Wow!  Judy Garland in 3D IMAX!

Only in a 3D Meet Me in St. Louis would she look lovelier and, because older, more distinguished.  But IMAX screens in 2013 are presenting the redheaded, freckled girl who never should have grown up (to be middle-aged, anyway) in Victor Fleming’s outstanding The Wizard of Oz (1939) and the result is enthralling.

The Kansas twister in this new version is terrifying, the Munchkins pour in (oh, the numbers!) and are emphatically conspicuous, the makeup and costumes become even easier to appreciate.  So does Harold Rossen’s cinematography.  All the same, critic Alan Scherstuhl is right that Fleming’s film is “performance-driven.”  Certain cast members, Judy included, are real grabbers with no shortage of conviction.  After a while, it’s true, a lack of logic arises in the narrative, but—well—as everyone knows, the fantasy here is merely a dream.  In 3D it seems even more dreamlike.

Cover of Judy Garland