By Dee Dunheim

Clarence Swensen was one of 25 Munchkin soldiers, decked out and militarily adorned for fourteen and one-half minutes of fame in the 1939 MGM movie spectacular “Wizard of Oz.”

During Munchkinland segments, shots of the tiny soldiers are interspersed from the time Dorothy arrives until she begins her journey down the Yellow Brick Road to search for the Wizard.

The soldiers are present during some of the most delightful parts of the movie: Dorothy and her beloved Toto’s formal welcome to Munchkinland by the Mayor, the adorable Lullabye League, the amusing Lollipop Guild and the dramatic red-smoking-arrival of the Wicked Witch of the West and the blessings bestowed on the duo by Glinda the Good Witch.

When the Munchkin soldiers, armed with rifles, march in formation, several are recognizable. “You can even point me out,” says the now near 86-year old Swensen. “The lead soldier was followed by six rows of four soldiers each,” he explains, “...and when we march from left to right across your screen, I’m the one at the end of the fourth row.”

Wizard of Oz fans just won’t let Swensen forget his fancy footwork, particularly those who steadfastly come to Chesterton the third weekend of each September to attend the world’s largest Oz Festival and Parade, now in its 22nd year.

And Swensen doesn’t want to forget it either. He and his wife Myrna began attending the Chesterton Festival just after the movie celebrated its 50 year anniversary in 1989, and hasn’t missed one since. “Chesterton is the biggest. I’ve heard that Oz crowds there have now grown to as many as 90,000 over the three-day event.”

Fans celebrate the movie, celebrate the music, and celebrate Clarence Swensen who reunites with the Coroner (Meinhardt Raabe,) the Lollipop Kid (Jerry Maren,) the Flower Pot Lady (Margaret Pellegrini,) and other surviving munchkins.

The Swensens love bringing Munchkinland to Duneland. “It gives us opportunities to meet with several generations of families who made - and are still making - the movie so popular. The “Wizard of Oz” went to the top. As a matter of fact,” he smiles, “...it went over the top by a long shot.”

Even though the Munckinland segment is just short of fifteen minutes long, it took eight full weeks of production as 124 Little People plus twelve normal sized children memorized their lines (if they had any,) their choreography, and were fitted with incredibly colorful and whimsical costumes. Although Swensen has no idea what happened to his original soldier garb, he wears an exact duplicate of it throughout Chesterton Festival activities.

At the time of the production, Swensen was an electronics technician doing research and development projects at the University of Texas. So even though backdrops, staging, sets and props were extraordinary interesting, his attention was caught by less obvious technical paraphernalia.

“I was intrigued by the quantity and sizes of the lights in the ceilings and lines and lines of power cords running across the flooring. It made me come to grips with how much of everything it took to make this production as spectacular as it was,” he says. Something else Swensen paid particular attention to, which he says nobody else seemed to notice, is that camera film cartridges were so wide. “Color film was in its infancy back in 1939,” he explains. “So, in order to get all the magnificent color the movie is famous for, they had to run three roles of film for primary light colors through the camera at the same time. It amazed me.”

Aside from the various professional careers the gentle man has enjoyed, the craziest was his career in the limelight: Before the “Wizard of Oz,” the then and still mere 4’6 3/4” tall Swensen appeared in the “Terror of Tiny Town.” It was considered one of the worst movies made in the history of the world. “But now,” laughs Swensen, “...it’s a classic.” The rough and tumble Western in which all characters - good guys and bad guys - were played by Little People, had Swensen playing seven parts - one in which he spoke.

Not to be outdone by Flying Monkeys in the “Wizard of Oz,” Swensen immediately began work in “Tarzan Finds A Son,” in which he and ten other Oz munchkins, wore chimpanzee suits, swung from vines and rode an elephant into a pygmy village. “Oh, that was great fun,” he says. But unlike the “Wizard of Oz,” where he recognizes himself as a soldier, neither Swensen or his wife have a clue which monkey he portrayed.

The Festival takes place this year from Friday evening Sept. 19 with the Munchkin Celebrity Indoor Picnic, through Sunday afternoon Sept. 21 with autograph sessions, look-alike contests, 50 food booths, 250 craft booths - many with Oz memorabilia, the Judy-Oz Exchange, and other activities and festivities.

For information, call the Chesterton/Duneland Chamber of Commerce at 926-5513 and, like Dorothy, you too can be back home again in the Wonderful Land of Oz by clicking the Wizard of Oz button after logging onto www.chestertonchamber.org

Posted 8/28/2003