Pay No Attention To That Man Behind The Curtain

The American Film Institute has named its list of the 100 Best Movie Songs of all time. AFI's pick as the No. 1 movie song - Over The Rainbow - comes from one of my very favorite movies: The Wizard of Oz.

Most people don't feel the same way about The Wizard of Oz as I do. I think this is because the movie has been over-shown and, well, you know, familiarity breeds contempt and modern audiences no longer appreciate what a great movie it is.

Just by sheer dint of seeing The Wizard of Oz so many times, I've committed large portions of its dialog to memory. My favorite part is when the Wizard has just finished passing out things to the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion and he launches into this oration describing how he's going to return Dorothy to Kansas in a balloon. Wonderful! Actually, anything spoken by Frank Morgan and his many characters are my favorite parts of Wizard of Oz dialog.

Over the Rainbow is clearly an outstanding choice for the No. 1 song although on any given day, I'd be inclined to choose AFI's No. 3 choice, Singin' In The Rain, as my top pick. It's so hard for me to separate that song from Gene Kelly's dance number when I think about it, and all that combined could make Singin' In The Rain my No. 1 pick depending on my mood. But it's hard to say... The Wizard of Oz vs. Singin' In The Rain... Judy Garland vs. Gene Kelly... what a tough choice. I don't know, I just can't choose.

If I only had a brain.
K-