> In 1970, when originally offered the lead role in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory by director Mel Stuart, the great Gene Wilder accepted on one condition. "When I make my first entrance,” he explained, “I'd like to come out of the door carrying a cane and then walk toward the crowd with a limp. After the crowd sees Willy Wonka is a cripple, they all whisper to themselves and then become deathly quiet. As I walk toward them, my cane sinks into one of the cobblestones I'm walking on and stands straight up, by itself; but I keep on walking, until I realize that I no longer have my cane. I start to fall forward, and just before I hit the ground, I do a beautiful forward somersault and bounce back up, to great applause." Asked why, Wilder said, "Because from that time on, no one will know if I'm lying or telling the truth."
I wonder if younger folk today watch that and think how quaint, old and dated it seems... or if they see it and wonder if their current modern cinema fair is really missing something these strange films had.
I grew up poor. I think part of the reason I've always been a fan of that film was because Charlie was the first poor kid I had seen in a movie. I'm not an emotional man but the end still makes me tear up a bit, made me ball my eyes out with happiness when I was 10. "So shines a good deed in a weary world", thanks for that Gene.
Came here to post this link as well. I remembered loving the opening scene as a kid. After reading this on Letters of Note a few years back it gave me a whole new appreciation for the genius of Gene's portrayal.
The letter from My Wilder is so beautiful. The man had genuine class and artistic wisdom:
"I've just received the costume sketches. I'll tell you everything I think, without censoring, and you take from my opinion what you like.
I assume that the designer took his impressions from the book and didn't know, naturally, who would be playing Willy. And I think, for a character in general, they're lovely sketches.
...
What I don't like is the precise pin pointing in place and time as this costume does..."
Nearly all of Mr Wilder's suggestions made it into the movie, except the hat-band color.
My favorite scene, and it's an absolute masterclass in comedic technique, is from Woody Allen's Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex. The moment his Greek patient confesses: "Doctor, I'm in love with a sheep!" Without saying a single word, Wilder's expression goes from jesting to confusion to amusement to fright to intrigue and back again through the entire gamut of possible human response. He sputters and strains. It's all right there on his face! We feel the tortured struggle occurring within his mind, grasping for any semblance of assessing the situation and formulating the appropriate thing to say. It's truth is it's genius!
Reminds my of Robert Benigni's scene in Jarmusch's Night on Earth. Another amazing comedic actor. Notice how few cuts there are. As a fluent Italian speaker, the subtitles do not do it justice.
What did you expect? "Welcome, sonny?" "Make yourself at home?" "Marry my daughter?" You've got to remember that these are just simple farmers. These are people of the land. The common clay of the new West. You know... morons.
Very sad. Young Frankenstein was probably my favorite movie as a kid - the Frau Blucher scene[1] always made me laugh. He'll be remembered (and watched) for a very long time, which I suppose is the greatest honor an actor can receive.
Young Frankenstein is filled with so many wonderful moments. "Igor, help me with the bags." "SED-A-GIVE?!"
I just wish they hadn't opened with a coffin jump scare. It sets the tone of the movie as horror and it took 14-year-old me a while to realize it was a comedy. Fast forward many years and I couldn't get my young daughter to watch it because that first scene scared her.
As a Gene Wilder fan I was once digging for things to watch on Amazon and stumbled on a documentary narrated by Gene Wilder. I wouldn't have even noticed it but when I saw his name He'd been out of the limelight for so long I thought "wow, what could have made him agree to do this?" So I watched it.
I can't recommend it enough. It's called "EXPO - Magic of the White City" and is as about the 1893 Chicago Exposition. It takes about 10 minutes to really get started and it's got some cheesy stuff but it was fascinating. I've shown it to several people and they all got sucked in.
Last Spring I read Erik Larson's The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America. It's about the same 1893 World's Fair in Chicago.
It's non-fiction, but written in a novelistic style. I absolutely loved it, I can't recommend it enough.
"From that fateful day when stinking bits of slime first crawled from the sea and shouted to the cold stars, "I am man.", our greatest dread has always been the knowledge of our mortality. But tonight, we shall hurl the gauntlet of science into the frightful face of death itself. Tonight, we shall ascend into the heavens. We shall mock the earthquake. We shall command the thunders, and penetrate into the very womb of impervious nature herself." -Dr. Frederick Frankenstein, Young Frankenstein.
huge fan of him and especially Young Frankenstein. so much so that I created a character in a comedy story named Heinrich von Hexenhammer as a homage to Gene's definitive mad scientist:
[+] [-] simonsarris|9 years ago|reply
> In 1970, when originally offered the lead role in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory by director Mel Stuart, the great Gene Wilder accepted on one condition. "When I make my first entrance,” he explained, “I'd like to come out of the door carrying a cane and then walk toward the crowd with a limp. After the crowd sees Willy Wonka is a cripple, they all whisper to themselves and then become deathly quiet. As I walk toward them, my cane sinks into one of the cobblestones I'm walking on and stands straight up, by itself; but I keep on walking, until I realize that I no longer have my cane. I start to fall forward, and just before I hit the ground, I do a beautiful forward somersault and bounce back up, to great applause." Asked why, Wilder said, "Because from that time on, no one will know if I'm lying or telling the truth."
Quote from: http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/06/part-of-this-world-part...
[+] [-] grovulent|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cmdrfred|9 years ago|reply
If it's been a while: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgVS1OhucbI
[+] [-] aaron695|9 years ago|reply
Confirmed true here -
http://92yondemand.org/gene-wilder-truth
[+] [-] foldr|9 years ago|reply
Roald Dahl didn't write the screenplay, he wrote the book the movie is based on.
edit: Correction, he did write it for the 1971 movie. Oops.
[+] [-] AdamJacobMuller|9 years ago|reply
There's just so much possibility in that song.
> If you want to view paradise? Simply look around and view it
> Want to change the world? There's nothing to it
Seriously words to live by.
[+] [-] mikefivedeuce|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] gohrt|9 years ago|reply
"I've just received the costume sketches. I'll tell you everything I think, without censoring, and you take from my opinion what you like.
I assume that the designer took his impressions from the book and didn't know, naturally, who would be playing Willy. And I think, for a character in general, they're lovely sketches. ...
What I don't like is the precise pin pointing in place and time as this costume does..."
Nearly all of Mr Wilder's suggestions made it into the movie, except the hat-band color.
[+] [-] donohoe|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] fitzwatermellow|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] squidfood|9 years ago|reply
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuHw5ivCs1A
[+] [-] pshc|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] donretag|9 years ago|reply
Content is identical and very NSFW.
https://youtu.be/N99Ps4nLBGU?t=774
[+] [-] gohrt|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rdtsc|9 years ago|reply
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072431/
It just has the right mix situational and sarcastic humor. I usually re-watch it every couple of years. Gene Wilder is just so good in that role.
[+] [-] kahirsch|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dmd|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dcherman|9 years ago|reply
He'll always be the Waco Kid to me.
[+] [-] woodruffw|9 years ago|reply
[1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdIID_TGwhM
[+] [-] ourmandave|9 years ago|reply
I just wish they hadn't opened with a coffin jump scare. It sets the tone of the movie as horror and it took 14-year-old me a while to realize it was a comedy. Fast forward many years and I couldn't get my young daughter to watch it because that first scene scared her.
[+] [-] DiabloD3|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] hockeybias|9 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] greggman|9 years ago|reply
I can't recommend it enough. It's called "EXPO - Magic of the White City" and is as about the 1893 Chicago Exposition. It takes about 10 minutes to really get started and it's got some cheesy stuff but it was fascinating. I've shown it to several people and they all got sucked in.
Not sure if this is a legit upload but it's on YouTube https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cpOQE5KJJds Or Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Expo-Magic-White-Gene-Wilder/dp/B004S...
If it weren't for Gene I'd never had known about such an amazing topic. Thanks Gene!
[+] [-] citruspi|9 years ago|reply
It's non-fiction, but written in a novelistic style. I absolutely loved it, I can't recommend it enough.
[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Devil_in_the_White_City
[+] [-] bitwize|9 years ago|reply
Alternatively...
Do you know what happened to the man who suddenly got everything he ever wanted? He lived happily ever after.
[+] [-] 1024core|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] milge|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jv22222|9 years ago|reply
RIP Mr Wilder
[+] [-] mattezell|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] amyjess|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Imagenuity|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rmason|9 years ago|reply
Or maybe I should ask how many people here have even seen that movie with Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061418/
[+] [-] ArkyBeagle|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] gm-conspiracy|9 years ago|reply
See No Evil, Hear No Evil
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098282/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
[+] [-] gm-conspiracy|9 years ago|reply
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091178/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_11
...with Dom DeLuise in drag.
[+] [-] petergatsby|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] btgeekboy|9 years ago|reply
Good day!
[+] [-] ArkyBeagle|9 years ago|reply
It's nearly criminal that he wouldn't make any more movies after Gilda died, but I admire the gesture.
[+] [-] syngrog66|9 years ago|reply
https://reddit.com/r/DSPR/comments/1m4zrl/when_heinrich_met_...