For more than a decade, the iconic ruby-red slippers worn by Dorothy had been missing. But that changed when local police in Minnesota teamed up with the FBI to investigate an extortion scheme against the shoes' owners.
Image: picture-alliance/Everett Collection
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The US Federal Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday announced that after 13 years, authorities had recovered the iconic ruby-red slippers worn by Dorothy in the classic "The Wizard of Oz" film.
In 2005, the slippers were stolen from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, in a "smash-and-grab," with only one sequin left at the scene of the crime. Although local law enforcement followed dozens of leads over the years, they led nowhere.
But that changed last year when law enforcement followed up on an extortion scheme against Markel Corporation, the insurance company that owns the shoes.
Grand Rapids Police Chief Scott Johnson said his department had reached out to the FBI to work together on an investigation that would eventually last a year. In July, the slippers were recovered in an undercover operation in Minnesota.
"We were confident this day would eventually come, and we are grateful to the FBI and all those who worked to bring this piece of cinematic treasure out of the shadows and into the light," Johnson said. "After all, 'there's no place like home.'"
But federal prosecutors said the story isn't over.
While the red slippers are valued at millions of dollars, some call them invaluable as an "enduring symbol of the power of belief"Image: picture-alliance/Everett Collection
'Not done'
"We're not done. We have a lot of work to do," said US Attorney Chris Myers, a chief federal prosecutor in the state of North Dakota. "There's information out there that could help this investigation move forward."
Authorities are hoping to capture everyone involved in the theft of the slippers and their concealment from law enforcement for more than a decade.
"Our hope today is that folks that are watching this, if you know something about the theft, something about where these slippers have been in the last 13 years, that you come forward and you share that with us," said FBI agent Jill Sanborn.
A century of German films: UFA turns 100
It is the most renowned German film production company: Ufa was founded in 1917 and produced films through the end of World War II, during which time it served as a propaganda tool for the Nazis.
Image: picture-alliance/ZB
International success stories
"The Blue Angel" (1930), now a classic of German cinema, is perhaps the film that best reflects the Ufa's first years of film production and established its international reputation. The film's lead, Marlene Dietrich, moved on to become a Hollywood star thanks to the role. The movie's depiction of Berlin from the 1920s still fascinates to this day.
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Fritz Lang's monumental productions
Many of the silent movies that had previously been shot in the Ufa studios in Babelsberg near Berlin also became film classics, including the works of directors such as Ernst Lubitsch, Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau and Fritz Lang. However, the latter's ambitious productions, such as "Metropolis" (1927, above) and "Nibelungen" (1924), put the company in deep financial trouble.
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F.W. Murnau's influential works
Along with Fritz Lang, who established new ideals in cinematographic art direction, Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau also became an influential film director through his works produced at the Ufa studios. Murnau's acclaimed films include "Nosferatu" (1922) and "The Last Laugh" (1924, above), in which Emil Jannings plays a nameless hotel doorman who loses his job.
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The master of comedies: Ernst Lubitsch
Along with Lang and Murnau, Ernst Lubitsch was one of the best-known directors of the German silent-cinema era. Gaining international recognition with his comedies, Lubitsch moved on to Hollywood in 1922. Murnau and Lang followed later on.
Image: DR
Creating a German star system
The Ufa established not only the careers of directors who would later make it big in Hollywood but also a series of stars. Lilian Harvey was one of them. She is best known for her role in the Ufa production "Congress Dances" (above), a musical comedy from 1931.
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The Ufa as a propaganda tool
After Hitler's seizure of power in 1933, the Ufa was quickly pulled into the Nazis' propaganda machinery. That same year "Hitler Youth Quex" was produced in the Ufa studios. Shown in the US under the title "Our Flag Leads Us Forward" and promoted as "a film about the sacrificial spirit of German youth," the work unequivocally demonstrated the studio's new role.
Image: picture-alliance / akg-images
Leni Riefenstahl's 'Triumph of the Will'
The Ufa was also involved in the distribution of the Nazis' most prominent works of propaganda, including Leni Riefenstahl's so-called documentary "Triumph of the Will" (1935), which chronicles the 1934 Nazi Party Congress in Nuremberg. Hitler himself commissioned the film; his name appears in the opening credits as an executive producer.
Image: Mary Evans Picture Library
Propaganda through entertainment
However, Ufa's biggest commerical success during the Third Reich era didn't star Hitler, but rather borrowed from traditional film genres. "Die große Liebe" (The Great Love, 1942) starred Zarah Leander, Viktor Staal and Grethe Weiser. The drama with musical numbers told a singer's love story with a lieutenant, showing him both on the front and off-duty.
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A glimpse of fantasy
Sidestepping immediate political issues, Josef von Baky's fantasy comedy "Münchhausen" (1943) starred Hans Albers. The film, which aimed to distract the population from the war, was ordered by Nazi Propaganda Minister Goebbels to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Ufa film studio. Goebbels is said to have been strongly impressed by the Technicolor cinematography in "The Wizard of Oz."
Image: picture-alliance/United Archives
The Ufa's final battle
Germany was already losing the war when the Ufa invested huge sums in this production: Veit Harlan's "Kolberg" (1945) was the most expensive German film of World War II. Inspired by historical events, it mythologized how a besieged town defended itself during the Napoleonic Wars. The film aimed to bolster the morale of both the troops and the general population.
Image: picture-alliance / akg-images
Post-war comeback
Germany's defeat in 1945 also meant the end of the Ufa in its previous form. The Allies took over the country's structures and decentralized the film industry. The name Ufa, however, remained. At the end of the 1950s, the studio had a short comeback. Ufa's most remarkable post-war production is the film adaptation of B. Traven's novel "The Death Ship" (1959), starring Horst Buchholz.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/B. Reisfeld
A relaunch in the 1990s
Over the following decades, the name Ufa became rather synonymous with a large movie theater chain. Since the 1990s, new works have been produced under the banner UFA, initially mostly TV series, then later for the big screen as well. The film "The Physician" (2013) is one of the recent big-budget productions of the production company.
Image: Universal Pictures Germany
Award-winning German TV series
UFA, now spelled in capitals, has obtained international recognition with some of the TV series it has produced. Among them is the eight-episode series "Deutschland 83," which won an International Emmy Award.
