Frank Baum, the man who hit the literary jackpot many years ago writing nice unpretentious stories about a little girl named Dorothy, must be doing more than his share of acrobatics in his coffin these days. For M.G.M. has screened his "immortal classic," the "Wizard of Oz," as only M.G.M. can. With a sort of inverted Midas touch, they have turned fabulous amounts of gold into one of the most imposing pictures of the season. Of course, Frank Baum has been rather left out of things in the process and a strong aroma of Walt Disney drifts out from the screen at times, but however hybrid is the plot, it is a good show.

It is too bad that M.G.M. felt so duty-bound to show off their surplus capital. Such ridiculous extravaganzas as the "Munchkin Village" and the "Emerald Palace" call for a long and lusty yawn. Ten such scenes aren't worth one of Judy Garland singing "Over the Rainbow" against a two-bit photo-drop, or Bert Lahr chewing his tail. As a matter of fact, the none-too-distinguished cast has run away with the show, leaving the lavish sets sitting around without much to do. Bert Lahr may go rolling down through the annals of film history as an all-time high in Cowardly Lions. Even Judy Garland has accomplished the remarkable feat of being nice without being "sweet." A special order of orchids should go to Natalie Kalmus who handled the technicolor and nursed it one step further toward maturity.