Twitter reminds me that today is Mel Brooks’s 95th birthday as well as the fiftieth anniversary of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. What do these two have in common?
Image borrowed from the 2003 Blogathon
The irreplaceable Gene Wilder!
I have vivid memories of seeing Willy Wonka in the theater. My mom and dad were wallpapering the foyer and, in order to get me out of the house, my brother Rick took me to see the movie, at the lavish Southgate cinema. I remembered being quite frightened of Schickelgruber and quite unnerved by Willy Wonka. Even at the end, looking into those wild blue eyes, I wasn’t quite sure I was witnessing a happy ending for Charlie.
The other thing I remember was the man behind me was narrating the whole movie to his son, as if his son was incapable of just watching the movie as it spooled out in front of him. And even though I was thrown by the scene where Wonka and Grandpa Joe have their shouting match, I was so grateful that such a massive diversion from the book had finally shut that dad up!
