Trailer
Plot summary
Thanksgiving dinner brings Dorothy Gale's extended family together in a Harlem apartment, and Aunt Em teases the 24-year-old kindergarten teacher for putting off the move into adult life. Dorothy is shy and keeps to herself. Chasing her dog Toto through the kitchen door into a snowstorm, she is caught in a whirlwind of snow that sets her down in the land of Oz. Miss One, the Good Witch of the North, gives her Evermean's silver shoes, tells her never to remove them and points her down the yellow brick road toward the Emerald City, where the Wiz may be able to send her home. Along the way she is joined by a Scarecrow who wants a brain, a Tin Man who wants a heart and a Lion who wants courage.
Cast
- Stanley Greeneas Uncle Henry
- Clyde J. Barrettas Subway Peddler
- Derrick Bellas The Four Crows
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Wiz (1978)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Gordy originally wanted teenaged R&B singer Stephanie Mills, who had originated the role on Broadway, as Dorothy, and told Motown star Diana Ross that at 33 she was too old; Ross went around him and got executive producer Rob Cohen at Universal Pictures to arrange a deal.
- During production Jackson asked Quincy Jones who he would recommend as a producer for his unrecorded solo album, and Jones, impressed by Jackson's professionalism, talent and work ethic, offered to do it himself, producing Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad.
- Lumet wanted Jimmie Walker, star of CBS-TV's Good Times, and dismissed another contender by telling Cohen: "Michael Jackson's a Vegas act. The Jackson 5's a Vegas act."
- After filmmaker John Badham learned that Ross was cast as Dorothy he decided not to direct, telling Cohen that she was "a wonderful singer... a terrific actress and a great dancer, but she's not this character"; Cohen replaced him with Sidney Lumet.
- Although pre-release television broadcast rights had been sold to CBS for more than $10 million, the film produced a net loss of $10.4 million for Motown and Universal, and for several years its failure steered Hollywood studios away from all-black film projects.
- The Grove Book of Hollywood noted that "the picture finished off Diana Ross's screen career", as the film is Ross's final theatrical feature and her subsequent films premiered on television.
- Lena Horne, Lumet's mother-in-law at the time of production, was cast as Glinda the Good Witch, and Richard Pryor portrayed The Wiz.
