Distinct Impressions #5: Jean Marsh

A tragic sense of insecurity hovers over Jean Marsh’s Nurse Wilson in ‘Return to Oz’, the Victorian, fantastical twin sister to Nurse Ratched.

Jean Marsh (who plays a dual role in Return to Oz) excels in both parts as both the aforementioned Wilson and the power-hungry, malicious Mombi. Alongside Nicol Williamson’s double role as Dr Worley and the Nome King, it is brilliant casting, deepening the film’s subconscious texture, and putting into question what is Dorothy’s (Fairuza Balk) true reality.

Marsh is unforgettable sharp angles and clipped tones as Nurse Wilson (in a torturous black dress), and aggressively loud, vixenish snarls and curls as Mombi. These are such impressive contrasts that you’d be forgiven for not even noticing that she inhabits both roles. But, again, there is something tragic in here, an arrogance bordering on carelessness which, almost, invokes a sort of sympathy or pity.