Under the Rainbow

In Kansas, 1938, Rollo Sweet lives in a homeless shelter and dreams of Hollywood. He climbs onto the shelter roof to fix a failing radio antenna, but loses his balance and falls, foreshadowing the perilous road to fame. The scene also shows a poor radio reception as the nation awaits a presidential address.

In Culver City near MGM Studios, a diverse group checks into a hotel, including Annie Clark, her assistant Homer, the Austrian duke and duchess with their Secret Service escort Bruce Thorpe, Nazi agent Otto Kriegling with his contact Nakamuri, a crowd of photographers, and 150 little people including Rollo. The hotel is run by the incompetent Henry, creating an unstable backdrop for the week ahead. The stage is set for a tangle of mistaken identities and espionage to unfold.

Kriegling suspects his Tokyo contact is among the photographers, and begins a cautious search through the crowd. Nakamuri, aware only that his Nazi contact is a little person, believes the signal hides among the Munchkins. Their suspicions propel the comedy into a web of espionage and mistaken identity.

Nazi maps are smuggled into Annie's copy of The Wizard of Oz screenplay, hinting that espionage will intrude upon the film's production. The discovery raises the stakes for everyone at the hotel, even as the staff remains largely unaware. The incident links the filmmakers to wartime intrigue without fully resolving it.

An assassin pursuing the Duke and Duchess strikes, killing one of the Japanese tourists in the process. The incident injects real danger into the otherwise chaotic hotel scene. The close brush with violence shifts the tone from comedy to a thriller note.

Homer, the hotel's exhausted assistant, mistakes Kriegling for a Munchkin and carries him off to MGM's costume and makeup shop. The mix-up accelerates the absurdity while disguises and disguising agents begin to collide with the film crew. The moment blurs the lines between production and espionage.

The Munchkins' constant drunken antics create ongoing chaos for hotel guests and studio staff alike. Their revelry undermines routines and complicates the characters' attempts to hide their true identities. The energy becomes a constant source of friction and humor.

In the hotel room, Kriegling corners Annie, Thorpe, and the Duke and Duchess; the assassin makes a last attempt. Nakamuri raises his camera and a shot from it kills the assassin, but Nakamuri is killed in the same exchange. The confrontation blends thriller and farce in a single tense moment.

The Duchess's dog wears a locket that contains the map, which Kriegling demands. He bolts from the hotel front door with the dog in pursuit, a chase that runs onto the MGM studio lot while the Munchkin actors disrupt the filming of Gone with the Wind. The crossfire of espionage and celebrity production reaches a fever pitch.

Kriegling retrieves the locket and pursues it into a vintage bus, while Sweet chases in a horse-drawn carriage. The high-speed chase culminates in a crash that stalls the pursuit and scatters the crowd across the studio lot. The chaos ties the real world and the film world together in the most literal way.

Sweet wakes up back in Kansas, realizing the entire adventure was a dream populated by the shelter residents who inspired the characters. A bus full of little people arrives, signaling that his dream of Hollywood is still within reach. The ending links the aspirational fantasy with the real world in a hopeful note.