His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz (1914 Silent Fantasy Adv. film)

His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz is a 1914 American silent fantasy adventure film directed by J. Farrell MacDonald and written and produced by L. Frank Baum. It stars Violet MacMillan, Frank Moore, Vivian Reed, Todd Wright, Pierre Couderc, Raymond Russell, and Fred Woodward.Show more

The film had a troubled distribution history; it opened on September 28, 1914, to little success, though it was received as well above average fare by critics of the time. Early in 1915, it was reissued under the title The New Wizard of Oz and was slightly more successful.

The film is loosely based on Baum's 1900 book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, but in the screenplay, Baum introduced many new characters and a large new story that later became the basis for the 1915 book The Scarecrow of Oz. Similar to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the Scarecrow's origin is revealed, although his life is now attributed to "the Spirit of the Corn", who appears as a conventional Hollywood depiction of a Native American.[citation needed]

Plot
King Krewl (Raymond Russell) is a cruel dictator in the Emerald City in the Land of Oz. He wishes to marry his daughter, Princess Gloria (Vivian Reed), to an old courtier named Googly-Goo (Arthur Smollett), but she is in love with Pon, the Gardener's boy (Todd Wright). Krewl employs the Wicked Witch named Mombi (Mai Wells), to freeze the heart of Gloria so she will not love Pon any longer.

This she does by pulling out her heart (which looks somewhere between a valentine and a bland representation of a heart without any vessels) and coating it with ice. Meanwhile, a lost little girl from Kansas named Dorothy Gale (Violet MacMillan), is captured by Mombi and imprisoned in her castle. However, Dorothy runs away with the now heartless Gloria, accompanied by Pon and eventually meet the Scarecrow (Frank Moore).

Mombi catches up with the travelers and removes the Scarecrow's stuffing, but Dorothy and Pon are able to re-stuff him; Gloria abandons them and wanders off.

Cast
Violet MacMillan as Dorothy Gale
Frank Moore as The Scarecrow
Pierre Couderc as The Tin Woodman
Fred Woodward as The Cowardly Lion / The Kangaroo / The Crow / The Cow / The Mule
Raymond Russell as King Krewl
Arthur Smollet as Googly-Goo
J. Charles Haydon as The Wizard of Oz (credited as J. Charles Hayden)
Todd Wright as Pon
Vivian Reed as Princess Gloria
Mai Wells as Old Mombi (credited as Mae Wells)
Mildred Harris as Button-Bright
Louise Emmons

Damage history
The opening reel was lost for many years. While it was eventually recovered in the 1990s for the American Home Entertainment VHS release, it did not contain the opening titles; Dick Martin's titles, designed in the 1960s, continued to be used, which falsely stated that Baum was the director of the film, misspelled Mai Wells' name, and left out Smollett's credit entirely.

The film is currently in need of restoration, including framing. Film prints are notoriously bright, particularly for Mombi's decapitation sequence. The framing may no longer be correctable, because the area used for the soundtrack in contemporary films was part of the picture area at the time, though it is a noticeable defect in contemporary presentations of the film. Prints that have not been re-struck in this cropping manner may no longer exist.