Two Oscar awarded children's fantasy, 'The Wizard of Oz' will be this week's weekly film screening on Tuesday at 6.00 pm at the American Centre, Colombo 3. Based on the 1900 children's novel 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz' by L. Frank Baum, this 1939 American musical-fantasy film is directed by Victor Fleming.

The film follows schoolgirl Dorothy Gale who lives on a Kansas farm with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry, but dreams of a better place "somewhere over the rainbow." After being struck unconscious during a tornado by a window which has come loose from its frame, Dorothy dreams that she, her dog Toto, and the farmhouse are transported to the magical Land of Oz.

There, the Good Witch of the North Glinda advises Dorothy to follow the yellow brick road to Emerald City and meet the Wizard of Oz, who can return her to Kansas. During her journey, she meets a Scarecrow, Tin Man and a Cowardly Lion, who join her, hoping to receive what they lack themselves (a brain, a heart, and courage, respectively), all of this is done while also trying to avoid the many plots of the Wicked Witch of the West, in her attempt to get the ruby slippers that Dorothy received from the squashed Wicked Witch of the East.

The film features Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale, Ray Bolger as the Scarecrow, Jack Haley as the Tin Man, Bert Lahr as the Cowardly Lion, Billie Burke as Glinda the Good Witch of the North, Margaret Hamilton as the Wicked Witch of the West, and Frank Morgan as the Wizard.

The Wizard of Oz' won Best Music, Original Score and Best Music, Original Song at 1940 Academy Awards and the film received much more attention after its annual television screenings were so warmly embraced, and has since become one of the most beloved films of all time.