Movie Trivia: The Wizard of Oz

This one sounds like a total urban legend, but Snopes says it’s true. The costume designers were looking for a very fancy coat for Professor Marvel – the Wizard’s Kansas counterpart – but one that had gotten quite shabby. Some of the crew went to a secondhand shop and bought a bunch of coats to go through; Frank Morgan (the actor who played the Wizard), the director and the wardrobe people selected one out of the bunch that seemed perfect. It had a velvet collar but the nap was worn off of the velvet and it was looking a little worse for the wear. It even fit Morgan just right. Morgan was wearing the coat one afternoon and discovered a label that said “L. Frank Baum.” The coat had originally been made for Baum in Chicago – the tailor verified it, and Baum’s widow did as well. She was given the coat after the movie wrapped.