Willy Wonka &
the Chocolate Factory

(1971, U.S.) Color 100 minutes
David L. Wolper Productions / Paramount Pictures
Story: Roald Dahl ("Charlie and the Chocolate Factory")
Cinematography: Arthur Ibbetson
Editing: David Saxon
Art Direction: Harper Goff
Costume Design: Helen Colvig
Special Effects: Logan Frazee
Produced by Stan Margulies, David L. Wolper
Directed by Mel Stuart

With: Gene Wilder (Willy Wonka), Jack Albertson (Grandpa Joe), Peter Ostrum (Charlie Bucket), Roy Kinnear (Mr. Henry Salt), Julie Dawn Cole (Veruca Salt), Leonard Stone (Mr. Sam Beauregarde), Denise Nickerson (Violet Beauregarde), Nora Denney (Mrs. Teevee), Paris Themmen (Mike Teevee), Ursula Reit (Mrs. Gloop), Michael Bollner (Augustus Gloop), Diana Sowle (Mrs. Bucket), Aubrey Woods (Bill, candy store owner), David Battley (Mr. Turkentine), Günter Meisner (Mr. Slugworth), Peter Capell (The Tinker), Werner Heyking (Mr. Jopeck, newspaper stand owner), Peter Stuart (Winkelmann)

***

In 1971, Paramount Pictures released David L.Wolper's children's musical fantasy WILLY WONKA & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY. Based upon Roald Dahl's children's satire, “Charlie & The Chocolate Factory,” the story opens on a bright fall afternoon. School ends for the day and the kids head for Bill's Candy Store to enjoy candy, soda and other sweet treats. The store owner pushes Willy Wonka's latest chocolate creation, A Scrumdidliumcious Bar. When one boy asks Bill how he does it, the candy store owner is shocked and replies, “My dear boy, do you ask how a fish swims, or how a bird flies?” The boy replies No. Bill says, “No Siree, you don't. They do it because they were born to do it, just as Willy Wonka was born to be a candy man and, you look like you were born to be a Wonkerer.”

Bill then sings of the many accomplishments of the famous confections creator in the tune “The Candy Man.” The kids all join in the song and enjoy more of the many sweets that Bill is willing to sell. Everyone, that is, except for Charlie Bucket (Peter Ostrum), a sad and poor little fellow, who has to work for Kopek, the local news dealer as a paperboy to earn extra monies to care for his struggling family. Charlie's father had died years ago and with his mother only able to make a meager living as a laundresses, the boy must work extra hard to care for his grandparents and mother. On his way home, Charlie passes by the grim visttage of The Wonka Candy Factory, the boys stares at the forboding frontgate of the factory. Until he hears a strange voice say, “Up the errie mountains, down the rushing glens, we dare not go a hunting, for fear of little men.”

Startled, Charlie turns around and sees an old tinker tell him, "You see, nobody ever goes in, and nobody ever comes out!", pointing at the old factory. Later that night, Charlie relates this strange warning from the tinker to his grandpa Joe (Jack Albertson, best remembered as CD Stoner from “Ensign O'Toole” and Ed Brown from “Chico & The Man”). Joe explains that the tinker was right. It seems that many years ago, Willy Wonka was one of the world's most famous candy makers, until his competitors, jealous of his success, sent in corporate spies to steal his secrets and used them to create inferior knock-offs of Wonka's best creations. Justifiably outraged, Wonka fired all of his workers and closed down his factory.

Wonka remained dormant until recently, when he reopened the company and began to create and sell more sweets than ever. But, he didn't rehire his former employees and he created his candies with a new staff, who have worked very hard to protect their employer's efforts. “But Grandpa, somebody must be helping Wonka!” Charlie asks imploringly. “Thousands must be helping him,” replies Grandpa Joe. “But Who?” The old man shakes his head; “That, Charlie, is the greatest mystery of all!”

The next day, during a science class with Turkintine, a commotion is heard from the corridor. Turkintine asks one of the students what is going on. He explains that Willy Wonka is going to award five lucky people a lifetime supply of candies and chocolate and a grand tour of his factory, if the lucky persons can find Golden Tickets hidden inside Wonka's candy bars. Turkintine dismisses his class and the hunt is on for the Five Golden Tickets. A series of vignettes shows people trying to find the Golden Tickets without success.

Everyone is looking, but poor Charlie Bucket, who can't afford to buy a candy bar. Soon, the first winner is announced: Augustus Gloop, the son of a prominent Dusseldorf butcher. The boy and his mother are happily celebrating his success, until a strange man walks up to the boy and whispers in his ear. In the weeks that follow, four more winners are announced: Veronica Salt the spoiled daughter of a successful nut company owner (the late Roy Kinnear); Violet Beauregard, a gum-chewing brat of a loudmouth used car dealer Sam Beauregard (Leonard Stone) and Mike TeeVee, a TV-viewing addict and a Latin-American gambler.

Charlie overhears of the gambler's finding the last Golden Ticket, while his family watches TV that night. Saddened, the boys weeps privately at his loss. But, Fate intervenes as he begins his paper route the next afternoon. Charlie finds a lost dollar bill in a street grating. When nobody claims the money. He takes it to Bill's Candy Store and he buys two candy bars. As he approaches Topeke's news stand. The boys finds out that the Gambler's Golden Ticket is a forgery. Suspecting that there maybe one Golden Ticket left, Charlie unwraps the second candy bar and he finds his pass to Wonka's candy factory.

A mob soon descends upon the boy. Kopek helps his employee's escape and the boy runs home, only to run into the same sinister figure who has met the other three winners. Charlie finds out to his horror that the strange old man is Oscar Slugworth, Willy Wonka's competitor. He tells the young fellow that Wonka is creating a new candy creation called an Everlasting Gobstopper (a long-lasting jawbreaker). If his new candy becomes a hit , it will ruin Slugworth.

The evil candymaker offers Charlie a fortune in cash if he will steal one of the Gobstoppers and bring it to him so that he can create his own version. Leaving the villain, Charlie heads for home and tells his family of his success. The boy's tale is met with skepticism: “You're pulling our leg, Charlie,” says Grandpa Joe, “There are no more Golden Tickets.” His grandson proves that his Golden Ticket is real and also shows him the news that proves that the Golden Ticket that the gambler had was a fake and the boy's entry is genuine.

Filled with joy, grandpa Joe reads the rules on the Golden Ticket: "You have to be at the factory on the first of October at 10:00 A.M. You can bring one member of your family, but no one else!" Seeing that his mother and his other three grandparents can't go with him, grandpa Joe gets out of bed and stands on his own two feet. Exuberant, he sings about his good fortune with his grandson, in "I've Got A Golden Ticket." The next morning, the five lucky winners and their family memers sit in front of The Wonka Company's main gate. At 10 AM the front door of the front office opens and an elegantly dressed young man, Willy Wonka (Gene Wilder, best remembered for his work in Mel Brook's classic film comedies) limps out to the front gate on his walking stick, giving the impression that he is disabled, until he sticks his cane into a cobblestone and does a somersault before his audience.

The five winners enter the factory. They enter the Chocolate Room, where Wonka's dreams become a reality. As the winners eat the many sweet treats that grow on trees in this enchanted garden, Wonka sings about "Pure Imagination." During their visit to the Chocolate Room, the winners are introduced to the Oompa Loompas, a group of creatures from "Loompaland" who work for Wonka. It is also during this part of the tour that one of the four brats, Augustus Gloop, foolishly tries to drink from Wonka's chocolate river. The boy soon falls into the river and he is sent into the company's plumbing system. He gets stuck in the main drainpipe and before long, the fat boy is sent to the fudgemaking room.

One of the Ommpa Loompa's takes the angry Gloop parents to the fudging room. TheOmmpa Loopa's then sing about the evils of overeating in their tune, "Ommpa Loopa Doom Pa Do." The next kid to get her cummupance is Violet Beauregard, who snatches a new type of chewing gum fromWonka and while chewing the gum, soon fills up with Blueberry juice. Pappa Beauregard is taken to the juicing room to squeeze the juice out of his daughter's body. During a trek to the Golden Goose's Egg Laying room. Veruca Salt is upset that she can't have one of the Golden Geese that lay Golden Easter Eggs, and she sings an angry tantrum, "I Want it Now!" She finishes the tune, standing on the egg testing device, which sends her to the furnace. Saltgoes after his daughter and he also falls down the chute. While seeing a giant size Wonka Bar shrunk down to a smaller size via Wonka's Wonkavision TV Set, the stupid kid stands in front of the Wonkavision TV Camera, and is shrunk to the size of Tom Thumb, prompting his mother (DoDo Denny) to take him to the Taffy Pulling Machines.

Charlie and his grandfather also foolishly break the rules by having sips of Wonka's Fizzy Lifting Drinks, which sends them up to the fans. They are saved when they belch and the release of their gas sends them back to earth. After the tour, Wonka gives Charlie and Grandpa Joe an abrupt goodbye. As he heads into his office, fearing that they may offend their host, they enter Wonka's office where they find out that they've lost the grand prize due to their sipping Fizzy Lifting Drinks!Outraged, grandpa Joe criticises Wonka's actions: "You're a crook, you're a cheat and a swindler! How can you do this to a little boy, build up his dreams and then dash them all to pieces! You're an inhuman monster!" Unmoved, Wonka bids them good day.

Hurt, the pair get ready to leave. Grandpa Joe says, "If Slugworth wants an Everlasting Gobstopper, he can have one!" Charlie stops and leaves his Everlasting Gobstopper on Wonka's desk. Seeing the candy on the edge of his desk, Wonka says with some wisdom, "So shines a good deed in a weary world." Now, Wonka's attitude changes from cruelty to joy, as he tells Charlie that he has won.

The trio enters Wonka's Wonkavator and they soon fly out of the factory and into the skies. During the flight over the city. Wonka explains that he created The Golden Ticket Contest to find the right person to take over control of his company. Wonka knows that he can't run the factory forever and if he left his company to an adult. The adult would run the company improperly, thus he would create inferior candies or he would sell the company to one of Wonka's corrupt competitors. The only one worth of running Wonka's is an honest, loving and creative child. So, Charlie has shown that he is the one, who can run Wonka's the way that it is meant to be. Wonka also assures the duo that Charlie's entire family can move in and that everything will be done to make their lives more comfortable. Charlie hugs his hero, who teases him: "And remember, Charlie, what happened to the man who sudenly got everything that he ever wanted!" "What," asks the wide eyed boy? "He lived happily ever after," says Wonka with a wink. The boy gives him another hug and his eyes fill with tears, as the Wonkavator flies into the skies, and the final credits.

This film was not appreciated by the critics, who knocked it's uneven combination of musical fantasy and satire of consumer culture and big business. But, the movie did become a hit with the young Saturday Matinee set. Over the years the movie has gained a following with kids and it has been rereleased on DVD. Wilder gives a wonderful performance as the deceptive and whimsical candy maker. Albertson is also engaging as Charlie Bucket's caring and fun-loving grandfather, and the supporting players are also funny and charming. The songs created by the brilliant composing team of Anthony Newley And Leslie Briccuse (best remembered for their work on “Stop The World, I Want To Get Off” and the 1968 movie musical version of DR. DOOLITTLE) are also entertaining and fun. Especially, “The Candy Man” which was performed by Sammy Davis Jr. Despite it's flaws, WILLY WONKA is still entertaining, miles ahead of Tim Burton's forgettable remake with Johnny Depp.

Kevin S. Butler