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What definitely did occur on The Wizard of Oz -- perhaps the most astonishing thing that did occur -- was dismissed as a publicity stunt. Yet it is vouched for by [cinematographer] Hal Rosson and his niece Helene Bowman and by Mary Mayer, who served briefly as the unit publicist on the picture. "For Professor Marvel's coat," says Mary Mayer, "they wanted grandeur gone to seed. A nice-looking coat but very tattered. So the wardrobe department went down to an old second-hand store on Main Street and bought a whole rack of coats. And Frank Morgan and the wardrobe man and [director] Victor Fleming got together and chose one. It was kind of a Prince Albert coat. It was black broadcloth and it had a velvet collar, but the nap was all worn off the velvet." Helene Bowman recalls the coat as "ratty with age, a Prince Albert jacket with a green look."
The coat fitted Morgan and had the right look of shabby gentility, and one hot afternoon Frank Morgan turned out the pocket. Inside was the name "L. Frank Baum."

"We wired the tailor in Chicago," says Mary Mayer, "and sent pictures. And the tailor sent back a notarized letter saying that the coat had been made for Frank Baum. Baum's widow identified the coat, too, and after the picture was finished we presented it to her. But I could never get anyone to believe the story."

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One of the "James Bond Women" (I think it was the girl in "For Your Eyes Only") was a transsexual, and it was only discovered after the film was finished. Roger Moore was rather "miffed" to find that he had shot all those heavy love scenes with someone who had started out with the same equipment he had. (If this is true, all I have to say is that the doctors did a very fine job.)

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During the filming of the 1958 Disney nature documentary White Wilderness, the film crew induced lemmings into jumping off a cliff and into the sea in order to document their supposedly suicidal behavior.

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This is a simple legend to verify; first, buy Dark Side of the Moon. Its been suggested that you use the digitally remastered and repackaged Dark Side of the Moon with the solid prism / triangle on the cover rather than the hollow prism / triangle from the original cover of the album. Both covers by Storm Thorgerson / Hipgnosis®

Then, get The Wizard of Oz. Again, Its been suggested that you make sure to use the digitally remastered THX® 50th Anniversary edition.

Put the two together, and mush them all around, out comes an eerie relationship between the monumentous album and classic film.

Transitions between scenes are often perfectly timed with musical changes.

Turn the sound of the film all the way down, and turn the sound of the album up as high as you can stand.
It will probably take you a few tries to get the sync lined up just right so be patient. First load the Dark Side of the Moon CD into your CD player and hit PLAY (>) and then immediately hit PAUSE (II) so it is cued up and ready to roll. Be sure also to set your CD player to continuous replay. This in most CD players is done by hitting the "REPEAT" button twice. Hitting it once will usually repeat only the presently playing track so hit the button two (2) times and it will replay the CD over and over. The CD will play roughly two and a quarter times through the entire length of the movie.

Now start the video and fast forward past all the preview junk (about five minutes worth on the THX version) at the beginning and watch for the THX Digital logo to pop up. Now get the tape to the very beginning where the BLACK & WHITE MGM lion roars. After the BLACK & WHITE MGM Lion roars for the THIRD (3rd) time IMMEDIATELY hit the play button on the CD player.

The credits begin to roll, and the ambient noise that opens the album begins. You know the synchronicity will work if the music kicks in just as Produced by Mervyn Leroy pops up.

Now, we would suggest you stop reading here and experience it first. It is much more fun to watch it without knowing, ahead of time, what you are going to see. Otherwise, from here, we are going to take you on a step by step tour of the scenes and music as they occur.
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The coincidence eeirily begins when the album says, "... Look around ..." which prompts Dorothy to look around.
As the line "balanced on the biggest wave" from Breathe is uttered, Dorothy teeters on the rail of the pig-sty.
She then breaks into a trot just as the line "No one told you when to run" from Time is heard.
The chimes in Time go off at the appearance of Mrs Gulch (Wicked Witch of the West) on the bicycle and the chimes stop when she gets off the bike. "I've got a bike. You can ride it if you like. It's got a basket, a bell that rings and things to make it look good ..."
"... Home, home again ..." as Professor Marvel tells Dorothy that she needs to go back home.
The Great Gig in the Sky begins as the tornado appears and lasts exactly the length of the storm. On the record, this song is the end of the first side of the album and ironically, as Dorothy slowly pushes open the door, the black and white portion of the film ends, Oz appears in brash color, and "cha-ching," Money begins exactly on cue.
The munchkins begin to dance to the tempo of Money.
Before the Wicked Witch appears in a cloud of smoke, dressed in her black dress, just as the word "Black" is uttered in Us and Them.
Then the scene changes as Dorothy leaves Munchkin Land at the same time that "Us and Them" changes to "Any Colour You Like" The Scarecrow starts dancing just as "The lunatic is on the grass" is heard.
"... And everyone you meet..." is uttered as Dorothy meets the Tin Woodsman.
And the album ends with a slowly beating heartbeat, which comes just as Dorothy bangs on the Tin Man's chest to see if he's got a heart.

Now, if you've set up your CD player to repeat, the coincidences continue from here. Unfortunately, due to replay speeds, it is more difficult to match the album to the movie. But here are a few of the scenes you might catch!

When "... and high you fly ..." is spoken during Breathe, the Wicked Witch stands on top of the house with her flying broom.
On the Run then presents "... Shorter of breath and one day closer to death..." as Dorothy and Cowardly Lion appear to be dead.
This time, Money plays while they are in the Emerald City - "Cha-Ching" is heard as the Wicked Witch writes "Surrender Dorothy" in the sky.
"... Down and out ..." has the flying monkeys swoop down to capture Dorothy, and then fly out of the woods with her in their hands.

Believe it or not, the CD replays for a 3rd time (about half way through) and the coincidences continue! But we'll stop here for now to let you find the rest on your own!
As you find them, be sure to let us know so we can include them here, just click to send an email.

Now, get the album, pick up the video and then go back to The Garden to catch up on more rumors, facts, and fictions!


By the way at the end of Dark Side of the Moon, after you hear "There is no dark side of the moon really. As a matter of fact it's all dark ..." you can faintly hear some music playing. Strangely enough it's an orchestral version of The Beatles' Ticket to Ride. Both Pink Floyd and The Beatles recorded at Abbey Roads Studios and they, at times, contributed to each other in one fashion or another; certainly, at times tapes would have been erased and reused. Anyone know why they chose Ticket to Ride?

These Rumor are so popular that it is purported that album sales and video rentals significantly jumped as the story circulated. For more fun links, check out Yahoo! where even their popular "Ask Yahoo!" Q&A forum has been pulled into this legend!

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