Two of the original, silent Oz films from 1914 and 1910- true classics.

The first film is from 1914, ; the first of the Oz films by the Oz Film Manufacturing Co., scripted by L Frank Baum himself, differs substantially from the book, though several of the familiar characters are present: Ozma, the Wizard, the Scarecrow and Cowardly Lion. The principal characters are Ojo, a munchkin boy, and his uncle, who encounter the Patchwork Girl (played by acrobat Pierre Couderc), a kind of ragdoll animated by a magician and his wife who have been accidentally petrified. Ojo and an ever expanding cast of followers set off to Oz to find an antidote.

Live piano accompaniment by Stephen Horne

The second film is from 1910; this, from the Selig Polyscope Company, is the earliest surviving film of the Oz story, showing the fabulous special effects of the stage version. Introduced by Archive curator Bryony Dixon

1st and 3rd March