The Wizard of Mars is a 1965 low budget science fiction film takeoff of L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz co-written and directed by stage magician David L. Hewitt. The title character is portrayed by John Carradine, who gives a lengthy monologue as a projection near the end of the film. The story centers on four astronauts—Steve , "Doc" , Charlie , and Dorothy , shown aboard ship wearing Silver Shoes—who dream they are struck by a storm and encounter the Horrors of the Red Planet (one of the film's video retitlings), and eventually follow a "Golden Road" to the Ancient City where they encounter the title character, who is the group mind of all Martians.