Wizard of Oz Director Was Born In La Cañada

Kudos to one of my readers, Bill Lozier, who discovered that one of the great film directors of all time, Victor Fleming, director of “Wizard of Oz” and “Gone with The Wind” plus a host of other great films, is a La Cañada native. Bill said that he had reached out to the city about commemorating this but got no response. So Bill offered the discovery to me. And sure enough, everything on the internet lists his birthplace as La Cañada. Truth be told, I’m not much of a researcher but here’s what I’ve dug up so far.

Fleming’s parents were dirt poor when they arrived in La Cañada in winter 1889, just in time for the birth of their son Victor Lonzo Fleming. Some sources say he was actually born on the Banbury Ranch which, as far as I can tell, is just east across the Arroyo from La Cañada, but most say La Cañada was his birthplace. The family, of Jewish descent, had literally been blown out of Missouri. Their home had been swept away by a tornado, perhaps influencing Fleming’s later portrayal of the tornado in “Wizard of Oz.” Perhaps another early influence on Fleming’s later work was that his grandfather had fought for the Union Army and participated in the burning of Atlanta, so dramatically portrayed in “Gone With The Wind.”

Victor’s father worked as a laborer developing water distribution for both La Cañada and Pasadena, but soon the family was tapped to work one of the many citrus orchards in La Cañada. Tragedy struck the family when Victor was just 4. His father died of a heart attack. Victor later wrote that this event hardened him so that throughout his life he dismissed softer emotions. The family moved to San Dimas at that point.

Victor had mechanical skills and in 1905 became a machinist at one of LA’s early auto manufacturers. He bounced around as a mechanic, taxi driver and even a professional racecar driver. It was in 1912 while working as a chauffeur for early silent film director Allan Dwan that Victor displayed a talent for photography, and Dwan hired him as a cameraman. He quickly rose through the ranks working for D.W. Griffith on “Intolerance” and as head cinematographer for superstar Douglas Fairbanks Sr. In WWI he served as a cameraman and was the chief photographer for President Wilson.

After the war he returned to filmmaking, now as a director of the many silent movies coming out of United Artists and Paramount. He adapted easily to sound films, directing Gary Cooper in “The Virginian.” He continued directing hits with “Bombshell” starring Jean Harlow, “Treasure Island” in 1934 and “Captains Courageous” in 1938. Fleming next directed “Wizard of Oz” followed immediately by “Gone With The Wind” for which he won an Academy Award.

Fleming was known in the industry as a “man’s man” – virile and masculine. He was tall and physically strong. Olivia De Havilland said of Fleming: “Vic was attractive because he was intelligent, talented, handsomely built and virile in a non-aggressive way. He was also sensitive. A potent combination.”

It’s said that Clark Gable modeled his portrayal of Rhett Butler after Fleming. In fact, Fleming influenced the acting portrayals of many of the top stars he directed. It’s said that he heavily influenced the on-screen personalities of not only Gable, but also Gary Cooper and Spencer Tracy as well. He directed nine different actors in Oscar-nominated performances: Emil Jannings, Spencer Tracy, Vivien Leigh, Hattie McDaniel, Clark Gable, Olivia de Havilland, Frank Morgan, José Ferrer and Ingrid Bergman.

Fleming finished his career with “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” (1941), “A Guy Named Joe” (1943) and “Joan of Arc” (1948). Fleming died of a heart attack (like his father) in 1949 at the age of 59.

Bill Lozier is right. Fleming’s the only director to have two films listed in AFI’s top 10 films: “Wizard of Oz” and “Gone With The Wind.” There should be something in La Cañada Flintridge to memorialize Fleming. How about a commemorative yellow brick road leading up to LCF’s city hall?