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3 articles from 2008

17 June 2008 10:03 PM, PDT | From screeninglog.com | See recent screeninglog news

Release year: 1971

The players: Director: Mel Stuart, Writers: Roald Dahl, Cast: Gene Wilder, Peter Ostrum, Jack Albertson, Julie Dawn Cole, Denise Nickerson

The plot: Five lucky children win an opportunity to explore the mysterious chocolate factory of world famous chocolatier, Willy Wonka.

Modern thoughts on a classic movie: “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” has little to offer an older, modern viewer. It has probably survived this long because of the fondness many hold thanks to childhood memories, but to an unsuspecting adult, it’s barely a few steps away from torture.

The story alone is one to make the modern viewer groan in disbelief, as the film beats the lesson of being good children into the unwilling soul of its audience with a sledgehammer. Obviously Charlie is a good little boy who doesn't eat too much, chew gum, watch television, or get everything he wants, so he wins the

Rachel Thuro

25 March 2008 7:58 AM, PDT | From wenn.com | See recent WENN news

Veteran comedian Gene Wilder has called on Hollywood to cut back on excessive swearing in films.

The Stir Crazy star is fed up with hearing curse words in modern movies, and wishes writers would try and pen less predictable dialogue that relies more on invention than vulgarity.

Wilder, 74, says, "I'm so tired of the 'F' word in movies. Jimmy Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, Spencer Tracy, Clark Gable - they didn't have to swear and they were powerful. You got everything.

"There's a film... I saw that if you didn't read or hear the dialogue, it is a good story. And then every third sentence, every 2.5 sentence, they start (swearing) and it puts me off."

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24 March 2008 12:11 AM, PDT | From wenn.com | See recent WENN news

Veteran funnyman Gene Wilder has revealed the inspiration for his beloved Young Frankenstein character Frau Blucher came from letters written to the father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud.

The actor/writer created the cult comedy, which is now a hit stage musical, with Mel Brooks and he has rarely spoken about how he came up with the eccentric characters.

But, in a new interview with the San Jose Mercury News, Wilder reveals the beloved Cloris Leachman character came from a book about Freud.

Wilder, who played Dr. Frankenstein in the film, explains, "I chose the name (Blucher) because I wanted an authentic German name.

"I took out some of the books I had of the letters to and from Sigmund Freud. I saw someone named Blucher had written to him, and I said, 'Well, that's the name.'

"Later on, I heard from about two or three sources, who said 'blucher' refers to a horse going to a factory and being turned to glue. I just thought it was a funny name."

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3 articles from 2008