a great jaw. I definitely have a type.
I know. That's for sure. We all know that.
But... So this is what brought me this big long story that I just like feel like you all needed to know.
Because I also had a really fun conversation on Twitter with a bunch of listeners about this, and they were saying, a ton of them were into the Tin Man and they were like, oh my God, I thought I was alone.
And then a lot of people were like, I was a scarecrow girl.
So like we got or like I was a scarecrow guy and we got like this big discussion of like, why the hell Yeah.
And it was really fun. So, like, thanks for getting into that discussion with me.
And it made me think... about the fact that, wait, I remember coming upon all these weird dark like, fucked up things that happened during the making of this movie.
Which is funny that we're all so in love with those of us who are. like into this movie and find it beloved like you can just be like well that was the 1930s i don't know like that's what's going on But when you really look into it, you're like, damn, the making of this movie was like a harrowing adventure.
Do you know what? I feel like... It's not that I don't like The Wizard of Oz, but I feel like I feel that when I watch it.
Yeah, there's a lot. I feel the darkness.
There's some darkness. Yeah, the first time I watched it, and, like, I guess the only time until recently, I was just like, oh, like...
I didn't feel good about it. Yeah. See, I felt great about it.
I apparently am not intuitive to the darkness, but now I'm like, wow.
It's a lot of dark shit. It's my empathetic way.
So what we're going to do today is we're going to go through all the fucked up dark secrets behind The Wizard of Oz.
Because some people have actually asked us to do this in the past.
And recently when I mentioned the girls were watching it, somebody was like, you gotta do this. you've got to do the weird stuff behind the Wizard of Oz.
It's like the man behind the curtain. And actually, I think it was Michael from the Spookies podcast.
I was like, you guys should cover that. And I was like, little do you know.
Little do you Working on that now. So let's start.
We're going to go through some of these things.
I'm just going to go list by list, but we're really going to get into them.
Okay, let's go. So the first thing we're going to talk about, because it's the most important, is the Tin Man makeup.
Obviously. Jack Haley. Okay. There is a big, long, very long-standing legend, myth, rumor that is untrue. that John even thought was true, that the Tin Man, the original Tin Man who played him, died because of the makeup they put on him.
That's a big, long legend of this movie that people are like, well, the original Tin Man died from the makeup and they had to replace him.
No, that didn't happen. In fact, John used it because when we were watching it, I mentioned how, like, I was like, oh, my God, Swoon Tin Man.
And he was like, too bad what happened to him, huh?
Like he made a joke like, that's too bad.
And I was like, nothing happened to him.
And he was like, what do you mean? Like, let me tell you a story.
Nothing happened. So something did happen to the original Tin Man, but...
It's not what we think. So Jack Haley was not the original Tin Man.
Buddy Ebsen was originally cast as actually not even the Tin Man, the Scarecrow.
Oh. And Ray Bulger, who is the scarecrow in the movie, was originally cast as the Tin Man.
So, like, swippity-swoppity. So at some point they decided to switch roles because I think Ray came out and he said that he really felt he was better suited for the role of Scarecrow and he liked... just really liked that part and he thought he could play it better.
He does. He does a great scarecrow. It wouldn't have worked switched.
No. So we have Buddy Ebsen, who is like in the Beverly Hillbillies.
He was like a very well-known comedic actor. all that good stuff, like everybody knew who he was at the time.
He was cast as the Tin Man. So Ebsen started rehearsals and the wardrobe fittings for his new role, and everything was going fine with wardrobe everything he said in fact he said quote I was a guinea pig.
They didn't know how to simulate the Tin Man's garments, so I found myself doing tests with clothes made of real tin and clothes made of silver paper and clothes made out of cardboard covered with silver cloth.
The makeup was just as bad. Try this, try that.
In the end, they glued a cap on my head and covered it with glued on... and covered it and glued on a rubber nose and a rubber chin and then covered the whole thing with clown white makeup and then powdered aluminum dust onto my face and head.
Oh. So yeah, everything's going fine. Everything's totally fine.
I don't see anything in there that could go awry.
No. So everything was fine. He was covered with aluminum dust every day and that was fine.
He had recorded every line of the Tin Man songs when they began filming, so he He had all the songs recorded.
Everything was ready to go. Things went well. until October 13, 1938, which was only nine days after they started filming.
Ebson suddenly said, I'm feeling horrific.
And he was having labored breathing. He was having chest pains.
His arms and legs were cramping and like just like like completely cringing up.
He could barely walk. He was like passing out.
And he said, he was quoted as saying, quote, One night after dinner, I took a breath and nothing happened.
They got an ambulance and had me go down to Good Samaritan for a couple of weeks. my lungs were coated with that aluminum dust they had been powdering on my face.
Oh my god. He was blue and barely breathing when he arrived.
That's so scary. His lungs were coated with aluminum powder.
He was put in an iron lung. Dude was in an iron lung and spent weeks in the hospital recovering.
Then after that, he had to spend more than a month recovering at the Coronado Hotel in San Diego we had to like just lay in bed for weeks oh god Now, this is what's nuts.
Everyone at the MGM studio producing the film was just pissed.
MGM got pissed about like a lot of things back in the day that were actually their fault.
Like I'm sorry what? They were furious that he was missing filming and literally demanded him back on set.
That's cute. He was literally dying of respiratory failure in an iron lung and they were calling the hospital saying he needs to be back on set.
Yeah, well, he's in an iron lung right now.
Yeah. He can't Come to the phone right now.
He's in an iron lung. Like, I'm sorry. Like Taylor Swift remote.
It's wild. And he was quoted as saying, it seemed they couldn't understand that an actor could get sick.
They were furious. Mervyn LeRoy kept it.
He was like the head of the studio. kept calling the hospital and saying, he can't be in bed, he's due on set.
And Jack Dawn called me to tell me I couldn't possibly be sick. because he had used aluminum dust, pure aluminum dust on my face.
So they're saying you can't. No, it's not.
They're trying to cover their ass. Of course, they don't want to get sued.
No, no, it can't be the aluminum dust because it's pure.
You're like, that's actually exactly why I'm so sick right now.
Well, and that's what's crazy is at the time, they did think pure aluminum dust was fine.
Pretty fine. Wow. In fact, I found a paper published in the Journal of Environmental and Occupational Health Policy, you know, right yeah i read that at night yeah it's a really good one to fall asleep It was a period of time between about 1943 and 1979. where people who worked in mines, I almost just said miners, but I thought you guys would confuse that and be like,
People under the age of what? Like mine workers, miners.
You get it now. They were literally forced.
This is wild to me. This is such a dark thing in history.
They were literally forced. to inhale aluminum dust as an experimental medical treatment.
And a preventative measure to stop a disease of the lungs called silicosis.
So not only were they like breathing in the fumes from like you know mining.
Mining. But also they were like, hey, can you sniff some of this?
It's an experiment. Oh, wait until you hear how they did it.
So silicosis is a lung disease that's caused by long-term inhalation of crystalline silica dust. or the particles, and these are found in a lot of environmental structures like stone, rock, clay, things that miners are working with. minors who were diagnosed with this would at first just find themselves having this like nasty cough all the time like It's almost like black lung kind of thing.
I was just thinking that. And they would have shortness of breath.
And it really isn't diagnosed for like years usually.
All I'm thinking of right now is Zoolander.
Right, when he says like, I think I've got the black lollipop.
You just like looked like him. You even did the fucking hand.
It's so good. It is. Zulin is the best. I tried not to like it when I was younger.
But you can't. But it's funny. But it would be found on chest x-rays like years later.
So what would happen... was these employers would blow this finely powdered version of aluminum dust called McIntyre powder into the changing rooms of the miners, and they did this through the fucking air systems.
So they would just be in their changing area and there's aluminum dust particles being blown in through all the air ducts. for experimental purposes.
Now in this paper, in that journal, This paper is called Trading One Risk for Another.
Consequences of the Unauthenticated Treatment and Prevention of Silicosis and on Ontario miners in the McIntyre Powder Aluminum Inhalation Program.
Me as well. And it's by Janice Martell and Lee L. Giudotti.
Sorry. Sorry, T. But yeah, two really smart people.
And I'll link this paper so you can go look at it because I'm sure you want to.
In this, they talk about a guy named Jim Hobbs.
They said he was 37 years old for the first time that he tasted aluminum dust.
It was March 1978. Whoa. And it was his first day going underground at Rio Album's Quirk 2 uranium mine.
Now, after changing from street clothes into his mining gear, Hobbs followed the other miners into a tunnel-like building that led to the cage that would transport them underground for their eight-hour shift of drilling, mucking, and blasting.
The building, dubbed the gas chamber by those who entered it, was lined with benches, and Hobbs followed the routine of the others, taking a seat and waiting for the cage call.
Before that call came and after the last man entered the building, the doors shut at both ends, the ventilation fans stop, and the supervisor yelled what would become a familiar phase to a surreal phrase in a surreal ritual that Hobbes would experience prior to every shift for the next year and a half.
Oh my god. Breathe deep, boys. That's what they would yell.
In 1978? Yep. The hiss of compressed airlines was quickly followed by a cloud of black dust filling the room. obscuring Hobbes' vision of all that surrounded him as he took his first breaths a very finely ground aluminum powder, swirling rapidly from punctured canisters attached to the airlines.
His chest felt heavy, his exposed skin and clothes were blackened, a metallic taste formed in his mouth.
And he soon joined the choir of coughing and gasping arising from the others.
Oh my God. After 10 minutes. The doors opened and Hobbs and his shift partners were herded into the cage.
His first industrial medical treatment was over.
And he had to do that every day for a year and a half.
What, like why were they trying this? What were they trying to get out of this?
Because they thought it was gonna stop silicosis.
What? So, yeah, that's how little concerned they were by aluminum powder, which is why they called the hospital and were like, oh, no.
He needs to get back here. no buddy you're fine it was pure aluminum dust we're not worried about it thank you And the doctors were like, wow.
And even the doctors were like, okay, we're not, like, vibing with that olfactory. like all of us kind of feel like it's probably gonna become a problem in a few years, but if we're even ignoring that,
If he's not just being poisoned by it. He's still in an iron lung.
He's still having an allergic reaction to it.
So like something's happening. back here.
And so yeah, so they were like, yeah, no, he can't come back.
Like, I'm sorry, that's not something that can happen.
Now, Buddy Epson, because of course you're like, sue the studio.
That was absolutely my fault. first thought.
Well, Buddy Epson said he didn't sue the studio because it was a very different time and all of the studio execs were in each other's pockets. which I'm sure it's not that different than now.
But if he had sued MGM, he would have been blacklisted by all other students.
Yeah, because you're a difficult actor at that point.
He said, quote, you didn't just sue lightly.
You didn't just lightly sue MGM because it was a power issue. and there was a certain cohesion between the moguls.
They all used to play poker together on Saturday nights and decide who were the good actors and who the bad i mean look at gene harlow mgm showed up to her husband's like time yeah death scene yeah and was like yeah we don't need to call the police we know that's fine we're the we are the we are the investigators yeah Yeah, they were a power.
Yeah, absolutely. So after a few weeks of trying to get him back from like the brink of death, um to then paint poison on him again and have him do it again like that was their plan like let's just put you back in the makeup they're like we're making a fucking movie guy Yeah, so finally they gave up because they were like, we can't wait any longer.
And he was really, really sick. So they were like, we can't wait for you.
So the head of the studio, Mervyn LeRoy, decided to just fire Epson, and he grabbed Jack Haley to take over as part of the Tin Man.
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The sale ends 831. Don't miss it. Now, I wrote in my notes, now Jack Haley is a babe.
Literally. It literally has nothing to do with anything else I'm saying.
I literally just wrote it in my notes and I just realized that.
I love to write myself little notes that maybe I'll say.
That was for me. yeah but like I'm giving it to you guys I do that sometimes too and I wrote I just need to clear that up for myself I literally wrote that next.
So whatever. He also had the weirdest contract that wasn't very weird then, but sounds weird now. what is said basically and this was something that like was like i said wasn't weird then a lot of actors and actresses had this Basically, he could be forced to play any role in these studios because his contract basically put him on loan to them.
Oh, like they could just call him and be like, we got a role for you.
Get in here now. You have no say in it. Oh, wow.
So they called him up and they didn't offer him the role.
They called him and said, hey, you're the Tin Man.
Get in here. You have no choice. Okay. So he had to.
And he said, quote, the type of contract I had, I had to respond to their commands.
I had no choice. I was under contract and they could lend me to any studio.
It was the most awful work. the most horrendous job in the world with those cumbersome uniforms and the hours of makeup, but I had no choice. wow like you had no say in it i love that he was like i fucking hated it yeah he was like this sucked His costume was crazy heavy.
Part of it was like really metal, so it weighed a ton.
And probably so hot, like you said. So hot.
He couldn't sit so he would lean against this thing like it was like a board.
That was like specifically made for actresses and huge gowns and corsets.
When they couldn't sit down, they would just lean against this to get any kind of relief.
Oh my God. So he would, they had one there and he would just lean on it.
And actually. he would do this like between shots a lot like just to get some relief because he literally couldn't sit his back must have been Oh, yeah.
And it was funny because the guy who played the cowardly lion, Bert.
He said that it pissed him off because his costume was so heavy.
We'll get into his costume, don't worry.
Uh-huh. Because his costume has some dark shit too.
But he said it used to piss him off because he also was like an insomniac. in real life so he said he would walk by jack haley just leaning against a board in full costume out colds between shots like he was like that dude dude could fall asleep next to a board and he's like he used to piss me off I was like fuck that guy like why can he sleep like that I can't even sleep in my bed That's hilarious.
I'll link the book I found on this. It's really interesting.
There's a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff.
Yeah, I love that. But... So he just stepped in.
He wasn't told shit about why Buddy Epson was fired either.
Yeah, because you just like in those days you went in and people got fired all the time for like.
Anything. For gaining five pounds at Thelma Todd.
Exactly, at Thelma Todd. So you go in and you didn't ask questions.
Right. Okay, this is mine. I guess luckily for him, they did change the way they did the makeup. which shows that they definitely knew it was a poison in the first place.
They made it into an aluminum paste instead of a dust, so he wouldn't be inhaling the But you're still inhaling aluminum to some degree.
To some degree. I'm sure he never had any problems after it, afterwards, but...
What they did was they painted white grease paint on him, like clown makeup.
Yeah. And then they... they used the paste that had aluminum dust in it to put that aluminum sheen over him so it wasn't dusted on.
Like with Roy Ray, it was literally dusted on.
So it was just like... Yeah. Like all this.
Yeah. It makes me think of like translucent powder.
That's exactly what it is. Yeah. And you're just like.
Yeah, because it just gets like all over you.
But unfortunately, this paste did get into his eye and it caused a bad infection in his right eye.
And he was gone for four days while they had to save his sight.
Oh, my God. He was going to lose sight. Did they like discard all aluminum based products after this?
No, they didn't. So while all this is going on, by the way, Ray Bolger as the Scarecrow, was also dealing with the horror of the makeup he had to wear every day too.
Because we're not in like the, you know... you know, the Tom Savini kind of makeup here.
Like we're not in like the 2000s. yeah we know what we're doing we're in 1930s they're doing what they can exactly and when you actually look at the scarecrow makeup in that you're like that's pretty good And the Tin Man makeup is, like, looks great, too.
Like, the Scarecrow looks like a burlap sack.
Yeah. Is his head. But it was gnarly. It's not like now they have like, you know, the really...
Like they have certain brushes and stuff that they'll use and like substances that can take the makeup off really nicely.
Gently. They would just tear that shit off. yeah and what ray bulger the scarecrow said was quote i came home exhausted and had two bourbon old fashions.
The drinks were therapeutic. I needed the alcohol to let me down.
And they had enough sugar to kind of give me a lift so I could manage to eat my dinner and fall into bed.
Oh, man. That's how they felt at the end of these days.
Now he remembers nothing else about this, like these months, he said, but quote, going to bed and getting up and going to work.
And half the time, I don't even remember that.
So they were just like... They were just trucking through.
And when you hear what they did to keep Dorothy on task.
Oh, yeah. The filming days were insane.
And they were in these... A lot of people think that Dorothy, you know, or Dorothy, Judy Garland. had it like easier in the costume sense which she did she did in this sense but she had it bad in a different way Yeah, she had it like real fucking bad.
Yeah, they had these gnarly costumes that they were spending like literally like 13-hour days in, they couldn't take them off because they weren't willing to redo the makeup.
So if you broke for lunch... You either tried to eat lunch in that makeup.
If you couldn't, too bad. Oh, my God. The lion costume.
I can't imagine being in that for like 13 hours a day.
Oh, yeah. And what both Ray and Jack Haley said was, quote, the mask wasn't porous.
So you couldn't sweat. You couldn't breathe through your skin.
You don't realize how much you breathe through your skin until you can't do it.
We felt like we were suffocating. Oh, my God.
Yeah. He also discovered after the last take of the film that the corners of his mouth and his chin were permanently lined. from what yeah like they he said it took months and months for them to even fade oh my god the corners of his mouth were like had like lines like a joker makeup oh my god yeah And I know it's insane.
And Jack Haley said that his costume was, quote, no less awful.
They pulled my hair back as flat as they could and put some sort of rubber skin over my head and glued it down behind my ears.
They covered my face with cold cream. Then they took a white chalk-like salve and painted my face white.
The idea of the white stuff was to close my pores so the silver paste that made me look like I was made of tin wouldn't damage my skin.
They painted my face silver and glued on a silver nose.
They glued a strip of rubber that was supposed to be tin under my chin and glued each individual rubber rib bit onto my face.
Then they painted my lips black because painting my face silver made my mouth look too red.
Coloring my lips black made my gums and tongue duller.
I couldn't breathe through my face. None of us could.
And Burt Lahr had it worst of all. And then like think of God only knows what they were using for glue.
Like nowadays you use like liquid latex or.
Spirit gum. What was the thing that you used for?
Prusade. Prusade, yeah. But this was probably just like glue.
On your skin, this fucking like gorilla glue.
It probably is. It was like, let me super glue this to your face and rip it off every day.
Well, and when Haley says that Burt Lahr had it worst of all, Burt Lahr played the cowardly lion.
Yeah. That was real lion hide. Yeah, you told me that the other day and I'm still not over it.
The cowardly lion's costume. was made of real lion skin, real lion fur, real lion hide.
It was 90 pounds and it smelled, they said.
Ew. of course it did yeah and they said it literally smelled and they were so heavy to walk around in so heavy to move in they said that he would take it off at the end of the day and literally be dripping with sweat oh like a um yeah I can't I just I couldn't even talk I'm like yeah and then his face he had like a lot of prosthesis on his face like he had a lot of you know the like mouth area that's supposed to look like a cat so they made it so his mouth couldn't open that wide so he couldn't eat and for 13 hours a day he's literally and they said He would literally have to eat or drink only like a milkshake or soup or something you could suck through a straw basically.
Get him full too. And he said that because if he tried to chew he would break the prosthesis and they didn't want to redo it. so he literally couldn't eat and he would get pissed I guess like at Jack and Ray for like nomming in between shots whenever they could because he literally couldn't and every once in a while he would just like get pissed and just like grab a sandwich and just like bust through his makeup.
I don't blame him. Hangry is a real thing.
Because these people, all of these actors were literally like starved on set.
Like they were not... given food like and if they were given food they were like told that they were fat and like out of That's insane.
Well, and then think about you're lugging around a 90 pound costume all day where you literally like can't, your body can't even.
Mm-hmm. cool itself down. So you're sweating, you're super hot and then you can't eat.
I wonder how much weight that guy lost. Oh yeah, oh I'm sure and they said that they had to use a ton of arc lighting uh from different studios to get the effect of all of these sets and you know and so it is a billion degrees and so they would literally between shots like run over to the doors and like open the doors and just get fresh air and like Like all of those, all the main four actors would literally, they said, would just be like, gasping for breath outside the door between shots like trying to get any kind of What a great fun movie.
This is a literal torturous experience. Yay!
But yeah, so The Cowardly Lion had a tough...
Pure, just only based on the fact that he's wearing real lion fur.
Yeah, fuck that. And then you can't eat.
It's like insane. That's 90 pounds. Really wild.
13 hours a day. Now let's get onto some of the other makeup issues and some of the accidents that happened on this set.
So The Wicked Witch of the West was played by Margaret Hamilton.
She's phenomenal. She's amazing. We love her.
Queen. Queen. Now let's talk about her makeup.
Obviously, if you've seen the movie, she's green from head to toe.
Yes. Green makeup back then was made with copper oxide.
It was made with copper, which is toxic.
Yeah. So the makeup people said that they had to be completely thorough when removing her makeup every night. before she left because if they left any it could literally be fatal like it could poison her How did it not poison her throughout the 13-hour day?
Don't know. So they said, quote, every night when I was taking – this was like a makeup person –
Every night when I was taking off the witch's makeup, I would make sure that her face was thoroughly clean, spotlessly clean. because you don't take chances with green.
So when she was burned, spoiler alert, I remember that I didn't want to take any chances.
I knew that makeup had to be cleaned off.
So we're going to talk about that burn situation.
Right now. And how they just said even when she was burned, we had to clean the makeup off.
Remember that. Oh no, I don't want to talk about that.
In the scene where the Wicked Witch of the West leaves Munchkinland in like a puff of smoke in the beginning, and there's like fire and smoke. there was an accident.
So it was December 23rd, 1938. They had put a false piece of yellow brick road where she had to exit.
So she was to back up onto this and it was rigged with an elevator to bring her down and out of the shot.
While she was lowering down, the smoke and fire would come up and obscure her going down.
Mm-hmm. Now, they practiced this a ton because she had to go backwards and hit the spot just right because if the elevator went down and only one of her feet was on it she could like break her legs yeah so I guess the opening of that elevator shaft there was really narrow, too.
So Margaret Hamilton... was instructed and practiced a million times to bring her elbows in tight as soon as it started going down, because if she didn't, she would literally break her arms or her shoulders.
And they weren't like, let's figure out a way to make that not happen.
They were just like, do your best. Hold your elbows in because if not, you're going to break both of your shoulders.
They're like, wing it, bitch. Like, what?
And there was also two guys waiting below in case she broke her legs coming down.
They could carry her. Awesome. So those were the concerns.
Thanks for being so thoughtful, guys. And weirdly, those are the concerns.
They're worried about her breaking her arms or her legs.
But we have like whole ass fire going on.
But weirdly, nothing like that happened.
She didn't break a leg or an arm or anything.
Legs and arms were fine. In fact, the first time they did this whole shot, it was perfect.
Went off without a hitch. Victor Fleming, the director, was, like, psyched.
He was like, that was perfect. But he said...
As always, we're going to do one more shot just to have it in the can.
Just in case. Oh, no. That's when you know, too.
That's when you know. And this is when the shit hit the fans.
So Margaret Hamilton actually recalled something that Billy Burke said.
She's the one who plays Glinda, Billy Burke.
Okay. She actually said, quote, we were about 40 feet away from the fire and Miss Burke shook her head and said, oh, I'm not going to stand here.
And I said, why not, Miss Burke? And she said, oh, my dear, it's much too hot.
And I thought, you're 40 feet away, but I'm going to be right in the middle of it.
Yeah, right. She was like, shit, like what?
So they had taken a break. And when they came back to do the second shot, just the insurance shot, a bunch of mishaps happened.
Nothing that got anybody hurt at first. But it was things like, you know, she wasn't hidden by the smoke.
The fire happened too late. The fire didn't go off at all.
It was just like everything was fucked up.
Signs from the universe saying you already got your shot.
Take that shot. We got the shot. We got the shot, Fleming.
Let's just let it go. Now, she said, quote, and this is crazy that this is how much Victor Fleming, the director, did not give a shit about these people.
So she said, quote, and then we got the full tilt of Mr. Fleming's impatience and anxiety.
In no uncertain language, she told us to pull ourselves together and get the shot done.
He said, there's no excuse for this. The minute she gets her foot on, I want, and I said, Mr. Fleming, I want to get both feet on.
And he said, yes, yes, of course, but I want this shot done right and right now.
Well, it went wrong. The fire went way too early. while Margaret Hamilton was not under the stage yet.
So the broom got caught fire. The broom that she was holding... and it caught her face on fire she said quote i felt warmth on my face that's all it's still unbelievable there was a whole lot of rum running in hullabaloo and shouting.
And my hat and my broom were on fire and I didn't even know it.
She was literally in shock. Of course. She ended up with first degree burns on her face, mainly her chin, nose, cheek and forehead.
Her eyebrows and lashes were completely burned off.
Oh, my God. She had second and almost third degree burns on her hands.
Oh. That was the worst part. The skin on her right hand was completely gone.
It was just raw flesh. Goodbye. Just raw flesh.
Now remember that makeup? The toxic green makeup thing?
Did it not like burn into her skeleton at the time?
Well, when the flesh on her hands literally peeled off from the burns.
They still had to remove the makeup and the only way to do that was alcohol.
No. Mm-hmm. So they had to use alcohol to scrub the toxic copper oxide filled green makeup off the hands of Margaret Hamilton. after she burned the flesh clean off of them.
And her face. You know how like when older people are like, I used to have to walk backwards up a hill, um... to school in the snow everyone in the wizard of oz has the right to say i did they can they're like i had my hands cleaned with alcohol after suffering through third degree burns and like peeling my skin back.
She said it was the most horrific pain she's ever felt in her life.
She was out for six weeks. healing and I bet they were pissed oh they were on her ass in fact her doctor answered the phone once while they called her at home and And he was like, she's an idiot if she doesn't sue your ass.
She'll get back when she's good and ready, like flipped out.
Oh, good for him. I love that. Yeah. And they were probably like, yeah, watch her.
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Now, again, she said the only reason she didn't sue is because she wanted to work again and she never would have if she was sued.
So did they have to pause filming then? They did, yeah.
And she did refuse to work with fire ever again in the movie.
She was like, figure it out. I don't blame her. working with fire.
Now, in fact, when she got back to set, she was due to do that skywriting scene.
Yeah. Surrender Dorothy scene, which there's a band called Surrender Dorothy.
I remember like from high school. Yeah. Great band name. surrender dorothy so good i want to call it oh i can't but good job guys yeah seriously that was good one She was doing the close-ups because there's close-up shots of her like on the broom like laughing and there's smoke behind her.
And like yelling at doors. Yeah, just screaming and screeching.
But it required her to sit on a steel saddle on her broom.
And it was raised up and then smoke would pour out of the back from a pipe under the saddle.
Oh, God. That's how they rigged this whole thing.
I feel like I don't want to do that. Now, she was told by everyone, no, this is completely safe.
Don't worry about it. You're good. when have we ever put you in danger before, you know?
I feel like it's going to explode under my badonkadonk.
But they mentioned, you know, if you'd like, we did make you a fireproof costume.
And she was like, Why? Why'd you make me a fireproof costume if this is completely safe?
And it's probably not even fireproof. Like, why would I...
Just a single thing you say. So she was like, no.
So she said she wouldn't do it with the smoke and the fire.
She's like, no. She said she would do the close-ups.
She was like, do the close-ups of my face, add shit in afterwards.
And she was like... I don't know what to tell you with everything else.
Her stunt double, Betty Danko, said she would do the rest.
No, she was a young girl at this point. And she was probably trying to like be like an Oh, yeah.
So she's like, I'll do anything. Oh, yeah.
And she's a stunt girl. So she's like, she's done a few things like this.
And she's like, oh, yeah. And you gotta be down for anything. but margaret actually told her before she left set that day she was like i'm really worried for you i don't want you to do it Like, I'm worried something's going to happen and you're going to get hurt.
And she was like, no, I need the money. I don't want them to think I'm hard to work with.
Mm-hmm. Well, turns out they did two good takes on the broomstick and the third time the pipe literally exploded under her.
I knew you were gonna say that. She said quote, I felt as though my scalp was coming off.
I guess that's because my hat and my black wig were literally torn loose They found them days later at the top of the stage Oh my god The explosion blew me off the broomstick.
I managed to grab it with both hands and throw my leg over it.
I hung upside down while the men handling the wires lowered the broomstick to the floor and put me face down on the stage.
She was completely burned and her left leg had a giant hole in it where her dress had become fused.
Because it was burned into this giant hole in her leg.
What the fuck? Want to hear what's even better?
I don't. Quote. While I lay there on the floor waiting for the ambulance, the wardrobe woman came running in and she said, What did you do with the hat?
I have to turn it in, you know. I'd be like, there's a motherfucking hole in my leg and I suggest you get the fuck out.
Fuck away from me unless you'd like a matching one.
I was just lit aflame. What? I'd be like, you can take the hat when you find it and shove it right in.
Right up your... Like, I am Bruni the fire spirit from Frozen 2 right now.
And you are asking me where that hat is?
Can you, you're laying? First of all, face first.
Because I can't even have like the nicety to put you on. your back like what and then she's like i need to hand in that hat i need to turn that in you know i like well you're gonna get in trouble today okay you're gonna have some explaining you know what you should cite explosion for why you didn't turn that in person was exploded in the hat.
I don't know. Hat literally literally exploded.
She had permanent scars on her legs from it, I guess.
And I guess later at some, like, Some kind of Hollywood thing.
I don't know if it was like... It was years later, she ran into Victor Fleming and he tried to look under her skirt to see the scars.
Because you said he felt so bad. What? He tried to see her leg scars because he wanted to see how bad it was.
I'd be like, well, my leg exploded. So that's how bad it was.
The fuck, Victor? Yeah. I'd be like, Victor, get away from me, you bad noose.
You bad noose, okay? Now, Victor Fleming, speaking of him, I'll skip ahead to something with him because...
Please do. So he actually wrote and admitted to this incident.
He said, quote, When Judy Garland couldn't stop breaking into giggles at the pseudo menacing advance of Burt Lahr's Cowardly Lion, So when they first meet the cowardly lion and he runs after Toto.
Yeah. And then she whacks him on the nose.
Yeah. I guess she kept breaking into giggles because that's funny.
And I guess Burt Lahr was really funny because he was like, like, just like coming at her.
So she kept laughing. She was 17. I was going to say she was literally young.
And so he said, quote... He escorted her off the yellow brick road and said, now darling, this is serious.
Slapped her in the face. then ordered her, now go in there and work.
And she said it, yup, happened. And everyone around the set said, I saw it happen.
He literally slapped a 17-year-old girl in the face and was like, get back to work and stop laughing.
Wow. They weren't kidding when they said things were different back then.
Yeah. Then he, I guess, immediately felt bad so he started going around to the crew and asking people in the crew to punch him in the face. good.
And so they were all like, no, because they're like, I'm going to lose my job.
I don't know. I can't. It's a really weird way to handle that situation instead of just like going to her and saying, I feel really bad.
And also how many of the crew, you know, he hadn't met any of the crew.
So he's literally walking up to them and they're like, hi, I'm Joe, Mr. Fleming.
Nice to meet you. Like, no, no, I won't.
Don't punch you in the face. Write in the kisser.
Please punch me. And I guess Judy like saw this happening because she immediately went back into the scene.
The scene you see in the movie is exactly what happened right after she got slapped.
The first take she did was the one in the movie.
Oh, wow. So the one you see in the movie is right after She just got slapped in the face by Victor fucking Fleming.
She was so abused. It's really sad. Oh, it's horrific.
What they did to her. she actually heard all this, like, that he was walking around, like, asking group members to bunch himself, and And I guess she, like, overheard this and she went over to him and said, because he was like, you should just punch me in the face, to her to which I would say okie doke and I guess she said I won't do that but I'll kiss your nose and she did oh what a cutie like what a They did Judy so wrong.
Yeah, they did her dirty. They did her so wrong.
Yeah, I would have punched Victor Fleming straight in the kisser. time.
Just kidding. But like what a pure and wholesome human.
What a strange way. Who was like led into such a shitty path of life oh yeah watching judy the mother ruined me yeah it's ruined me i mean her real name is francis gum Now, speaking of Dorothy and the horrific things that were done to her, Judy Garland had the saddest life.
At 14, she was working on her first real movie called Pigskin Parade.
It was about like a football coach. Sounds horrible.
Sure does. and the head of the studio, Louis B. Meyer.
I don't know if it's Louie or Louis, but... Get ready for the tweets about that, my guy. but uh he's a piece of shit so i literally don't care what his real name is good um he would call her quote fat little pig in pigtails So I don't care if it's Lewis or Louise, don't care.
Asshole. And let me tell you, Mr. Glasshouse should have kept his rocks to himself.
Go ahead and Google what he looks like. Name again?
Excuse me, Glasshouse. Louis B. Mayer. I think it's Louis.
But yeah, like... Go away, Mr. Glasshouse.
We're loaded. This is when she started. Oh, come the fuck on.
Exactly. Exactly. Like, I'm sorry. Was there a mirror on set that day, sir?
Yeah. Like, please. Please. Now this is when she started being placed on these crazy diets of only like soup and cigarettes and all that shit.
Seriously. Now for Oz, the studio execs focused heavily on her weight.
And basically made her feel like shit that she even had boobs.
Because she was 17 at this point. She's like turning into like that. time when you're getting a test.
Women have boobs. And now Dorothy was supposed to be like a younger girl.
Like she was supposed to be like I think in the book she's supposed to be like 12.
But I think in the movie they have her more around like 15.
So cast a 15 year old if that's what you want.
Well, and so they were like, we want you to look younger than 17.
So. Obviously, she's not. So they were literally documenting her food intake for months leading up to shooting.
Wow. Like the exact. Studio execs are documenting a young girl's food intake for months.
And that is like, and obviously did, but will affect you for the rest of your life.
100%. If you start eating like. This stuff was the reason she died the way she did.
And like developing that relationship with food is so dangerous.
Oh, it's so dangerous. It's so sad. They also kept her on a steady pill schedule at this point as well.
They would force her to take what they called pet pills to stay awake.
AKA meth. And downers to sleep and chill out.
So she would sleep for like four hours and then they would just like shake her awake. force some pep pills down her throat and make her work for like days straight before she would crash again.
Oh my god. Yeah. Now, during filming of Oz, she was on a diet of soup, dozens of cigarettes a day and black coffee.
That's it. Can you imagine her stomach?
And on top of it, they made her wear crazy corsets under that dress. and strapped down her chest as tight as they could to make it so she didn't look like she had a chest.
Wow. So she was, and that's like... against her will like and she's sitting there having to like and it's painful And she's having to like pretend to be this like peppy, yay, like young girl.
And yeah. I just can't imagine what condition her stomach was in with all those cigarettes. coffee on like an empty stomach and then pills.
Yeah. My God. Like, can you imagine how sick she felt all the time?
No, because I've had to go on medicine before where I broke my pelvis and they had to put me on morphine.
And you couldn't eat. And I was the sickest I have ever been.
I can't imagine having to be in that state.
While doing a movie where I was also just being treated like shit all the time.
Like when I had... Whatever pain pill they gave me after like my first c-section.
Mm-hmm. I took one of them and I was like so sick.
I was like, I've never taken that. Like, wow.
I could not handle that because I'm just usually I have like a pretty good pain tolerance, like a fairly good one.
And so I usually can get, like if something hurts, I'll take like an Advil.
And it's like, that usually is fine for me.
But this, I was like, oh, I just got cut open.
Maybe I should take this. Yeah. Oh my God, never again.
I was like, no, this is not worth the...
Sickness, I feel. We had to go back to the doctors when I was like that.
And we were like, yeah, I can't take it.
I can't handle it. They had me take a half, and even a half, I was still horrified.
See, I was like, they just gave me Motrin afterwards, and I was like, that's all I can do.
But on top of all of this with Judy Garland...
Some of the actors who played some of the characters in Munchkinland, they were like sexually assaulting her on set.
Good. Yeah. And her husband, one of her husbands later said, quote, they would make Judy's life miserable on set by putting their hands on under her dress my god the men were more than 40 years old at that point and she's 17 yeah and she like is just turning 17 gross And she's like made to look like a child in that, like way younger.
What the fuck, guys? Yeah, it's just really messed up.
And I do, from what I read, though, I guess the three guys, like the lion, Tin Man, and Scarecrow. were like super protective of her yeah and they were all like good dudes and none of them did anything like that and they were like really tight as like a little you Like a squad.
Yeah. I love that. So that's nice to know at least she had some kind of protection there.
She had the comfort of that. Another thing that's really crazy about this is, if you remember the Poppy scene, Where the Wicked Witch of the West causes them to fall asleep in the poppies.
Poppies. Well, lucky for them, Glinda casts a counterspell during that that causes snow to fall and they all wake up.
Unfortunately, Glinda was like kind of the, maybe she was the bad guy here because the snow that fell was 100% asbestos.
Oh. Yeah. snowing on them. That'll wake you up.
That'll wake you up and also put you to sleep forever.
I was gonna say for only a little while but that just snowing on them Now, this was the 1930s and asbestos was actually used in Christmas decorations then, like fake snow.
What? But still, this is wild to know now.
Yes. Especially when you watch it and you're just like, oh, that's just straight up.
And it's all over their faces. all over everything they're literally like in their mouths like it's just like they're just like living in it And it's funny because one of the articles I read was on Atlas Obscura.
And they put it best by saying the Wizard of Oz, quote, literally douses its main characters in carcinogens.
Correct. Literally what it does. And when you watch the scene, you're just sitting there being like, poison.
Yeah, all over your body. You're all being doused in poison.
Wow. Asbestos. And... A last little thing, well, last big thing that I'll touch upon, which is kind of the saddest thing to me.
But I'll leave you on like... Well, no, I'm going to leave you on a sad note.
I'm sorry. All right. But I'll give you a couple things after this.
But the woman who played... Auntie Em. Auntie Em and Uncle Henry.
You're just like, I love you. Cuties. I love you so much.
Her name was Clara Blandick and she was famous.
She was like on Broadway and tons of movies.
This was actually one of her smallest roles, but she took it because she just loved the movie and they loved having her name on it.
Now she, after the wizard of Oz was in like failing health, um, It was like through the 1950s and she was going blind.
She was the victim of severely painful arthritis all over her body and they couldn't get it under control back then.
Just real quick too, this is like a suicide trigger.
So just, this is going to be a minute where I'm going to talk about it.
So April 15th, 1962, she returned to her home after church She placed photos and letters and mementos from her career all around her.
She surrounded herself with newspaper clippings of her career, her awards, movie credits.
She got dressed in a royal blue gown, she did her hair, and she took sleeping pills.
And she laid on the couch with a gold blanket over her and placed a plastic bag over her head.
Oh, wow. She passed away that way, and she left a note that said, quote, I am now about to make the great adventure.
I cannot endure this agonizing pain any longer.
It's all over my body. Neither can I face the impending blindness.
I pray the Lord my soul to take. Amen. Oh, apparently she is buried very close to Charlie Grapewin, who played Uncle Henry, her husband.
Oh my gosh, no way. Like yards away. Wow.
They're like right next to each other. Is that just like a weird coincidence?
I don't know if it was like meant to, but it's like a nice little like...
Little thought there. How sad is that? And she had this beautiful, amazing career. yeah can I say something weird it's like beautifully sad like the way that she did it I'm like I'm glad that she was able to like take control of Yeah, I mean, she was in control of it.
That was what she wanted to do. But, like, how sad that she had no other option.
Like, it's such a bummer that, like, medical...
Stuff has kind of come so far and it hadn't come that far to relieve her of any of that pain.
That is really sad. Because I can't imagine being in chronic pain and there's nothing.
No. Because nothing to help you. Arthritis, like... Just watching people go through... I obviously have never, like, gone through that.
Yeah. But watching people go through that, I... can't imagine.
Yeah. I really can't. And to have it all over your body.
Yeah. I hope she did have a great adventure.
I hope she did. Excuse me I hope she's I hope she's still having that great adventure.
Go off. She's over the rainbow having a blast.
Oh, that one really. I know. Thanks. I know.
I'm sorry. Do you have anything good in there?
I guess this just shows you how close like the three main characters, like the Ray Bulger and Burt Lahr and Jack Haley were, when I think Ray was the last one to pass away out of all of them.
And when Jack Haley died, he gave a eulogy at his funeral.
And he said, Jack, it's going to be a very lonely...
It's going to be very lonesome on the yellow brick road now.
That's how close they were. And just to leave you on like not the saddest of notes, but more like, wow, Margaret Hamilton, get it.
Okay. The Wicked Witches lines, most of them were cut and a lot of her scenes were cut from the final film because execs and focus groups said the performance was way too terrifying.
They said kids literally couldn't handle it.
So Margaret Hamilton just scared the shit out of everybody.
She was like, that's what I was hired for, so.
She's only on screen for like 15 minutes in the film, but she had tons more.
Well, that sucks that she worked so hard.
And it was all really scary. She was terrifying.
I wish they did a version where they could have released that version.
I know. I'm like, can we have her deleted scenes?
I want to see her scary ass scenes. For real.
I wonder if they could ever uncover them someday.
I know. I wonder. I think that there's a way to do that.
Who knows? Have they? I'm not even sure.
I should look it up. I know. Let's find out.
That is some of the dark secrets I found about the Yellow Brook Road.
About the Yellow Brook Road? It was about the Yellow Brook Road.
Yeah. but about the Wizard of Oz and how fucked up the filming was.
Wow, that was really entertaining. It seems cursed. definitely is cursed i feel i feel like i'm it's a lot i feel like i'm never gonna watch that movie the same with your children you watch it and you're like, wow.
You exploded. You had to go to the hospital.
You almost went blind. You did And for the second half of the film, I haven't looked to see this, but Margaret Hamilton's wearing green gloves. instead of green makeup, because even when she came back, it hadn't healed enough that she could put makeup on.
So she had to wear gloves on her hands. Oh, wow.
And I want to look for it the next time I watch it now.
I do too. Yeah. Because I guess she also said that like Victor Fleming grabbed her hand when she came back.
It was like, it looks good. And she was like, no, that's like freshly healed skin.
It looks pretty, but it doesn't feel great.
It's not thick enough to do anything. and like that's how nasty Victor Fleming sounds like the worst and I wish that everybody he had asked to punch him in the face actually did punch him in the face I know that would have been nice But yeah, that's the dark shit about The Wizard of Oz.
Oh, and just like... Because people might be wondering...
Because there's this big legend that one of the actors who played one of the munchkins hung themselves in a tree.
Oh, yeah. That's not true. You can see it in the original part of the film.
That is completely untrue. What people were seeing was a bird that they had on set that like puts its wings up and kind of looks like it.
And people have photoshopped. like an actual hanging person in there.
It's not true. It didn't happen. Or is that what they want you to think.
Yeah, there's no, I mean, there's absolutely no evidence or no police reports.
And I was going to say, We know all the other horrific things about what went down.
Yeah, it would have leaked out. Yeah. But it's still in a very enduring rumor because everything I was reading, Every time I would peek over at comments of it, like any little... movies about it or books or anything, there was always a million people being like, well, someone hung themselves on the set.
Like that is an enduring rumor. People really believe that.
And I did. I did for a while. Whenever it first came out, I was young.
And I remember trying to see it. I was like, what is... And you could see the bird...
And I remember being like, is that? But it's not.
Yeah. Yeah. I remember definitely hearing that.
I never looked for it, though. Yeah, that didn't happen, though.
At least not that you can find anywhere.
Well, that's settling that it didn't happen.
Yeah. But everything else happened in this, so thanks for that.
Yeah, it's a fucked up movie. But I thought it might be, you know, it's a holiday week.
We're just going to give you this weird, weird off episode that's still spooky, but like in a different way.
Yeah. humans are weird they certainly are you know i really enjoyed that that was that was a cool episode Yeah, I just wanted to do something a little different.
Yeah, I like that. Hope you guys dug it.
It's your show. Go off. Yeah, it's my show, man.
Well, we hope that you keep listening. And we hope you keep it on.
Weird. But that's where they decided to direct a movie and do any of the things that were done on this movie set.
Thank you and good night. Bye. Follow the yellow brick road.
Follow the yellow brick road or don't. Thank you.
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