What Up Yo.
Few people take a sledgehammer to my funny bone quite like Gene Wilder does.
He is a comic genius, a man with an emended heart who rose to great heights of fame, and suffered unbearable lose when his wife…another icon of comedy, Gilda Radner, dies of cancer at a young age.
He is a comic genius, a man with an emended heart who rose to great heights of fame, and suffered unbearable lose when his wife…another icon of comedy, Gilda Radner, dies of cancer at a young age.
His comedy endures and his legacy remains because laughter cures the deepest wounds life can inflict, and his performances are timeless and plentiful.
Growing up I, like many youths of my age out there, saw “Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory” countless times.
Wondrous.
Terrifying.
Hysterical.
Legendary.
Gene Wilder doesn’t appear as Wonka on svreen for almost an hour of screen time, this im cinematic language did wonders for his character.
Orson Welles once spoke to Peter Bogdonovich about his role in the film “The Third Man“, explaining it was a movie star role.
His reason for that statement was…and I’m paraphrasing here:
“The character gets talked about for an hour before they finally appear on screen. The audience can’t wait to see them…so and when you finally do show up on the screen, you’re a star. “
The quote is actually nothing like that. Watch the interview here, the comment I’m referencing is at 2:11:
Bogdanovich on The Third Man and Orson Welles
Well, that’s what Wilder had in this role. And when we finally see Wonka…it’s a masterful performance.
Below are a few clips.
Planet YouTube scans these acenes and stops them from being released…so this is all I can post here.
Enjoy the manic genius at work.