As fans of Mel Stuart's 1971 film "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory" can likely tell you, author Roald Dahl hated the film. His original 1964 novel, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," was, he felt, not a whimsical, sentimental story, but a Dickensian odyssey into a surreal landscape. Additionally, Dahl hated the casting of Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka, preferring British actor Spike Milligan. Too much was changed from his original text. Why adapt a book to screen, Dahl felt, if you're going to alter everything?
Despite the author's objections, Stuart's film became deeply beloved among the children who saw it in the '70s and '80s, and many grew up holding the film -- which has plenty of Dahl-like bitterness and horror regardless -- very close to their hearts. "Willy Wonka" eventually became part of the ever-churning nostalgia machine, and decades after its release, aging Gen-Xers were suddenly able...
Despite the author's objections, Stuart's film became deeply beloved among the children who saw it in the '70s and '80s, and many grew up holding the film -- which has plenty of Dahl-like bitterness and horror regardless -- very close to their hearts. "Willy Wonka" eventually became part of the ever-churning nostalgia machine, and decades after its release, aging Gen-Xers were suddenly able...
- 1/28/2024
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
This weekend reviews are flowing in from New York's Tribeca, which has been renamed the Alex Gibney Film Festival (per @thefilmcynic). (John Anderson writes him up.) In the middle of the country, folks are enjoying EbertFest (per @ebertchicago), while in La, both the LATimes Fest of Books (#latfob) and first-ever TCM Classic Film Fest are under way (@ThatRebecca). I was sorry to miss TCM's Jean-Paul Belmondo and Breathless Friday night; Saturday brings Fritz Lang's Complete Metropolis. And both Anjelica and Danny Huston turned up at The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Friday morning I interviewed two location managers (Clint Eastwood regular Kokayi Ampah and Frawley Becker, who worked several times with Herbert Ross) and line producer Steve Saeta (Spider-Man) about the vagaries of shooting on location. ...
- 4/24/2010
- Thompson on Hollywood
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