Victor Fleming
(Director)

Although there were actually five directors who were assigned to The Wizard of Oz, Victor Fleming is the only one to receive credit on the film. Initially, Norman Taurog was set to direct, but was replaced by Richard Thorpe before shooting began. After only 10 days on the set, Thorpe was fired and George Cukor took over. Cukor scrapped much of what Thorpe had done, including the hair and make-up for Dorothy (Thorpe had Judy Garland in a blonde wig.) After only a few weeks, Cukor left to direct Gone With the Wind, MGM's other big-budget film of 1939, and Fleming took the helm. Starting over from scratch, Fleming spent the next four months filming before being hired away by David O. Selznick and pal Clark Gable to take over on the troubled Gone With the Wind set. At one point, Fleming is said to have directed Gone With the Wind by day and edited Oz by night. King Vidor finished the film, but turned down the co-directing credit since he only worked on the movie for 10 days. Fleming would go on to win an Academy Award® for Best Direction for his work on Gone With the Wind.