Wizard Of Oz (CASTING COWARDLY LION)

[elsietheawesome]

For some reason i can never think of his face

[darthvaderyoda]

0:14 First AWESOME FACE!!

[Dubstep210]

bahaha I laughed so hard at the way he was patting that other guy on the shoulder!

[Yoyoultimate]

0:38 The laugh was a dead giveaway for me :D

[PenItFoMeYo]

From 0:32 to 0:43 totally mind fucked me.

[GeorgeVreelandHill]

He was amazing in the role.

When they cast Bert for the part, they knew what they were doing.

George Vreeland Hill

[TomatoeAssassin]

Say 'Hello' to the king of overacting

[patriot91dsrtstrm]

@TomatoeAssassin Bert Lahrs' costume weighed between 60 and 90 pounds depending on the scene. It was made out of real lions' fur and period appliances. If you watch the film closely, you will notice the only facial expressions he can use are his eyes and mouth. The rest of his face is basically static. MGM was looking for an "over actor" to pull the part off. And I think they did a great job. This is one of the great classics.

[TomatoeAssassin]

@patriot91dsrtstrm *

I agree that he did a great job in The Wizard Of Oz.  I just think all his other stuff was way too over the top.

[ApacheMan2K]

Bert Lahr was always one of my top favorites for "The Wizard of Oz", along with the multi-talented Frank Morgan.

[tommiexander]

Bert Lahr was the perfect choice to play the Cowardly Lion. After switching some characters around at first, the stars became aligned just right, and MGM had made excellent choices to play the characters in The Wizard Of Oz.

[butch356]

Warner Brothers borrowed a lot of their early cartoon stuff from Burt and other actors like him at the time.

[AudioAndroid]

Hes the best lol i love how he was tapping the guy on the shoulder :)

[DarthSideous63]

It they could get Bert Lahr my choice would be Curly Howard from the Three Stooges.

[FromA2mee]

I'm using my polly pocket wizard of oz making hte movie out of it. in a professional way.

[FromA2mee]

"What did you do that for, I didn't bite em, a HUH huh HUUUUGH." lmfao, the funniest crap is when he starts crying.

[glimmer2158]

I wonder if Wallace Beery was ever considered for the part of the cowardly lion?

[WhatsAYak]

@glimmer2158 - No, but he did want to play the Wizard...unfortunately, he was one of about a half-dozen actors under consideration (Ed Wynn, WC Fields, etc).

[christimacc]

"Take him away! Take him away!"  LOL

[murphy13295]

Burt was the highest paid actor of all the stars

[SweetGreenSuede]

Bert Lahr has to be one of the GREATEST comics of all time!

[mattinahat1059]

@ 0:59 he looks like jackie gleason

[bdaho]

great actor, one of the best in this movie

[tryithere]

I know he didn't but it sounded like he said "you bought a slut, you bought a slut".

[WhatsAYak]

@tryithere - Yeah, kinda! LOL

[thrashcore616]

is it just me or is 0:34-0:43 kinda creepy

[UKCALLING99]

happy times boy happy times boooy

[lander4545]

Oh! I hate this new Youtube format!

[TheElectricDreamer93]

Bert Lahr... is god. XD

[jadegreenkaty]

I love this guy! The lion suit must have weighed about 50 pounds.

[finallyflyingfree]

one of the other videos i watched said that it weighed 90 lbs.

[OreeoShowproductions]

The voice of these casting things is the main old lady in Bed knobs and Broomsticks! :D

[catgirl6717]

@OreeoShowproductions Yes, her name is Angela Lansbury. Had her own show later - "Murder, she Wrote"

[OreeoShowproductions]

@catgirl6717 sweet I knew it!

[ziggycat999]

Overacting as a performer...but suitible for this movie.

[berrypie11]

That scene where he was going crazy about 3000 dollars really made me laugh! XD

[TheElectricDreamer93]

me 2

[Shoknifeman]

@berrypie11 in 1939, you could buy a very nice house for about half of that ; $3000 was a small fortune back then!

[HappyMadisonDude]

Wait a minute, wasn't John Lahr a Broadway critic?

[bubblinbrownsugar616]

I watched this on TBS the other day and when Bert Lahr dived out that window..........ROTFLMAO!!!

LOVE this movie!!!! :)

[JudgeJulieLit]

I've seen this film all my life, yet a gay connotation to the lion as "dandelion" never occurred to me. But the metaphor may be plurisignant -- mean that the lion, like a frail dandelion, is just showy but weedy, allowing all to trample on it. And too it could mean gay (to those with super gaydar, or just as a latent or quasi- interpretation). Enriches the tale! Great works of art can posit more mysteries than they resolve. It works on all levels. This film will fascinate forever.

[catgirl6717]

@JudgeJulieLit Funny, I just saw another clip of the Cowardly Lion and made basically the same analogy! Wow. Never paid attention to the dandelion reference before then...

[HuggiMa]

He was so hilarious! I love him.

[altarush]

@littlesongbird1 I heard people say that it is also satanic because of the witches.

[WhatsAYak]

I agree...they say the same thing about 2006's Happy Feet, just b/c the main character is different from everyone else in his penguin colony...why do people see some hidden gay subtext in just about every film nowadays?

[WhatsAYak]

Yeah, really...not to mention that the reference to the Lion as a "dandelion" had already been used much earlier, in the 1902 stage show.

[vantheman2006]

My husband and I often played "Lions and Tigers and Bears - oh my" with our 2 children long ago - love that lion!

[zombiekillakatelyn]

i love the cowardly lion

[sieuss06]

I bet that must've hurt.

[WizardOfHumor1989]

That's me in years!

[MelissaTicky]

he is the best

[jazzalex22]

Bert Lahr was an enrgetic, loud, very funny man. Many know him in FLying High, The WIzard of Oz obvously and much more. His movie career kind of faded after The WIzard of Oz. He made a cameo in the Three STooges Stop Look and Laugh as a party clerk. He was yet another to start Vaudeville. He knew all 4 Stooges. He is another important comic.

[WhatsAYak]

Indeed he was...kept going right to the end, having been working on The Night They Raided Minsky's @ the time of his death in Dec. 67...thankfully, most of Lahr's scenes had been shot, so they were able to finish the film w/a double standing in for the remaining scenes.

[scriptum60]

Watching Oz as an adult was hilarious, I missed many things as a child, so it was like watching it anew. But that lion! OMG so funny. :O

[colormecliche7]

hes very flamboyant lol luv him

[azzorroww]

@colormecliche7burt  to me was just a big kid a lovely spirit gentle with out a mean bone in his body

[bostwickzapruda]

in one of lahr's songs he sings "i'm just a (or not a) dandy lion (dandilion)." when he sings that lyric he makes his wrist go limp implying that "dandy" lion means gay lion.

[7bars]

I loved the cowardly lion - he really provided the comic relief in this show. His laugh must be the most memorable one in Hollywood. Till this day, I still remember this lines verbatium - "put'em, put'em up" :) :) Classic!!!!!

[CheekiMnky]

Man! he would have been out there if he were one of the stooges. How did he manage to stay inside his skin? LEOS rule! 08-08

Thank you for posting

[fingerlinging]

this scene when the lion first appeared, always frightened me when i was small

[JoeJonas9585]

OMJJ!!!!! ME 2!!!!!

[TheChiefsDude]

I do believe in spooks

[RivaJane]

Wow, he was intense!

[domkoehller0407]

one of my favorite movies...I've watched it since I was, like...born :-)

[papasuito]

HAHA!! ITS JAMES HETFIELD!!

[TheSanityInspector]

Read John Lahr's biography of his father, Notes On A Cowardly Lion.

[einsteinmc2300]

lol he's awesome

[cajsalindahl]

I've watch all of the now, love it! :D are the casting of Glinda the good witch on it's way? :D xx Cajsa

[CliffmountPictures]

Hello,

Yes, I have just uploaded the 'Casting of Glinda' video.

Thanks for your comment :)

[TheLuckycat18]

Hahahahahahaha, that so funny with my hole life!

[zackerylord]

He Makes me laugh soooooo hard

[songbird1923484]

great vid! my fave movie!