1. WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY (1971) – INTRO
FATHOM 2016
LANSKY
HI THERE. I’M BEN MANKIEWICZ WITH TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES. ON BEHALF OF TCM AND
OUR FRIENDS AT FATHOM EVENTS AND UNIVERSAL PICTURES, WELCOME TO THE TCM
PRESENTS SERIES AND THIS SPECIAL SCREENING OF “WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE
FACTORY.” “WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY” WAS BASED ON THE
CHILDREN’S FANTASY NOVEL CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY. ROALD DAHL, WHO
WROTE THE NOVEL, ALSO WROTE SUCH PIECES AS JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH, MATILDA,
AND THE FANTASTIC MR. FOX, ALL OF WHICH HAVE SINCE BEEN ADAPTED AS FILMS.
PARAMOUNT PICTURES INTRODUCED WONKA AND HIS MAGICAL FACTORY TO AUDIENCES IN
1971. HOWEVER, DUE TO POOR TICKET SALES THE FILM WAS QUICKLY DISMISSED FROM
THEATERS AND CONSIDERED TO BE A BOX OFFICE DISSAPOINTMENT. IT WASN’T UNTIL
“WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY” HIT THE SMALL SCREEN THAT IT RECEIVED
THE POPULARITY AND WIDESPREAD RECOGNITION IT CONJURES TODAY. DIRECTOR OF THE
FILM, MEL STUART, WAS AN OSCAR NOMINATED DOCUMENTARY FILM MAKER. IN FACT, IT
WAS STUART’S DAUGHTER WHO CONVINCED HIM TO TURN THE DAHL NOVEL INTO A
FEATURE FILM. DESPITE STUART’S RESUME AS A DOCUMENTARIAN, HE OBLIGED. AS THEY
SAY, YOUR DAUGHTER’S ALWAYS RIGHT, EVEN WHEN SHE’S NOT. WELL…RIGHT AGAIN IT
WOULD SEEM. WILLY WONKA, AS WE NOW KNOW, BECAME AN ICONIC FILM AND MEL’S
DAUGHTER, MADELINE STUART, EVEN GOT A SMALL ROLL IN THE FILM AS MADELINE
DURKIN. IRONICALLY IT IS THE WHIMSICAL WILLY WONKA, NOT HIS DOZENS OF
DOCUMENTARY FILMS, THAT STUART IS NOW KNOWN FOR. IN CREATING THIS FILM, IT WAS
STUART AND DAHL’S VISION TO CREATE A CHILDREN’S FILM ENJOYABLE FOR ALL AGES,
ONE THAT WOULD NOT CONDESCEND OR TALK DOWN TO ITS YOUNG AUDIENCE, A RARITY
AT THAT TIME. IN FACT, MANY ARUGE THAT “WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE
FACTORY” CREATED THIS SHIFT IN THE FAMILY GENRE, AS IT SKEWED THE LINE BETWEEN
CHILD AND ADULT ENTERTAINMENT, A MOTIF COMMON IN CONTEMPORARY ANIMATED FILMS
TODAY. GENE WILDER TOES THE LINE OF SINISTER AND WHIMSICAL WITH EASE AS THE
OMINIOUS CANDY MAN AND FACTORY OWNER, WILLY WONKA. HIS QUICK MOOD SWINGS,
TEETER BETWEEN CHILD-LIKE JOY FOR THOSE WHO OBEY HIM AND SAVAGE
RUTHLESSNESS TOWARDS THOSE WHO DO NOT. FROM DIRECTOR MEL STUART FEATURING
GENE WILDER, PETER OSTRUM, AND JACK ALBERTSON, WITH MUSIC BY ACADEMY AWARD
WINNER LESLIE BRICUSSE AND ANTHONY NEWLEY, HERE’S “WILLY WONKA AND THE
CHOCOLATE FACTORY.” ******

2. WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY (1971) – OUTRO
WHILE FILMING “WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY” WILDER’S ACTING WAS SO
CONVINCING THAT IT FRIGHTENED MANY OF THE YOUNG ACTORS ON SET, DENISE
NICKERSON (WHO PLAYED VIOLET) WAS SURE WILDER HAD ACTUALLY GONE MAD DURING
HIS PORTRAYAL OF WONKA. WILDER MAY HAVE BEEN INSPIRED BY SOME OF THE PATIENTS
AT HIS PREVIOUS POST. FROM 1956-1958 WILDER WAS AN AID AT A PSYCHIATRIC WARD FOR
THE UNITES STATES ARMY. PETER OSTRUM, WHO PLAYS CHARLIE BUCKET, BECAME VERY
CLOSE WITH WILDER DURING PRODUCTION OF THE FILM. CLOSE OR NOT, OSTRUM WAS
GENUINLY TERRIFIED AT THE END OF THE FILM, WHEN WONKA YELLS AT CHARLIE AND
GRANDPA JOE FOR STEALING THE FIZZY LIFTING DRINKS. THE REACTION WE SEE FROM
CHARLIE AND GRANDPA JOE IS GENUINE SHOCK AND FEAR. UNDER THE DIRECTION OF MEL
STUART, WHILE REHEARSING THE SCENE, WILDER WOULD HOLD BACK, ACTING
DISSAPOINTED, RATHER THAN ANGRY. STUART FELT DOING SO WOULD ALLOW FOR A MORE
GENUINE REACTION FROM OSTRUM WHILE FILMING. WILDER SAID IN LATER INTERVIEWS HE
LONGED TO TELL OSTRUM MORE THAN ANYTHING BUT STUART WOULD NOT ALLOW IT.
WHEN THE FILM WAS RELEASED IN 1971 OSTRUM, WHO WAS THEN 13, WAS OFFERED A
CONTRACT FOR A FIVE-PICTURE DEAL. OSTRUM DECLINED AFTER DECIDING HE DID NOT
WANT TO CONTINUE HIS CAREER. OSTRUM WOULD LATER BECOME A VETERINARIAN, SHY
ABOUT HIS CHILDHOOD STARRDOM. OSTRUM WENT SO FAR AS TO TELL PEOPLE THAT IT
WAS HIS BROTHER, NOT HE, WHO HAD PLAYED CHARLIE BUCKET IN THE FILM. NOT EVEN
HIS WIFE KNEW ABOUT HIS ROLE AS CHARLIE UNTIL HE WARNED HER ABOUT IT JUST
MOMENTS BEFORE MEETING HIS MOTHER. WE HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS SPECIAL
SCREENING OF “FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF.NEXT MONTH, THE "TCM BIG SCREEN
CLASSICS" SERIES DIPS INTO THE WORLD OF NOIR, WITH THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY
SCREENING OF “THE MALTESE FALCON,” STARRING HUMPHREY BOGART, WHO ALSO
WASN’T THE FIRST CHOICE TO PLAY THE PART. TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE TCM BIG
SCREEN CLASSICS SERIES, GO TO FATHOM EVENTS DOT COM. FOR TURNER CLASSIC
MOVIES, FATHOM EVENTS, AND TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX FILMS, I’M BEN MANKIEWICZ,
THANKS FOR COMING. SEE YOU AGAIN.